Writing hiatus

Look, I'm not going to beat around the . I haven't been writing very much recently. Okay, I haven't been writing at all within the last week and a half. There are a number of reasons for this, in this order:

1)

2) TIME.

3) Laziness

4) Fear

The thing is, I do love to write. The first one is self explanatory. I think the second one is as well. The laziness thing- I don't know. It's like I can't find the gumption/motivation/inspiration/go get 'em attitude required to sit down and write something of value.

The fear is that I won't be able to write anything good when I do write. The fear is that I'll fail no matter how hard I try. The fear is stupid, but I can't help it.

How long have you guys gone without writing?

Inspiration (..and where I've been this weekend).

Fun and exciting news!

I WON I WON I WON I WON!!!!!!

See anything NEW?

It's a 1st place medal. That's right.

What's that? Where did I get it?!

I'm so glad you asked! The day before yesterday I participated in something called "W.I.B.I.J."

(Where in the Blogsphere is Jon?!)

This game is the brain child of fellow writers/bloggers Heather Kelly, Tina Laurel Lee, and Jon Arnston.

You can learn more about it HERE.

To summarize, it's a game that they put together for all of us writers to take a much needed break from writing and compete with other writers in the blogosphere. Jon goes missing and it's your job to find him! Clues are posted every 6 minutes and these clues lead you to a lot of helpful, interesting blogs by aspiring authors and literary agents alike. After you've found the right blog, you must unscramble the "secret words" in the comments section which are left by Jonathon in ALL CAPS. After collecting all of the words, the object of the game is to unscramble and submit the secret phrase before anyone else does. It's a fun way of discovering new and interesting blogs, connecting with new writers, and sending more traffic to your blog. There are two awards that can be given: the first place medal and the "Best Comment Award," given just today to Casey.

The best comment award can be won anytime in the 24 hours that the game is played. Each time you go to a blog you are required to leave an on-topic, respectful comment to avoid being disqualified. But not just any comment- the comment has to 'sparkle,' as Jonathon likes to say. It must stand out, thus earning you the award.

There are also other 'surprise' awards and honorable mentions to be had!

Does it sound like fun? Because IT WAS. Seriously. Ridiculously fun. I was in the zone. Not only that but it led me to new and interesting blogs that I'd never seen before and am now following. If you'd like to join in the fun, W.I.B.I.J. has a competition every 2 weeks. I will post a reminder right before the next competition begins.

Just try and beat me next time. Bwahaha!! (By the way, what is it about the "bw" that makes laughter sound evil? Thoughts?)

I'm going to post about....oh look, a pony!!!

First of all, I signed into blogger this morning and I was thrilled to see I now have 20 followers!! I'm ON MY WAY!!!!!! (...to having 21)

In other news, I've never been one to like formulas of any kind...but recently I've noticed how scatter-brained my writing is, and I've finally connected the dots. If my writing is a reflection of myself, then my writing is spontaneous, scatter-brained, and all over the place.

Maybe formulas could be useful for me?

As a result, I've embarked on researching formulas for writing picture books. I've found several interesting websites in the process. Honestly, I don't know how it'll turn out but I'm willing to try. Also, a member of a critique group suggested this book, which I plan on purchasing asap.

You know what I love about writing adult short stories? I don't plan on getting them published. I don't have to worry about the content being "too mature." There are literally no rules and I don't have to pick out cutesy words. It's better than writing a novel, because there is barely any planning involved (if any). Half the time I'll just start writing without a clue about where it's going. It's like therapy for me.

Recently I've been writing children's short stories instead of picture books. I'm not sure why that's easier for me, but it is. I tend to want to write for an older audience and my stories always want to be around 1500 words or so. So, as I've said before, I'm dipping my feet into the world of children's magazines.

Anyway, make sure to check my blog tomorrow. I've got some EXCITING news to share!!!

FYI...

I just submitted a story of mine to "Stories that lift" magazine. I'll let you know when (if) I hear anything!

Also, almost 2 months ago I submitted a story to Highlights magazine. Has anyone submitted work to them before? If so, when did you hear a response?

Thanks!

I need your help!!!

Today I've spent the majority of my morning cleaning up and taking my daughter to preschool, but I did have some time to "browse" the blogosphere, checking out other writers' blogs. After doing so, it has dawned on me that I have the most unoriginal. blog. title. ever. I like to add extra periods to emphasize the SERIOUSNESS of the situation, by the way. How. unoriginal. is. that. ???

Anyhow, I've got a case of the blog title blues. I'm now on a quest to find a creative way of saying that I am unpublished. But it needs to sound nice and optimistic. It needs to leave people with the impression that I'm cool with that. Even though I'm NOT. With being unpublished, that is. At least not in the long term. I'm cool with it now. I've met a lot of unpublished authors that are way awesomer than me.

In any case, I'd like to eventually get published, but for right now I'm okay with just learning the tricks of the trade. I just need to think of a creative, fresh way to express that. I need a "hook" title. And to think my focus was PR in college. HA. HA. HA.

Anyway, the point of this post is that I need help.

Do you have any ideas? Are you good with blog titles? Ideas, anyone?

You lazy bastards never got me my socks yesterday, so you owe me BIG.

Inspiration.