Handwritten or typed: which do you prefer?

 Dear Reader,

I have a question for you to consider. The authors and creative folks in my readership, I wonder when you are at the beginning of the creative process and organizing your thoughts, what do you prefer: writing ideas out by hand and drawing diagrams or typing up detailed outlines and bullet point reference notes to go along side that outline? It's two very different styles of organization. It seems like the working method of doing things by hand is falling by the wayside since computers have become ubiquitous. 

For my part, I do a mixed combination of the two since I have my own personal computer. When I didn't have a computer that was strictly my own, I did everything out on paper. Now, I have a hodgepodge of paper and digital notes. Alas, they're all painfully disorganized and I have difficulty sorting it all out because of what my Beloved calls 'shiny object syndrome'. I'll be going through a stack of papers and find outlines for books, notes for instructional essays, and a plethora more all around me. It's hard to focus on one project when you are stuck for how to describe the next scene and something else is glittering with promise of being easier and more organized.

I suppose I live in a state of chaos that I am struggling to fix. Because once I get all these ideas and notes organized, I'll be off to the races. Or staring at the screen until drops of blood form on my forehead. Who knows.

Why blogging every day this month instead of writing a poem every day?

 Dear Reader,

Some of you may be familiar with the Poem A Day challenge. The folks who run it really get going during this month to encourage more people to write. I think it's a pretty awesome thing. I just have one problem, I can't find my poetry notebook. I also have the dreaded imposter syndrome going on. At one point in time, I shared with a college instructor who I highly admired a poem that I had worked quite hard on and thought it was a good piece. I got a sour expression from the man as he told me to stop "aping Edgar Allen Poe and write something original."

To say the least that took the wind out of my sails for a bit and I questioned the validity of all of my writing for a period after that. It stings still and it makes writing poems hard. I'll focus on it at some point in the future when I have unearthed my poetry notebook and life isn't crazy. I want to get back to that kind of written work. It was a great form of emotional therapy and expression when I was going through some very hard times in my life.

But that sharp statement echoes in my ears to this day. It was not a good day when that happened.

Why NaBloPoMo and not NaNoWriMo?

 Dear Reader,

Most years, I knuckle down and I crank out a novella or two during November. As you can tell, I have been having difficulty writing in my blogs for about a year now, perhaps a little longer. Since I have bursitis in my right arm, I am restricted in my movement and have a fair amount of pain. Oddly enough, my recovery time lines up with my writing goals. I am forced to sit and write across my seven blogs or stare at the wall. 

Yes, I suppose I could attempt my knitting or my crochet. But repetitive movements are painful. And I just have to accept the fact that there is going to be a delay in my work on holiday presents until later in my recovery where moving my arm, even in a slightly repetitive action, is not a source of pain. Typing, however, and writing by hand don't hurt horribly because my arm is stationary as I work.

So, I am doing NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) this year to get myself back into serious writing form. There may be occasional memes if I have no idea what to write. I have to say, maybe there's an upside to this painful bursitis business. 

NaNoWriMo or NaBloPoMo? Decisions, decisions.

 Dear Reader,

I've been struggling to make up my mind if I am going to do NaNoWriMo or NaBloPoMo. Some years I have attempted both at the same time. It did not end well. On the novel writing front, I am stalled between being sick and my depression. I don't know if that's going to improve by the time November gets here. I suppose I could grind my way through writing a novel. Or I could cheat and work on finishing two novels that I have in the works.

But I'm leaning towards blogging every day for the month as a way to get myself back into the habit of daily blog posting. I think it will be as much of a grind as working on a novel. But, in all honesty, it is probably better for me to kick start all my blogs and get back to writing in them. If in the course of all that blogging (I have 7 blogs.) I happen to feel the urge to write a novel, I will do it. I just have had mental silence on that front. It's hard to write when you're just staring at a blank wall until drops of blood form on your forehead and you have to stare some more before the words appear on the page.

The Prompt Box Has Failed Me.

 Dear Reader,

As you can tell quite obviously from the intervals between posts, I am struggling to write as of this time. I presently have had walking pneumonia for the last two months, I've been having sleep problems for almost three years now that are getting worse, and my anxiety over my writing has been sky high. As such, I turned to my prompt box. I found things like 'advice for new parents', 'worst cooking disaster', and 'list off the actors you find attractive.' None of that is truly relevant to this blog.

Being sick and exhausted for two months sucks. I go for a chest x-ray in two weeks. Next week I get my blood work done for my diabetes follow up. I anticipate both being unpleasant experiences presaging bad news at the doctor's office. I have been overwhelmed with worry, this could be part of why my sleep problem is getting worse, but I have no idea.

Today I woke up at 0300 and was up for the day as of that time. I've been waking up about that time for weeks now. I'm depressed because of seasonal affective disorder. It's just a rotten experience. I'm exhausted most days and in a brain fog because of it. I'm struggling with various aspects of my mental health disorders (which are the reason why I am disabled). On the whole, it sucks right now.

I wish I had something uplifting, entertaining, or informative. Instead, I have my sob story. Damn prompt box needs more prompts added so that my posts don't turn so maudlin.

Let's do a Free Writing Exercise!

 Dear Reader,

Let's do a Free Writing Exercise. Here's your Prompt to build off of: What is the most legendary cooking disaster that you have ever had? Set a timer for 10 minutes and here we go!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The most legendary cooking disaster that I had was while I was pregnant with my first son. I woke up out of a dead sleep craving popcorn. We didn't have microwave popcorn so I had to cook it the old fashioned way. Pregnancy brain being what it was, I forgot some important steps. Next thing we know, smoke is billowing out of the covered pot. I move the pot to a cool burner on the electric stove and smoke continues. Pretty soon all of the fire detectors in the apartment and in the apartment above us are going off. 

This is three in the morning. I started sobbing about the time we had everything aired out, because I was craving popcorn and I screwed it up. Beloved, who is a night owl and was up working on a project, calmed me down. I think, but I'm not longer sure, if the neighbor upstairs was laughing at my blubbering over popcorn like a toddler. This was pre-Covid era, so the stores were open 24 hours. He went over to the next town's all night grocery store and picked up some popcorn. The clerk advised him for his safety to get pickles and ice cream. When Beloved got home, the smoke detectors (all of them) were off.

He gave me my microwave popcorn and I started crying again, with relief. I had my popcorn and went to bed. When I woke up in the morning, I had forgotten about everything until I saw the pot I attempted to make old fashioned popcorn in. I debated writing the neighbor a letter of apology. When I opened the door to go do some errands, the neighbor had left a bag of microwave popcorn on the doorstep.

I humbly ask your patience.

 Dear Reader,

As I have one son in the process of wrapping up summer school, the other son and I are struggling mightily with algebra. (I swear they don't teach it the same way that they did when I was in grade school.) I am also coaching him in his writing of his second novella. He just finished the first last week and is jumping into the second with both feet.

We're also getting inundated with back to school stuff. My youngest is entering high school this year and my eldest is a junior. There's a lot of events and such flying around. Throw on top of it they've gone from paper schedules to digital ones and we don't have a printer, it's getting a bit crunchy here. 

I'm hoping to get stuff as ready as I can with out too much insanity at the store. And I'm on the hunt for a new A5 notebook because my eldest took that to write his second book. Not that I mind, but they're starting to become scarce right now. (The weirdest things are getting hung up in supply chain breakdowns.) I'm going to try to post more soon. If there's a victory post, it means we made it past the section of the algebra book we've been working in to material that makes more sense. In the meantime, gods help us.

In solidarity with all other writers who have kids going back to school.

♥