This is an archive and may contain old or out-of-date content. Check the date; things may have changed since the time of the original posting. Conversation is allowed on older posts, but be aware that they will not come to my attention as easily.
Happy New Year! And Happy New Blog, too!
Last year I made two New Year’s resolutions, and it was the first time I seriously attempted this. The first was personal, but I’d like to say that it was a partial success. In fact… not a bad job.
The second one I did share last year, and it was a wish to get my life moving again. Specifically, go to college. My first, knee-jerk reaction is that I failed on this completely, but the more I reflect back on it, the more I realized that I didn’t completely fail. No, I’m not in college. No, I’m not really any closer to going to college. No, I haven’t even taken another online class.
But it seems like the more that I push for it, the more I feel something pushing back. I know it sounds like a cop-out, but I’m starting to believe that I’m not supposed to be there just yet, for whatever reason. I’ve been focusing a lot on my job, and you know what? In the last year, I’ve gotten a major promotion and a three-dollar pay raise. For my first job, that’s not too bad. I’m management now, working full time. I have insurance.
This leads me up to next year’s resolutions.
So, six things. We’ll see how this goes, okay?
I’ve been hearing about this NaNoWriMo thing here and there for about a month, and I’ve finally figured out what it is. It’s National Novel Writing Month. I read up on it, thought about it for a few minutes, and then I thought… What a perfect opportunity to get in gear and finish Seasons Past!
The deal is, you’ve got thirty days (the month of November) to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel. I’m sure the general idea is an entire novel, but hey, I’ve got a job and a life and I’m really not all that far into Seasons Past.
I’ll try to keep you posted this month as to how it’s going. I’m excited!
I need a new name for a common ailment: writer’s block. For some reason, it sounds so cliche. I’ve got writer’s block. You’ve got writer’s block. The kid down the street has writer’s block. Everyone’s got it, whether they’re writers or school kids or the guy bagging your groceries at the Walmart up the street.
So I need a new word for it, one that hasn’t been dragged up and down all of the streets in town… one that’s reserved for Writers Way or something. You know what I mean?
I haven’t written in ages. Seriously! Greystreet is collecting dust; I’m supposed to be editing that. Seasons Past… well, I’m still stuck on the same chapter I was on about a year ago. No new stories, no new poetry (well, thank goodness on that one)… heck, I can’t even keep a personal journal anymore. And you all know how sporadically I tend to update.
So along with some fresh, 2.0 synonyms for writer’s block, I also need some fresh, 2.0 ways to get rid of it… no matter what we decide to call it. I think I’ll try my hand at some short stories, or maybe some writing prompts.
Wish me luck, and share linky love if you know of any good writing inspiration sites.
Guess what, guys! I’m writing again!
Okay, I’m getting to it. I’ve taken out my Seasons Past notebook again, have gone over my outline, browsed back through what I’ve written, and am starting to get excited about it again. I’ll also work on getting all of my junk up on the site (man, going back and reading what I’ve written stinks sometimes… I’m not that great!) sometime in the near future.
Lots of stuff going on, but nothing worth reporting! Current projects include:
Anyhow, the other thing I wanted to say something about was DE-LURKING. Oh, yes, you know who you are. I’ve had a LOT of people say, within the last month or so, “well, yeah, I’ve been reading up on your website, but I don’t ever leave a comment because [fill in the blank]”
Hey, guess what? I’m making February into “De-Lurking” month at Melilyn.com. If you come by here, even if it’s just a passing fancy… if you read something, leave a comment. I promise you, it will make my day, even if you’re a complete stranger. And if you’ve got your own site, I’ll return the favor. Let’s see how many lurkers I can draw out of the woodwork…
Nothing too exciting to report, per se. I did get promoted from trainee to normal person today at work, completely out of the blue. Doesn’t really mean much except a prettier nametag. I also ended up working at another Braum’s for two hours today, because they needed help during lunch.
I’ve been writing up a storm lately too… I really need to get more of what I’ve written up online for people to read. I don’t think I’ll ever submit Seasons Past to anything important, by the way. Bits and pieces have become too dear to my heart (please excuse the corniness) to just throw out there for the whole world. But it’s so much fun to work on, and maybe someday I’ll create something worth publishing. That would literally be a dream come true.
That’s all I really had to say. I promise to a) update more often and b) find things that are more interesting to say. Someday. *rolls eyes*