#I just found the quote on Pinterest and I loved it. If the original writer is awful in some way I Am So Sorry

[raincandyart]

Original quote by Layana Clouet, "A Love Letter To A Dead Thing". Just thought it suited her.

[ID: Saturated and rendered blockily artwork of Dahlia Hawthorne from the hips up. She's drawn naked with her arms and hands raised to clutch at her head. Her hair sprawled out around her with an almost thorny texture. She grits her teeth openly, her face in an wince. Her red hair is drawn with the highest saturation possible, matching the thick red frame around the art. Inside the frame, the arts background is solid black. There's negative coloured text over the image, "You're a heap of flesh and guts and blood in a wax museum. The only thing real. Sickeningly real. Crimson and warm where the others are pale and cold. Revoltingly red, nauseatingly alive. You're a child in a graveyard.". The text is stretched out in the background on the frame as well. /end ID]

[martsonmars]

How I found Carry On and its fandom – long answer because I love talking about myself.

I used to see Fangirl in bookshops all the time, when I was 14 or so, and I wanted to buy it every time, because a book about fanfiction? Sounded like my shit, but I never got to buying it for some reason.

While one of my best friends read and loved it, and when Carry On was published in Italy she read and loved it too, and probably told me “you should read it”. So it made my way into my TBR list, but I think I didn't really know what it was about, because when I grew older and deleted from my list all those books that I thought I wasn't interested in anymore (mainly books – at least the ones I hadn't read yet lol – that were super famous in the early to mid 2010s and all people in multifandom spaces seemed to have read but that felt stupid and boring to a 16yo me who was starting to read only Dostoyevsky), I deleted Fangirl and Carry On too.

I kept hearing about them from this friend (I didn't remember about it, but after reading WS I found out she has a rant about it on her Instagram page lmao) and on Instagram, but it never crossed my path intensely enough to convince me to buy it.

Then last year, around November or December, for a reason I don't remember Carry On was back on my TBR list – and it was on top of it! To the point that instead of remaining a book in a list, I even had it in my cart on some bookshop website. Maybe I had finally found out what it was about? Who knows. Anyway, I finally wanted to really buy it, but something kept stopping me.

Then last December this famous friend and I organised a “bookstagram” Advent Calendar – each day had a prompt and people posted a photo of a book that filled the prompt.

One day, someone posted a scene of RWRB. Now, RWRB had made its way to my list in the previous months, and that scene made me think “I definitely need to read it”. Put into cart, still didn't buy it.

Now we enter illegal book acquisition so yeah I hope David doesn't mind piracy hahaha. If he does mind I don't want to know

So, while RWRB and CO were in my cart waiting to be bought, I stumbled over a pdf copy of both of them. And one night at the end of January I started RWRB. It was the first, and up to now only, time I stayed up all night (like, not even going to sleep at 7am like I did the two times I was at a party/sleepover), and to finish a book.

I spend the following day, all day, explaining the plot to my best friend (not the CO one) because I needed to let it out and looking for fanart and incorrect quotes on Pinterest. And damn, I kept being bothered by stuff about Simon and Baz who are they can they kindly fuck off I'm here for Alex and Henry only. But from what Pinterest was showing me, they seemed interesting. So I googled and wow! They were the main characters of Carry On! And I had a pdf copy of it

Hence another night of intense reading (this time I didn't stay up all night – just up to chapter 61), followed by a day I spent finishing CO and reading WS.

And that's the story. But I'm not going to shut up.

Then I spent more time on Pinterest. And this time I kept being annoyed by a caption that read “you need to read rebel, rebel, it's the perfect fic”. I – as I've said many times – had never been a fanfiction reader, I could count the random stuff (that I read because I found it linked on Instagram or something like that) I've read before 2021 on my fingers. But I was curious, and needed to get my head off WS, so I tried it. And then I couldn't let go, I clicked on the Snowbaz tag and started reading most of the fic from the last published and backwards.

And I read, I read, I read, and I felt that I wanted to write fics again. (I had stopped writing fics intensely in 2016/2017, and the last last I'd written had been in 2018.) But I was in a phase where I thought “my writer block that started in 2018 doesn't even let write my original stuff, why should I waste time on other people's characters?”, so I resisted the urge to write fics. Until I read Every Line Lost by NineMagicks and I couldn't take it anymore.

I opened a doc and I started writing – in English, for the first time – a fanfiction masked by different names and some original details. (Like, I refused to write fics so I gave the characters new names but they were still Baz and Penny, and then I would've introduced Simon.)

And I kept reading fics until I finally gave in and started plotting a proper Snowbaz fic. Which brought me to Tumblr to look for beta readers.

And then I made a mutual, and we became instantly friends, and she offered to beta and then forced me to start reblogging and posting on Tumblr instead of lurking. And I did, and then I found one of aralias's invites to the Discord server. And I probably wouldn't have joined if the week before I hadn't played D&D with my best friend's friends, and they'd told me “since you don't live here we can continue the session on Discord when you're back home”, so I had downloaded it. So when I saw aralias's invite I was like, fuck it.

The rest is history.

Fellow snowbazzians, rb this and tell me how you came across the series. Mine was a stranger recommending it to me in a bookstore. Thank you stranger!!! (If one of y'all told a rando at Powells in Portland the summer of 2017* to read Carry On, thank you, you don't know what this means to me, or maybe you do ❤)

[hoidn]

checking sources and giving proper attribution are two issues near and dear to my heart, especially in the age of Everyone Makes Quote Graphics. don’t get me wrong, i love a good quote graphic as much as the next girl. i’ve even got an isak dineson quote on a cushion cover! but the internet is rife with the promulgation of misattributed/incorrect/badly used quotes because apparently doing a quick google search to check the information is just too much effort. here’s a rant about three quotes i came across on a single day:

We need the tonic of wildness -- [misquotation of] from Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. this is the beginning of a paragraph in chapter 17. i’ve never read walden, but i found this information in about three seconds. the full text of the book is available online! it was the third result of my search! yet there are dozens of graphics that say, “We need the tonic of wilderness”. is it a reading comprehension issue or what?

No legacy is so rich as honesty -- [that does not mean what i think you think it means] Shakespeare, from All’s Well That Ends Well. i read this somewhere and wanted to know which play it came from. my first search result was a link to a Forbes article where the author tells us earnestly, “I've lived by Shakespeare's words since I started my business.” except that a brief scan further down my search results tells me that the quote is actually a joke, using a play on words, where ‘honesty’ means ‘virginity’. awkward, bro.

You have bewitched me, etc. -- [misattribution] ugh, i can’t even bring myself to fully type out this insipid, trite garbage that whoever wrote the 2005 movie adaptation of P&P inflicted upon the world. it’s been spread around like manure but without any of manure’s usefulness, so it just sits there stinking up the place with its foul miasma. anyway, i saw a graphic in which this drivel was attributed to jane austen and i think i had a small aneurysm. (i also read someone quoted as saying she’d seen the movie 4,000 times and knew every line and i was like, oh, honey, that’s not something to brag about.) (AND OH MY GOD SOMEONE GOT IT TATTOOED ON THEIR BODY I AM SO EMBARRASSED FOR THEM AND THEIR BAD TASTE)

so anyway. the c.s. lewis foundation actually has a page for quotes misattributed to him. 

then there’s quote investigator which i love because they correct misattribution and provide the original context.

and don’t forget six things darwin never said, which is what it says on the tin.

(if anyone knows of other resources like the above, please share!)

last but not least, some advice: if the only mentions of a quote in english that you can find are on quote websites and/or pinterest, there’s a 99% chance it’s not authentic for one reason or another. when the quote is an english translation of a text, it gets more complicated, but for well known writers/works it’s typically not difficult to establish provenance. if you can’t do that, at least consider it highly suspect.

[lovee-infected]

I'm about to start my own (twst) writing blog and I'm going around writers that I follow for some advice q*q could you give me any wisdom on what I should do when starting a writing blog? thank you!! I love your works and you're one of the writers that inspire me

Aa thank you baby I'm so happy to hear that I inspire you!! First off, good luck with the new writing blog! I'm glad that more authors are joining the fandom and wish you all the best with your works! 💞💖💞 Other than trying to keep your blog organized by creating a proper masterlist, choosing a suitable aesthetic, having a set of rules and making sure to tag all of the warnings and necessary mentions (gender of reader, n/sfw or trigger warning), I tried to come up with some useful advises that might help!

1) Keep up the great confidence!

First and the most important thing about a writing blog, is to be confident and strong. Look, you shouldn't be afraid of posting your works and sharing with the redt of the fandom, even as they're not as perfect as you want them to be. The more you write, the more you learn! And you'd grow to be better and better as you continue to share your works! Not even the greatest authors had been any perfect on their first days!

2) If you're accepting requests, try to set a limit

Being overwhelmed with asks is never pleasant, if you just open your inbox to face 500 requests you'd be to be terrified and confused and even lose your passion to work on any of them because of the stress and not knowing where to begin from. Try to set a limit based on your personal limits, how many requests do you think you can have at the time without stressing out because of how much they are? 10? 20? 50? 100? 200? Doesn't matter! If you feel like you're fine with huge numbers like 200 and 150, it's totally fine! If not, remember that setting a character limit would not only reduce the possible chance of stressing out and overwhelming anxiety but it'll also help you manage your inbox better and easier! You can start taking requests again just as soon as your inbox in cleared!

3) Try to treat yourself every once in a while!

Working on requests can be tiring and sometimes, boring. It's great if you enjoy working on requests no matter what they are but remember to write for your own pleasure every once in a while too!

Even if you have like 100 requests laying in your inbox, feel free to write self indulgent fics or something that you'd like to write even if it's super odd an irrelevant to your normal writings! Remember that you deserve to read something you enjoy just as much as the others do, so don't forget to bless yourself with that beautiful writing of yours ;) Remember that it's your blog, you are free to do everything that makes you happy or anything that you simply enjoy doing ^^

4) Remember that no matter what, toxicity always exists and it's not your fault

Look toxicity is very common to be found social medias, especially platforms like tumblr in which anonymous function exists. Even celebrities and world-famous artists might get attacked over pretty silly stuff every once in a while so it's something usual to happen! I wish you never receive any potentially harmful or rude asks or messages but if you ever do, best would be to block or simply ignore them! People in this platform can be ridiculous sometimes lol, there are people who DM creators just to spam hate and block the creator whom they spammed after wards lol, so don't even bother t waste your time with such people!

If anyone comes to your inbox/DMs/comments to say something harsh or leave a sharp critique, best would be to ignore them. Even if you like to answer or respond to reply to them tey to be chill and not take them seriously. Remember, even if they didn't like your content they could've just scrolled down without bothering to read your work, so if they had the guts to come and spam you with nonsense just because they didn't like your work, it's their fault! They didn't have to read, and it doesn't even matter if they liked your work or not! It's their problem and all, so remember not to let these kind of people get to you at all!

5) Take it easy with writing

Don't push yourself too hard, remember that not everything you write is supposed to be *perfect. This is even more serious when it comes to requests, thousands of unexpected ideas might pop up in your inbox and it makes it quite confusing to choose what to write or do!

First off, don't be any shy or anxious about rejecting the requests which don't follow your rules or come when you aren't accepting requests. Those who violate your rules aren't worthy of your time and work!

Secondly, keep this is mind that you aren't expected to be able to write everything! Sometimes the requests are hard to write, the idea seems odd or hard to understand, or sometimes you just don't feel comfortable or don't want to write it all, which is okay!

You always have the right to take/drop whichever of your requests and you don't owe anyone anything for this, it's your own blog, your work, and your content. Don't ever force yourself to write something which you don't like to write!

6) Your health is always the top priority

Remember that no matter how popular you are, how many followers you have, how many requests are left in your inbox or how much people are wishing to get more of your content, you're free to stop writing and put this wrong at a temporarily (or even permanent) hiatus.

Sometimes you just don't feel like writing, then don't write. If you feel like you're being too busy with work/family/school and anything please don't force yourself to write! Remember that your real life matters always come first!

Also, you might even need a break from writing without necessarily being really busy or sad, sometimes you just need to take a break from everything, and it's totally fine to do! Take as much time as you need and stay healthy during your breaks. It'd be even better if you don't even think of any new ideas/Aus while you're taking a break from writing so you can fully set your mind off stuff! Doesn't even matter if followers/readers are going to appreciate this or not, it's not about them, it's about you. Remember that your good readers/follwers who understand that authors are normal humans and not writing machines would surely understand if you need to take a break too!

7)Keep yourself motivated!

There might be days when you can and have the time to write, but something's holding you back. You feel like procrastinating over and over at some point lose the motivation to write. First off, that's a really normal matter to see as many of us have to struggle with laziness sometimes lol, but there are some useful tips to keep yourself Motamedi and hyped while you're planning to write! A bit of challenge would not only make it a lot more fun, but is also a good way to keep yourself motivated and inspired!

First, try prompt lists! They've always got plenty of useful ideas and inspirational quotes to use and are absolutely amazing to give you new ideas for a writing!

Second, try to challenge yourself by simple stuff like setting yourself word limits, trying to see how much you can write in an hour, use some suggested words in your stories (ex: Banana, train, knife, turkey) as a small challenge! You can also try small events (like milestone or holiday events) to celebrate on your blog with stuff like: Prompt list requests, CYOAs, character interaction and other new stuff that gives you a better motivation tp write instead of just having to work on the same, usual writing requests over and over.

Also, I suggest putting an specific hour for writing/ checking on your blog in your daily schedule as this is also a way of avoiding procrastination, instead of writing 10 requests a day and not writing anything for two weeks, try to set an schedule like writing 1-2 writings everyday! Remember to put your real life activities in the schedule too so you won't have to go through any trouble to find a balance between your real life and running a writing blog!

8) Remember the crediting/copyrights

I'm just adding this here because I can see quite a few of writers using uncredited art for their stories and it's been much and less of an issue lately ^^;

First off, the arts/headers used in your writing. Make sure not to use any uncredited card or anyone else's edit without their permission, otherwise it's nothing different from stealing the work from the original artst!

If you're going to leave a link to the artist, make sure to check on them and check if they allow reposts with credit or not. If they don't, don't use their art. If they do, make sure to give them a proper credit with a link to them! (:

Editors too on the other hand spend a very long time making their edits and and aesthetics, so not copying their work is just as important as not stealing art from the artsits!

Pinterest is filled with uncredited art and if there's a pinterest art who is not linked to the original artist, putting the empty pinterest pin link would be useless and steal counted as stealing art.

9) Stick with your own writing style!

Writing style is like signature, everyone's got their very own and unique writing style. From the way you portray characters to what elements you use as the story develops, you're totally different from each and every of other authors in this fandom!

You may sometimes wonder if your writing style is any good at all while you look at other creators writings and feel the difference, and I gotta say: It doesn't even matter what others are doing! All that is important, is you.

Don't try to change your style to become close another writer's style, your own style is great as it already is! Even if you aren't yet that experienced with writing and feel like your writing could be better, remember that your writing skills will indeed improve as you continue to write and read newer and newer stuff, so don't worry about it!

Each and every writing style has got its own beauty, not everyone may totally enjoy your style at first but and as you continue to write, you'd get to learn what makes people enjoy your writing even more or how you can attract new readers with your writings, your style will change for the better as you write!

Though it's totally fine if you feel like there are writers who inspire and motivate you, remember that you won't have to be them in order to improve! You don't need to be just like them to be great! Even if you do have some issues like being a non-native speaker which can make it quite hard for you to write, you'd automatically learn and have most of your errors fixed as the time passes. I made LOTS of mistakes in my first writings but I hardly ever make any mistakes now because I'm used to it! Though it was a bit late I finally recognized my mistakes and corrected them! And I'd continue to correct more of my mistakes as I continue to write!

10) It's very good to have different writer mutuals

This one is rather optional, just a small recommendation! Though there are many writers who might recommend this as a rather important factor for running a writing blog, I'd say that this isn't necessary as there are still well-known tumblr authors and even twst authors who gained attention to themselves on their own and not with the help and support of any mutuals or writer friends, so it isn't impossible to be successful even without having any mutuals!

The thing with having mutuals is that it makes everything easier. A totally new twst blog can gain around 100 followers on its first without even posting anything more than a writing and a list of rules only because of being supported and boosted by well-known blogs while a for normal blog without any support or boosting, it may take up to 2-3 weeks or even an entire month to gain that 100!

Also, getting to talk with different authors (especially those who are more experienced than you) is motivational and heartwarming, you can feel like you have a team to belong to. You can discuss different writing ideas/issues/blog chores with them and see what they may think. You can even have their support with new ideas if you feel stuck/unmotivated while writing a piece!

I didn't have any mutuals on my first days either and I admit that this made things a bit hard, but it didn't hold me back from continuing to write! Yet I admit that it's surely very useful to have a couple of writer friends around you whom you can share your ideas with! Mutuals support each other, reblog each other's works and give each other a better chance of having their works read by more users, which is quite amazing and helpful!

11) Go for it and don't give up!

Remember that no one, not even the greatest writing blogs have been perfect on their first days. They weren't well-known back then either! And they wouldn't have been any successful today without being hard-working and strong. Leaving up to the previous 10 rules is the hardest part of having a blog, and it's all about not giving up!

Do not try to judge your writing and talents based on the amount of notes your posts get or how many followers you have, because these aren't ever going to show your true worth and talents! But I assure you, if you continue to write even through your hard days, your unmotivated days and your sad days no matter how hard it's supposed to be, everything will change. The more you write, the higher the chance of having new people find and read your works would be! Keeping up the hard work and believing in yourself is the key to achieving anything you may wish for, even having a successful writing blog!

As you continue to write, you'll get more readers, more notes on your posts, more followers and more people who enjoy your content!

Hope that these are helpful, wish you all the greatest and good luck with your writing blog!!💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞

[auxiliarydetective]

This took DAYS to finish. I've been planning this and working on this since I wrote the Mafia!AU for Writer's Month Day 9 and now it's finally done. Please, please stay and let me explain this. I put so much work into this and the different symbols really need explaining because they're literally only there because they have meaning. This might be triggering to some people. Know that I mean no harm, I just researched it for the fanfic and got the idea.

So the process behind this was the following: I wanted to have Jelena be part of the Russian mafia, so I did research on the topid. As usual, I ended up doing more research than I had originally intended because I got fascinated with the topic. So, first, I found out that the Russian "mafia" is actually not like the Italian or American version. In some aspects, it's the opposite, for example when it comes to family. I discovered they were called "thieves in law", which I thought was very interesting. But what really fascinated me was their tradition of tattoos. A thief in law is "born" with their tattoos and they have very specific meanings. If someone gets themselves a tattoo that they're not allowed to have, they're punished severely. They used to be applied in prison and the prickers were very high-ranking. Pricking a tattoo could take weeks or months, because tattooing was of course not allowed in prison. So I did a deep dive into the different symbols, because that's a thing I love. I love hidden messages, codes and all that stuff. In the end, I came up with this:

Mafia!Jelena. I couldn't have done this without the help of @sehr-wohl-die-herrschaften who drew the base for Jelena's body and sent me the link to the hand base. All the tattoo motives are traced from pictures I got on Pinterest, because, once again, I can't draw. Because Jelena lives in the 90s to 2000s and did not get those tattoos in prison, she has access to color and other things that would not have been accessible to prickers in the past, but the tattoo meanings are still the same. I'll go through all of them from head to toe, first the front, then the back and finally the hands. Also, I made the outlines intentionally rough because Mafia!Jelena is not a soft topic. Oh and since the thieves in law are a criminals, they obviously do illegal stuff. So be prepared for sensitive topics in that direction. Ready? Here we go.

The skull: The skull indicates that this person has committed murder.

The cross, traditionally the "Thieves' Cross": A traditional tattoo for thieves in law, usually tattooed onto the chest.

Stars: Usually eight-pointed, but I've read there are also ten-pointed versions. They denote a high-ranking thief

The wolf/human heads: Not actually a thieves' symbol, but they match up with the quote on her left forearm (and look cool)

The medal: Another symbol for high rank. Jelena's spells "courage". If done in pre-Sowiet style, it would indicate hatred for the authorities, but I have no idea if that's pre-Sowiet style.

The eyes: Possibly my favourite out of all of these. Eyes on the chest mean "I'm watching (over) you" but eyes on the stomach mean that the person is gay. I deliberately placed Jelena's in a place where it's not sure if it's chest or stomach to leave it open what the tattoo is supposed to mean. Possibly both. It's not completely on her stomach, so maybe that means she's bi? Who knows.

Homo homini lupus: You can't really read it, but it's there. On her left forearm. "Homo homini lupus" is Latin for "man is a wolf to man". You can interpret multiple things into this, but it's usually a metaphor for cruelty or brutality.

Мои мечты, мои мечты!  Что стало с их сладостью?  Что действительно стало с моей юностью?: On her right thigh. That's the Google Translate translation of the Alexander Pushkin (a Russian writer, as far as I'm aware) quote "My dreams, my dreams! What has become of their sweetness? What indeed has become of my youth?"

Birds: The silhouette of a bird means that this person loves and cherishes freedom.

The devil/devil's head: It means hate for the system and authorities

Dragon: This person has stolen state- or collectively owned property

Удивительно, насколько полно заблуждение, будто красота - это добро: Written down the spine. Google Translate translation of "It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness." - Leo Tolstoy

Cat (Puss in Boots): Traditional sign of a thief. You have no idea how long it took to find a puss in boots drawing that could be turned into a tattoo AND that Jelena would actually get.

ОМУТ (= "water hole") on the back of the hand: Stands for "от меня уити трудно" which means "It's hard to get away from me."

A lozenge with an Orthodox cross in it as a finger ring: Denotes a thief in law

Crown on the hand or finger: It's there, in the lozenge ring, above the cross. Another symbol for a high-ranking thief or criminal boss

МИР (= "world" or "peace") on the back of the hand: Stands for "меня исправит расстрел" which means "only execution will correct me." This means that the person with this tattoo will not turn away from their thief ways until they die

A circle with a dot in it as a finger ring: Known as "The Roundstone". It can stand for an orphan (Jelena's mother is still dead in this AU and her father does not accept her as his daughter because thieves in law are not meant to have families) or the phrase "надежейся только на себя" which means "trust only yourself"

That's it! To anyone who made it this far, you have my undying respect! Everything else (mainly the vines around the cross and the other stylizations) is just there because it looks good.

[eliserunsboston]

Growing Like a Wildflower

A Wildflower

    “A flower of an uncultivated variety or a flower growing freely without human intervention.”¹

“Wildflowers find themselves growing anywhere. They grow in the most unlikely of places, even in the darkest of night. They find any cracks and crevices that will allow them to sprout up, and they do just that. They grow despite everyone’s belief that they never would. They allow the rain to heal them, not drench them.”²

There is a toughness and simultaneous beauty to wildflowers that I have grown to admire. They grow in the most unlikely of places and resiliently find a way to blossom in the most challenging of circumstances. It’s science.

What I love most about the characteristics of a wildflower is that it grows freely, resiliently and untamed wherever it is planted.  It is even able to grow in the unlikeliest of places – in cracks, in crevices, in forgotten fields – and they bring beauty to the space that they inhabit.

There’s a quote that keeps popping up on my Pinterest feed and popping into my mind at moments I need the most reassurances, and it is this by Morgan Harper Nichols, “And somehow, after everything, she still bloomed in the way she was meant to.” (It might also be my phone background.) Morgan Harper Nichols is an artist, a writer, and a storyteller. In 2017, Morgan started a project where she invited people to submit stories to her website. From there, she began creating art inspired by the stories her readers submitted and then sent the person who submitted their story the artwork at no cost. Her words and artwork are illustrative of hope. I am in awe of her talents and the way in which she uses art to build a human connection to bring hope and reassurances to the world. It’s incredible.

“And somehow, after everything, she still bloomed in the way she was meant to.”

When questions start to come up that I don’t yet have the answer to, I refer to this quote. I feel like this unearths the hope that lies within. It’s the reassurance that no matter what detours or winding turns that feel as though they’re pulling me off course come my way, the experiences have grace within them. I feel like she created those words for me.

This season of my life is about growing and learning to listen to my intuition again. It’s a season of looking at the world in a relaxed, matured lens. It’s teaching me patience and to appreciate the fruits and blessings I currently have in the now. It’s having me take a step back from looking at the future and the next step and focusing on appreciating the here and now, in order to know more clearly what I want the picture of my future to look like. It’s also creating a space to let in a rush of gratitude, because when you take the time to pause and reflect, you can’t help but pull out of that place of unfulfillment and count the things that you do have that maybe you didn’t have years ago. It’s allowing me to look at the twists and turns of decisions I’ve made with an objective lens and learn a lesson from it. Giving yourself the space to turn an ordinary, plain moment into a significant pause of reflection to appreciate how far you’ve come is renewing. It’s hard to slow down in a society that elevates and applauds productivity. It’s hard to slow down when my mind is comfortable operating at a heavy pace and my fingers itch for a  distraction often found in mindless apps on my devices. It’s tough to turn off the outside world – full of opinions and misplaced directions and decisions – and come into my own body and listen to my mind, my thoughts.

Lately my happiness hasn’t matched my picture of what life would look like by now. The timeline is off. Dreams deferred, along with befuddled expectations are all funky. That’s my technical term for it. Funky. They’re criss-crossy and tangled and difficult to follow and unexpected. It doesn’t match my picture.

But it’s my story.

And that, my friends, is beautiful in and of itself.

Because you’re unique, lovely and hand-made with not one being the same to make up this fabric of the world. So embrace those qualities and sink more into your unique, one-of-a-kind gifts and find your people that have those similar qualities too. And get together and make great shit happen, so that you can share your beautiful, wildflower story of how you overcome. I hope that you fill up your day with words of love and wisdom and reassurance and hope. And that you truly believe you have a wildflower heart within you, meant to blossom in the hardest and darkest of times because you bring beauty to this world simply with your story.

“You want to be happy, Doc? Change your picture. Or change your life,” said Wade Kinsella from Hart of Dixie on Netflix (the full quote is beautiful and located on Pinterest) to his love interest Zoe Hart as played by Rachel Bilson (shoutout to all my Gossip Girl fans!). Please go watch it if you haven’t. It might be my favorite, weird, lovely love story. And I think Wade Kinsella had some wisdom when it came to leading a happy, satisfied, contented life. He was a wildflower, learning to grow in the toughest of places, but he was resilient. He was kind to himself.

In this season of growing, I’m learning to embrace the beautiful and the tough sides of me, to be kinder to myself, to give myself patience in this place of grace and rest.

I came across this quote as I was searching Morgan Harper Nichols’ blog and I’ll leave you with this:

TRUTH ABOUT GRACE

Here’s the truth about grace:

It probably won’t look like you expect it to.

It probably won’t even really make sense to you,

because it’s glorious unmerited favor,

and nothing else really works that way.

There are so many things in life that say to you:

“You are not worthy, and you will never be worthy

unless you can prove it to me.”

But grace says something else.

Grace says:

“I see where you are,

and I know that you have been lost out here,

but there is still a way Home for you.

And you are free to carry on

on that journey,

even before it makes sense to you.”

– Morgan Harper Nichols

Dictionary.com

The Odyssey Online article Have a Heart Like a Wildflower

  Growing Like a Wildflower was originally published on Elise Kovi

[buildyourwalls]

He’s The One (E ~9k)

Title: He’s The One (E ~9k)

Rating: E

Pairing: Park Seonghwa/Kim Hongjoong

Word Count: 9,022

Summary: 

Author Notes: To my darling @rapmonstuur for the endless content and great zoom calls. I know this isn't your OTP but I appreciate you love me for writing them anyway.

This story is set during the Zero: Fever Part 1 promotional time. I just really like writing Seonghwa and Hongjoong being sweet husbands together. Any mistakes on this are entirely my own.The title of is a play on the first single track of the album. The beginning quote I found on Pinterest (couldn't find the original writer)

Read on Ao3

[the-six-month-novel]

Story Seeds

Odds are you already have a pretty good idea of what your novel is about, but on the off chance you're still floundering, today we're going to look at idea generation and development.

Most people don't sit down at their keyboard with a fully formed novel in mind. They start with a loose idea. A scene. A setting. A rough plot. Maybe just a character. Wherever you're starting from, it's important to have an rough idea of what your story's about before we get started.

Finding a Seed

In order for a story to grow we must first plant a seed, but where does that seed come from? The answer is surprisingly simple: Everywhere.

JK Rowlings conceived Harry Potter while stuck on a train. Khaled Hosseini was struck with inspiration for The Kite Runner while watching television. A dinner debate with friends moved Margaret Atwood to write The Handmaid's Tale. Ideas are everywhere, and as writers our job is to be constantly on the lookout for them. That probably doesn't help you much if you're stuck, so here are some things you can do to help court inspiration.

1. Read, read, and read.

It's amazing how many ideas flow from other works. James Joyce's Ulysses was inspired by Homer's Odyssey. Herman Melville's Moby Dick clearly found inspiration in both The Bible and Shakespeare's MacBeth and King Lear. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World borrows themes and dialogue from The Tempest. Even if you're not looking to borrow themes/ideas, the simple act of reading can inspire you to write.

2. Mind mapping and other brainstorming techniques.

This is easier than it sounds. Mind mapping involves writing down an idea that interests you and the finding subtopics that branch from the original. Other brainstorming techniques work much the same. The point is to get all your ideas onto paper and then figure out which ones work.

3. Delight your senses.

This can mean whatever you want it to mean. Visit an art gallery. See a film. Spend an afternoon meandering through a garden. Attend the symphony. Dine at a favourite restaurant. Sometimes engaging our other senses can help inspire creativity.

4. Have a genre in mind and then fill in a gap.

Maybe you've decided you're writing Romance. Or Science Fiction. Maybe you read exclusively in the genre and know no one's written a sweeping epic where the heroine falls in love with an intelligent, silicon based life form found living beneath the ice on Europa. This works particularly well if you really want to read a sweeping epic where the heroine falls in love with an intelligent, silicon based life form found living beneath the ice on Europa.

5. Use a story idea generator.

You may scoff at this, but you'd be surprised at how easily you can take a generated idea and make it your own.

Whatever you decided to use, be sure to own it. If you're not passionate about your idea you're not going to see it to fruition. Write for yourself first and foremost. Remember, this is a first draft and first drafts are about pleasing ourselves. We'll worry about our audiences later.

Growing the Seed

Now that you have an idea, how do you turn that into a fully fledged novel?

Okay, that's a bit of a trick question, because we're going to spend the month of August doing exactly that, but in the meantime here are some ways you can flesh out your idea while you wait.

1. Keep an idea notebook.

One of the reasons I carry a notebook around with me everywhere is so that I can write down ideas as they come. Say I've figured out I'm going to write that sweeping epic, and the next day I'm waiting for change at the grocery store and I'm struck with the sudden inspiration that my heroine is a translator who specializes in decoding alien languages. Into the notebook it goes. I've now not only further developed my character, but have also come up with a plausible reason for her to have fallen in love with our Europa alien.

2. Start a pinterest board.

I admit, I don't use pinterest (I lack the attention span for it), but I know a lot of writers who do. Maybe instead you just want an image folder (software like Scrivener give you a cork board for pinning images). Maybe you've set up a side tumblr. Maybe you like to print out images and hang them around your workspace. Whatever you choose, collecting images/quotes/art that inspires you can be a great way to flesh out your idea.

3. Make a playlist.

If you're the type who likes to write to music, start thinking about a playlist now. Does your idea feel dark and brooding? Upbeat and funny? Ominous and scary? Whatever tone you're going for, I guarantee you can find music to fit.

4. Read, read, and read.

I know we've mentioned this above, but it begs repeating. Seeing how other authors have structured and grown their ideas is a great way to flesh out your own, but you don't have to stop at fiction. Say your story takes place in Ancient Egypt. This would be great time to start reading up on the era. You can even pick up a few books on writing (we'll do a recommendation post tomorrow). Books like 45 Master Characters not only help with character development, but also include story arcs suited to your character type.

Remember, you don't need a fully plotted novel to start this workshop. But you do need an idea, as well as a rough idea of where you want your story to go.

[mckennascribblings]

An Introduction of Sorts

I’ve been kicking around the idea of writing a book since I was about 10, but had written (heh) it off as a pipe dream probably sometime before I graduated high school.  However, inspired by other fantastic writers within my varying circles who have either self-published or been published, I’ve decided that since I’ve got two novels’ worth of fic under my belt, "I just can’t write a book” isn’t really much of an excuse anymore; it’s time to bite the bullet and get it done.

And that brings us to “Press Releases”!

Krysta Adler (“Just Krys,” she says with a pained expression) spends the majority of her time managing Books & Blends, the cozy, chaotic Portland bookshop she co-owns with her three best friends, Veronica, Jen, and Aiko, and scowling at their good-natured short jokes. When the quartet, also members of popular local band Butane Jane, aren’t rehearsing and prepping for a weekend gig or two, Krys can be found playing video games or out and about downtown, usually in search of a new place to eat, given her questionable skills in the kitchen. Second oldest of four sisters, she is fiercely committed to living life on no one’s terms but her own, and Krys guards her independence like a dragon guards its hoard, unwilling to be beholden to anyone for anything. Senator Maximilian Kallan (“Oh, no, please just call me Max,” he chuckles) is second in line to inherit his family business, Kallan’s, the hugely popular, wildly successful chain of department stores - now superstores - founded by his grandfather in 1952. Despite his famous last name and well-known family, he’s made a point of pursuing a life of his own, content to leave the business dealings to his mother and older sister. After eight years serving as a commissioned officer in the Marine Corps, he launched a successful foray into politics in 2010, taking office in January 2011. Keenly aware of his duties to constituents and country, he’s most often found working, running, and studiously avoiding the gossip sites hellbent on breathlessly covering “the city’s most eligible Senator” and his every move.

Originally conceived as a ficlet, it’s taken on a life of its own and I can’t wait to expand this particular ‘verse and share these characters with you.  I know, I’m biased, but I just love them. 

My stories are always very character-driven, and I love Tumblr because it’s such a great way to really communicate so much information about characters, and get to know them in a way that you might not have been able to otherwise, through posts and asks and things like character Tumblrs, as well.

I’m planning on updating here pretty regularly with things like inspiration, quotes, character tidbits, and the like, as well as managing a few side blogs for characters within the ‘verse.

You can also find me on Facebook, Patreon, and Pinterest (and Krys’ side blog is here).

[delicatelysublimeforester]

If Pets Had Thumbs

Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.~Orhan Pamuk

    A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself. Josh Billings

Service Dogs at Off Leash Recreation Areas?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Puppies. Puppy Day March 23.

Puppies. Puppy Day March 23.

  Dogs are loyal, patient, fearless, forgiving and capable of pure love. Virtues that few people get through life without abandoning at least once. ~ M.K. Clinton

March 3, If Pets Had Thumbs Day

There are well and truly a few pets that do have thumbs which we will briefly look at first, then it will be fun to delve into scenarios if your pet dog had opposable thumbs.  But what is an opposable thumb?  Wikipedia quotes primatologists and hand research pioneers John and Prudence Napier who defined opposition as: “A movement by which the pulp surface of the thumb is placed squarely in contact with – or diametrically opposite to – the terminal pads of one or all of the remaining digits.”

Emily Carr 1871-1945, Canadian Artist and writer actually did have a pet with opposable thumbs. “Woo” was a Javanese Monkey who played alongside Carr’s pure bred Blueshire Old English Sheep Dogs. However Emily Carr was not the only pet owner to fall in love with a monkey, Justin Beiber, singer and performer for a short while owned a pet Capuchin Monkey, Mally. However as a rule, most pet owners do not own opossums, Koalas are a protected species, and orangutans, gorillas and other apes are usually only seen in nature or in a zoo, and not as a pet.

So, in exploring these primates, and other animals with opposable thumbs, it is now time to consider what your pet dog do if they had opposable thumbs.

They could play fetch with each other! With opposable thumbs your puppy could pick up a stick or ball and be able to move it around, perhaps learning a tossing or throwing motion.

They could pick up their meal as does a racoon, and eat it sitting on their haunches.

Having opposable thumbs, would mean that the puppies, upon sighting a bird or squirrel in a tree, would be able to climb trees as monkeys and apes can.

If your dog had opposable thumbs, they would be able to operate tools, much as a raccoon, can open a garbage can lid, or twist open a door handle easily. A raccoon has five fingers, and no thumb, but has learned how to grip and grasp items between both hands, enabling it to learn many tasks, and wash it food etc.  Your dog, also uses their paws to gain egress around a door or gate, hold their toy kong still, Etc. With opposable thumbs, this task would become much easier for your pet dog.

With opposable thumbs, the pack of dogs would be able to pick up sticks and stones and in addition to their teeth, would be better able to protect themselves and their pups.

Hanging and swinging could be achieved with opposable thumbs, so your dog, could have a great lark of a time creating all sorts of new activities in trees and along tree tops.  Combined with their usual stalking, leaping and pouncing being able to rise above, could result in some complex maneuvres.

At the moment, dogs can only groom themselves, and remove burrs and rose branches from their fur with their teeth or by licking themselves with their tongue or ask their humans to help them. With opposable thumbs, how much easier it would be for each individual dog to relieve the pain of snow, rocks from the soft pads of their paws, or to sit and help the dogs in their pack to remove a burr from their fur.

If your puppy had opposable thumbs, they could enter and leave their owners home with the door handle, and pet doors would become history.

The supper, steak, or pies left out on table or counter would be much much easier to get to with opposable thumbs, if that pooch had not undergone training yet.

Puppies now can pick up their leashes with their mouth to ask their owners for a walk, but with opposable thumbs, this task along with fetching newspapers and slippers becomes a lot easier.

If puppies and dogs had opposable thumbs, it would be easier for a dog to communicate that they have the urge to go outside if you lived in a home without a puppy door. Your puppy rather than gently laying their paw upon your hand or arm, the dog could actually hold your hand and urge you up for a walk, or to go outside.

With opposable thumbs, many, many more tricks could be taught to the dogs, and by the same token more training would be required, as they would be able to climb up and anywhere in the house or outside.

Emily Carr dressed her monkey “Woo” in a bright red dress, and out they went for a walk.  In short order Woo escaped up a tree, and divested herself of the dress on the peak of the same tree, and down Woo clambered.  In like fashion, if your pet dog did not like the booties, hat, sweater or jacket that their pet owner bundled them up in, with opposable thumbs, they could follow Woo’s lead, and removed any fashion accessory.  It wouldn’t take long to determine if your pet dog appreciated the booties to keep the snow out from the pads of their paws, or if your pet pooch felt the -40 Celsius weather, and appreciated their winter jacket, or if their original fur coat does the task of keeping them warm enough, thank you very much.

Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.~Orhan Pamuk

How attuned you are to your dog, would make a large difference if your pet had opposable thumbs. Even without opposable thumbs, dogs learn to dance, twirl, and communicate with their paws with their humans, just imagine the communications and tricks if dogs had opposable thumbs.

Intelligent dogs rarely want to please people whom they do not respect~ William R. Koehler

Without a doubt, your pet dog could make use of an opposable thumb, and the tricks they could learn would be so darned cute.  So these are just a few whimsical ideas to celebrate, “What if Pets Had Thumbs Day”, March 3″=. Next time you are out at the South West Off Leash Recreation Area, and see the pooches running this way and that, imagine, if you will what these dogs would do if they had opposable thumbs.  What do you think your dog would be able to do?

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. ~Leo Rosten

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′ Addresses: Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Should you wish to help protect / enhance the afforestation areas, please contact the City of Saskatoon, Corporate Revenue Division, 222 3rd Ave N, Saskatoon, SK S7K 0J5…to support the afforestation area with your donation please state that your donation should support the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, or the George Genereux Urban Regional Park, or both afforestation areas located in the Blairmore Sector. Please and thank you!  Your donation is greatly appreciated.

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ***

  “St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger

“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.

For me, “Dog Days” symbolizes apocalyptic euphoria, chaotic freedom, and running really, really fast with your eyes closed.” Florence Welch

Primatology and dogs If Pets Had Thumbs Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.~Orhan Pamuk…

[whatdoesagoodgirllooklike-blog]

Girly Essays

Essay: Lolita

Girly: Sarah K. Cleaver on Tumblr nymphets

BY SARAH KATHRYN CLEAVER ON 18 NOVEMBER 2014.

These girls are wasting their youth fetishising it, treating it as a theme to be curated, collected and carefully documented.

In August 2013, paparazzi snapshots of Bradley Cooper and Suki Waterhouse were posted on the Mail Online and several other gossip sites. The two were pictured in various sprawling poses as they relaxed in a park in Paris reading - here's the crux - Lolita. The accompanying headlines all reported a similar narrative, but none more hysterically than Perez Hilton; 'Bradley Cooper’s Life Imitates Art As He Reads Lolita To Barely Legal Girlfriend Suki Waterhouse.' The already easy to grasp point was hammered home with the aid of Hilton’s famous Photoshop paint skills -  '21 is just 12 backwards.’ One of these images in particular, - Waterhouse sitting with Cooper's head resting between her denim dungarees-clad legs as he presumably reads a favourite passage aloud - has multiplied endlessly on Tumblr, liked and reblogged hundreds of thousands of times. fallinhardforhim reblogged this from withloveclaudia, yourlittlegirllala reblogged this from moody-nymph, goodbye-lolita liked this. Spot the trend?

A controversial book since its publication, Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita is considered by many to be one of the 20th century's greatest novels but is widely famous largely due to its controversial subject matter - a man in his thirties sexually obsessed with a 12-year-old girl.

According to an interview in the New Yorker with John Bertram, co-author of Lolita: The Story of a Cover Girl: Vladimir Nabokov’s Novel in Art and Design, there have been roughly two hundred Lolita covers since its original blank canvas, which featured black lettering over a shade of green reminiscent of old school exercise books. Somehow, in failing (or not even attempting) to illustrate what was inside, erotic fiction publishers Olympia Press managed to create the dirtiest of dirty book covers. Almost sixty years, two film adaptations and countless references and misrepresentations in popular culture later, it's still a book that garners a curious glance or two from fellow commuters on the tube.

The conflicts inherent in Lolita stem from the impossibility of re-capturing what has been perfectly expressed by Nabokov in those 300 or so pages; the co-existence of obsessive love and self-serving tyranny. Writer Mary Gaitskill in the introduction to The Story of a Cover Girl cites this as the reason why Lolita cover art is so often poorly attempted; 'such impossible, infernal combinations there are in all of us, and we know it. That Lolitarenders this human condition at such an extreme, so truthfully… is this book's most shocking quality… It is also why no one will ever succeed in describing it fully on a book jacket.' Despite this difficulty, references are rife, from pop song lyrics to the long-standing Japanese 'gothic lolita' fashion The young women who have appropriated Lolita on Tumblr are practically a trope in their own right.

The nymphet community is an online subculture revolving around Lolita, its themes and its accompanying imagery. The fandom spans a diverse range of Lolita interpretations, from superficial feeds of anything pastel-coloured, to the almost inventorial, right through to the pornographic and upsettingly dark , As with any following, the community contains those die-hard fans who insist on authenticity alongside those who are along purely for the aesthetic. As one blogger complains; 'whenever I see people that think Lolita is romantic I wanna cry. Have u even read the book/ seen the movie or are you just in the nymphet community to be kool #nymphet #lolita.'

While the spectrum is broad, the average nymphet blog will usually contain at least one of a list of typical references. Firstly, and obviously, Lolita. Quotes from the book, stills, memes and GIFs from either film. Kubrick's 1962 is better stylistically, but Adrian Lynne's 1997 version is the more popular, probably because it's closer to the book, darker, more sexual and far less perfect. Dominique Swain's screen test from the same film denotes a real Lolita buff, as do the deleted scenes found on the DVD. Other 'age-gap' films seen over and over include Pretty Baby (1978), The Crush (1992), My Little Princess (2011), Sleeping Beauty (2011) and Jeune et Jolie(2013). Then there are vintage signifiers, pulp novel covers ranging in levels of bad taste (my personal favourite Daddy I'm Coming), photographs of vintage underwear, Parisian street photographs. There's the personal posts, 'I dropped my pen in a lecture today and two guys and the lecturer went to fetch it for me and is this nymphet power or what? #nymphet #thoughts.' And finally, the porn - huge amounts of porn. 'It's all American Beauty and cum!' exclaims a colleague as we scroll through one of the afore-mentioned pages belonging to a girl named ‘pulp-princess’. All this content is displayed on blogs that have been painstakingly coded to pink-tinted perfection (no basic Tumblr templates for these girls) and soundtracked by the mournful strains of Lana del Rey: 'I'll wait for you babe, that's all I'll do babe, you don't come through babe, you never do. 'Cause I'm pretty when I cry.'

Del Rey pops up a lot on these blogs. She’s a fellow, if honorary (given her age), nymphet. When interviewed, the singer-songwriter, whose real name is Lizzie Grant, cites Lolita as a reference, describing the sound of her first album as 'Lolita lost in the hood.' There is even a track on Born To Die named Lolita, but it's Off to the Racesthat borrows most heavily from both the book and the 1997 film. 'Swimming pool, glimmering darling' - a deleted swimming pool scene, 'Light of my life, fire of my loins' - a direct quote from page one, 'Give me them gold coins, Give me them coins' - another scene in which coins spill over an unmade bed as the couple fight over money that Humbert has bribed Lo with in return for sex. The list continues, even the songs that don't reference Lolitastill evoke that same type of doomed love.

Over the years many young women have probably read Lolita, liked the book and maybe even identified with aspects of the character, but it's only with the prevalence of the internet that you can observe the vast, primarily young and female fandom. Why this character? She has no agency or voice of her own in the book or either film, most of her lines are responses to what is being done to her. But it's her they're interested in, not so much her step-father/lover/abuser Humbert Humbert (affectionately known as Hum) even though the nymphets claim to be interested in older men. And though Tumblr is an aesthetically-led form of social media, for many of these users it's not quite as simple as style over substance either.  This isn't a tentative grasp on the vague and various meanings attached to Lo over the years. Theirs is an informed obsession, not just an attraction to Bert Stern's pictures of Sue Lyon in heart shaped glasses.

With its vast proportion of teenage users, Tumblr is an angsty place. When discussing nostalgia and the internet in a panel discussion on Marques Almeida’s S/S 15 show, SHOWstudio founder Nick Knight pointed out that Tumblr’s community appear to fixate on the dark, the unhappy and the melancholy. 'There's a certain obsession with sadness on Tumblr, sadness seems to be kind of around at the moment… You see things that magazines on the whole won't show. Self harm, food obsessions. Things that are personal. A fascination for death. I do think it ties in with a global movement.'

Western young women today arguably have more options than ever before, but there's a pressure that arises from that to accomplish more. When you never quite feel like you’re getting enough right it makes sense to fetishise the wrong. It's not unusual to find something upsetting enough to make you close the tab in a nymphet blog; the gruesome dismembered body of Elizabeth Short (aka The Black Dahlia) just down the page from a pinterest-y shot of pastel colour silk dresses hanging in a vintage wardrobe. A violent pornographic image transformed into a meme with the darkly romantic Arctic Monkeys lyrics 'crawling back to you', then later a GIF of spindly spiders fighting in the corner of a ceiling. Reading Lolita in Tehran author Azar Nafisi points out that Lolita's real name Dolores means sorrow, and Lolita blogs are always sad. While at face value a curation of the sexualisation of young girls, on closer inspection nymphet blogs document tragedy. The type of femininity these young women – and for that matter Lana del Rey - have chosen to identify with is one that is doomed from the start. Either Oscar Wilde or George Bernard Shaw said youth is wasted on the young. These particular girls are wasting theirs fetishising it, treating youth as a theme to be curated, collected and carefully documented. 

It's this juxtaposition of the cute and girlish with the violent that expresses the core theme of Lolita better than any blonde teen sucking a lollypop on numerous book jackets ever can.

This is an essay written alongside ‘Girly’ - the fashion film. It remarks on the ‘Lolita movement’ and really converses the message I am aiming to portray in my concept as well. I italicised and made bold, key points that I thought really struck a chord with what is going on. The polar opposite ideal I am discussing, and how the sweetness and innocence of ‘Lolita’ is so revolting against the sinister darkness of the paedophilic behaviour occurring in the story. Dolores is a minor, it’s just a game to her,

[momscookingthebooks]

Eleven authors. Eleven Novellas. This is one thick . . . book.

Christmas just became a whole lot merrier...

TEAM PLAYER, A Christmas Anthology featuring titles by LJ Shen, Kennedy Ryan, Adriana Locke, Mandi Beck, Emma Scott, Charleigh Rose, Ella Fox, Sara Ney, Meghan Quinn, Kate Stewart and Rochelle Paige is available NOW!

Publication Date: December 14th, 2017 Genre: Contemporary/Sports Romance

Hot jocks. We love them all.

Sexy baseball players. Intense footballers. Sweaty MMA fighters, and sizzling hockey hotties. Score!

The good news? Eleven bestselling authors have gathered to give you a set of stories focused on the men we love most—sports heroes. We bet you’ll love this thick…book.

The bad news? The men in these novellas don’t actually exist.

*This anthology does not contain calories, just eleven original, never-before-seen stories by the following authors: Adriana Locke, Mandi Beck, Charleigh Rose, Kennedy Ryan, LJ Shen, Meghan Quinn, Rochelle Paige, Ella Fox, Kate Stewart, Emma Scott, and Sara Ney. We aren’t responsible for melted devices.

Read Today!

(FREE in Kindle Unlimited)

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2j7MCK1

Amazon Universal: http://mybook.to/TeamPlayerAnthology

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2iVSpFW

Meet the Authors:

LJ Shen

L.J. Shen is an International #1 best-selling author of Contemporary Romance and New Adult novels. She lives in Northern California with her husband, young son and chubby cat.

Before she’d settled down, L.J. (who thinks referring to herself in the third person is really silly, by the way) traveled the world, and collected friends from all across the globe. Friends who’d be happy to report that she is a rubbish companion, always forgets people’s birthdays and never sends Christmas cards.

She enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends, reading, HBO, Netflix and internet-stalking Stephen James. She reads between three to five books a week and firmly believes Crocs shoes and mullets should be outlawed.

Connect with LJ Shen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorljshen/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lj_shen

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authorljshen/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorljshen/

Stay up to date with LJ Shen by signing up for her mailing list:

http://bit.ly/2umcYPg

http://www.authorljshen.com/

Kennedy Ryan:

Kennedy Ryan is a Southern girl gone Southern California. A Top 100 Amazon Bestseller, Kennedy writes romance about remarkable women who find a way to thrive even in tough times, the love they find, and the men who cherish them.

She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son. She has always leveraged her journalism background to write for charity and non-profit organizations, but enjoys writing to raise Autism awareness most. A contributor for Modern Mom Magazine, Kennedy’s writings have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today and many others. The founder and executive director of a foundation serving Georgia families living with Autism, Kennedy has appeared on Headline News, Montel Williams, NPR and other outlets as a voice for families living with autism.

Connect with Kennedy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KennedyRyanAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kennedyrwrites

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kennedyryan1/

Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KennedyRyanAuthor

YouTube: http://bit.ly/2gsAGkp

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2x0qCtC

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kennedy-ryan

Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/681604768593989/

http://kennedyryanwrites.com

Adriana Locke:

A contemporary romance author running on coffee and sticky kisses from my rowdy four little boys.

From Indiana, I’m a true Mid-Westerner. Life, for me, is about family, faith, and food. When I’m not running my kiddos around or having a lunch date of fajitas with my husband (and high school sweetheart), you can find me outside. I love a good sunny day almost as much as I love candy, random quotes, and steamy bad boys in fantastic books.

I’m on nearly every social media platform. Please find me on the ones you frequent – I love chatting with readers.

Connect with Adriana

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoradrianalocke

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authoralocke

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authoradrianalocke/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/adriana-locke

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8379774.Adriana_Locke

Amazon Alerts: http://adrianalocke.com/release-day-notifications/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authoradrianalo/

http://adrianalocke.com

Mandi Beck:

Mandi Beck has been an avid reader all of her life. A deep love for books always had her jotting down little stories on napkins, notebooks, and her hand. As an adult she was further submerged into the book world through book clubs and the epicness of social media. It was then that she graduated to writing her stories on her phone and then finally on a proper computer.

A nursing student, mother to two rambunctious and somewhat rotten boys, and stepmom to two great girls away at college, she shares her time with her husband in Chicago where she was born and raised. Mandi is a diehard hockey fan and blames the Blackhawks when her deadlines are not met.

Connect with Mandi

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormandibeck

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authormandibeck

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authormandi/

Newsletter: https://www.authormandibeck.com/newsletter

https://www.authormandibeck.com

Emma Scott:

I write romances with flawed characters, characters with artistic hearts: builders, poets, and writers of various makes and models. I love to write book lovers; those who have found refuge, companionship, and escape in books, much as we do in real life. I like realism, honesty, authenticity in storytelling. I love to write about enduring love, soul-deep love, in as real a setting as I can make, but with big smooshy HEAs. I believe in diversity, open-mindedness, and inclusion. I like sweetness mixed with steam, love conquering all, and above all, hope. Love always wins.

Connect with Emma

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmmaScottwrites/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10405165.Emma_Scott

Blog: http://emmascottblog.blogspot.com

Charleigh Rose:

We are a duo of an international best-selling author and a blogger who teamed up to write the taboo, thought-provoking stories we want our audience to have--without filters.

Both Charleigh and Rose are committed to giving you witty, sexy, intelligent novels that will leave you wanting more.

Connect with Charleigh

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charleighroseprose/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15569269.Charleigh_Rose?from_search=true

Ella Fox:

When she’s not writing, Ella indulges the gypsy in her blood and travels the country. Ella loves reading, movies, music, buying make-up, reading Tmz, Twitter and pedicures… not necessarily in that order. She has a wild sense of humor and loves to laugh. Her favorite thing in the world is hanging out with her family and watching comedy movies.

Connect with Ella

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EllaFoxAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorellafox

http://www.authorellafox.com

Sara Ney:

Sara Ney is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the How to Date a Douchebag series, and is best known for her sexy, laugh-out-loud New Adult romances. Among her favorite vices, she includes: iced latte’s, historical architecture and well-placed sarcasm. She lives colorfully, collects vintage books, art, loves flea markets, and fancies herself British.

Connect with Sara

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saraneyauthor/

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2Ay8lT2

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saraneyauthor/

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2g32hJO

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/saraneyauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaraNey

http://authorsaraney.com

Meghan Quinn:

A BLONDE AT HEART Born in New York and raised in Southern California, Meghan has grown into a sassy, peanut butter eating, blonde haired swearing, animal hoarding lady. She is known to bust out and dance if “It’s Raining Men” starts beating through the air and heaven forbid you get a margarita in her, protect your legs because they may be humped. Once she started commuting for an hour and twenty minutes every day to work for three years, she began to have conversations play in her head, real life, deep male voices and dainty lady coos kind of conversations. Perturbed and confused, she decided to either see a therapist about the hot and steamy voices running through her head or start writing them down. She decided to go with the cheaper option and started writing… enter her first novel, Caught Looking. ​Now you can find the spicy, most definitely on the border of lunacy, kind of crazy lady residing in Colorado with the love of her life and her five, furry four-legged children, hiking a trail or hiding behind shelves at grocery stores, wondering what kind of lube the nervous stranger will bring home to his wife. Oh and she loves a good boob squeeze!

Connect with Meghan

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghanquinnauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormeghanquinn/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2_j4HJ91yQLxZ0EC4p2PEA

YouTube: https://twitter.com/AuthorMegQuinn

Website: http://authormeghanquinn.com

Kate Stewart:

Kate Stewart lives in Charleston, S.C. with her husband, Nick, and her naughty beagle, Sadie. A native of Dallas, Kate moved to Charleston three weeks after her first visit, dropping her career of 8 years, and declaring it her creative muse. Kate pens messy, sexy, angst-filled contemporary romance as well as romantic comedy and erotic suspense because it's what she loves as a reader. A lover of all things '80s and '90s, especially John Hughes films and rap, she dabbles a little in photography, can knit a simple stitch scarf for necessity only and does a horrible job of playing the ukulele. Aside from running a mile without collapsing, traveling is the only other must on her bucket list. On occasion, she does very well at vodka.

Connect with Kate

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkatestewart/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorklstewart

http://www.katestewartwrites.com

Rochelle Paige:

Rochelle Paige is the Amazon bestselling author of nineteen books. She absolutely adores reading and her friends growing up used to tease her when she trailed after them, trying to read and walk at the same time. She loves stories with alpha males, sassy heroines, hot sex and happily ever afters. She is a bit of a genre hopper in both her reading and her writing. So far she's written books in several romance sub-genres including new adult, contemporary, paranormal and romantic suspense.

She is the mother of two wonderful sons who inspired her to chase her dream of being an author. She wants them to learn from her that you can live your dream as long as you are willing to work for it.

Connect with Rochelle

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rochellepaigeauthor/

Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1436132763270558/

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2n6RkMX

http://www.rochellepaige.com/home

[readloveeatrepeat]

Eleven authors. Eleven Novellas. This is one thick . . . book.

Christmas just became a whole lot merrier...

TEAM PLAYER, A Christmas Anthology featuring titles by LJ Shen, Kennedy Ryan, Adriana Locke, Mandi Beck, Emma Scott, Charleigh Rose, Ella Fox, Sara Ney, Meghan Quinn, Kate Stewart and Rochelle Paige is LIVE!

Publication Date: December 14th, 2017 Genre: Contemporary/Sports Romance

Hot jocks. We love them all.

Sexy baseball players. Intense footballers. Sweaty MMA fighters, and sizzling hockey hotties. Score!

The good news? Eleven bestselling authors have gathered to give you a set of stories focused on the men we love most—sports heroes. We bet you’ll love this thick…book.

The bad news? The men in these novellas don’t actually exist.

*This anthology does not contain calories, just eleven original, never-before-seen stories by the following authors: Adriana Locke, Mandi Beck, Charleigh Rose, Kennedy Ryan, LJ Shen, Meghan Quinn, Rochelle Paige, Ella Fox, Kate Stewart, Emma Scott, and Sara Ney. We aren’t responsible for melted devices.

Read Today!

(FREE in Kindle Unlimited)

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2j7MCK1

Amazon Universal: http://mybook.to/TeamPlayerAnthology

Add to GoodReads: http://bit.ly/2iVSpFW

Meet the authors:

LJ Shen

L.J. Shen is an International #1 best-selling author of Contemporary Romance and New Adult novels. She lives in Northern California with her husband, young son and chubby cat. Before she’d settled down, L.J. (who thinks referring to herself in the third person is really silly, by the way) traveled the world, and collected friends from all across the globe. Friends who’d be happy to report that she is a rubbish companion, always forgets people’s birthdays and never sends Christmas cards. She enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends, reading, HBO, Netflix and internet-stalking Stephen James. She reads between three to five books a week and firmly believes Crocs shoes and mullets should be outlawed.

Connect with LJ Shen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorljshen/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lj_shen

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authorljshen/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorljshen/

Stay up to date with LJ Shen by signing up for her mailing list:

http://bit.ly/2umcYPg

http://www.authorljshen.com/

Kennedy Ryan:

Kennedy Ryan is a Southern girl gone Southern California. A Top 100 Amazon Bestseller, Kennedy writes romance about remarkable women who find a way to thrive even in tough times, the love they find, and the men who cherish them. She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son. She has always leveraged her journalism background to write for charity and non-profit organizations, but enjoys writing to raise Autism awareness most. A contributor for Modern Mom Magazine, Kennedy’s writings have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today and many others. The founder and executive director of a foundation serving Georgia families living with Autism, Kennedy has appeared on Headline News, Montel Williams, NPR and other outlets as a voice for families living with autism.

Connect with Kennedy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KennedyRyanAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kennedyrwrites

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kennedyryan1/

Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KennedyRyanAuthor

YouTube: http://bit.ly/2gsAGkp

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2x0qCtC

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kennedy-ryan

Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/681604768593989/

http://kennedyryanwrites.com

Adriana Locke:

A contemporary romance author running on coffee and sticky kisses from my rowdy four little boys. From Indiana, I’m a true Mid-Westerner. Life, for me, is about family, faith, and food. When I’m not running my kiddos around or having a lunch date of fajitas with my husband (and high school sweetheart), you can find me outside. I love a good sunny day almost as much as I love candy, random quotes, and steamy bad boys in fantastic books. I’m on nearly every social media platform. Please find me on the ones you frequent – I love chatting with readers.

Connect with Adriana

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoradrianalocke

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authoralocke

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authoradrianalocke/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/adriana-locke

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8379774.Adriana_Locke

Amazon Alerts: http://adrianalocke.com/release-day-notifications/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authoradrianalo/

http://adrianalocke.com

Mandi Beck:

Mandi Beck has been an avid reader all of her life. A deep love for books always had her jotting down little stories on napkins, notebooks, and her hand. As an adult she was further submerged into the book world through book clubs and the epicness of social media. It was then that she graduated to writing her stories on her phone and then finally on a proper computer. A nursing student, mother to two rambunctious and somewhat rotten boys, and stepmom to two great girls away at college, she shares her time with her husband in Chicago where she was born and raised. Mandi is a diehard hockey fan and blames the Blackhawks when her deadlines are not met.

Connect with Mandi

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormandibeck

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authormandibeck

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authormandi/

Newsletter: https://www.authormandibeck.com/newsletter

https://www.authormandibeck.com

Emma Scott:

I write romances with flawed characters, characters with artistic hearts: builders, poets, and writers of various makes and models. I love to write book lovers; those who have found refuge, companionship, and escape in books, much as we do in real life. I like realism, honesty, authenticity in storytelling. I love to write about enduring love, soul-deep love, in as real a setting as I can make, but with big smooshy HEAs. I believe in diversity, open-mindedness, and inclusion. I like sweetness mixed with steam, love conquering all, and above all, hope. Love always wins.

Connect with Emma

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmmaScottwrites/

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10405165.Emma_Scott

Blog: http://emmascottblog.blogspot.com

Charleigh Rose:

We are a duo of an international best-selling author and a blogger who teamed up to write the taboo, thought-provoking stories we want our audience to have--without filters. Both Charleigh and Rose are committed to giving you witty, sexy, intelligent novels that will leave you wanting more.

Connect with Charleigh

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charleighroseprose/

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15569269.Charleigh_Rose?from_search=true

Ella Fox:

When she’s not writing, Ella indulges the gypsy in her blood and travels the country. Ella loves reading, movies, music, buying make-up, reading Tmz, Twitter and pedicures… not necessarily in that order. She has a wild sense of humor and loves to laugh. Her favorite thing in the world is hanging out with her family and watching comedy movies.

Connect with Ella

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EllaFoxAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorellafox

http://www.authorellafox.com

Sara Ney:

Sara Ney is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the How to Date a Douchebag series, and is best known for her sexy, laugh-out-loud New Adult romances. Among her favorite vices, she includes: iced latte’s, historical architecture and well-placed sarcasm. She lives colorfully, collects vintage books, art, loves flea markets, and fancies herself British.

Connect with Sara

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saraneyauthor/

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2Ay8lT2

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saraneyauthor/

GoodReads: http://bit.ly/2g32hJO

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/saraneyauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaraNey

http://authorsaraney.com

Meghan Quinn:

A BLONDE AT HEART Born in New York and raised in Southern California, Meghan has grown into a sassy, peanut butter eating, blonde haired swearing, animal hoarding lady. She is known to bust out and dance if “It’s Raining Men” starts beating through the air and heaven forbid you get a margarita in her, protect your legs because they may be humped. Once she started commuting for an hour and twenty minutes every day to work for three years, she began to have conversations play in her head, real life, deep male voices and dainty lady coos kind of conversations. Perturbed and confused, she decided to either see a therapist about the hot and steamy voices running through her head or start writing them down. She decided to go with the cheaper option and started writing… enter her first novel, Caught Looking. Now you can find the spicy, most definitely on the border of lunacy, kind of crazy lady residing in Colorado with the love of her life and her five, furry four legged children, hiking a trail or hiding behind shelves at grocery stores, wondering what kind of lube the nervous stranger will bring home to his wife. Oh and she loves a good boob squeeze!

Connect with Meghan

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghanquinnauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormeghanquinn/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2_j4HJ91yQLxZ0EC4p2PEA

YouTube: https://twitter.com/AuthorMegQuinn

Website: http://authormeghanquinn.com

Kate Stewart:

Kate Stewart lives in Charleston, S.C. with her husband, Nick, and her naughty beagle, Sadie. A native of Dallas, Kate moved to Charleston three weeks after her first visit, dropping her career of 8 years, and declaring it her creative muse. Kate pens messy, sexy, angst-filled contemporary romance as well as romantic comedy and erotic suspense because it's what she loves as a reader. A lover of all things '80s and '90s, especially John Hughes films and rap, she dabbles a little in photography, can knit a simple stitch scarf for necessity only and does a horrible job of playing the ukulele. Aside from running a mile without collapsing, traveling is the only other must on her bucket list. On occasion, she does very well at vodka.

Connect with Kate

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkatestewart/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorklstewart

http://www.katestewartwrites.com

Rochelle Paige:

Rochelle Paige is the Amazon bestselling author of nineteen books. She absolutely adores reading and her friends growing up used to tease her when she trailed after them, trying to read and walk at the same time. She loves stories with alpha males, sassy heroines, hot sex and happily ever afters. She is a bit of a genre hopper in both her reading and her writing. So far she's written books in several romance sub-genres including new adult, contemporary, paranormal and romantic suspense. She is the mother of two wonderful sons who inspired her to chase her dream of being an author. She wants them to learn from her that you can live your dream as long as you are willing to work for it.

Connect with Rochelle

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rochellepaigeauthor/

Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1436132763270558/

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2n6RkMX

http://www.rochellepaige.com/home

[marie85marketing]

2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The April Prompts

It’s April! Don’t ask me where March went, because I have no idea. But it’s time once again for a pair of Content Excellence Challenge prompts.

Each month this year, we’ll give you two prompts — one intended to make you a better writer and one intended to make you a more productive one.

This month’s prompts both share a creative dimension and an ultra pragmatic one. Because creativity and pragmatism are like air and water — you need both of them to make it.

Ready or not, here we go:

The April Creativity Prompt

Remember last month’s creative challenge to find keywords?

(If you did that one, drop a note in the comments and gloat over the lesser mortals who didn’t quite get around to it. You know you want to.)

This month we’re approaching the same critter, but with a different net.

Starting today, every day until the next Content Challenge post, go to a social media site and copy some phrases written by your target audience.

Let’s face it; you’re already hanging out there anyway. And while we all definitely want to know what you think about Bulletproof Coffee, you might as well use that time to do some listening, too.

Write down, word for word, what people are saying about your topic. You might find a phrase, a sentence, or a full paragraph … you never know what’s going to show up on a given day.

You’re looking for:

Frustrations

Rants

Questions

Irritations

Failures

Embarrassments

Triumphs

Important: Make sure you label these as someone else’s words when you copy them down. You can use something crazy like quotation marks and the name of the person who originally wrote it. Date each entry, with a note about where you found it.

You don’t want to come back to this in six months, think you wrote these phrases, and accidentally plagiarize someone else’s wording.

What you’re mining for are scraps. Word choices. Conceptual frameworks. Mindsets. Approaches.

These words and phrases are idea seeds for your content — seeds you can grow into blog posts, podcast scripts, and maybe even entire products and services.

Now let’s talk about a productivity tool to help you find those again when you need them.

The April Productivity Prompt

You may have noticed that there’s been something of a resurgence in journaling lately. If you’re ever on Instagram, Pinterest, or YouTube, you may have seen people who keep “bullet journals” — Ryder Carroll’s name for an originally simple set of ways to keep lists and notes.

Some people’s bullet journals are Instagram masterpieces, with color-coded tracking systems, calligraphy flourishes for every day, and “spreads” showing impeccably illustrated weekly grocery lists.

I’m going to propose something a little less curated than that.

This month, if you don’t have one yet, start a creative journal. I suggest that great creative journals tend to have three qualities: They are Messy, Private, and Inclusive.

In my experience, creative people need journals. They’re the greenhouses where we grow ideas. And the laboratories where we practice fiendish experiments.

Journals should be messy. An impeccable, Instagram-ready journal is something different. It’s a creative output … a finished piece of art. But you need a journal for creative process and input.

Creative journals should have false starts, rabbit holes, ugly drawings, stupid sentences, bad ideas, and other embarrassments.

Journals should be private. Because a good creative journal is embarrassing, it’s a great idea to keep it private.

There might be something cool in there that you do want to share. There often is. Go ahead and share it … selectively.

But a creative journal is mostly about private exploration, not public showing off.

Journals should be inclusive. Most of my life I’ve balanced piles of notebooks — maybe one for sketching, one for work, one for to-do lists, one for creative ideas, one for quotes.

I’m coming around to the benefit of dumping the whole mess into one bucket.

My (very ugly) bullet journal has to-do lists, project notes, content plans for the blog and the podcast, thoughts about habits, thoughts about my business, quotes, doodles, sketches, workout notes, the recurring script for my podcast intro, product ideas, call notes, grand ideas for the future, and all manner of lists.

No one wants to see a YouTube video of my bullet journal.

If you keep a journal like this digitally, and you haven’t tried paper for a while … allow me to suggest that you try it out. There’s something deeply creatively satisfying about an actual object stuffed with ideas — a collection of digital notes just doesn’t spark the same excitement.

A creative journal is a place to capture the sparks that float past. It’s a space to experiment, plan, or just goof around. It’s a home for random thoughts and interesting brainworms. It’s where you store dreams that scare you a little.

Flip through your journal sometimes. (You’ll find yourself doing that automatically when you need a content idea or think of a use for that reference note.)

Those social media phrases you’re finding from our first prompt? Copying them into a blank book would be a great way to kick off a new journal.

A final word on keeping a journal: We might need a word for the folks who keep them, but that word is not journalist. I know I am old-fashioned, but I’m clinging to that one for my friends and colleagues who went to journalism school, have put their time in for lousy pay under intense deadlines, and who have the job of defending democracy from charlatans and lunatics.

What do you think?

Journals are, by nature, intensely personal … and you might have strong opinions about them that conflict with my strong opinions about them. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Let us know in the comments — do you keep a journal? Ever try a bullet journal? What works well for you to wrangle your ideas and find them when you need them?

The post 2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The April Prompts appeared first on Copyblogger.

Related Stories

2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The February Prompts

Your 2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The January Prompts

2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The March Prompts

[hypertagmaster]

2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The April Prompts

It’s April! Don’t ask me where March went, because I have no idea. But it’s time once again for a pair of Content Excellence Challenge prompts.

Each month this year, we’ll give you two prompts — one intended to make you a better writer and one intended to make you a more productive one.

This month’s prompts both share a creative dimension and an ultra pragmatic one. Because creativity and pragmatism are like air and water — you need both of them to make it.

Ready or not, here we go:

The April Creativity Prompt

Remember last month’s creative challenge to find keywords?

(If you did that one, drop a note in the comments and gloat over the lesser mortals who didn’t quite get around to it. You know you want to.)

This month we’re approaching the same critter, but with a different net.

Starting today, every day until the next Content Challenge post, go to a social media site and copy some phrases written by your target audience.

Let’s face it; you’re already hanging out there anyway. And while we all definitely want to know what you think about Bulletproof Coffee, you might as well use that time to do some listening, too.

Write down, word for word, what people are saying about your topic. You might find a phrase, a sentence, or a full paragraph … you never know what’s going to show up on a given day.

You’re looking for:

Frustrations

Rants

Questions

Irritations

Failures

Embarrassments

Triumphs

Important: Make sure you label these as someone else’s words when you copy them down. You can use something crazy like quotation marks and the name of the person who originally wrote it. Date each entry, with a note about where you found it.

You don’t want to come back to this in six months, think you wrote these phrases, and accidentally plagiarize someone else’s wording.

What you’re mining for are scraps. Word choices. Conceptual frameworks. Mindsets. Approaches.

These words and phrases are idea seeds for your content — seeds you can grow into blog posts, podcast scripts, and maybe even entire products and services.

Now let’s talk about a productivity tool to help you find those again when you need them.

The April Productivity Prompt

You may have noticed that there’s been something of a resurgence in journaling lately. If you’re ever on Instagram, Pinterest, or YouTube, you may have seen people who keep “bullet journals” — Ryder Carroll’s name for an originally simple set of ways to keep lists and notes.

Some people’s bullet journals are Instagram masterpieces, with color-coded tracking systems, calligraphy flourishes for every day, and “spreads” showing impeccably illustrated weekly grocery lists.

I’m going to propose something a little less curated than that.

This month, if you don’t have one yet, start a creative journal. I suggest that great creative journals tend to have three qualities: They are Messy, Private, and Inclusive.

In my experience, creative people need journals. They’re the greenhouses where we grow ideas. And the laboratories where we practice fiendish experiments.

Journals should be messy. An impeccable, Instagram-ready journal is something different. It’s a creative output … a finished piece of art. But you need a journal for creative process and input.

Creative journals should have false starts, rabbit holes, ugly drawings, stupid sentences, bad ideas, and other embarrassments.

Journals should be private. Because a good creative journal is embarrassing, it’s a great idea to keep it private.

There might be something cool in there that you do want to share. There often is. Go ahead and share it … selectively.

But a creative journal is mostly about private exploration, not public showing off.

Journals should be inclusive. Most of my life I’ve balanced piles of notebooks — maybe one for sketching, one for work, one for to-do lists, one for creative ideas, one for quotes.

I’m coming around to the benefit of dumping the whole mess into one bucket.

My (very ugly) bullet journal has to-do lists, project notes, content plans for the blog and the podcast, thoughts about habits, thoughts about my business, quotes, doodles, sketches, workout notes, the recurring script for my podcast intro, product ideas, call notes, grand ideas for the future, and all manner of lists.

No one wants to see a YouTube video of my bullet journal.

If you keep a journal like this digitally, and you haven’t tried paper for a while … allow me to suggest that you try it out. There’s something deeply creatively satisfying about an actual object stuffed with ideas — a collection of digital notes just doesn’t spark the same excitement.

A creative journal is a place to capture the sparks that float past. It’s a space to experiment, plan, or just goof around. It’s a home for random thoughts and interesting brainworms. It’s where you store dreams that scare you a little.

Flip through your journal sometimes. (You’ll find yourself doing that automatically when you need a content idea or think of a use for that reference note.)

Those social media phrases you’re finding from our first prompt? Copying them into a blank book would be a great way to kick off a new journal.

A final word on keeping a journal: We might need a word for the folks who keep them, but that word is not journalist. I know I am old-fashioned, but I’m clinging to that one for my friends and colleagues who went to journalism school, have put their time in for lousy pay under intense deadlines, and who have the job of defending democracy from charlatans and lunatics.

What do you think?

Journals are, by nature, intensely personal … and you might have strong opinions about them that conflict with my strong opinions about them. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Let us know in the comments — do you keep a journal? Ever try a bullet journal? What works well for you to wrangle your ideas and find them when you need them?

The post 2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The April Prompts appeared first on Copyblogger.

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2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The April Prompts

It’s April! Don’t ask me where March went, because I have no idea. But it’s time once again for a pair of Content Excellence Challenge prompts.

Each month this year, we’ll give you two prompts — one intended to make you a better writer and one intended to make you a more productive one.

This month’s prompts both share a creative dimension and an ultra pragmatic one. Because creativity and pragmatism are like air and water — you need both of them to make it.

Ready or not, here we go:

The April Creativity Prompt

Remember last month’s creative challenge to find keywords?

(If you did that one, drop a note in the comments and gloat over the lesser mortals who didn’t quite get around to it. You know you want to.)

This month we’re approaching the same critter, but with a different net.

Starting today, every day until the next Content Challenge post, go to a social media site and copy some phrases written by your target audience.

Let’s face it; you’re already hanging out there anyway. And while we all definitely want to know what you think about Bulletproof Coffee, you might as well use that time to do some listening, too.

Write down, word for word, what people are saying about your topic. You might find a phrase, a sentence, or a full paragraph … you never know what’s going to show up on a given day.

You’re looking for:

Frustrations

Rants

Questions

Irritations

Failures

Embarrassments

Triumphs

Important: Make sure you label these as someone else’s words when you copy them down. You can use something crazy like quotation marks and the name of the person who originally wrote it. Date each entry, with a note about where you found it.

You don’t want to come back to this in six months, think you wrote these phrases, and accidentally plagiarize someone else’s wording.

What you’re mining for are scraps. Word choices. Conceptual frameworks. Mindsets. Approaches.

These words and phrases are idea seeds for your content — seeds you can grow into blog posts, podcast scripts, and maybe even entire products and services.

Now let’s talk about a productivity tool to help you find those again when you need them.

The April Productivity Prompt

You may have noticed that there’s been something of a resurgence in journaling lately. If you’re ever on Instagram, Pinterest, or YouTube, you may have seen people who keep “bullet journals” — Ryder Carroll’s name for an originally simple set of ways to keep lists and notes.

Some people’s bullet journals are Instagram masterpieces, with color-coded tracking systems, calligraphy flourishes for every day, and “spreads” showing impeccably illustrated weekly grocery lists.

I’m going to propose something a little less curated than that.

This month, if you don’t have one yet, start a creative journal. I suggest that great creative journals tend to have three qualities: They are Messy, Private, and Inclusive.

In my experience, creative people need journals. They’re the greenhouses where we grow ideas. And the laboratories where we practice fiendish experiments.

Journals should be messy. An impeccable, Instagram-ready journal is something different. It’s a creative output … a finished piece of art. But you need a journal for creative process and input.

Creative journals should have false starts, rabbit holes, ugly drawings, stupid sentences, bad ideas, and other embarrassments.

Journals should be private. Because a good creative journal is embarrassing, it’s a great idea to keep it private.

There might be something cool in there that you do want to share. There often is. Go ahead and share it … selectively.

But a creative journal is mostly about private exploration, not public showing off.

Journals should be inclusive. Most of my life I’ve balanced piles of notebooks — maybe one for sketching, one for work, one for to-do lists, one for creative ideas, one for quotes.

I’m coming around to the benefit of dumping the whole mess into one bucket.

My (very ugly) bullet journal has to-do lists, project notes, content plans for the blog and the podcast, thoughts about habits, thoughts about my business, quotes, doodles, sketches, workout notes, the recurring script for my podcast intro, product ideas, call notes, grand ideas for the future, and all manner of lists.

No one wants to see a YouTube video of my bullet journal.

If you keep a journal like this digitally, and you haven’t tried paper for a while … allow me to suggest that you try it out. There’s something deeply creatively satisfying about an actual object stuffed with ideas — a collection of digital notes just doesn’t spark the same excitement.

A creative journal is a place to capture the sparks that float past. It’s a space to experiment, plan, or just goof around. It’s a home for random thoughts and interesting brainworms. It’s where you store dreams that scare you a little.

Flip through your journal sometimes. (You’ll find yourself doing that automatically when you need a content idea or think of a use for that reference note.)

Those social media phrases you’re finding from our first prompt? Copying them into a blank book would be a great way to kick off a new journal.

A final word on keeping a journal: We might need a word for the folks who keep them, but that word is not journalist. I know I am old-fashioned, but I’m clinging to that one for my friends and colleagues who went to journalism school, have put their time in for lousy pay under intense deadlines, and who have the job of defending democracy from charlatans and lunatics.

What do you think?

Journals are, by nature, intensely personal … and you might have strong opinions about them that conflict with my strong opinions about them. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Let us know in the comments — do you keep a journal? Ever try a bullet journal? What works well for you to wrangle your ideas and find them when you need them?

The post 2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The April Prompts appeared first on Copyblogger.

Related Stories

2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The February Prompts

Your 2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The January Prompts

2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The March Prompts

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