My new year resolution for 2023 is to get back into creative writing by doing my bare minimum of 250 words a day in an hour. It's not going to pretty. Prompts wont be completed.
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The Bare Minimum: 250 Words
12/01/2023
Continued from Jan 6th prompt.
Prompt
Character: A Plumber in training.
Situation: Falling in love with the wrong person.
Prop: A disguise.
Setting: Cabin by the lake, day.
“Bloody irritating!” answered the man “The frick of a thing kept me up all night. Probably why I am on the floor right now”.
Wilton followed the source of the noise to the tap over the bathtub, turning the tap off as much as he could but the water continued to drip directly into the tub drain where it seemed to be hitting a collection of water in the bend of the pipes under the bath, causing the drip to echo back up the pipes in a reverberating plop sound.
Hi gang!
Myka here, I think I just want to type on the keyboard as I have no idea what I am going to do with this story. I’ve heard that writing out a summary of what you have already written can help with unblocking so that’s what I am going to do here we go….
It's about a man in his 50’s working at his son's holiday park in the southern part of the country. He moved there a few years after the passing of his wife. And needed a change of scenery, so he backs up his house of 30 years and makes the move. Though he enjoys his time with his grandchildren and with his son and daughter in law, he finds himself restless and takes up causal work as a handyman at his son holiday park, the Desert Lake Park.
One day the man, Wilton, is asked to visit cabin 28 where a leaky tap has been reported by one of the visitors.
Wilton goes to cabin 28 in hopes of fixing the job quickly so he can go fishing at the lake. However, when he gets to the cabin, the guest doesn’t answer the door despite Wilton knocking and calling out.
Just when Wilton was about to turn around and leave, he hears the sound of a glass smashing against the wooden floor of the cabin. In alarm, Wilton runs to the back of the cabin that looks out towards the lake.
Wilton can see through the glass door that the guest has fallen to the floor, his body caught in spasms. The guest is having a seizure.
Wilton runs into the room, noting that the guest is taking some medicine, informing Wilton that he needs to get the guest, a man his age maybe slightly older, into a safer position so that he won't hurt himself. The guest has already kicked a nasty bruise to his shin from his body kicking out against the cabin couch.
Unable to do anything but wait, Wilton makes a call to the ambulances but can’t get through due to being in a low reception area. So, he tries his UHF radio, managing to get onto his son who is back at reception.
Wilton's son Greg informs his father that the ambulance is 15 minutes away, and that Wilton has to stay with the guest at the moment as two car loads of guests have arrived and Greg has to check them in himself as the holiday park is short staff this afternoon.
During the conversation the man on the floor wakes up. He asked Wilton how long he had been asleep for, to which Wilton replied, “7 minutes”.
While the man takes some time to calm down, Wilton busies himself by investigating the irritating plop sound he can hear coming from the bathroom.
The guest tells him that the sound had kept him up all night and was probably the cause of his seizure because didn't sleep well.
Wilton fiddles with the tap and concludes it just needs another tap washer, something he needs to head into town for, but for now Wilton chucks a towel into the bottom of the bath for it to soften the blow of the plop until he comes back.
During this back-and-forth Wilton and the guest exchange names “Gregory” is the name of the man.
Greg thanks Wilton again and asks how he knew what to do. Wilton tells him that his wife had seizures as well, and that he was her carer.
Greg doesn’t pry at the use of the word was.
Greg the guest (not the son) compliments Wilton, calling him ‘a man who does it all, a first responder, handyman and plumber’ Wilton replies his more a plumber in training.
Wilton then asks if there is anyone he could call? A family member? A partner? Greg replies he has no one to call, it's just himself.
The ambulance arrives along with Young Greg. We find out that Guest Greg (Changing his name) is a frequent visitor of the park, he’s been visiting long before he took over management, the Guest (looking for a new name) though declared fine by the ambulances is taken to the hospital 40ks away. The guest says he will be back to continue his stay and Wilton says he will have the tap fixed before he comes back.
721 words
10 min prep
1 hour
This method might have actually worked because I think I have a rough idea what the heck this story is about now. Feel very unblocked, and excited about the story. I’ll be honest I stopped writing, I would say about 25 minutes in, at 700 words and then spent the next 35 minutes plotting out the bare bones of a story idea.
I felt bad about not putting my Bare Minimum in yesterday but having that one day off of writing I think was needed.
Don’t think I will continue with this here, but instead work on my own time. So tomorrow will be a new prompt.
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“romeo should have checked” girl she was a corpse. she was a corpse in a crypt. She took a magic “looking like a corpse” potion and then they buried her and then romeo found her fully 100% buried what are you TALKING about
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You probably hear a lot of "DON'T EDIT AS YOU WRITE" advice, don't you? 😬
This is a dangerously vague piece of advice and one that's often taken too literally. Here's a quick breakdown of edits that are actually GOOD during writing.
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Words to use instead of said
I'm pissed:
Growled
snarled
snapped
barked
bellowed
yelled
screamed
shouted
seethed
fumed
ranted
rasped(not always angry)
grumbled
complained
leered
sneered
hissed
raged
told off
scolded
scoffed
Positive:
Laughed
grinned
chuckled
joked
quipped
teased
chortled(breathy, gleeful laugh)
giggled
beamed
exclaimed
cried out(Not always in a positive sense, but can be used that way)
cheered
burst
Confident/certain:
declared
asserted
insisted
bragged
boasted
remarked
stated
preached
I'm an asshole:
sneered(yes, twice.)
drawled
taunted
mocked
cackled
mimicked
joked
leered
provoked
exposed
I have a question:
begged
questioned
queried
probed
asked
inquired
stressed
pleaded
entreated
wondered
Yeah..I dunno about that/unsure:
faltered
stammered
trembled
quavered
hesitated
doubted
fretted
stuttered
supposed
shrugged
Quietly:
mumbled
whispered
murmured
breathed
uttered
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[Image description: a tumblr text post, edited blackout-poetry stye to read, "do not give up writing. there will be a story."]
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do not give up writing. there will be a story
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The Bare Minimum: 250 Words
10/01/2022
Continued from Jan 6th prompt.
Prompt
Character: A Plumber in training.
Situation: Falling in love with the wrong person.
Prop: A disguise.
Setting: Cabin by the lake, day.
“Desert lake park” replied Wilton gently “you’ve had a seizure”, the man nodded his head gently before rolling onto his back, his eyes closing again. “When did it stop?”
Wilton looked at his watch, 15:14.
“About 7 minutes ago” replied Wilton.
The man hummed in acknowledgement; his eyes still closed. “My son has called for an ambulance; it will be another 10 minutes or so before there here. It’s best you just lay there until they do” the man hummed again in acknowledgement, causing the cabin to fall into silence.
Wilton stood awkwardly in front of the man, watching him breath in and out. The man's breath looked measured and controlled, he was obviously trying to calm himself down.
Leaving the man alone to calm down for a moment, Wilton looked out towards the lake that he could see from inside the cabin. A group of kids were on the opposite side of the lake swimming close to the edge of the jetty, encouraging a young girl; no older than 7 to jump off and into the lake where her siblings and cousins were floating and splashing. Someone in the distance was revving a jet ski, and he could hear faint laughter coming from a cabin further down.
Wilton could also hear a persistent dripping, booming quite loud in the silence of the cabin.
“Oh the leak” said Wilton out loud, as he headed to the bathroom, remembering why he came to cabin 28 in the first place, “Bloody hell that’s irritating”
“Bloody irritating!” answered the man “The frick of a thing kept me up all night. Probably why I am on the floor right now”
Wilton followed the source of the noise to the tap over the bathtub, turning the tap right as much as he could, but the water continued to drip directly into the drain where it seems to be hitting a collection of water in the bend of the pipe under the bath, causing the drip to echo back up in a reverberating plop sound.
293 words
50 min
10 min plotting
God dammit!!! Need to push myself more and do this exercise more early in the evening as I start to get irritated that I can’t do my after hour things because I have to reach my bare minimum. I WILL NOT SLACKEN!!!
Returning to this. Definitely need to plot this out more.
Happy I did bring it back to Wilton being a plumber, well at least coming in to fix the plumbing….OMG this is painful!!!
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The Bare Minimum: 250 Words
09/01/2023
Continued from Jan 6th prompt.
Prompt
Character: A Plumber in training.
Situation: Falling in love with the wrong person.
Prop: A disguise.
Setting: Cabin by the lake, day.
“Dad, can you watch him for a minute? Two car loads just pulled up. Over”
Bloody hell thought Wilton he needs to hire more people.
“No worries, mate, over” sighed Wilton “Thanks I won't be long” the radio fell silent.
“Blood hell” said Wilton to the room as he got up off the floor, his bones pop and crackle in protest of sitting on a hard floor for too long, Wilton couldn't help but groan as the pain travelled up his body.
Should have been an accountant, thought Wilton before checking to see if the man was still breathing.
Inhale.one.two………Exhale one. Two.
The man looked to be about roughly the same age as Wilton, maybe a few older, as the man's hair was more white than grey, his skin was white but sunkissed. The man's face was long, and he had a nose that looked like it had been broken more than once in his life and his laugh lines were deep, causing his cheeks in slumber to sag slightly at gravity’s pull. The man’s shoulders were also wide, making Wilton think he could have been a swimmer in his younger days, but his arms no longer had muscles, as Wilton had felt the soft muscles under his hand when he turned the man over onto his side to keep his airways clear.
A handsome man, thought Wilton.
“Thank you” came the raspy voice of the man, causing Wilton to yelp in fright, and I am not looking my best today’ the man opened his eyes and looked up at Wilton. His stormy blue eyes filled with drowsiness and confusion looking for an explanation to his surroundings “Where am I?” he rasped.
“Desert lake park” replied Wilton gently “you’ve had a seizure”, the man nodded his head gently before rolling onto his back, his eyes closing again. “When did it stop?”
Wilton looked at his watch, 15:14.
“About 7 minutes ago” replied Wilton.
301 Words
50 min
No prep
Managed to move this story along a bit more. Words were definitely flowing better towards the end. Will do the prompt for one more day and then leave it be for now. Will return at a later date. I can just feel myself getting bored. That might change tomorrow. Word counts is getting lower though I will push to get 400 tomorrow for my max.
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The Bare Minimum 250 Words
08/01/2023
Continued from yesterday's prompt.
Prompt
Character: A Plumber in training.
Situation: Falling in love with the wrong person.
Prop: A disguise.
Setting: Cabin by the lake, day.
“Shit” Wilton grabs his UHF radio that all park employees wear. “Reception this is Wilton. Need an ambulance urgently to cabin 28 over” nothing.
“Hopeless” muttered Wilton to himself as he changed channel “Greg, you there? This is Dad at 28. Need an ambulance. There’s a bloke here having a fit, over” Wilton checked his watch again 15:09 “Greg this is Dad, there’s a bloke here in cabin 28 having a seizure. Call an -”
Suddenly the man let out a loud groan before going still, his eyes closed.
Check to see if he is breathing.
Wilton moved closer to the man, taking care not to knock him. Lowering his ear closer to the man's head, Wilton held his breath to listen for an exhale.
One. Two….exhale.
He's alive.
Wilton exhaled himself “Ok, that's good. Now, let’s get you onto your side” with practised ease Wilton manoeuvred the man onto his side, and checked to see if he was still breathing.
“Woo” said Wilton as he stood up “definitely going to have a nap after this” when he was sure the man was safe and comfortable Wilton walked over to his discarded radio to call for his son when it suddenly beeped on with his son’s voice coming through frantically through the yellow UHF.
“Dad, you there? Is everything alright, over?” said Greg, Wilton clicked down on the transmit button “Ah about time. We got a fella in cabin 28. He has had a fit, might need an ambulance to come and take a look at him, over” replied Wilton “Oh, thank God” said Greg with a sigh of relief, causing Wilton to chuckle.
Dramatic just like his mother.
“Yep” continued Greg “we’ve already called. The dispatcher said they were 15 minutes away. Has he stopped? Over” Wilton looked back over to the unconscious man; his eyes were still closed but Wilton could see that his breathing was stronger than it was when he first stopped shaking.
“Yeah, he stopped, don’t know how long he was under though. I was with him for 2 minutes. He is asleep now. Over”
“You have to watch him Dad till the ambos comes. Two car loads just pulled up. Over”
Bloody hell thought Wilton.
He needs to hire more people.
326 Words
50 mins
10 mins prep
Not happy with this, though word count was reached. It feels aimless.
Will return tomorrow.
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The Bare Minimum 250 Words
7/01/2023
Continued from yesterday's prompt.
Prompt
Character: A Plumber in training.
Situation: Falling in love with the wrong person.
Prop: A disguise.
Setting: Cabin by the lake, day.
Thud
Crash
Glass smashing on wood. Alarmed, Wilton hurried down to the side path that led to the back patio that overlooked the lake, “Hello, is everyone alright in there…oh shit”
Rushing over to the sliding door Wilton could see a man writhing on the floor, body vibrating fast, head locked and eyes fluttering, his left knee knocking violently into the wooden leg of one of the cabins armchairs, causing it to thump loudly against the cabin floor.
“Hang on” said Wilton as grabs the handle of the glass sliding door, small miracles, it’s unlocked, Wilton slides the door open and rushes inside shifting the armchair out of the way to stop the man from hurting his leg.
On instinct Wilton reaches for the man’s shoulder to steady him but pulls back when he notices a pill bottle marked “lamotrigine”.
“Lamotrigine? I know that” thought Wilton as he stared at the design of the bottle. He had seen it before, on a dresser, next to a photo of his wedding day.
“Ellie” realised Wilton. A seizure.
“Oh, fuck ok. Ok mate. It’s alright, I’ll get you comfortable” said Wilton to the stranger as he reached for the nearest cushion to place under the man's head, to stop him from hurting himself.
“Let’s put that there. Don’t worry my wife suffered from epilepsy,’ explained Wilton as he looked at the man in distress ‘Ah let's loosen these clothes, hey? Sorry about this” Wilton quickly undid the top buttons around the man's neck “but it makes it a little bit easier to breathe hey?”.
The stranger didn’t answer; he just kept shaking violently on the floor, his head resting safely on the couch cushion, stormy blue eyes fluttering to the back of his head.
“I am just gonna sit here and call an ambulance. Get you some help” said Wilton as he dialed for the local ambulance.
Wilton placed his phone to his ear and was met with silence. No dial tone. Wilton looks at the phone. No bars.
“Shit” Wilton grabs his UHF radio that all park employees wear. “Reception this is Wilton. Need an ambulance urgently to cabin 28 over” nothing.
“Hopeless” muttered Wilton to himself as he changed channel “Greg, you there? This is Dad at 28. Need an ambulance. There’s a bloke here having a fit, over”
358 Words
1 hour
10 min plotting
Went back and edited again and again. Took up too much time. Need to work on that.
Happy to get over 250 words. Will continue with this prompt tomorrow!
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TBM 250 Words
6/01/2023
Prompt
Character: A Plumber in training.
Situation: Falling in love with the wrong person.
Prop: A disguise.
Setting: Cabin by the lake, day.
Wilton Jones had moved to the other side of the country to be closer to his children and his grandkids in his first year of retirement. The southern weather did good for Wilton's old bones, helping in easing the pain in his shoulders and knees from all his years as a bricklayer up North, and after mourning the death of his wonderful wife 10 years prior, Wilton needed a change of scenery and company, he was getting to lost in his memories sitting around doing nothing.
So, he told his son he was selling up his house and moving down south to him. The change of scenery and company did do Wilton a world of good, and being around his grandchildren gave him some life, but retirement did make him bored, which is how Wilton ended being the on-call maintenance man for the off season at the holiday park his son managed.
Which is where he was now, making his way up to cabin 28 to repair a leaking tap.
The holiday park was located in bush land just at the base of a rock escarpment and consisted of 30 cabins surrounding a manmade lake. It was usually packed during the high peak tourist seasons with families taking advantage of the lake and trails around the park to help burn off the kids’ energy during the hot school holidays. But during the winter months the place was mostly deserted, with only locals booking rooms to take advantage of the off-season rates.
Wilton much preferred the colder months, it made working out in the sun a much more pleasant experience and there wasn’t too many calls out for his assistance, so Wilton spends most of his time on call working on his own maintenance projects around the park and cabin and stopping for breaks to fish and nap whenever he liked.
“I am going to have a nap after this” Wilton muttered to himself before knocking on the door of the cabin, a handmade sign stuck on with sticky tape asking visitors to wear a mask before entering was stuck above the cabin number.
“Oh shit” said Wilton, as he checked his pocket for his mask “Please I didn't leave back in the truck..ha ha!” cried Wilton in victory as he pulled out of his front overall pocket, securing the mask over his mouth and nose Wilton knocked on the door “Hello? You called for maintenance about a leaky tap” silence “Hello? Is anyone there?” only the bird in the trees answered him. ‘Hello? It’s maintenance?”, nothing.
Wilton pressed his ear to the green door and waited to hear movement. Nothing.
“Well” thought Wilton “not my problem” with a sigh Wilton knocked on the door again one more time “Hello? Its maintenance you have a leaky tap in the bathroom that needs fixing?”
Thud
Crash
Glass smashing on wood.
Alarmed, Wilton hurried down to the side path that led to the back patio that overlooked the lake, “Hello, is everyone alright in there…oh shit”
Rushing over to the sliding door Wilton could see a man writhing on the floor, body vibrating fast, head locked and eyes frozen in panic.
531 words
1 hour
10 mins plotting
Notes: Plotting an idea helps. Did the go back to edit thing again. Will return to this!
Please see pinned note to know why I am posting unfinished prompts.
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in almost every other children's book where the main heroine is swept away to a land of whimsy she's shown having a lovely time; braving dangers occasionally, trying to find her way home, sure, but ultimately delighting in the magic around her. meanwhile alice spends her entire time in wonderland like
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Today’s Bare Minimum 250 Words
4th Jan 2023
Prompt
Character: Boeheim
Situation: Has an arranged marriage
Prop: Gold plated microphone
Location: Hot Springs near the mountain.
You wouldn’t think a gold-plated microphone would be an acceptable payment for an arranged marriage, but times were getting tough.
Lucius Shadow was a free-living bohemian who made his way across the world by singing songs in pubs and taverns. He considered himself a modern-day Apollo, travelling the world and singing songs on his guitar enchanting the beautiful men and women who watched…..
(very distracted today, hopefully this is my low bar)
66 words
15 mins
Please check my pinned post if you want to know more about why I am posting unfinished prompts on Tumblr
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Todays Bare Minimum’s 250 Words
Tues 3rd Jan 2023
Prompt
Character: Celebrity Chef
Situation: Discovers a conspiracy
Prop: An antidote
Setting: Beach.
The smell of the ocean was a welcome relief for Adrian Ellie when he stepped out of the tarp kitchen, the calming smell of the Pacific Ocean a cleaning pallet to his nostrils after it had been assaulted by the fragrances and aromas from within for over 8 hours.
He needed the fresh air to clear his head. And a cigarette to calm his nerves.
Checking his pockets while walking over to the pathway towards the beach, Adrian begins to see the set up for tonight's event.
100 guests of the Prime Minister would wine and dine next to the Pacific Ocean on the strip of stolen land that was declared uninhabited by European explorers 200 years ago.
He hadn’t slept in what felt like months. He and his 3-star Michelin award winning team had been requested by the Prime minister office, to cook and serve an 8-course meal for the celebration dinner on the eve of the signing of The Recognition Law.
For six months Adrian and his executive team had been going over the menu, testing and combining flavours, fragrances and textures to make sure that the politicians, the rich, the famous and poor who were attending the dinner would remember every spice, herb and animal fat that touched their tongue until the day they die.
‘A meal that captures the history, tragedy and healing of this country’ the Prime Minister's Manager had said in his office ‘A meal that helps unify and heal 200 years of distrust, of hatred of colonisation. Can you do that Adrian? A dinner that will be mentioned in the history books, like the last supper or the final scene in the Sopranos’
Adrian wasn’t sure that his menu would heal 200 years of colonisation, or the series finale of the Sopranos but his double diamond grade lamb served with a french red wine reduction with a rosemary potato fondant would certainly be remembered on a deathbed…and maybe worth another Michelin star.
(Went back and constantly edited!!!)
322 words
1 hour
Please check my pinned post if you want to know why I am posting unfinished works on Tumblr
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Today’s Bare Minimum 250 Words
5th Jan 2023
Prompt
Character: A museum security guard
Situation: Overhears an important conversation
Prop: Surprise?
Setting: Beach
Casey Luna was a security guard at her town's local aquarium, that was next to the local swimming pool, that sat on a cliff that overlooked the white sandy beach of her little no name town in Walters County.
Casey loved her job, it was one of the easiest jobs that she had in her 65 years of living, not that she had many jobs, in fact the security guard job was the only other job that she had in her life, but out of the two it was the easiest.
From the tender age of 12 Casey had worked behind a counter and one of the local stores in her little no name town. Working her way from bag girl to shelf stacker, to cleaner and shelf stacker, to working to the front counter and shelf stacker, till eventually at the age of 60 she made it to the smoke counter where she thankfully didn't have to stack shelves anymore. However, that blissful life of walking 3 steps back and forward to the smoke drawer to the counter desk was short lived, when the owner of the store said she was no longer needed, as a machine would be taking over for her.
“Ah Casey, we’re sorry to have to let you go,'' her old boss said to her from the dark shadow of his office “But times are tough, and money is tight. We can’t afford to have too much staff anymore. And this machine covers the cost of 3 people. It saves money, you must understand. Times are tough”
“Times are tough my arse!” muttered Casey as she got up from her chair in the security officer, she groaned in pain as she put pressure on her knees and back, six and a half decades of age and four decades of not bending her knees when picking up heavy objects making its presence known in her body. Stretching her back and shaking the ache from her body, Casey checked the time on the computer's digital “12 am on the dot. Time for a midnight stroll”, with her security key around her neck, remote alarm in her pocket and torch in her hand Casey exited the security room and headed into the partly lit main lobby of the aquarium.
This is why being a security guard at the aquarium was the easiest job Casey ever had in her life in her opinion, all it required was for her to take a stroll at midnight around the premises and to check that all doors were locked.
No more, bending over and unpacking boxes and stacking shelves for old Casey, no it was just a leisurely stroll at midnight checking the locks.
The main lobby was deserted, and dimly lit, thanks to the light in the ticket stand that hadn’t been turned off.
Casey made her way to the front door to check if it was still securely locked, as she approached the door, she could hear the sound of the wind blowing and the crashing of waves onto the sand, a slight chill managed to slip through the crack under the door, sending a chill up Casey legs and body.
The local aquarium wasn’t anything too spectacular to behold, in fact if Casey was being honest, it was a dud of a place to visit, nothing special, as far as the fish were concerned.
Its exhibitions mostly featured local fish from the creeks and rivers outside of town, and some of the big game fish found in the ocean just a mile or two off the coast, the local pet store had more variety than the aquarium. The local school children a few years back wrote to their sister city asking if the city could please give them more fish to add to their aquarium. They sent back a pair of Barramundi, they now take pride of place in the main tank at the aquarium.
657 Words
1 hour
(Stopped because I have other things to do. Totally forgot it was supposed to be a museum security guard. Realised what Setting means…idiot. May return to this. I think I need to allow myself to have 10 minutes of mapping out a story instead of writing as I go along)
Please check my pinned post if you want to know why I am posting unfinished work.
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A Hello, Welcome and a Warning.
Hi!
My name is Myka, and this is a Hello, Welcome and a Warning to anyone who might want to follow me.
First of all, thanks for checking out my blog, I am sure one of my terrible attempts at storytelling brought you here.
If you’re wondering why I am posting unfinished works, paragraph, sentences into a public space...well I am trying to get back into writing. So, I am using this Tumblr account to kind of hold myself accountable in hopes I will develop a writing habit by doing my bare minimum of 250 words a day within an hour. I am hoping in time I will make it to 500 words in 30 minutes. Fingers crossed.
I am going to post whatever I write, as I said to hold myself accountable as well as in hopes of making friends and learning from the creative writers on Tumblr and maybe even inspire some other people out there to get back into writing or at least give writing ago.
I’ll only be using the creative writing tag and my own tag today’s bare minimum.
If you get annoyed with my unfinished works popping up in the creative writing tag, please feel free to use the great block feature on Tumblr.
Cheers Big Ears!!
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