Write Anyway

As I thought of what my list should be about, I figured the most common response would be “thirteen things I would go back and change”. The problem with that is I couldn’t do that list the least bit seriously because it would take me ages to agonize over it. Time I don’t have, funnily enough.

So, instead, I’m going to touch on another part of time - the future.

1. Getting organized enough so my blogging feels a little less chaotic and a bit more like a nine to five job. I love blogging, but I have been a little overwhelmed with everything since coming back from vacation. That’s only because I’m going to be changing things a big in the future.
2. Being healthy. As many of you know, I have a diet blog. I’m trying to lose one hundred pounds total, and I’m not quite that far yet. I’ll get there, though, and when I do it’ll be a lovely day.
3. Having kids. This goes along with getting healthy (because I’m not keen on having them until I’m healthier than I am at the moment. I’ve seen my husband with kids and am confident he’ll be a good father. I also think I’ll make a decent mum.
4. Paying off my medical bills. You don’t have insurance and you get punished. Hard. Ugh. I sincerely hate the medical system in the United States. I don’t even live there anymore and yet I’m still paying.
5. Paying off my student loans. I also hate the ridiculous way student loans work in the States. If circumstances don’t change, I’ll be paying them off until 2017. (No joke - I have an excel spreadsheet for my bills.)
6. Christmas - This is my second Christmas with my hubby and our first Christmas as husband and wife. I’m already planning things.
7. Sushi - Hehe. I’ll be going to get some after I get my posts for today done. Have I mentioned how much I love sushi?
8. NaNoWriMo - I’m not sure if I’ll make it beyond 1,000 words, but it’s a fun thing and maybe the third year will be the charm to finally complete it on time.
9. NaBloPoMo - I’m very much looking forward to this because I know I’ll be able to complete it on Fiction Scribe at least. The plan is for here, too, so check in November 1st when all the fun begins.
10. Permanent spousal visa - The temporary visa may have just come through, but I’m already eager for 2009 so I can have my full spousal visa and feel completely at home here.
11. World Trip - I can’t wait until my husband and I take our world trip. We don’t have a date for it yet, but it’s definitely in the plans. (Before the babies. Hehe.)
12. Going to the doctor - I can now get a medicare card, and I’m looking forward to getting checked out.
13. More signed books! I sometimes get hard copies of the books from the authors I interview. They’re most often signed. I love that.

If you like this list, check out Elisa’s Thursday 13.

thursday thirteen, meme, list, writing, time, writing prompts

Time, time, time.

There are so many song titles, book titles, and even magazine titles with ‘time’ in them. We humans are fascinated with time and changing it.

This week’s random word bank should be rather interesting, given the theme you get to write about. You can write fact or fiction, drama or comedy - it’s all your choice. Just make sure to use the theme, the words below, and write at least 100 words.

Have fun.

lightning
sunflower
zebra
spot
sneeze
fork
strawberries
cardboard
beep
love

Hello and welcome to Tuesday. I hope you enjoyed the music from yesterday. I rather like those songs.

Time is one of those things we pretend we understand but really know nothing about. We measure it, yes, but what are we measuring? Minutes? Seconds? Both are measurements of time, but what is time?

No, I’m not going to ask for an essay about what time is. No worries there.

Inspired by Elisa’s quote about time in the comments on yesterday’s post – “Cannot run out of time. There is infinite time. You are finite. Zathras is finite. This is wrong tool. No. No. Never use this.” -Babylon 5 – I’m going to try something else to inspire you today.

I’m going to put up some quotes about time for you to go through. See what strikes you, what you agree with, what you disagree with… Perhaps even use one of the quotes as the opening line for one of your characters.

See where inspiration takes you. (more…)

Hello and welcome to a new week on Write Anyway. Many thanks to Elisa for hosting last week while I was away with the theme of freedom. If anyone else is interested in hosting a week sometime, contact me and we’ll work something out. You can even do a theme I’ve already done if you like.

And on to this week’s theme…

Time.

We contemplate it. We talk about it. We try to measure it.

We can’t wait for it to go faster and wish we could travel back in it.

It’s such a strange thing, taking us willingly or unwillingly along in life. We can do nothing to stop it, nothing to reverse it. It’s a constant, and yet all we can really do is measure it, in our own ways.

Time is often touched on in stories, be it with characters who try to change the past, or simply people who travel around in it like moving from country to country.

Here are a few songs about time to help inspire you…

The Time Warp - Rocky Horror Picture Show

I can’t have the theme of ‘time’ without including the Time Warp. The Rock Horror Picture Show is one of my favourite “out there” movies with music, transvestites, and… Well, you know the rest. And if you don’t, go out and rent the movie! I promise it’s different to pretty much anything else out there.

Time of Your Life - Green Day

This song was my brother’s graduation song, and I’ve been in love with it ever sense. After Time Warp, this was the second song that I knew I had to put up.

And just in case you need some relaxing music for what you are writing…

Only Time - Enya

Hello everyone!

I’m back from the writer’s conference – Conflux – and vacation, and I’m feeling good. I apologize for the lack of answering comments, but internet connections weren’t exactly abundant. I didn’t much care to work during my vacation anyway.

I hope you all enjoyed banned books week. A truly heartfelt thank you goes out to all of you who supported me on Fiction Scribe in my time of upset. I’m in the process of getting the rest of my books sent out here ASAP. I’ll also be buying another copy of the destroyed book when I can afford it. (Shipping to Australia…bah.)

I’ve answered all the comments now and am catching up on other news. If there’s anything I missed that you think I should know about you can, as always, feel free to contact me.

I’m very excited about NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo coming up next month. Keep checking in because I have a little prize I’m going to give to one NaBloPoMo participant. Plus, as this blog is about prompts, I’ll be taking time away from the usual schedule and posting a bit differently in November.

While I’ve been gone, there have been some awesome responses to prompts that you should check out:

Anna Williams, who has a poetry site, responded to the prompt: Spend five minutes writing about what your younger self thought being an adult would be like. What sorts of freedoms did you think awaited you when you were finally all grown up?

Amanda responded to a few of the prompts:

What I thought adult would be like…
Freedom and being a Moroccan man’s wife
Wishing for Reality

All of the responses are good reads, and I encourage you to check them out.

And finally, check in at Fiction Scribe later this week for a big announcement which will make you wonder if I’ve truly gone off the deep end.

Hosted by Elisa of The Book Stacks

For this Friday Free Write, get your timer ready and spend five minutes writing without stopping to edit yourself. You may use your computer or your favorite quill pen and ink, it doesn’t matter. Just spend five minutes writing about what your younger self thought being an adult would be like. What sorts of freedoms did you think awaited you when you were finally all grown up?

That’s it. Sit down and get in touch with your younger self. Write about it.

Have fun.

Hosted by Elisa of The Book Stacks

For this week’s Thursday Thirteen, I thought that it would be interesting to give you thirteen examples of freedom. There are so many different ideas concerning what freedom means in this world, from the freedom to do stupid things to basic human freedoms. What would you add to the list?

1. Being able to watch what you want on television.
2. Practicing your religion without persecution.
3. Not being allergic to shellfish.
4. Reading “And Tango Makes Three.”
5. Getting paid for working.
6. Defending yourself.
7. Saying whatever you like.
8. Marrying whoever you want to.
9. Being able to leave your home any hour of the day or night.
10. Eating enough candy to make you sick.
11. Choosing what you want to be when you grow up.
12. Staying up as late as you want to.
13. Not getting a higher education.

Hosted by Elisa of The Book Stacks

Your challenge this week, should you choose to accept it, is to use all of the words listed below in a story. It can be long or short, fact-based or completely fictional. It just needs to use this week’s theme – freedom.

Okay? Go for it!

walk
free
sky
book
trust
light
fall
bottle
spark
ride

Hosted by Elisa of The Book Stacks

Freedom can mean something different to each person that you ask. It’s a favorite theme of films, books, and music. Remember William Wallace in “Braveheart”? “They may take our lives, but they’ll never take… OUR FREEDOM!”

When you are a child, you dream of the freedom you’ll have when you grow up. Sometimes freedom can be getting out of a bad relationship. To some folks freedom is being able to marry whomever you wish. It’s a loss of impediment. It’s the ability to choose something for yourself.

What does freedom mean to you? Think of a time when you felt restricted. How old were you? What were you stopped from doing? Did you manage to overcome the opposition? If so, how did you reach your goal? If not, what did you try? Do you have a different perspective on the situation now?

Let me feel your frustration.

Hosted by Elisa from The Book Stacks

JM, September 29–October 6, 2007 is Banned Books Week here in the US. (Banned Books Week) So, I thought a good theme would be freedom.

The theme this week is freedom. The Oxford American Dictionary defines freedom as: 1. the condition of being free, independence. 2. frankness, outspokenness. 3. exemption from a defeat or duty etc. 4. unrestricted use, has the freedom of the house. George Michael defines freedom as the title of one of his songs.

See what sort of freedom-related inspiration you can find as you listen to George Michael’s definition.