Write Anyway

Okay, I think my mind is playing funny buggers with me because I could have sworn that we already did number 126… Argh. No idea. No idea at all…

But that’s okay! It’s Friday. I get to be a bit fuzzy-brained on Friday because the upcoming weekend is just so frigging awesome to think about. Especially when I know the husband is having a crappy day as work and I just so happen to have some awesome surprise presents for him to come home to.

Can’t wait!

And…here we go!

1. It’s cold and and I’m sitting here in my sweater and my husband’s poncho from Peru. The thing is really warm, though, so I can deal with looking like a Peruvian while I’m working (not that looking like a Peruvian is bad - it’s just a little out of place.

2. I’ve been investigating what is called a ‘blood type diet’ that kind of gives you a list of good and bad based on your blood type. I’m giving it a half-hearted go, so I’m not eating tomatoes. Then again, I never had a real love for tomatoes.

3. My favorite health and beauty product is a toss up between my St. Ives lotion (just the right consistency, mild sent, no sodium laural sulphate) and the grapefruit oil I add to my baths to make me smell yummy.

4. This weekend I would love to go for a nice long ride.

5. Well, first of all I just have to say I’m glad it’s Friday.

6. My cousin and some other people I really didn’t like as a kid; those were the cast of characters in a recent dream and it was quite disturbing.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to pampering my husband because he’s had a tough day, tomorrow my plans include going for a nice fitness walk and Sunday, I want to get ahead on work!

Woo! I was a bit chatty this one, huh?

I hope you all have an excellent weekend!

Hello and happy Thursday Thirteen, all. As per usual, I will be giving you a list of thirteen prompts in all shapes and sizes. They could be a first line of dialogue, a plot idea, or something else. I hope you enjoy and pick and choose as you please.

If there are any other types of prompts that you would find useful, let me know anytime.

Have a great day.

1. “I can’t do this again. I just can’t.”
2. Write about a time when you had to let go of something or someone you didn’t want to let go of.
3. What would your life be like if you were mute?
4. Write a letter to someone who had a positive influence in your life.
5. Write a scene with the theme of ’shattered’.
6. “Did you really expect anything different?”
7. What game did you play the most when you were a child?
8. Have you ever experienced discrimination?
9. “Codswallop.”
10. What is your ‘defining moment’?
11. Write a scene with the theme of ‘unforgettable’.
12. “Once a liar, always a liar.”
13. Have some fun and start creating your own language.

Hello once again everyone!

Welcome to another mid-week random word bank. I rather like random word banks. There is a challenge in them that not only gets your mind working, but you can also end up with a scene that you didn’t know you had it in you to write.

I hope you find these word banks useful. If there is a type of prompt you would prefer to see, please let me know.

Remember, with all the words, you can use any form, any tense of the word. Eg. Laugh can be laugh, laughter, laughs, laughed.

For the first word bank, I don’t want you to write a short story or anything actually. What I want you to do is word association. For every word there, I want you to write the word and then write the first word that comes to your mind after.

For the second word bank, I do want you to write a short story (or something longer if you like) that incorporates this week’s theme. This round goes as usual; just include all of the words in the bank.

For the third word bank, it is something different yet again. I would like you to try your hand at writing a poem incorporating the words provided. (Don’t worry if you can’t quite use all the words; eight or nine is great!)

Enjoy!

First Word Bank
Long
Light
Country
Do Over
Love
Puppy
Guide
Day
Swing
Eyes

Second Word Bank
Place
You
Orange
Grace
Time
Again
Shoe
Night
Then
Four

Third Word Bank
Begin
Rescue
Breath
Miss
Tryst
Forget
Are
Company
Take
Soft

***Remember to leave a link to your responses!

What a busy week already!

This week I have been thinking about personality types.

For the most part, my husband and I pretty similar. We’re both introverts (me moreso than he is), we both enjoy a night spent in together just as much as time spent out socializing, we both love to travel… Best of all, we both have wonderful plans for our future together.

Thinking about it, I don’t know if I could sustain a relationship with someone who was very extroverted. Friends would work - I do have extroverted friends - but a marriage would slowly crumble, I think. I’m so much of a homebody and large groups of people just exhaust me. Typical introvert. However, the typical extrovert is able to take energy from a group.

As you can imagine, an introvert/extrovert couple would disagree a bit on what to go out and do on a Friday night…

What is your personality type? Have you ever taken a personality type test? Do you think people around you are more alike to you or different than you? If you are with someone, is that person similar to you in personality or different?

Remember, to help clear your mind before you start writing, take a few deep breaths. Focus on the sound of the air entering and leaving your lungs. Let the noises and worries of the day fade for a few moments while you focus only on breathing.

After you are calm, think about your experiences and start writing.

Wishing you heaps of creativity, a generous muse and heaps of time to write. Feel free to check in here with your progress for the day/week/month/etc.

I so was not ready for the weekend to end. Were you? Then again, my readers in the US get to enjoy a long holiday weekend, so they’re not complaining. The Queen’s Birthday holiday is coming up in a couple weeks, so I can hold out until then for a long weekend.

Enough of that! It’s time to get into this week’s Musical Monday so you can have your musical inspiration for the week.

I have my dear friend in Canada to thank for my introduction to this week’s spotlighted artist:

Natasha Bedingfield

Hawke first sent me Wild Horses, and I have been enjoying Natasha’s music ever since - even thought I don’t hear a heck of a lot of it here in Australia. I have put up some of my favourites from her array of songs for your listening pleasure.

These aren’t the greatest videos, but Musical Monday is about the music - not the videos - so it’s all good.

Enjoy!

And there you have it! Your musical inspiration for the week.

There are a lot more songs out there, so do some hunting! I hope you find this music inspirational.

If you have any suggestions for singers or bands you’d like to see featured, let me know in the comments. I won’t promise to put all selections up, but I do promise to take a look. Besides, I’m always open to falling in love with a new band or singer and adding more music to my massive collection.

Have an excellent week filled with inspiration, time to write and a very generous muse.

Woohoo! I am so glad it’s Friday. This has been a long week, and I am looking forward to having a relaxing weekend with my husband.

And…here we go!

1. Moving is what I want to do so badly. I just want a cute little house with room to move around, a room for a future baby, and a back yard fit for a lovely little German Shepherd puppy.

2. You know, if the Australian government was actually worried about the costs of so much of its population being overweight or obese, they would give away meal replacements for free.

3. My best quality is is something I’d rather not spend time trying to pick out, but if you insist… My best quality is probably my generosity. I love giving.

4. I tend to pay attention to unimportant details.

5. In nearly 10 years, I have completely changed my life in amazing ways that not everyone would believe..

6. A long, uninterrupted nap OR a night to relax and watch television is what I need right now!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to having the husband home for the weekend, tomorrow my plans include going for a lovely, long walk and getting caught up with work once the internet is back up to speed and Sunday, I want to just have a wonderful day!

To those of you who are living in the States, have a lovely long weekend!

For the rest of you (us), I hope you enjoy your weekend and that you are able to spend your time exactly as you please.

Hello and happy Thursday Thirteen, all. As per usual, I will be giving you a list of thirteen prompts in all shapes and sizes. They could be a first line of dialogue, a plot idea, or something else. I hope you enjoy and pick and choose as you please.

If there are any other types of prompts that you would find useful, let me know anytime.

Have a great day.

1. “Second chances never live up to what they are supposed to be.”
2. Have you ever given up on your dreams?
3. You find yourself thrust into a fantasy novel…
4. “I can already tell this is definitely not going to be an ordinary day.”
5. If you could be remembered forever for one thing, what would that one thing be?
6. What is your philosophy?
7. You’ve just found out that someone you thought died long ago is actually alive…
8. What is your most embarrassing moment so far?
9. “Men are made of headaches, flannel and a love of sports.”
10. Write a scene with the theme of resentment.
11. What is the last completely new thing you tried?
12. “Sometimes I just want the lies.”
13. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Hello once again everyone!

Welcome to another mid-week random word bank. I rather like random word banks. There is a challenge in them that not only gets your mind working, but you can also end up with a scene that you didn’t know you had it in you to write.

I hope you find these word banks useful. If there is a type of prompt you would prefer to see, please let me know.

Remember, with all the words, you can use any form, any tense of the word. Eg. Laugh can be laugh, laughter, laughs, laughed.

For the first word bank, I don’t want you to write a short story or anything actually. What I want you to do is word association. For every word there, I want you to write the word and then write the first word that comes to your mind after.

For the second word bank, I do want you to write a short story (or something longer if you like) that incorporates this week’s theme. This round goes as usual; just include all of the words in the bank.

For the third word bank, it is something different yet again. I would like you to try your hand at writing a poem incorporating the words provided. (Don’t worry if you can’t quite use all the words; eight or nine is great!)

Enjoy!

First Word Bank
Tutu
Label
Shirt
UFO
Grasp
University
Resident
Rent
Stack
Wait

Second Word Bank
Forest
Compass
Camera
Husband
Effort
White
Hour
Nature
Cold
Sleepy

Third Word Bank
Run
Tense
Hold
Look
Warn
Task
Hard
Try
Cause
Me

***Remember to leave a link to your responses!

My husband is the only son in his family. I am the only daughter in mine. We both have siblings. He was a middle child and I was a youngest. However, being the only children of our genders in our families, we also both had characteristics of only child children.

Sometimes I think about my birth order and the influence it has had on my life. Sure, I was a bit of a clown like the typical youngest child, but I also had the sense of responsibility of an only child - especially when my elder brothers had moved out of my parent’s house.

I was a bit spoiled occasionally growing up, but there were also other factors in my life that steered me away from being a spoiled brat.

Do you have any siblings? Do you think your birth order influenced your personality? Do you wish you had been born in another position in the family or had siblings if you’re an only child? Do you think your birth order has influenced you in any negative ways?

Remember, to help clear your mind before you start writing, take a few deep breaths. Focus on the sound of the air entering and leaving your lungs. Let the noises and worries of the day fade for a few moments while you focus only on breathing.

After you are calm, think about your experiences and start writing.

Wishing you heaps of creativity, a generous muse and heaps of time to write. Feel free to check in here with your progress for the day/week/month/etc.

Another Monday, another crazy week about to start, another Musical Monday.

Have to love it.

I decided that I wanted to switch things up a bit by putting up a few videos of music of a different kind… Nearly all of us watch television at some point - even if it is just the news or five minutes of something or other when you’re passing by.

I’m putting television show themes as an inspiration for this week because those shows have writers, and those writers need inspiration, too. It’s good to be reminded every now and then that there are writers working in a wide variety of roles in many different industries.

Enjoy!

And there you have it! Your musical inspiration for the week.

There are a lot more songs out there, so do some hunting! I hope you find this music inspirational.

If you have any suggestions for singers or bands you’d like to see featured, let me know in the comments. I won’t promise to put all selections up, but I do promise to take a look. Besides, I’m always open to falling in love with a new band or singer and adding more music to my massive collection.

Have an excellent week filled with inspiration, time to write and a very generous muse.

Hi everyone! Apologies again for the delay. I’ve moved house and don’t have any internet or phone yet. It is amazing how much I have come to rely on being ‘connected!’ In honour of the occasion, I’d like to hear your take on being disconnected.

Disconnected. I think a major player in the problem with the world today is the feeling of being disconnected from everything - nature, each other and ourselves.

We are encourage to become part of this world where importance is on the outside - looks, wealth, where you work, what you wear, where you live… Everything is surface level. Passion is looked at strangely and often feared.

People who dig deeper into thing - or at least attempt to - are considered conspiracy theorists or new age nutties.

We are discouraged from connecting with something bigger. Even most religions are highly regimented with middlemen who tell us what to do, how to pray to the divine being in question, what to wear, what to say… Since when is belief in a higher power anything but a personal thing?

But no; it’s all disconnected. We have people stepping in between us and the environment, us and the ‘real world’, us and each other, us and our inner selves. Do you meditate? Do you take time for yourself? Do you take mental health days?

Likely no. Maybe you think it’s too expensive, too self-indulgent, too time consuming, too whatever. There is the disconnect. For your whole life, the only person you have is you, so why would you not take time to take care of yourself?

Because we live in a world of disconnect where time is money and money is the driving force of all. When time is money, taking time for one’s self is considered to be a waste.

And people wonder why there is so much anger in the world…

This week, I chose quotes having to do with spring…as always when I do this, feel free to fill-in whatever you’d like; it’s more fun that way! Of course, if you know the quote, feel free to fill that in, too! The quotes will be on my blog, should anyone want to see what they are.

And…here we go!

*Given that we’re pretty much well and truly into winter weather here in Australia, I probably won’t be tapping into the whole spring mood of things.

1. If we had no winter then we would be complaining about the heat all the time, the trees would be thoroughly confused, the animals would be thoroughly confused, and I’d still have no snow anyway..

2. I have a feeling that parenthood is going to be a a perpetual astonishment.

3. If I had my life to live over , then there is one horrible mistake I never would have made. Everything else? Well, everything else is just what led up to the wonderful life and marriage I get to enjoy now.

4. It is amazing what can be accomplishe inside of four and twenty hours.

5. If you’ve never been thrilled , then you obviously need to get outside more.

6. To be interested in the changing seasons is, really, to be interested in the stages of life. Some amazing things happen when the seasons are switching over.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a romantic meal with seafood and white wine with my husband, tomorrow my plans include doing some relaxing and catching up/getting ahead (depending on how much I get done today) on work and Sunday, I want to sleep in and enjoy my husband’s company!

Hello and happy Thursday Thirteen, all. As per usual, I will be giving you a list of thirteen prompts in all shapes and sizes. They could be a first line of dialogue, a plot idea, or something else. I hope you enjoy and pick and choose as you please.

If there are any other types of prompts that you would find useful, let me know anytime.

Have a great day.

1. “Love like you mean it.”
2. Write a scene about irrational jealousy.
3. Have you ever been in an argument with someone and thought of an excellent insult five minutes too late?
4. “Put the chopsticks away.”
5. How much money would someone have to give you for you to be willing to be painted green for an entire week?
6. Have you ever struggled with an addiction?
7. Your ideal weekend…
8. “Blow it out your rear end…”
9. Write an episode of your favourite television show. (Yep, get into some fanfiction.”
10. Sometimes it’s just better to keep your mouth shut…
11. If you could talk to anyone ‘one last time’…
12. Would you ever consider writing your life story?
13. “Run!”

Hello once again everyone!

Welcome to another mid-week random word bank. I rather like random word banks. There is a challenge in them that not only gets your mind working, but you can also end up with a scene that you didn’t know you had it in you to write.

I hope you find these word banks useful. If there is a type of prompt you would prefer to see, please let me know.

Remember, with all the words, you can use any form, any tense of the word. Eg. Laugh can be laugh, laughter, laughs, laughed.

For the first word bank, I don’t want you to write a short story or anything actually. What I want you to do is word association. For every word there, I want you to write the word and then write the first word that comes to your mind after.

For the second word bank, I do want you to write a short story (or something longer if you like) that incorporates this week’s theme. This round goes as usual; just include all of the words in the bank.

For the third word bank, it is something different yet again. I would like you to try your hand at writing a poem incorporating the words provided. (Don’t worry if you can’t quite use all the words; eight or nine is great!)

Enjoy!

First Word Bank
Water
Spotlight
Peru
Tuna
Depressed
Chocolate
Dry
Dozen
Cherish
Erotic

Second Word Bank
Teacher
Park
Soda
Pensive
Hiccup
Itch
Ask
Glance
Nose
Grudge

Third Word Bank
Power
Lightning
Tingle
Tense
Hold
Show
Control
Release
Breathe
Moment

***Remember to leave a link to your responses!

I was at the grocery store the other day and I walked past the registers. A woman with a full cart of groceries, a baby in a sling in front of her body, drops her mobile phone.

It immediately breaks into three pieces. I see three people - not including me - look over to see what happened.

And they did nothing.

Two other people walked by. On person might not have noticed, but the other person looked and deliberately stepped over the phone to get by as she struggled to hold her baby and pick up the pieces.

I could hardly believe it. I put down my groceries, picked up the pieces of the phone, and put it back together for her. It took me all of five seconds to do so and it wasn’t a big deal. But it was a big deal to the woman, who thanked me with a half-shocked expression.

The whole thing depressed me. Are we really living in such a world where people can’t help other people - even mothers with infants? Are we so unaware of each other that we ignore even the simple things that we can do to help each other out?

Of course I was glad to help, but I couldn’t help but wonder why I was the only one who seemed to care.

Are you aware of other people? Do you help people or walk by? Do you get caught up in everything that is going on with you that you don’t notice other people? Do you make it a point to help people? Do you make it a point to be aware of other people and their feelings?

Remember, to help clear your mind before you start writing, take a few deep breaths. Focus on the sound of the air entering and leaving your lungs. Let the noises and worries of the day fade for a few moments while you focus only on breathing.

After you are calm, think about your experiences and start writing.

Wishing you heaps of creativity, a generous muse and heaps of time to write. Feel free to check in here with your progress for the day/week/month/etc.