About Journaling

"Bluesky Threads"

Trying to find the month and year I bought a journal before I begin writing in it... Yeah, definitely NOT neurotypical.

I have general journals for regular notes I take while watching certain YouTube videos. I have separate journals- 1 for my sci-fi and 1 for my fantasy. I ain't doin' that no more! Fantasy and science fiction can share a journal. They’re thicker than the journals I used to buy.

Also, the comic, Summer to Winter, has its own library. It used to share with other stories, but I quickly learned to give it its own journal "series."

A Message to My Dear Readers

I feel like this blog is getting academic but I'm a different person than I was several years ago when I finally hammered down this blog. 

In the yesteryears, I kept trying my hand at different blogging platforms and kept losing each one. I also didn't have a clear message for why I would maintain a blog. 

Now I'm posting old notes and other information I've gleaned from journals over time but I feel it's important. As I grow as a creative, so much that creativity be expressed and when I change and evolve, that will reflect in my creations. 

So again, my dear readers, thank you for staying with me all this time and I hope you will continue to do so. Also, to take something from the Hunger Games films but with a little twist and in the spirit of this blog: May the opportunities be ever in your favor.😃🙋🏿‍♀️

Journals save my life--I'm serious!

I have a library of journals. No. I'm not kidding. And I don't mean figuratively. I mean I LITERALLY have enough journals to line at least two shelves! Or maybe more!

This is due to my obsession with seeing cute diaries, artistic journals, and provocative covered notebooks. These are inevitably hardcover. I prefer the hardback kinds. They survive.

For many years, I purchased those with spines, the more they resembled an actually hardcover book, the better. If I found the kinds that had false leather look, gold trim pages, and a satin bookmark, AWESOME.

I guessed that the more a writing journal looked attractive and prestigious, I figured it would compel me to write. But I learned that was quite the opposite.

Those reference-looking diaries went on my shelf, to keep track of dreams that were repetitive or especially troubling. So when I returned to just simple hardcover journals, the writing flowed. Screwy, huh?

I changed my tastes yet again. No more journals with spines. Now I went to spiral notebooks. But they're still artsy, heavily decorated, and provocative diaries. 

Camp NaNoWriMo - Day 29 - And I am a WINNER! *PARTY!*

I WON CAMP NANOWRIMO 2016! I can't believe it!

Thought I had two more days, but, beat my pre-set word count when I was struggling with a chapter, and realized I could rewrite the revised scene from a journal of five years ago. It was a difficult scene, the middle of an easy chapter. However, that singular moment consisted of several literary and grammatical devices I would have to use. It consisted of flashbacks, inner monologue, thoughts, inferences, personal history, and epiphany. While this sounds like an absolute mess, thanks to the training, feedback, and constructive criticism I received from MFA mentors and classmates, I didn't even look at the scene's previous typed draft but pulled from the journal to rewrite an entirely new scene.
No matter what, this April is not only special because it is my mom's and a brother's birthday month, but this contest is synonymous with the writer's life. We must be persistent, consistent, diligent, and persevere in this business. When we do that as writers, we learn and open other opportunities for ourselves and others.

Fun Post! But still being serious...

Everyone should have a teddy

   Just wanted my readers/visitors to know  that I joined Camp NaNoWriMo! Why  should you care? Well, this time, one can  set how high the word count must be. I set  mine to 15,000. Seems attainable, doesn't  it? But, then again, I need all the motivation I can create for myself to complete this novel. For anybody who frequents social media, the bookish teddy on the left is my buddy from graduate school. I saw him and just fell in love. He is now my mascot when I'm in the middle of beating a deadline, mired in research, or just need somebody cute to pick up my spirits when I'm stuck in the middle of writing!

Gift from a work friend

Which takes me to the next image on the left. This was a gift from a dear friend at work. Everyone knows, even students, that I am a short story author and am constantly writing. This gorgeous notebook given as a gift (was it birthday? Christmas? GAH! Can't remember!:( ) and I am using it along with its other companions.
Dear readers, you have no idea how many of these journals I have... I need them. Like a vampire needs blood.

The Harlem Renaissance

 My next two books definitely are high on the list of research that saved my bacon! When I had dropped down a plot-hole, or paper, paper everywhere, and not a plot to think, both these books on the Harlem Renaissance pulled me firmly into those times, giving me their history as the beating of a heart. There have been so many references that have helped the development of this story and of me as a writer, I don't know where there will be enough space to dedicate them all, but, this blog will have to do!

When Harlem Was In Vogue

1st part is winding down

Finally. Work is hopefully winding down. I don't just mean the J-O-B either.

The story (1st part) seems to be finished. Wow. That sounds magnanimous..but it's true! After reaching the 12th journal, what I'm writing seems to be filler, or added details.

Characters have been born, been killed, married, and in a few cases, divorced or separated. Now comes the hard part...

While typing, I will do more edits and categorize the references. The Dreaded Second Draft...Oy.

Work in Progress - Part 1

I finally completed an edit on half a chapter (the 1st draft handwritten in 1 of the 11 journals for this story!).

When I read the typed draft to my mom, I was shaking.

She told me what I read to her was plausible.. she enjoyed my word choices.. and that my details of the doctor's preparation before an exam was true to life..

That's a mere drop in the bucket. I've got 10 journals and counting. Yikes
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Book logs are a dream

At the same, I AM working on a novel, and that's in longhand stage. It's filled up almost five journals, so I guess the story is going full speed ahead!