Taking Stock: June

Reading: The Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, Surviving the Applewhites, Guards! Guards!

Making: Collages on my journal pages. All you need is a pair of scissors, some Scotch tape, and magazines to rip apart.

Wishing: To go to the beach. I miss the ocean.

Listening: To the Tarzan soundtrack. I love all Disney soundtracks, but this one just made it into my top three favorites (the other two are Hercules and Treasure Planet).

Watching: The Walking Dead, Raising Hope, Parks and Recreation.

Enjoying: Less-than-scorching-hot weather. I’ve been outside a grand total of two times in the past two days, but still….

Wanting: A desktop like this.

Wondering: If I should start knitting again. I made hats, washcloths, gauntlets, cup cozies, baby blankets, scarves, and purses before I quit two years ago. I've been wondering if I should start again ever since.

Drooling: Over candied strawberries. I had them at a friend’s birthday and they were beyond amazing.

Writing: Notes and story ideas and more notes.

Praying: I’ll get a first draft of something finished before the end of summer.

Needing: To read more.

Admiring: Tasha Tudor. I’ve mentioned her on the blog before. There’s something incredibly inspiring about living your life exactly as you want to live it, even if that includes corsets and wood-burning stoves.

Waiting: For my copy of Onyx, the newest issue of White Ash Literary Magazine. One of my stories will be printed in it!

Loving: Warwick Goble’s fairy tale illustrations. He might be the subject of my next Artist Spotlight. What do you think? 

All pictures via Pinterest

My 4 Greatest Writing Weaknesses

via

  

    Hey guys! A while back I wrote a post on the eight essentials to my writing process. I thought another writing-related list would be fun, and, honestly, I’m at a point where I could do with a good, cleansing rant about EVERYTHING that’s wrong with the way I write. I decided to go with my four greatest weaknesses, but this obviously isn’t a complete list :) 

1. Motivation

 I’m lazy. Really, really lazy. Motivating myself to finish a first draft is hard enough, but once I get to the last page—if I get to the last page—my will power to actually fix the thing is pretty much shot. I know lots of writers prefer editing to writing the first draft, but at least during the first draft I don’t have to worry about whether it’s any good or not….
 
2.  Fear
I can’t write without constantly worrying—I’ve screwed up way too many stories for that. When I’m not worrying about my writing ability, I worry about my ideas, and when I’m not worrying about my ideas, I worry about the kind of pens and paper I’m using (really!). How-to books and websites are pure poison right before I start drafting; I stress over inciting incidents and original concepts until my inspiration is completely sapped.  
 

3.   Routine
 I used to make sure to write two pages of each of my projects every day after school. This was when I first started writing semi-seriously, and even though all of those projects sucked, I was productive and happy. I haven’t had much of a regular writing routine since. It’s something I’d like to start again but never have.
 
4. Comparison
 I compare myself to every other writer I meet and secretly think they’re so much happier/more talented/more productive/more likely to get published than I am. Truth is, I’m pretty sure we all feel terrible. 

   

   Misery loves company! What are your biggest writing weaknesses?