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I Love to Write Day
Hello friends! Hope this finds you all doing well. I decided to step out of "blog retirement" to share about an important upcoming holiday for writers.
You may already be aware that November 15 is I Love to Write Day. But did you know that 2022 is this fabulous holiday's 20th anniversary?
Author and freelancer John Riddle, founder of this great celebration, had a light bulb moment in 2002 and started a movement to encourage everyone to join in on the fun.
John says,
"My goal for I Love to Write Day is simple: people of all ages are encouraged to write something: a poem, a letter, an essay, start a novel, finish a novel...the possibilities are endless!"
For more I Love to Write Day details, history, and fun facts visit the I Love to Write Day site. You can also connect with John on Facebook and Linkedin, and if you're so inclined, share about I Love to Write Day on your blog or social media. Feel free to use the ILTWD site link and #ilovetowriteday in your posts.
A Special Book to Celebrate
Since celebrating a 20th anniversary is a must, John decided to write the I Love to Write Day Creative Journal. This book is packed full of writing advice and tips to get those creative juices flowing. It contains 30 fun and inspiring challenges as well as contributions from 87 creative experts from around the globe. They include writers, authors, musicians, artists, and photographers who share about their creative journey and/or their favorite creativity tips.
(I'm excited; I had the privilege of being one of the contributors!)
This book was released on November 1, 2022 and reviews are starting to come in. One reviewer called it a “fidget spinner for the creative mind that will inspire you to move from dreaming to doing…more than once!”
For more info on the Creative Journal, visit Amazon.
Speaking of Creative Boosters
What do you do when you're frustrated with your writing or the ideas don't seem to flow? Or maybe I'm the only one who has this happen sometimes?
There are a few things I do to refresh the creative process. Maybe they're your go-to solutions too.
- Take a break - I exercise or go for a walk, get a snack, do laundry, call or text a friend, or watch a movie. It helps to get out of the writing zone and change my perspective.
- Read - In addition to being a great distraction, reading generates ideas, gives opportunity to observe other writing styles and teaches us new things. It takes us places that we otherwise might not go, and that can be such a refreshing change of pace.
- Create - Whether cooking, gardening, home improvement or small decorating projects, or crafts and experiments with my grandsons, it's always nice to feel creative along other avenues.
- Just write - When a deadline looms, I push through to get something down. Easier said than done, right? But it has to happen sometimes. Then I step away for a bit and upon returning, there's something to work with. Usually it's not as horrible as I think, and I can revise and work from there.
What Have You Been Up To?
What does November 2022 find you doing? How have you been? I'm certain that you've all been writing and creating and doing wonderful things, and I would love to hear about it.
Still writing here, primarily creating content for a web designer. Since much of that is in-house, I can't always share. But I do have a bit of advice about couch covers on the Bob Vila site, and a recent article on freelancing at Writers Weekly. Spending more time on LinkedIn lately too, so if you're there and I'm not among your connections, please feel free to connect with me.
What will you be doing for I Love to Write Day? How do you push through those sluggish writing stretches and get creative again? Don't forget to share what you've been up to in the comments!
Happy writing,
Karen
Hi Karen - Nice to see a post. I've been in blog retirement for several years now. So many people have stopped blogging and moved to social media. Great ideas! Happy I Love to Write Day!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Susan! Appreciate your input. :D
ReplyDeleteHi Karen - not much has changed this end! I still don't do social media and only blog ... many are still around - though I know some have moved ... I love to learn and to write and then the continued interaction with commenters ... I'm fortunate ... life toddles on! Good to see you here ... and I can't see me stopping the blog! Cheers and all the best - Hilary
ReplyDeleteHilary, good to hear from you! Glad you're still blogging; you always had such good and interesting things to share. :) All the best to you as well!
DeleteHilary, thanks so much for stopping by and commenting! I just realized that I didn't reply to your comment, and I apologize for that. I did read it, guess I just forgot to respond...oy, some days I'm glad my head is attached, otherwise I might leave it somewhere. lol Glad to hear you are well and rolling along like always. Will hop over to your blog to say hello. Thanks again! :D
DeleteNot to worry - it's good to see you ... and I was chuffed you'd popped over to say hello - it's always good to keep up with blogging friends... cheers H
DeleteThanks for keeping us in the loop here, Karen. Sounds interesting. "Hey la, hey la, my blog friend's back!"
ReplyDeleteAlso, to piggy back on Hilary's comment...I still blog as well, more so than social media interaction. I much prefer it over the other fast and fleeting platforms. There will always be a readership for blogs; the statistics support it. :-)
ReplyDeleteJen, LOL! It's nice to be back for a bit. I agree with you and Hilary. Blogs always hold useful info for so many topics and issues, I can't see them ever going away. Their popularity may wane a bit, but they'll stay the course, I'm thinking. Appreciate you stopping by, and of course, your input. :)
DeleteKaren! Good to hear from you.
ReplyDeleteI will make a note to write something next Tuesday.
Alex, thanks for coming by! Good to hear from you. Appreciate your support, always!
ReplyDelete