Writing Journal Entry: Words for January

word for January

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog!

Today I want to experiment with a new kind of blog post. Something in the lines of the traditional blog entries from the beginnings. Kind of like a journal entry… Tell me what you think in the comments below, if this is interesting enough for a blog post.

This is the Writing Journal Entry for January 2023

… and hopefully I’ll be writing more of these as I go along. January has been a tough month. You might say “as they all are”, to which I don’t agree.

There are events, or clusters of events, that do change everything at once and that throw us off course. And even though these events have a huge impact in my life and, consequently, in my writings, they don’t relate to it per se, so I won’t be sharing those here (those will go into the proper paper journal).

But I do want to do a profound review of what this January has been and what it means to me to work on these projects.

I have started this year putting into paper my goals for my writings. Creating and sharing the free workbook Plan Your Creative Year Workbook for 2023, was part of my personal efforts to create some balance in my life, and keep myself aware of my ongoing writing projects, as well as reading and mind-growing projects. This was important for me, it has helped me cope with the always latent overwhelming feeling of having so much to do, and not controlling the creative output as I envision doing, among other more distasteful things. To be an author and to show up for it, whatever the situation, has costs and it takes a big toll on our health. All of our health.

Again, this is the link for the free download… [No dropbox account is needed to download it] It’s never too late to draw some plans.

During January I have been pondering about what I want this blog to be really about. Not that I haven’t thought about it before, or made my kind of impromptu planning of it, because I have and I did.

This blog’s service will remain aligned with my will to share more about themes related to Writing, in a broad sense of this area of expertise.

I just keep depositing high hopes in this little corner of the web, and working on it as a kind of repository of ideas about the writing practice, and what it entails in this world of speedy images and an important need for the right words.

In January, this Writer’s blog saw a few of my favorite themes:

It might seem weird but I’m pretty proud of these blog posts. I do love to write in this format/genre and about the craft. 

To me, writing exists in a full spectre, and each writing project has its form, function and gift associated with it. Blog writing is just one piece of the large array os pieces that make this puzzle.

As for Long Fiction Writing efforts:

January was a month for the ‘The Shapeshifters’. I have defined some goals and I’m keeping my word on it. As times passes, and I keep attentively looking at The Shapeshifters #1, I notice other things I need to take care of.

It’s not just about writing the manuscript and crafting the story as I want it to be: as a good starting point of a series… It’s also about the vision for the whole series, the proper way to do other non-related writing work, the acceptance of what I can’t change and the going with my gut while discovering these stories inside me.

I have set a few goals for book #1 and #2 and I’m keeping my word on those. But also, I’m finding that I need to do other exploratory works on these and, even change some things on the first book.

This is my first series materialising itself. I have written other projects that were thought as series but this one is my first full out attempt right at doing so. And this is fun and scary at the same time.

And not just because is my first serious attempt at writing a series but also being out of my comfort zone in so many ways. I have chosen some things for this story that will need a careful editing process and I keep finding things to stress about.

Short-Fiction and Poetry

I always have parallel projects on these formats. There are goals set for some works in progress, but it has been six months since I have devoted the time to constant practice.

I do not like it. Nop.

In my defense, I have been channeling a lot of energy into ‘The Shapeshifters’, but this should be no excuse for my lack of attention to my other writing practices. After all, poetry has been with me since my teens, and I do have a few published poems and a (very ignored by now) poetry blog.

As for short-fiction…

Again, I’m always working on something. This is the elected format for the current writing contests around me, so it’s something to think about if I want to publish any of my stories through the usual channels.

I have put some of this on hold until I figure some things out.

How can people do it all? Frankly, I do not know. Planning only takes us so far… But this is my journal-type of vent, to put the questions out and give them the chance to be answered in a timely manner. 

This was the Writing Journal Entry for January 2023… about writings and feelings and stuff.

How was your January?

Please leave a comment and subscribe for more content.

Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

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Why writing a blog matters?

writing a blog

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog!

Let’s talk about writing!… blog writing.

Why should a writer maintain a blog? Why should they deviate from their fiction writing? Why should they waste time in other project than his books?

Having a blog requires us to learn new skills and put them to use. Not just gaining writing skills more adequate to the blog format, but also research skills on our favorite blogging themes, technical skills on a miriade os subjects connected to this format, and other creative mind paths that help us write consistently.

From my personal experience, I stand by every reason I’ll mention bellow, in this article. I have been a witness to them all.

It has been a fun trip – sometimes not so fun but exasperating one – devoting part of my attention to a blog. My Portuguese blog is celebrating its fifteen birthday next month, of regular two/three weekly publications. And my English one has just started and is already teaching me tons about this new blogging world.

It requires a lot of constant work, I give you that. But it gives me such pleasure to have these writing projects always on the move, and feeling that I can share something that might make a difference in other peoples creative lives. There’s no feeling like the one of receiving feedback from one of my articles.

I will leave you some well-known writer’s blogs so you can see for yourself what I am talking about, and what we can do with it: Neil Gaiman; Ursula K. Le Guin; Joanna Penn;

So… why should a writer maintain a blog?

Writing practice…

Practice makes perfect, at least that’s what’s how the saying goes. Blogging requires a constant flux of writing and this is good practice per se, isn’t it?

Nurture Creative Writings

Writing in a different format from the usual fiction, non-fiction or journal practice, nurtures other types of publications. It pushes us to be creative outside our normal writing formats.

Develop our Researching Skills

We learn a lot while we research for blog writing and we can become real experts on our subjects. Also we keep research as a constant practice which allow us to hone our researching skills.

Broadens our Knowledge and Themes

We have a constant incentive to look for writing subjects, making us more attentive to what goes around in our fields. Writing themes get expanded and thoroughly investigated. And it gives us other themes to talk about besides marketing our published works.

Public Exposure

It gives us public exposure, gets new people to know and visit our website, and broadens our like-minded community of people.

Grow our Reading Community

It helps us reach more possible readers for our other works. We have a chance to show ourselves, and with that to captivate more people that might enjoy our fiction and non-fiction writings.

Gives us Access to Readers

It makes us contact with our readers in a more private way. We get to talk about our personal experiences and to connect with readers in a more direct way. If a person subscribe, it allows us to connect with them on a more regular base.

Unravels Opportunities

It gives us beneficial exposure and other opportunities related to our writing career. We show up and talk about our themes, and our books, and our creative work and, sometimes, work opportunities materialize themselves.

Allows for Other Creative Outlet

It serves as another creative outlet for those of us that like to create in different areas. We get to work on blog writing and on creating content that may be very different from our usual creative pursuits.

Serves as a Life Journal

Sometimes it serves as a journal for our own writing life, or other life experiences. Getting other ideas for what comes next, while sharing some experience with our readers is very common. We use it to work out some of the kinks of some creative projects. We use it as a tool to unwind some concepts about a theme. We use it to share our progress or digress from our plans and goals.

It’s an Outlet of sorts

It can be an outlet when things get tough in the big writing business. We get to talk about what’s bothering us, or about what options there are, or about how we are coping with something. And maybe we find someone that relates to our experience.

Eleven reasons why a writing a blog matters.

And these are just for us, writers. Because if I look at it from the readers perspective, I’m sure I’ll be finding many more.

We are writers because we write, and we may love to write in different formats. I know I do.

We have good examples of this by creatives that wrote on different formats that the usual book. We have letter writers, e-mail writers, list writers, bullet journal writers, song writers, poetry writers…

Having also worked on some blog writings, transforming them into book format, I tell you there are a lot of seeds dwindling in our blog writings that can be properly cared for in other formats.

So, blog writing also gives us seeds for growing new works… 

What do you feel about blogging? Or vlogging? Or other writing formats? What do you favor most?

Do you have a blog waiting to be put into a book format? Talk to me!

Please leave a comment and subscribe for more content.

Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

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