Day 15 of 15 Habits

http://goinswriter.com/serve/

Service. Finally an idea I can stand behind. I spend my life in service to God, my family, and others. In fact, in a couple of hours, I'll be volunteering for a new organization.

Except, I don't know what to offer for free right now, HERE at Fresh-Brewed Writer.

Once I have a platform and a niche, I could offer a download. But I'm just a woman of a small blog, with a small audience and barely a soapbox on which to stand.

This is definitely something over which to ponder...

In the meantime, perhaps some book giveaways are in order soon...

Day 14 of 15 Habits

http://goinswriter.com/brand/

Here is what Jeff Goins has to say about branding:

A brand is exactly what it sounds like. It’s an impression you leave on a customer or reader; it’s a mental imprint. We all have them.

You’ve likely heard some adage about the importance of first impressions. This is branding — the belief that people get an idea in their mind of your personality based on an experience they had.

Sometimes, the impression is accurate; sometimes, it’s not. But it’s never the full picture of the person, (that’s impossible). And that’s okay. It’s what branding is all about.

A brand is the simplest, most memorable part of yourself you can give.

So what does a small-time, little book reviewing blogger like me do with this?

Think, pray, and pray some more. Because this isn't something I can just hammer out in one day. But at least the idea has taken root in my mind and heart, and perhaps soon I'll have some clarity in what to do.

Rome wasn't built in a day--and neither will my brand.

Day 13 of 15 Habits

http://goinswriter.com/publish-your-work/

So. I haven't done this. No, wait, I did... I submitted a blog to BSF, but haven't heard back. I submitted a devotional to my editor of an as-yet-unannounced project, but no edits back yet.

Methinks I need to do more. But it will have to wait till tomorrow. Hold me to that.

After all, tomorrow is another day.

Day 12 of 15 Habits

http://goinswriter.com/provoke/

Great Writers...Provoke


I hate provocation. Conflict. Emotional displays. Craziness. Arguing. Did I mention conflict?

All of this makes me literally feel sick. Just typing this makes me have that familiar unease in the pit of my stomach.

In my family, I became the peacemaker when my parents split up. For a long time I was their go-between. Both my husband and my counselor at the time told me to stop, so I did. But I kept on with my role as the family peacemaker.

I know I'm wounded from many events and people, and the desire for everyone to be happy is so strong that I often deny myself the very peace I crave by tamping down my own feelings and wants and thoughts in order to make peace with others, to make sure everyone else is happy.

This tendency has spilled over into many of my friendships as well. My friends know this about me, and some of them probably unconsciously (or who knows, maybe consciously) use this to their own advantage. Or not. I don't know because we don't talk about this.

So I don't know what to say to a topic such as provoke, because to consciously provoke someone is to cause conflict, which I do not like.

Day 11 of 15

http://goinswriter.com/declutter-writing/

(Better late than never, right?)

On his blog today, Jeff Goins quotes something I just saw last week--in the movie Midnight in Paris. I laughed and laughed, as would anyone who had to study Ernest Hemingway in high school, college, AND grad school (such is the burden we American lit lovers face....).

No subject is terrible if the story is true, if the prose is clean and honest, and if it affirms courage and grace under pressure.
—Fake Ernest Hemingway (via Midnight in Paris)

It's funny because first of all, it's true--and second of all, it's like he's teaching about himself while he's living his own expatriate life!

If there is any writer alive who didn't need to declutter, it's Hemingway. Short, sweet, to the point--with a few beers.

(Now Faulkner, on the other hand...no, don't get me started. He'll never be my favorite novelist, even though his short story "A Rose For Emily" will probably always be on my syllabus. That story is delightfully creepy. But I digress.)

So today's topic is decluttering. Not just the prose, but the desk.

Cutting the prose, those darling words and phrases, is tough.

Cleaning the desk is easy in comparison.

We're doing some cleaning at our house tomorrow. I'll be taking more books out of the house, dusting and sweeping and vacuuming, bagging up the trash, collecting and stacking the recyclables in the garage.

I'm hoping to also declutter my brain in the process of the physical decluttering. We'll see if it makes me more productive.

PS: If you haven't seen Midnight in Paris, go rent it now. It's a really enjoyable movie.

Day 10 of 15 Habits

http://goinswriter.com/share-work/

Sharing some friends with you:

Dana at Deepening Years. She's a cancer survivor, a pastor's wife with tattoos and a nose ring, and she is a loyal and devoted friend. Oh, and she's giving me my fix on sunset photos since I will not see sunsets again for many weeks. :)

Teri Lynne at Terilynneu.com. She is a great friend, a wonderful writer, and also an amazing pastor's wife. She is also the reason I did not fail debate class in college. True story. She is a great friend and a fine scholar (and the fact that I called her that proves I, too, am a graduate of the Dr. Bob Derryberry school of public speaking!).

Stacey at Stacey's Daze. I've known Stacey online for many years, and we met in person two summers ago in Texas, right before her family moved to Oklahoma (where the wind...well, you know). She's been a great encouragement to me, not only as a friend, but as a fellow writer. She has a great way with words.

Day 9 of 15 Habits

I'm writing this a bit late--I got slammed with fluff. Cottonwood fluff, that is. It's one of my pollen allergies (along with Texas mountain cedar and Midwest ragweed). I can finally breathe today (Sunday), but I sound awful, so we stayed home from church today.

I'm a small blogger on a very small blog. I've had this blog as a personal writing outlet for several years. I'm okay with being a small woman in a small space on the vast internet. Because in many ways, I can control what I do here.

Thus, branching out by doing prompts that I'm linking up on a growing blog like GoinsWriter is a huge, huge step of faith for me. Almost wild and crazy, to be honest.

So if you have found me via the link-ups on Goinswriter.com, please leave a comment and let me know. Because we're making connections as writers.

And today's post from Jeff Goins reminds me to follow up on a guest post invite I had from another military wife that arrived during finals week, when I was too busy to do anything but grading.

I'm happy to connect with you--and I hope this is the start of a friendship.

Day 8 of 15 Habits

Building, not just starting. Generally speaking, this is where I tend to break down and not finish things. Get discouraged and quit. Start out with grand plans and goals galore, then hit the brakes at the first few signs of discouragement.

Today I am going to finish my guest blog post for Blue Star Families. I have had an idea for many months, but haven't finished it. I'm updating a piece I wrote for an online writing class a few years ago. Off I go. I'll link to it if and when it's published.

**edited to add**
I not only added to it and finished it, I sent it off to the BSF editor! Yay me!

Day 7 of 15 Habits

 Start. Start ugly. I always tell my students that I can't do much with a blank piece of paper, but get something on there and we can make it pretty later.

So off I go to write what Anne Lamott calls a "s****y first draft."

Day 6 of 15 Habits

So while I'm not a fan of the word "steal," in this context I know where Goins is going. He's asking us to find inspiration from another artist and use it as a springboard for our own writing.

Right now I'm on deadline. I'm using God's Word as my springboard. :)

Till then, if you'd like to see how I responded to a prompt (a word I am a fan of), click here to see this post.

Day 5 of 15 Habits

Prepare. This makes me think of John the Baptist in Mark chapter 1: Prepare the way of the Lord! Make a straight path for him!
I may not be preparing the same path, but I can see why preparation can make the path more clear and straight. It goes back to the same message for me: QUIT PROCRASTINATING!

Today is full. I have some non-negotiables on my calendar, commitments our family has made, that will take the bulk of my day. But this evening--ah, this evening. Writing. A deadline at the end of the week that must be met. I want the draft mostly finished so I can read it Tuesday again with fresh eyes and then send it to my editor for revision or approval--most likely revision *grin*.

To quote Frost's famous poem's closure:

But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Day 4 of 15 Habits

Practice.

The challenge: Find a way to practice in public.

OK. Well, in lieu of actually throwing a rough draft out on my blog, or something like that, I will say that I have opportunity to do this right now.

1. I am a contributor for Wives of Faith, a supportive website for Christian military wives. I contribute as often as I'm able.
2. I also have a deadline next week for a piece I have agreed to contribute to a collaborative project. 
3. I have an opportunity coming up very soon to guest post for someone I met on my chaplain wife blog.

I guess the difference with this and what Mr. Goins has in mind is that none of these are particularly risky ventures (well, except for #2, as I don't have a rough draft yet and I'm really procrastinating!).

I touched upon this in the Day 3 post: I need to establish these new habits of really being a writer instead of merely calling myself a writer, or being a "wannabe."

So do it. Now. Today. Fail fast, and then tell us what you learned. This will be messy, no question about it. That’s okay. Because practice doesn’t make perfect; practice makes habits. ~Jeff Goins

Day 3 of 15 Habits

Initiate. Take the initiative.

Every day, you have a decision: to start or stop the things worth doing. To continue building habits that make you more of your truest self, or to break the ones you’ve been doing for awhile. ~ Jeff Goins


I signed up for this challenge knowing I would be free to set a new schedule, perhaps set up some new habits, figure out a new normal. Well, of course, things don't always go the way we imagine or plan, and this did not happen. So in typical me fashion, I wrestled around with the idea that I needed to quit.

Then I decided, NO. I am not going to quit. I'm just going to delay.

Often we need to set aside the good things we want to do, in favor of the more immediate needs that need to be met. This week is just such a week for that.

So I will post my thoughts about each of these habits, but it will be next week sometime before I can really, seriously, wholeheartedly, put them into practice.

Life is like that sometimes.

Day 2 of 15 Habits

While day 1 was declaration, day 2 is belief and faith in myself as a writer. This is where I always break down in my resolve, in my practice, in my self-talk, and in my heart.

I am insecure.

There, I admit it. I'm insecure about myself and my writing. It's not my career, but it's more than a hobby to me. So I'm left floating aimlessly in the sea of "why do I do this?"

I am a trained, certified, experienced secondary English teacher, currently working as a college composition instructor. Most of my students now are between the ages of 25-55, and many are my own age. I have incredible joy in my job, and I believe it's where God wants me. It's that "sweet spot" where even when it's hard, it's still good. Taking time off from education was the right thing for me at the time, and going back last fall was the absolutely right thing to do.

Herein lies the irony.

I teach others to write, but I don't follow my own advice.


I don't write daily anymore. I allowed the business and busy-ness of my life to take precedence.

I took the few rejections I received when I thought I was to be a freelance writer, planted them in my heart, and they grew and choked out a lot of my dreams. Unkind words, careless words, all watered and fertilized those plants. Weeds, really. Choking out the fruit that will last (John 15:16).

This is why I am pursuing these 15 habits. One reason I'm regrouping this summer, working on finding my identity first in Christ, and then in His work. Finding His will. Pursuing Him, reading His Word, and resting in His promises.

Day 1 of 15 Habits

 I am a writer. I just need to get back into the habit of writing every day. Even if it's not public.

I need to start acting like a writer.

In other words, I need to be writing. Every day. In many ways.

Starting here: http://goinswriter.com/great-writers/

I signed up for the challenge even though I won't be able to start until Wednesday. So for my fans and groupies (okay, the 15 followers I have!), I'll join in soon. I promise. I am committing to this right now.

*gulp*