My intro to Bullet Journaling

With the turn of the New Year all those weeks ago, I took on the hobby of Bullet Journaling! Having tried this before, and failed miserably, mainly due to what I now believe was simply, aiming too high! This time around, I went and bought a book! I know right - scrap the good old internet, and buy an actual book!! It worked though. This book How to Bullet Plan by Rachel Wilkerson Miller, is a beginner's guide to the pages involved in setting up and running a productive Bullet Journal. I started by reading through the book, and did so in just two days! It's definitely worth a read if you're planning to start up your own - or even if you have already started and are maybe struggling to get into the flow of it...

So, I went out and bought myself a fancy dotted journal from Paperchase and a posh pen that wasn't going to bleed through the pages and got to work. I dug out my stash of coloured pens crayons, washi tape and sticky notes and got to work. This time around my motto was easy - keep it simple!

My first set of washi tapes were a bit bright - not something that is easy to get your hands on in the UK - so I set about on the internet and ordered some prettier ones to use in the future! I even left some gaps to go back and add them to!








Using my book for reference, I set up the beginning of my journal with the obvious, year planner, new year's resolutions, goals, trackers and what not, then the fun began. I designed my weekly pages to be used daily in order to keep me on track. Since the first week of the year, my weekly layout has altered many times, as I adapt it each week to try and ensure that it is fulfilling its main objective! What began as a simple to do list, has since been split into two lists - one for personal tasks and one for my writing goals each week! I use these lists to plan out what tasks I want to achieve each day, taking into account other things which my be happening that day - like appointments or shifts at work. This is proving to keep me on task and to get things done in a timely manner. At the weekend, I put some time aside to plan my next week - I have a small calendar that I have pre planned dates on to do with my writing, deadlines, publishing dates, blog posts etc, which I use to put those plans into my weekly to do lists, I also have a calendar on my phone which has my shift pattern on for work, plus personal appointments, and I have a wall calendar in the kitchen which holds anything related to my other half, birthdays, the kids and anything else which crops up and gets scribbled on there. Using all of these tools and some women's magic to squeeze it all in around house chores, cooking, visiting family and binge watching my favourite TV series'!!

I have to admit, that now I am sitting here writing this, it all sounds like a lot of hard work and not necessarily something that you re now thinking you may want to try - however, I promise it's not like that at all! It's as much or as little as you make it! That's the main aim of a Bullet Journal - to be the aid you need, instead of using a pre-planned diary or notebook that has a lot of wasted space where you find you don't need that part of it. As well as my monthly and weekly planning pages, I have lists for books I want to read, an expenses page where I track my spending, and one of my favourites - my habit tracker, where I keep a track of some of my hobbies, how many times I see family members, and to make sure that I take my vitamins in a morning!

Yours would be what you made it - and I hope that my ramblings have maybe given you thought to try your own, and not put you off! I wholeheartedly suggest that you check out the book I mentioned at the start of this post, and that it gives you the same push to get into Bullet Journaling that it did me - having gotten into mine, I wouldn't turn back. It genuinely makes my life that little bit easier to know that I have got everything in one place, and that I have things planned into my week so that I know when things will get done in order to fit everything into the few hours that seem to spare in a day!!

Till next time :)

A trip into the mind of a fiction writer

I found this while scrolling through my documents folder looking for inspiration - it was my entry post for a magazine which was unsuccessful at being published. Bearing in mind what it is about, I found it highly ironic and figured it was worth a share... Enjoy - I'd love to hear your thoughts...

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Down the Rabbit Hole

Procrastination.  The action of delaying or postponing something as defined by the online Oxford dictionary.  It's known as the thief of time, and no matter how hard we may argue it, we’re all guilty of it in some shape or form.  No admission needed.

As writers, we write.  There is no limit on how much you have to write, how well you write it, or even what you do with what you have written.  If you write, it makes you a writer.  You spend your days wandering around in a half-conscious state because the other half of you is constantly thinking about whether or not you needed that last line of dialogue, or if the main character should have long wavy hair or a short pixie cut.  You have more ideas than you know what to do with and so many words that would sound great in that sentence you were struggling with in the early hours of this morning.  However, the moment you sit down with your soul purpose being to write; whether it is the poem for inside a birthday card, the article that is due in at the weekend, or the next chapter of your unfinished book, you can guarantee that all the ideas that were swimming around in your head just moments ago have gone.  They left the building along with all your motivation and you just sit staring at the blank page or the screen of your computer. 

So, what do you do?  You tap your pen against the page, type a few words on your computer before deleting them again with a deep sigh and a shake of your head.  Slowly, but surely, your mind begins to wander down the proverbial rabbit hole and you end up smack bang in the middle of Wonderland.  Facebook.  The world's answer to a cure for boredom.  It's one of the first ports of call.  Maybe you'll find some inspiration there… The next thing you know an hour has passed and the only thing that you have accomplished is laughing so hard at the video your uncle posted that your sides hurt, nearly signing up to sponsor an animal because they looked so cute in the photographs and to top it all off, you missed lunch!  You flick back to the blank page in your notebook, or to the empty word document on your computer and stare at it for a few more minutes before heading off in search of food to stop your stomach from protesting so loudly. 

After you have wasted some more time in the kitchen making your lunch and clearing up, you sit yourself back down in front of the nice white sheet of paper again.  It looks so empty.  Perhaps a doodle in the top corner of the page will make it look like you have achieved something in this writing session.  You even get a line down; a full sentence before your mind goes for another wander.  This time you find yourself on another social media site.  Name your poison.  Twitter?  Tumblr?  Deviant Art? Flickr?  That dating website you just joined?  Or my favourite; Instagram?  Now personally, I would check Instagram before Facebook, but that's just preference.  However, which ever you end up on, it's another hour of your life gone before you know it.  I can spend forever scrolling both writing and reading accounts on Instagram, claiming that I am looking for inspiration.  I read all the quotes, laugh to myself as I'm liking them and commenting on them, all the while still procrastinating from the actual task in hand; that next chapter.  

The worst part is that it isn't just the internet that proves to distract us, though this day and age it comes pretty high up the list.  We even find our self doing the house hold chores instead of the writing that we promised ourselves we would do today.  The time we set aside to write always seems to end up monopolised by something else.  It doesn’t matter how many times we tell ourselves that the washing needed sorting, or the bookshelf needed dusting and rearranging for the second time this week, we set that time aside, so the cleaning could have waited.  My downfall every time is a book.  I like to tell myself that I am following the wise words of Stephen King, as he has been quoted saying that 'If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.'  I think I own more books in my room than the local library does, and I can read a novel in less than twenty-four hours.  I love to read as much as I love to write.  The only problem is that it is much easier to sit back, relax and read that next book in my favourite series, than it is to war with my brain and actually get the words I want down on paper.  I can lose an entire day to a book, while the sheet of white paper stays just as white as it was the day I bought it!  There's no justice.

The thief of time.  We all have our own ways of procrastinating, we all have that list at the back of our minds that needs doing.  The difference between the writers you know of, and the writers you don’t; is the time they dedicate to writing.  You can have all the ideas in the world, but Hogwarts would never have come to life if J K Rowling hadn't sat down and written about it.  Edward and Bella would never have been more than a dream if Stephenie Meyer hadn't put that dream down on paper.  And Mr Christian Grey would not have been born had E L James not read Twilight.  Just imagine if one of your favourite authors had procrastinated rather than written your favourite story.  Now imagine where you could be in a few years time if you worked as hard as they did. 

Wonderland may be a fantastical place, but reality is the world we live in.  As writers we must write to be heard.  Make sure that the world hears what you have to say.

International Correspondence Writing Month

A late one tonight - I definitely have the bug these last few days... not been tired at bedtime at all! Anyway, that's not what I sat down to write about! Who knows about International Correspondence Writing Month?? Hands up!?

Well, obviously I do, but I want to tell you all about it too! February is known as International Correspondence Writing Month - or InCoWriMo for short - and celebrates the long forgotten hand-written letter! Back in the day when you used to have to write to your friends and family if they didn't live close; before Facebook, Snapchat and video calls! I used to love writing letters, and have a beautiful array of stationary left over from a time when I used to write to friends in the Forces. Now, I tend to send a message over Whatsapp - because I can. However, I do still love to write the occasional letter and what not... So, I grabbed the opportunity that InCoWriMo gave me with both hands: A reason to write letters - 28 letters - one for each day of February! 

I was also sensible though - I knew that I couldn't write 28 letters - so, I dug out these stunning postcards that I have had knocking around for a few months and not really know what to do with them.. They're getting used this month! Maybe you'll receive one!! Feel free to send me your address if you want to hear from me in writing :)

Despite not getting on with writing my postcards on the 1st, I dug out my address book on the third and got caught up! Plus, this is giving me an excuse to use up my Christmas stamps!!

Keep an eye out for the post man this month - you might just get a post card!!

You know you're a writer when...

You know you're a writer when... you go to bed late at night, get snuggled up and are ready to head to Dream Land, when suddenly, your brain goes into overdrive with ideas for new stories, and planning to get yourself on track and make sure you get everything done in order to stick to your intended publishing time line that you have set yourself in order to try and be 'more professional'! So, you get back out of your cosy bed, tip toe across the floor and find something to pull on and head back downstairs to find a pen and some paper to write all these things down before you inevitably forget them in sleep!

I get back in bed with said pen and paper and all the thoughts come tumbling out in a non cohesive jumble of ideas that start to look like a child's attempt at fitting as many words as physically possible on a page before having to give in and get a new piece of paper. Good Luck with that come morning!
Today, I spent just over an hour trying to decode my late night ramblings from last night, and think I have sorted them out into helpful ideas, possible good story ideas, and plain old useless crap - oh, and the parts that I just can't decipher - I hope those weren't too important!

What have I learned from all of this?! 

Well, for starters, I should have had the pen and paper by the bed instead of having to go searching for it in the middle of the night... Secondly, I learned that my boyfriend loves me in ways I didn't really understand. I know this because he rolled over to watch me - just watch me, as I scribbled furiously, trying to get out all the thoughts before they began to evade me in the night. Then, when I was all done, and ready to get back to sleep like a normal person, he simply snuggled back up to me, told me he loved me, and fell asleep. 

He never once complained that I was up and about, making the floorboards creak, or turning on lights... He never said that I was being a pain or that the light was annoying him... He didn't laugh when I said I needed to get a pen; he even offered to go get the pen and paper! And most of all, he told me that he loved his writer girlfriend and that he was proud of me for following my dreams!

Now, that may not sound like much, but I've heard stories from other Indie writers about how they don't want to tell their family, partners, and friends about their writing habits, as they don;t feel like they would get the support they want from them. This has always concerned me a little, ,as I believe that the support network that you build around yourself; particularly as an independent author, is what makes you successful. I've always had that support from my family, and am not afraid to say that I know that I would not be where I am today without their love, belief in me, and the occasional kick up the ass when I need it. I now know that I have that from my partner too, (don't get me wrong, I've always known that he supported me, I just never realised to what extent before) and that makes me one very lucky writer, and I will never take that for granted!

Story shared - I'll see you all at 3am! *The time of the creative minds*

Harry Potter Night

Thursday night saw me and my sister dressing up and heading over to Waterstone's to help celebrate Harry Potter Night :) Apparently, on the 1st February for the last four years, Waterstone's have held this amazing night and it has been awesome enough to make a tradition out of it!! Of course, being a new employee, being a big fan, and having a super fan for a sister, we had to go check out what all the fuss was about, right?! So, we donned out fancy dress outfits; one of us doing a better job that the other I have to say... and off we went...

Back to those outfits first! Mine was a great idea, and looked fantastic in my head; I promise! However, it didn't look quite so good once I had it on, plus I had failed at locating a Ravenclaw scarf last minute in order to represent my house colours... So, by the time I was finished, I would probably have passed for a Death Eater, in my long black robes and hood, but not so much a witch of wizard just out for a stroll... My sister however, outdid herself without even trying. Keeping it simple, and not even technically dressing up - she donned her Hufflepuff colours, and channeled her inner Newt Scamander and looked fabulous!

On arrival, we were sorted into the houses in which we would play for by choosing a coloured gem from a bag... I believe we pulled red, meaning we were Gryffindor, however, like most people there, we soon decided to just play for Hufflepuff, as neither of us wanted to play for a house that we didn't really belong to! We weren't alone - most people already knew which house they belonged to, and ignored the sorting bag as it didn't know what it was talking about!!

We took part in the puzzles around the shop, taking on the hunt for the golden snitches, and battling our way through a beastly word search - then we showed ourselves up in the master quiz! Now, Harry Potter fans we may be; unfortunately, the quiz was all Fantastic Beast based, and neither of us had the knowledge to be able to pull off a decent score... out of a possible 1370, we scored 380... and most of those were either linked to the original Harry Potter books (for example, the dragon from the Triwizard Tournament) or were just pure guesses!!

The point is that we had a great night, and thoroughly enjoyed nerding it up for a few hours - plus it was great to get to spend some time with each other :)

1st February next year - put it in your diary now and we'll see you there!!