Hello!
Welcome to my lifestyle blog, where I write about my favorite things: pop culture, travel, career, wellness, fashion, friendship and relationships.
Enjoy! Dareise
Welcome to my lifestyle blog, where I write about my favorite things: pop culture, travel, career, wellness, fashion, friendship and relationships.
Enjoy! Dareise
All in Writing
I can’t believe this is one of the two final blog like crazy entries I’ll make for the challenge this year. Blog Like Crazy (#bloglikecrazy) was created by Javacia Harris Bowser, founder of the writing community See Jane Write (I am a proud member). Javacia created this challenge for writers who weren’t participating in November’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge during which writers attempt to write a 50,000-word manuscript. Instead, bloggers are challenged to write one blog of at least 300-words a day for the 30 days in November.
“A goal is a dream with a deadline.” -Napoleon Hill
Every goal starts with a desire, a vision, a dream. You know what you want, so the first step is to write it down.
So, you’re writing consistently now. You have a blog, you’re freelancing regularly, or you’re writing plays, fiction, poetry or non-fiction. You are a writer. A bona fide one at that. Of course, you have your laptop, tablet, notebooks and favorite pens; but do you have a writing tribe? A group of like-minded ladies who are committed to writing, inspiring and supporting each other in a business that is essentially a one-woman job. I saw a t-shirt on an Instagram post last week that read “I’m a writer. I was already social distancing.” And, it’s true, most writers don’t work in a writers’ room or have a step in their process that includes interacting with other writers consistently, so that’s why a writing community is so important. You’re usually working on your own, but here are three reasons you need a writing tribe.
A few months ago, Emelda De Coteau, founder of the community Women Creatives Chat and the podcast Pray with Our Feet started a series called “Creating through COVID-19,” which includes live conversations with women creatives who talk about how to embody gratitude, cope with mental health challenges and how to be mindful about physical and mental wellness during the pandemic. As a member of this remarkable community of diverse women creatives, I can attest to the power it has had on me in supporting my goals as a creative while also providing a platform for us to share experiences, advice, encouragement and expertise to aid in each other’s growth.
I've kept a journal since I was a teenager. Writing was a natural way for me to express myself. I'd write poetry, short stories and details about my day and my crushes. I always felt relieved after I'd write, especially when I could let go of thoughts I didn't want to or didn't have the courage to, speak out loud.
Fast forward many years later and I am still writing in my journal, but this year while in quarantine due to the pandemic, I decided to start a gratitude journal.
Year seventeen was an interesting one for me, as I’m sure it is for all teenagers. There was a lot I knew about myself and had come to believe about myself. I knew I was a writer. My aunt, who’d helped raise me (and read my diaries and poetry without my permission, Lol), told me I was a few years prior, and by that point I believed it. I loved to write and could trace that love as far back as the second grade. But there were a lot of things I didn’t know and didn’t take seriously; school was one of them.
If you’re a writer, you know the frustration of hitting a place where you just can’t write. The dreaded Writer’s Block gets to all of us writers from time to time. Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines it as “a psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece.” Writers know that this includes not even being able to come up with an idea for a piece. So, how do you deal when you’ve hit a writer’s block? I’ve got three tips to help pull you out of that space and into the flow of words and ideas.
