Tag Archive | art

Checking In: Fast FIVE

Apr10

Oohhhh here we go! This fast five has to do with me, Myself and I. Lol. Just a quick check-in on how the writerly and readerly things are going

  1. Still reading an absolute MONSTER amount of books. Instead of constantly adding to the books read total, these past few weeks I’ve been rereading old favorites. At 140 out of the 350 I put on the 2025 challenge– I think I’m gonna be ok.
  2. I am currently grooving on the Ladies of Horror flash project. You can find it HERE. It explores a darker side that I find I really like. It makes it easier to explore some things– whether social or emotional. You should go and read all the fabulous poems and stories that are over there!
  3. Still doing a poem a day and making it to my 4pm writing date with the absolutely fabulous Rie. She has a substack where she does many types of poetry things. Here is a link to her post about one of my favorite things to hoard– blank note books!
  4. I’m getting better… I’d had a brutal  case of bronchitis and am slowly getting everything back on track. I’d let a lot of things slide while sick: housework, writing, all the stuff.
  5. Including my OTHER creative outlet– the planner journals. At first I started writing it in a journal but then stopped that too. And I’m not starting back up because it seems like so much work to back plan a MONTH. Maybe though… Maybe I should do what I do with my writing. Give myself a little bit of grace and start where I’m at. I can always go back and do the other weeks with my journal…

So there’s my current Fast Five. What would your current Fast Five include?

Not gonna lie…. Almost did a 6 but there’s nothing sinful to put on the list!

Odd Duck

Mar20

Lately I’ve been feeling like an odd duck, swimming in the ocean.

Let me back up. Life up and heave-hoed me in 2023. My dad died, the one who kept me tethered to where I was, through love for him while honoring a promise to my mother.  I moved from Northern California to Missouri a year and a half ago. I started out here with my teen son, but now I’m suddenly an empty nester. I’ve started attending church. I’ve been around family more. I started working from home.


Holy crap. No wonder I feel like a duck in the ocean.  Feet paddling just as fast as I can.


That has been reflected in my writing. I quit writing—heck I quit reading—for a while. Even the cards I used to send out were few and far between.

I’m writing more now. I’m writing a variety of things, too. I had been firmly in my short story era, but I’ve branched into drabbles, poetry, flash fiction and essays. And I’m submitting that work.


What I haven’t done? Gotten anywhere close to completing a novel. Or heck, half way through a novella. Will I? Maybe. I have in the past, but that was decades ago. Am I heart broken? Not really.
Because this odd duck is writing.

And sometimes that’s all you can do.

5 Things to do when not writing

Mar6

So… There are lots of reasons why we don’t write. Sometimes it’s scary like a writing block (OH NO! Will I ever write again?). Oftentimes, it’s just life. You’re sick. You had to go to Aunties house for whatever reason. Sometimes, our brains just hurt. It’s easy though, while not writing to lose the habit of writing.

The following five help boost my creativity and still have an element to help with writing in them.

  1. Art Begets Art. I will die on this hill. Whether you go to a museum and view works of art or make your own– art helps us access our creative side. That goes for painting, drawing, music– all sorts. Want to exercise that writer’s brain? Write a story based on a picture. Or, write a rebuttal to a song. It worked for Miley.
  2. Read. This one seems like a no-brainer but you’d be surprised. But I’m not just talking about your own genre. Read non-fiction and learn something new. Read poetry that touches your soul. Read a mystery or a romance or a collection of humourous historical facts. What ever tickles your fancy. You never know what will spark.
  3. Go outside. This one is hard for me, personally. I’m an indoor girlie. But I feel better when I go outside. And Mother Nature? She knows how to soothe our souls. The peace that wishes over me in the forest, when I’m able to just breathe is precious.
  4. Play. Play a game. Seriously. Make it something fun, though. Enjoyable. Not a time waster. I use solitaire with a deck of cards and it allows my brain to empty.
  5. Write. Write letters. Write stupid poems or stories. If you go to the zoo, is that zebra kinda shady? How would a giraffe tie their bow tie? Write lists. Write in your journal.

What kind of things do you do to reclaim your creativity? Your writing?

Authors who Challenge  you

Feb19

As readers, oftentimes we have triggers that we just can’t cross. That mess with our mental health. We adhere to those boundaries to protect ourselves.

Now, I don’t read books about cheaters– either male or female. It isn’t a trigger though– I just have little to no respect for the characters. There are exceptions, but it’s a generally held line.  I just don’t see the appeal .

Triggers are different. The reason for not reading those stories has more to do with your own mental health. About content that can cause you to spiral. For many of the women I know, that includes violence (in all forms) against women. In addition, I have triggers that have to do with drug and alcohol use. Those mentioned above are actually my personal biggest triggers.

However, I can no longer say I will not read a book with those triggers. I’m just very very careful about which authors I’ll trust with those issues.

Jillian West.

Jenn Bullard.

Jillian West pushes sometimes on my drug use trigger. Not often, but it does happen. It was handled so well, I started reading everything she wrote. Most of her work doesn’t phase me, but when it does she has trigger warnings outlined and it makes sense in the book. Honestly, like probably 90-95% of her work gives me the warm fuzzies. They are like stepping into a movie with your besties.

Jenn Bullard is a different beast entirely. And I do mean beast. If Jillian is like going out with your bestie– Jenn is the friend who is going to push you to your limits, hold you when you fall apart and then put you back together again.

Why am I telling you this? Welllll….. Jenn Bullard has a new book coming out in two days. In a previous book, “Forget”, oh it took me so long to pick it up and a little while longer to open it. In the forward, she tells readers it’s going to be a rough journey. Be careful of breakable objects. She ends the forward with “Okay, deep breaths, friends. Come yell at me later.”

I needed those deep breaths. Her work wrecks me in the best way possible. Bullard does what so few others can do– break a readers faith in a character and then bring them back into a reader’s good graces so we start rooting for them.

Jenn’s books mean many tears for me.

They are cathartic.

Oh, so cathartic.

Bad things happen to good people and still they survive. They find a way to thrive. To get to a Happily Ever After. And sometimes that HEA includes therapy, and that’s ok.

Her newest comes out on the 20th. I won’t be around for a bit– maybe I can be brave and meet it on Day 1 this time.

So, my Lovelies, do you have authors who break you & put you back together again?

Talk to you soon!

Something New

Jan8

I have 2 Happy Planners that I use for creative journaling. The problem is with my hermit tendencies, I have a problem filling up one let alone two.

So this year I started doing something different.

I’m using one as a creative journal, the other one tho… It has become my Writing planner.

What is a writing planner you might ask. It’s a good question. It can be anything you want to be, but for me a writing planner is….

A place to celebrate writing

Write the poem I wrote that day

Note any submissions I’ve made

Write my wins in bright colors, bold letters (like I wrote  2K words yesterday!)

Keep track of the days I blog

It can be anything you want or need it to be. For me, myself and I, seeing what I’m doing laid out with stickers and colors feels good. I look at each day that is filled out and pride creeps in. I don’t often feel pride as a writer. Most of the time I feel like a failure. But seeing each day fill up with the fact that I wrote? Yes, please!

What would you keep track of in a planner of your art form?

Talent Vs Hard Work

Jan3

I love to write and I’ve discovered I’m getting better as I write more and more. I’ve also discovered that sometimes it takes me 5 different manuscripts at the same time before I find the one with a skeleton the story can hang off of.

I’m putting in the work. Not knowing if I’ll get better or get published or anything. Just doing it for the joy. For the story I want to read.

My son is 18. No longer a princeling, or boy-child (even if he Always will be to me). Something he has always enjoyed is drawing. I encouraged it– it’s great for self expression and art is a form of therapy for me. And many others, I’m sure.

The problems come in with others. His dyspraxia makes holding pencils difficult. Mechanical pencils are the norm for him. The problem doesn’t come from his heart, from his enjoyment or even his dyspraxia. It came from others.

His fine motor skills made writing difficult in the education system. Teachers and peers can be cruel. They can take your love for your chosen art form and make you feel small. I hate that.

I hate that people who will never pick up a pencil and draw can make him feel less than confident. I hate that people who wouldn’t know how to write a thank you letter come after authors who have written a whole novel.

Just because you don’t appreciate it doesn’t mean it isn’t art.

Being an artist is about leaving a piece of yourself in the world. Regardless of the form, whether pencil or paint, music notes or words, art has soul to it.

And the thing about art? The more you do, the better you get. Talent is only maybe 10% of the equation. The rest is just doing it. Getting better. Finding your voice.

Finding you.

Know this, my Lovelies — if someone doesn’t appreciate your art, they aren’t the intended audience.  It will find a home.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown

Jun22

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert is a romance novel that opened my eyes up in regards to writing in the characters viewpoint.

We all know about POV and perspective. At least I assume we do (if not, as with my last post, ask your question! Well get it answered! No fuss, no miss, no hate).

The male lead in the HEA is Red. Red has long, red hair, tattoos and relationship baggage. He also has an artistic talent that permeates his character. We know he’s an artist not just by the paint under his nails, but how he thinks of Chloe. He thinks of her in color and texture and warmth and light. It’s not just Chloe, either. Somehow Hibbert just slips us into an artists mind and it feels great.

But it also reminds us writers that there is more to writing in a charters perspective than just the nuts and bolts. We need to take the time to think through what a character’s passions will do to the way they think of the world. It’s both terrifying and liberating as a writer.

As one who isn’t that great as fleshing out details it’s scary. As one who loves a puzzle, it’s kind of intriguing and exciting.

Ta, my lovelies. I have a villainous hero who I need to flesh out.

It’s going to be so fun!

Quarter 1 Writing Goals

Apr10

For 2023 I had some goals. Mostly related to writing. So far, I am failing at every single one of them.

1. Write and finish a novel

2. Submit short stories (these are already spot polished and ready to go)

3. Blog every other week

4. Read 150 books

Well, as you can tell from my blogging history this year (up till recently) I have failed on that one. I have written exactly 1 paragraph in the novel I started. This past week. As for books I’ve read… I am at 29 so far.

So I have a few options here. I can hang my head in shame and give up because I’ve already sucked at it and I’m going to keep sucking obviously. But that’s not ME talking, nor is it anyone I love. It’s that tiny, tinny voice in my ear that tells me I’m never going to do anything. I’m not a good writer I’m not pretty enough talented enough… I’m not enough of anything.

Or I could remember that I wrote my stories, published and otherwise, for me. That I enjoy writing them. That it helps me work through ish, even if I’m never a writer making money at writing. Art isn’t about money, or shouldn’t be.

And that might be my problem. Coupled with having been sick off and on (mostly on) since Thanksgiving, I haven’t been able to even think about actually writing. But lately, I’ve been thinking about my story. About where it needs to go and what the story actually is.

Because originally it was going to be a spicy romance. Because that sells. But it doesn’t sell a book to me. Even tho I’ve read romances since forever, I have never written one explicitly. Or am explicit scene. The closest I’ve come is a sweet romance. Although I have written at least one spicy scene, it’s not in a story that’s going anywhere right now.

And that’s ok. The last thing on my mind right now should be writing for cash. Although with prices going the way they are it’d be nice. It’d be helpful. But I need to get in a different mindset because apparently that one strangles me creatively.

So. I wrote a paragraph this week. And for me that’s a big deal. And that’s ok. I’m not in this right now for anything other than me. Of I find homes for my stories that’s wonderful. But I need to get back to writing for that first reader.

Me.

Happy New Year-ish

Jan4

So i have made lots of goals for 2021. Not resolutions, just a nod to things I want to do differently. I started most of them in December, at the very end. I just couldn’t wait.

One thing I’m trying to do is submit my work, my writing more. I enjoy writing, and I have several stories that need homes. I wrote 4 or 5 last year and while not a huge amount– it is still an accomplishment I am proud of. I’ve sent 2 stories out, hopefully to find a home.

I’ve started journalling creatively for 10 minutes before going to bed. It helps with story generation, and also working things out. A fire kitten may be making an appearance in a story soon.

One of my dear friends, my sister from another mother, challenged me to a poem a day writing challenge for the year. I don’t consider myself a poet, but it doesnt say anything about GOOD poetry LOL.

I bought an undated planner and am using it to tey and work out a story I am working on. The story has a lot going on and will probably be longer than most of my writing. I tend to do short and sweet, this needs room to breathe.

So that’s what I’m getting into for 2021. How about you? Any wild crazy plans? Or slow and steady wins the race?

Widow’s Walk

Oct12

(I wrote this in response to a class assignment. It is inspired by a picture by Rob Gonsalves and the journey of a dear friend. )

Widows walk. They walk along the balcony, pacing out the nights. One step after another, chained to a mast that never comes into view. No skips, no hops for the balcony is dangerous. Weeping into the ocean doesn’t count if you are alone.

Widows walk alone, friends and family woefully out of step. They bear the isolation alone, watching the clouds skittle across the night sky, longing, wistfully, for a glimpse of the one who left them behind. They walk, they pace, they shiver and moan. Even among the crows, they are alone.

Widows walk alone into… . They carve out a path made of stone yet soft as sand. Night becomes day becomes night and still they walk their lonely halls of grief. Typhoons, monsoons, tsunamis break over them. The trick, the widows say, is to let them break. Let them rain down on you, absorb the fury and power of nature into yourself because otherwise it will burn you alive. The clouds on the horizon are puffy and white… or are they a sail in the wind… or will they change as they start to come in. Widows walk alone into…

The unknown. Once you are half of a hole (it’s wrong but it fits and oh how that hurts!) how do you become whole while only half of you is there? Once, you were whole all on your own. You didn’t choose to walk this walk, you didn’t ask for this you didn’t want this–never this– game of life that tossed the rules out on you– why did the rook take the queen– you didn’t know you didn’t want you didn’t mean in when you said you only wanted a minute alone youdidntyoudidntyoudidntyoudidnt

But still. Here we are.

Somber as a post.

Knowing.

Widows
Walk
Alone

Copyright 2020 Wynelda Deaver