Sunday, December 18, 2016

As 2016 Comes to an End

2016 is near its end. As we look back over the year we think about what we have done in aspects to our writing. Good & bad goals and achievements. 
  • Finished a WIP
  • Procrastinated too much
  • Gave up
  • Reached our weekly, monthly goals
  • Missed self scheduled writing times
  • Met new writers
  • Shared your stories
  • Tossed a WIP away
  • Started a new WIP
Those are just some of the things that might be going through your mind. Remember this year we have learned about our failures and achievements, what works better for you, and many other personal things.

Things to help with 2017 goals
  • Set small simple goals
  • Celebrate each goal accomplished
  • Reach out to others that will support you
  • Try CampNaNo & NaNoWriMo
  • Remember even 1 wordie counts to achievement
I challenge each of My Wordlings to engage with at least 2 new writers and smile or laugh when you think you are failing.


This is a short post because it just is. Have a great Holiday season and hope to see you on Fridays.

Monday, October 31, 2016

NaNoWriMo START!

Many have already started NaNoWriMo and some are waiting impatiently. There is a lot going on the 1st few days of writing. So, here is a reminder....
We have Writathons this month and every Friday nights. On Twitter there are many doing wordsprints (wordie grabs)... @NaNoWordSprints is going to be running them all month. Most 24/7 unless there is a small break.
If you want more wordie grabs check out MyWriteClub  You can grab wordies there and t can be lots of fun. My ID is Jessi_Pearson if you want to find me.

If you are still looking for snackies ideas check out our Pinterest boards. There are tons of snackies, character inspiration, meals and 'keep the kids busy' ideas. My favorite is Helpful Hints board. It has tons of things writers need.

Have a great start to NaNoWriMo my Wordlings. See you soon for wordie grabs.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

A Month To Go!

NaNoWriMo is Almost Here

With just a month the get prepared and everything set up it seems taxing. It's not really. There are several step you can take to be ready and relaxed (not that you will fully relax during this) when November 1st comes along. Here are just a few of the main steps to take to prepare for NaNoWriMo.

Sign up for NaNoWriMo!
You can't participate if you don't sign up. If you aren't signed up do it here before October 20th.
Be sure to add a title (if you have one) & short synopsis of you project and if you can a cover (doesn't have to be anything special).
Now check out the Scrivener sponsor on the site. You can download a trial period NaNo version that is longer than 30 active day trial. (Not sure when this option is available.)  A bonus is you will be able to purchase Scrivener with a big discount if you win NaNo, if you like it, that is.

During the next month there are hundreds of things you think you need to do. There may be but, take it one task at a time & keep that handy notebook & pen close.

Reasons to participate:
  1. It's fun
  2. You meet others that love what you do
  3. Helps you keep goals (IMPORTANT!)
  4. Kicks your butt in gear
  5. You can have fun
Preparing to write your NaNoWriMo project can get harry. To make it less harry here a few steps I & others take to prepare.

Your Project Preparation

  • Hop on Twitter... find other writers using #amwriting & #nanoprep to start with. 
  • Start character bios, ideas & backgrounds
  • Jot down ideas for the settings
  • Outline (if that's you)
  • Set a daily goal (NaNo is 1667 words daily)
  • Make a playlist of songs just for this project
  • Check out word sprints & writathons (is you haven't) on Twitter hashtags- #wordgrab #wordsprint #1k1hr #writathon
  • Most of all prepare a clean, organized writing space.
  • Create a Pinterest board of inspiration

Now that we have the project preparations going it's time to start on daily life. Family life ALWAYS get in the way of writing, that's fine. No problem. Planning ahead will make NaNoWriMo easier. I make out tons of family plans for November. Here is my list...

Feeding The Household


  • Look up recipes for freezer meals (crock pot ones are the best)
  • Make a menu/snack(you & kiddos if you have them) calendar
  • Make a shopping list for all meals & snacks (crock pot liners)
  • Dig out your crock pot and clean it
  • Set aside times to prepare for the Holiday (Turkey Day-US)
  • Make a list of how much of each produce you need chopped, diced, sliced
On October 30th or 31st get all your shopping for the month done (I do this every 2nd of the month, every month)... Freezer meals & snack makings. Once home put everything but the produce away. This is when you'll want to get to chopping, dicing & cutting all produce. I do this every month so it only takes me 30 minutes. If you're not use to planning like this then it will take longer... that's fine just get to it. Below is my basic prep. Sometimes I add veggies for veggie roast or a special/new recipe. 
My Veggie Prep (sweet-n-sour chicken, fajitas & omeltes)
Now that you have the veggies done, take a break, eat and organize the freezer meals you want to make. Once rested get to making up the meals. I start out with all beef, hop to pork & finally chicken meals (washing cutting boards in between).  You can do it in whatever order you wish. Starting with beef is best for me since we do tons of beef crock pot freezer meals.  You can pre-cook taco meats, burger with onions & garlic for sketti & others things you make with it.... Then freeze it. Once everything is in the freezer BREATHE!
Snacks should be prepared once a week... this includes ones for any kiddos you have. Spend time one day/night baking, cutting up fruits & veggies and making dips, pasta salads, etc. This helps when a kiddo comes in and says, "I'm hungry.". All you have to do is say it's in the frig. I use to put daily snacks in a leftover container like you see above. Many were celery with peanut butter, veggies for dip, etc. You can also use the containers to prep with a juice box, fruit snacks & other bought snackies. Oh and buy a bag of frozen fruit for those late night snackie cravings.

Here is my monthly list of freezer meals...
2- Mongolian beef
4lb-Taco meat (2 meals)
5lb- hamburger, garlic, onion (4-5 meals)
2-Sweet-n-sour chicken
2-Applesauce BBQ chicken
2-Teriyaki pork chops
1- Beef fajita 
1-Chicken fajita
8 Quarts of chicken stock(2 chicken-n-dumplings & 2 chicken-n-noodles)

My NaNo Snackies...
Chocolate Cheese Cake
Brownies
Lemon Dream Cake
Spinach Artichoke dip & totistos
Pasta salads
Cookies (all kinds)
M&Ms
Skittles
Veggies & Dip


Now For the Writing


Now it's time for goal setting. Make out a calendar & write each days goal on it. Remember you don't have to write every day, some days (Saturdays) you can write twice the goal. NaNoWriMo's daily goal is 1667 words.  Check out if there are any Writathons... like ours on Nov. 26th. Do sprints with  @NaNoWordSprints or with us. They will most likely get you way past you daily goal. Plus it's fun. 


*Announcements For November*
I will be scheduling several #1k1hr (1000 words in an hour) word grabs during November. All will be announced on Sundays. We will have our normal word grabs on Fridays but may start a bit earlier. Our Writathon is scheduled for November 26th. 

Sunday, July 10, 2016

In Full Swing

CampNaNo is in full swing. Wordies are flying and progress is being made for most of us. We had an extra day of wordie grabs Saturday July 9th and I saw a few newbies. It's great seeing new writings joining in. Please make them welcome with encouragement and help when they need it.

For the BIG news!

Our Writathon is only a couple of weeks away.
July 23rd
9am-9pm CDT

50 minute wordie grabs with 10 minutes between. Always starting at the :00.  You do NOT need to write with us the entire time. Jump in whenever you have time.

Working on Planning more Wordie Grabs

With newbies maybe we can add a few more wordie grabs a week. Comment below or Tweet times you'd like to grab tons of wordies. I'm open to regularly scheduled ones or a certain days (non-repeating). All you have to do is ask and I'll see what I can do.


Remember you can contact us in the comment section here, email us at GetWordies@gmail.com or Tweet us @GetWordies.

Friday, June 17, 2016

July CampNaNoWriMo!!!

July is almost here...
That means CampNaNo is almost here. Are you ready my Wordlings? Have you signed up? You still have a few days to get that done.  We are having another Writathon for CampNaNo. July 23rd 9am-9pm CDT. Look for the hashtag #wordgrab to follow our news. This Writathon might be a themed one if I can find a good summer theme.

For other news:
I have dropped all wordie grabs except Fridays. They are 6pm-10pm CDT for now. I'll add more if we have more participants joining in.

For Writing Food & Snackies check out our Pinterest.
Snackies
Cookies
Easy Lunch
You can also look at the crock-pot meals. These all make my writing life easier.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

It's Been Awhile...

It's been awhile since I was able to sit down and actually write a post. Using my phone is not this best. I can't update my pages.

Updates!

I have updated word grab times, hashtag list and writathon schedule. These should not change this year.

All word grabs are done with scheduled tweets with either Tweet Deck or Hootsuite. There may be a minute delay in the tweets so please forgive me. I am unable to sit and do the word grabs with you most of the time.


Other News!

There will be speratic word grabs. You never know when but I will give you at least an hour notice before we start.


Thursday, March 3, 2016

Wordie Grabs on Fridays

It is official!  Our Friday wordie grabs will be:
9am-noon CST
6pm-10pmCST
Until March 13th. Then we begin daylight savings time. Well be an hour earlier.

Hope to see many Wordlings, new and familiar!

I will use the #wordgrab hashtag 100% of the time. #writeclub hashtag will only be use once in awhile.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Friday Wordie Grabs

Voting is up on Twitter (1st tweet) for times to do some awesome grabbing. You all chose Fridays so that's going to be the day.

Voting ends in 6 days. I'll announce set times Thursday February 25th, 2016.

Remember to vote!

I'm hoping after we have a good Friday group I can add another scheduled day. So spread the word!

On another note... Check out our Pinterest boards and our Writer's Food section on here.