Just Keep Writing: August 21, 2023 - Monday Musings & Writing Challenge Week 3, Day 1

 Welcome! The sun's once again shining on the scenic route. We're actually under red flag warnings (drought, in case you were wondering) in our area. This isn't so great for home gardens in rural areas. We have to actually put the water from our faucets in buckets and let them sit for three days to allow the chemicals to evaporate before watering our garden with them. And that's the same water we're supposed to cook with and drink. What kind of world are we living in, y'all? 

Just Keep Writing: Monday Musings

If this is your first time participating in this kind of writing exercise, you're in for a treat. If you've done this with me before, just keep scrolling for the prompt.

Rules:

1. You can use any/all of the words and/or the photo in the prompt below to create a unique written work. Fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, even lyrics are acceptable.  
2. Please keep the material you write clean (i.e. nothing R-rated or worse) if you wish to share the link to your work here, as well as if you link back to my site. I strive to keep my site free of such things. My readers know and expect this. I respect your right to write whatever you feel you need to write. And you're free to use my prompts. But if your material is graphic, I'd rather not view it, and most of my readers will not wish to. 
3. Have fun! This type of exercise is perfect for growing in the writing craft, or for helping through a rough patch in your current WIP. If you're looking to push your author limits and you normally write in nonfiction prose, try a whimsical collection of lyrics. If you normally write poems about real life events, try your hand at a fanfic. Give yourself some room to explore.

Don't forget to leave a link to your creation (unless you're writing graphic material) so my readers and I can check out your work. I'd appreciate a link back to this post to help me reach more readers, but it's not required. 

I hope you have fun with this set of words today. I know I thought of a story beginning already. How about you?

Writing Challenge: #AboutTheAuthorAugust Week 3, Day 1

This is the final week of the #abouttheauthoraugust 2023 challenge. Have you been participating? Did you tag my fellow indie author in your responses? If you're working through this challenge, I hope you're enjoying it and that it energizes you to keep going on that project. 

Today's prompt is 'your favorite writing tools' and I have a list for you.

• Scrivener - I love using this program to easily see my project at a glance. I've also been looking at Storyist for Mac since I'm considering switching to Apple products. I'm hoping they'll improve my productivity and efficiency. 
• Campfire Pro - This is a program I love but which is no longer being sold as a downloadable, offline item. Though Campfire's become a subscription service with a limited free usage option, I do think it'd be worth it for indies. The pricing looked affordable to me when I checked it out a few days ago. They also offer some publishing options, but I don't know much about those. What I like about my downloadable program is that I don't have to be online to use it. This is invaluable in a rural area since our internet can be really awful at times. I also love that I can put whatever I want into the program from pix of characters and scenes, to details about people groups and timelines. 
• My new favorite YouTube channel is Ethreal Pathways. There is some really nice ambient music on this channel. If you like that, check it out. 
• Journals & Binders - I find these indispensable. I use the binders to keep track of things like setting details, names with meanings, specific towns. I like having a hard copy in addition to my digital collections. You can't replace digital items if a system crashes and sometimes even backup copies fail. Journals I use to jot down ideas. Yes, I could do both in the binders but the journals are easier to grab and carry. 
• Pens, of course. The more variety, the better. I prefer felt-tip pens and bold gel pens. And I love colors, so my favorites right now are my Le Pen pens. Also, if you were wondering... The writing does take up more space with a bold tip, but I just love the way it looks when it's done. Always have. 

This is just a short list. I'd add more, but maybe I'll just do that Friday. My schedule is packed again today. And my mom is still struggling. We appreciate prayers. 

Thanks for stopping by the scenic route today. I hope you found something useful or encouraging in the post. Please visit again tomorrow! I'll have another word prompt ready for you, as well as another response to the challenge. 

Until next time,
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