writing – Page 7 – Afterwards

On the matter of prompts

I do so very much like the challenge of prompts. You know the type, where you’re provided with a picture or a word and the challenge of creating something – often limited to a small number of words.

When I started my blog in July it was the WordPress daily prompt that provided me with the most inspiration. I have since moved away from those somewhat as I have discovered lots of other wonder blogs out there that stir my imagination, but the thrill of a good prompt remains.

I think perhaps I enjoy them so much because they give me that central idea to which I can attach the randomness of my thoughts. Quite often I will have an idea in my head that I want to write about but it is the prompt that provides the catalyst for the finished piece.

Anyway, here are some of my favourite blogs that provide me with some of the inspiration for the stuff I produce. A huge thanks to you all for the effort that goes into running the prompts!

The prompts are great, and the work by fellow bloggers equally so!

I know there are more I have forgotten…

Do you have others you like to use? Leave a link in the comments section below.

How very curious

Just a thought or two

So, I wrote here about the busy week I had culminating in events of the weekend, and following that I found myself rather weary for a few days and catching up on things so had no opportunity to write.

The majority of the stuff I published in the last week and a half were written before last week commenced so I found myself having done little or no writing for over a week when I sat down to write this morning.

Curious it was that I really struggled. I’ve been able to churn out up to 3 or 4 pieces a day for months effortlessly but when I sat there everything seemed very foreign to me. I looked at my previous posts and they seemed wholly unfamiliar and whilst I have tried to keep up with comments I had to keep going back to look at what I had written. Lots of the ideas I had seemed rather empty and it struck me that my brain has been in a wholly different non creative place.

Browsing through my reader I wondered how much I had missed. I have read a few things recently but so very little as I slipped back into the routines I had before I took up writing a few months ago and it struck me how very easy it would be for me to simply put down my pen and to not write again.

I had a few pointless conference calls at work today so I managed to scribble down a few limericks and haiku, and slowly things started to feel familiar again. Tonight I have managed to plonk myself in front of the keyboard and I can just about feel the ideas starting to come back and thoughts forming.

I haven’t done this for long, so perhaps I do not have the muscle memory quite formed yet but I am now more aware of the need to keep feeding my brain and to try and maintain the creative processes because I didn’t much like the idea of not doing this again though it would be quite easy to let something else take its place because life can just get in the way sometimes.

3 months later…

So, seems there are a number of milestones I have almost hit with my blog after some experimentation this month.

So, seems there are a number of milestones I have almost hit with my blog after some experimentation this month. I upped my outputs, introducing a couple of daily themed limericks and haiku and then looked to do at least one fiction piece and one challenge piece each day also and it has certainly kept me busy and given me the chance to write some different pieces.

I fiddled around with timings to see how and when they would get the best coverage and when I had a look today it seems I’ve doubled or tripled the views, likes, visitors and comments from month 1 to month 3.

I don’t think I like it though.

All seemed rather planned and thought out and it became something of a burden so I won’t be doing that anymore. I think I shall simply return to writing whenever I can and publishing it in the evening. Nice and simple, no compulsion to have to produce anything for any when.

I think I might write a little less too. Not that I don’t enjoy it I do – very much – but I think I need a bit more balance. This last month I have churned out a stack of stuff on all manner of things as I have really been enjoying the writing but it has got in the way of life and that just won’t do.

Looking back at some of the stuff I have written I think perhaps I might try focus a little more on a few of the pieces I’ve started but never finished and to try and be a bit more disciplined when it comes to finishing things before I head off on another tangent. I am certain I have quite a few ‘Part 1’ pieces on the blog somewhere that deserve a little attention.

On the plus side, I’m rather chuffed that I have done nearly 200 pieces and had more than 2000 visitors. who have liked my work plenty. Feels great to be able to connect with people who follow my stuff regularly and next week I am guest blogger for someone that’s been following me from early doors which I am looking forward to immensely.

I had always said to myself that I would give it a couple of months to see whether I could write a bit and whether I liked blogging and I think on the whole I do, so I think I will keep doing it.

I still have too many limericks about Donald Trump inside to stop now, and thanks for all of your support!

Michael

I set myself a challenge this week…

Just how much could I do in one week?

If my wife sees this then she might remark, “Not a lot”, and that would probably be fair.

At the outset of the week I set myself a challenge of getting onto WordPress a lot of the ideas I had stored up and to just see what I was capable of spewing out over 7 days. In addition to writing I also set myself the challenge of reading as much as I could too. A kind of total immersive experience.

As a bit of context, I have a job and a family and other commitments so it was very much a case of seeing what I could fit in where. I do a typical 8-4 in a large bank running a team of programmers, the boys have rugby Wednesday and Thursday evenings, it was my nephew’s birthday on Wednesday and I didn’t get out of work until well after 6 on Friday. Oh, most of Saturday and Sundays are spent doing something rugby related somewhere in Yorkshire too – so time is at a premium.

So how did it go?

Well by the time this is published I think I will have managed in the region of 27 posts during the week and have read somewhere in the ball park of 300 other peoples articles.

When it comes to reading it was simply a case of getting up one hour early each day (at least) and spending from 5.30 am to 6.30 am reading, liking, commenting or sometimes skipping over other peoples work. A week or two ago I actually read every single post in The Daily Prompt. Over 200. I think it was on flavour.

There was some great stuff that I have taken inspiration from, new people I am now following and I seem to have picked up new followers on the way. If I had something constructive or really enjoyed a piece I said so, I didn’t just constantly like, I tried very much to engage in what I was doing and with the author.

As for writing, it was very much a case of being disciplined and creative with my time.

I planned the week, did a spreadsheet of what I wanted to do each day and tracked it day by day. Many of my pieces were related to weekly challenges from other bloggers so knowing what came out when was key.

So after a week I seem to have produced :

7 Daily limericks plus one Sunday Limerick piece
10 Pieces of flash fiction or micro fiction stories
5 Haiku posts, some in response to other peoples challenges
half a dozen commentary type pieces, often based on what’s been going on in the world.

Each night I would try grab an hour or more after the kids were in bed, and if I was helping them with their homework I would perhaps write when I was doing that – either in my note book or on my tablet. I’ve watched less TV too. Something had to give.

At work I was more disciplined about taking a lunch break and would use 30 to 40 minutes writing. I will also admit to writing a fair few limericks on some of the more tedious calls I have to attend from time to time.

One morning I took the youngest to tutoring which is 45 minutes, and in that time as I waited I managed to write the outline for 3 more short stories, so waste not want not.

I then proceeded to post 3 or 4 a day. Was it necessary? Could I have stored them up? I simply wanted to write, I wasn’t really bothered by those sort of thoughts. I may post nothing this next week, and if that’s the case then so be it.

As for the numbers, not something I spend a lot of time worrying about, but it was by far my best week ever. I do know I had more likes, comments, views and visitors than any other week, and I don’t think my quality was greatly diminished – I still tried to do my best with the things I tackled.

I did think I might have been short of inspiration for so many pieces but I was surprised by just how much I still had left by the end of the week – I think I now have more ideas that I started with. It feels to me like the creative process, once stimulated, really can run away with itself.

That’s just my experience though, I have only been doing this for a few months so don’t claim to know much about this lark – I only know I enjoy doing it.

Michael

A post a day for August

August was my first full month of blogging, so I thought I would set myself a target of posting every day, and yesterday I completed it. So what did I learn?

Here’s a quick list, because I know you’re busy…

Do not do it when you are taking a week’s holiday somewhere that has no wifi. It will make you a horrible person and your wife and children will go for ice creams without you.

It is important to read lots of other peoples work. You see some wonderful stuff and it will perhaps provide you with inspiration.

There are things that I don’t understand or enjoy, but I will give them a go. I read every post on the ‘Magnetic’ daily prompt one day and learned tons about why people are hot for one another and how fortunate we are that ‘Lust’ and ‘Thrust’ rhyme.

There will be things you read that make you think “how the devil did they get so many likes?” You have no idea what people will enjoy, trust me. Google “hucow”. But not at work, or where your partner or kids might see it. Then delete your browser history.

At times it was like using a really dirty toilet. The urge to produce something quickly was often more pressing than the need to produce something I enjoyed.

Engaging with the people behind the likes and the comments is hugely rewarding. There are a core of people who comment regularly who I truly appreciate because I know they are reading and enjoying it.

I have a suspicion that there are people who just like things to be polite or to get you to follow them. One reader liked 79 posts in about 5 minutes. I had to turn alerts off at that point. I will follow you if I like what you write, not because you liked my copyright page.

Anyway, I’m sure there are more things but I wanted to keep this relatively brief.

Michael

Here’s some other stuff you might like

Sombre limericks 6

My 100th Post

Fatties in space – not one for the kiddies

Photo courtesy of pixabay

My 100th Post

I started my blog about 7 or so weeks ago, and as it turns out this is my 100th post.

I started my blog about 7 or so weeks ago, and as it turns out this is my 100th post. I had envisaged that it would be something special but mostly it is a reflection of my experience to date trying my hand at writing. With the exception of the last week, being on holiday as I was and deciding not to write, I have had an absolute blast churning out whatever springs to mind.

I have not given any of it too much thought really, and seldom have I edited anything preferring instead to enjoy the pleasure of getting ideas out there and finding out what I enjoyed doing most. Along the way it seems some people have enjoyed some of what I have done which I will admit has been hugely encouraging. I am still unsure of what I really prefer writing so will continue to dabble until I decide what to focus on next.

Finding time to write has on occasion proven difficult but generally I manage to grab an hour or two at night and will type through my lunch at work if I am feeling really excited about an idea. I am looking at trying to establish a better writing routine as my desire to write ludicrous haiku is now to blame for the amount of time it has taken to paint the hall.

When I started I would simply sit down and type, but of late I’ve started keeping a little leather bound book with me to jot down ideas and explore thoughts which has proven particularly useful.

On occasion my phone will beep away as people read and comment on my posts. I haven’t paid too much attention to the numbers, but checking today I can see that I have generated more than 3200 views from 1040 visitors and 1330 likes. Readers from 68 countries have taken a peek at what I have been doing which I thought was pretty cool. I seem to have about 150 followers too but that includes about 10 from twitter where I publish things to but I don’t really understand twitter very well so really must take a look at that at some point.

WordPress has certainly lead me to reading a lot more too, with so many people to follow I’ve never been short of ways to pass the time and there are some fabulous writers out there which have given me inspiration. I have also loved participating in a load of the challenges out there, and in July I did the Daily Prompt every single day which I find a real catalyst. Each day I also try and respond to one of a number of challenges by other writers as they have given me great ideas too. Ill be listing those out in a future post!

So what will be the next 100 be on I ask myself? I’ve no idea though have a few ideas that I want to flesh out to try and do something more substantial whilst also continuing with the silly things like my limericks and haiku which I do so enjoy.

So, whether you’ve been part of my inspiration as a write or a reader, thanks so very much, I’m looking forward to seeing where this journey takes me next!

I took a 30 year break – Dormant – Daily Prompt

That Christmas I asked for a typewriter, thinking that I had found my calling, and I bashed out a few teen angst inspired poems about solitude and rainy days …

I have always wanted to write. Or I thought I did. When I was 17 I scribbled a story in a large black book my dad stole from work one summer. I don’t remember what it was about, but I do know that Victor Visser borrowed it to read and never gave it back!

That Christmas I asked for a typewriter, thinking that I had found my calling, and I bashed out a few teen angst inspired poems about solitude and rainy days before succumbing to rage and frustration and a realisation that the I could not type and would be spending all of my time correcting what I had bashed out.

I did very little after that with the exception of a Tolkien inspired epic poem which I worked on when I was in the Army just after I left school. I have no idea what happened to it but I still remember the opening even after 28 years:

“The swirling veils of morning mist

were swept aside as morning kissed

the sleeping lands that lay below

and waking winds began to blow.”

I think the rest was about a quest and an evil force and a ring and some wizards and…well you get the idea. Mostly thievery.

And that, as far as I recall was it. For a short while I thought Journalism was for me but I never did anything about it, I mostly just had an itch which I left unscratched.

Fast forward three decades, a wife, 2 kids, mortgage, career and a load of stuff in between I found myself inspired by a friend to look at WordPress just over a fortnight ago. Well, I will be honest, it has been rather fun and wholly addictive and after nearly 30 years I have managed to write some of the things I always wanted to but didn’t know I did.

I have no idea how one should write, I do not know whether full stops go before speech marks and the structure of a good story is beyond me. I do know though that I am loving doing it, even if it is a shambles.

Perhaps it was how easy it was to set up, maybe the joy of writing, perhaps it was the thrill of someone actually liking something I wrote or maybe just the joy of finishing something I meant to do so long ago but never got round to.

Whatever it is, my wife hopes I put that shelf up in the kitchen sooner than it took me to do this because I also assured her, in a very similar way, that ensuring she has somewhere to put the pans is something I want to do very much, if only I could find my spirit level.

Want to read more of my stuff that’s not about me but about Aliens and zombies and people and rude poems and life and stuff?

https://afterwards.blog/2017/07/14/probing-a-cautionary-tale/

https://afterwards.blog/2017/07/03/first-blog-post/

https://afterwards.blog/2017/07/14/we-unlikely-few/

Https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/Dormant/