A Cup of Coffee and A Blank Page.

Most anything I write ends up in some sort of digital format. Blog posts and poems and stories and ideas...they all end up either displayed on the internet or living in a Word document on my computer. But almost everything is written down in a notebook first. Good old-fashioned pen and paper just inspire me in a way that a glowing screen can't quite do.

There are few things I love more than having a quiet moment with a cup of coffee and a blank page. Cozying up with a warm mug and looking at a story that hasn't been told yet, a to-do list that hasn't been planned, a blog post that has yet to be written. Blank pages hold so much promise because you can fill them with whatever you want. They hold the potential of every single word that has ever lived inside of you.

A jolt of caffeine and a blank page make me feel refreshed. Like I can do anything.

I hope today is a cup of coffee and a blank page for you. That instead of begrudgingly making your way through the day, you see it for the wealth of promise and potential that it is. That you feel electrified and inspired and know that you can do just about anything.

Happy Monday, friends. Let's do this.

Sometimes, You're Closer Than You Think.

A failure. That's what I felt like when it came to writing in 2015.

To be clear: I do not feel like I was a failure in 2015. I spent most of the year growing a tiny human who already means more than anything I have ever done or will ever do. But when it comes to writing, I felt like 2015 was a giant fail.

There were no late nights or early mornings spent hunched over a computer, excitedly typing like in years before. There was no marking off word count milestones on a color-coded list. There was no trip to Target to stock up on notebooks and binders and new pens for NaNoWriMo. There was no novel.

Now, to be fair, I spent most of 2015 very pregnant and very sick. But I still had high expectations for writing in 2015. I had dreams and goals that went unmet.

Or so I thought.

77,857. That's the number of words I actually wrote in 2015.

Yesterday, I added up the word count of blog posts and poems and ideas jotted down in 2015. And as the number kept getting bigger, I was shocked. That's a lot of words.

77,857 is not the word count of a failure. It is the word count of a writer. A writer who had a different kind of year than she was expecting, maybe, but a writer nonetheless.

Those 77,857 words may not have been written into a novel, but I wrote them. And that has to put me one or two steps closer to my dreams. In fact, I'd say it puts me 77,857 steps closer.

So this is just a reminder that sometimes, you're closer than you think. Even if the dream you have for your life seems incredibly far away. Even if it seems like you'll never even get the chance to try for it, since you're too busy doing things like making sure rent gets paid or taking care of your family or just surviving...chances are, if it's a dream in your heart, you're a step or two or seventy-seven thousand, eight hundred and fifty-seven closer than you think you are.

They just might be steps that look different than you thought they would, and that's okay.

just write: too bright to see the stars.

I learned to wish on airplanes

in a city too bright to see the stars. 

if there’s one thing that you’ve taught me,

it’s to look for magic wherever you are. 

so tonight I’ll use this flying wish

and hope that it comes true. 

I’m just asking this airplane

to bring me back to you. 

Happy Writing! You Can Do it.

The magical month of October has come to a close, and NaNoWriMo 2015 is officially here. And so I wanted to tell you, blogger, writer, poet, story-teller...you can do it.

Remember, the magic doesn't lie in a month, in a deadline, or in a process. The magic lies in you. And whatever writing you are setting out to achieve, you have enough magic inside of you to reach that goal. Whether you do it in November or December or in one year or in three...you can do it. You will do it, so long as you just keep writing.

Whether you're setting out to write a novel or a song or a poem or a story, you've got this. Whether you're writing for the world to see or just for the pages between your journal, there's a reason you should write. 

So write. Keep writing. Write when the words are overflowing out of you and write when you have to pull them out of yourself. Write to understand things, to stay alive, to ask your questions. You are a writer. So write. 

Happy writing...Through November, through the holidays, through 2016, through always. You are a writer, and you can do it.

PS...if you haven't joined The Novel Blogger yet, do it! Sometimes seeing a bunch of other people strive for the same thing you're working towards can be just the encouragement you need. 

just write: like playing cards.

I can still picture it

after all of this time,

how you’d share with me your secrets

as I would tell you mine.

and we’d lay upon a rooftop

trading secrets like playing cards

as we stared into the sky

hoping to see a shooting star. 

I think of you sometimes,

when a star is on the move.

I’ve heard you’re doing better,

and I hope that’s really true. 

I know that I’m no longer there,

that you’ve found someone new.

I just hope that she is someone

who you can tell your secrets to. 

just write: a treasure trove of wealth.

how silly it is to think
you're made up only of yourself,
when you and I both know
you are a treasure trove of wealth.

you are a priceless french mosaic,
a small piece of every soul you've ever met.
your heart is a vintage roadmap
of every place you've ever left.

your imagination is constructed
of every story you've been told,
the way you feel towards others built by
every hand you've tried to hold.

so when you look at your reflection,
know it's not just made of you...
it's everyone you've ever loved
and the ones who've loved you, too.

just write: the brightest stars.

sometimes when a perfect season

is coming to an end, 

it's hard to feel excited 

when you can't see around the bend. 

and so you try to cling to 

the quickly fading light, 

and hold on tightly to the past,

afraid to see the night. 

but though you feel the sun is setting,

know you've nothing left to fear.

for the sky is always at it's darkest

when the brightest stars appear. 

just write: street by street.

sometimes you long to go back
to the place from which you came,
but once you finally make it there,
you find it isn't quite the same.

and no matter how you try to fit
into old homes with your old friends,
the times of fitting in those places
have clearly come to end.

so street by street you drive the town
until you become much more aware,
it's not the place you miss so much
as who you were when you were there.

Why I'm Starting NaNoWriMo in October & I Think You Should, Too.

As if fall wasn't amazing enough, November brings the gift of NaNoWriMo. 

"National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel." 

-via nanowrimo.org

If you've never participated before, that paragraph alone should make you want to. 

Writing 50,000 words in 30 days is fun, exhausting, exhilarating, and totally possible. When aspiring writers all over the world are chasing the same goal you are for thirty days, it makes you feel like anything is possible. And anything is possible. 

I've done NaNoWriMo twice now, and I've loved it both times. It forces you to write, forces you to think quickly, and forces you to abandon the idea of editing until December. It's magical. It's also a month filled with lots of coffee, wine, late nights, and stress, as you can probably imagine. 

This year is a little bit different for me. November will bring me two months away from having a baby--not exactly conducive to staying up all night in an over-caffinated frenzy of writing.

While the obvious solution would be to sit this year out and try to jump back in next year, NaNoWriMo has brought me some of my very favorite ideas and words and stories. So I don't want to sit this one out.

So I'm starting NaNoWriMo in October. Here's why I think you should consider doing the same. 

To write 50,000 words in the month of November, you have to write roughly 1,667 words each day. Again, totally doable! But it is a lot. To write 50,000 words in the months of October and November, you have to write roughly 820 words each day. 

See where I'm going with this? 

My thinking is that 820 words a day for two months is going to be a lot easier for me to do in this season of life. And, when I reach the halfway point and start running out of steam, it'll be just in time for the inspiration of NaNoWriMo!

Of course, it won't technically be NaNoWriMo, because for that, you have to start November 1st with a word count of zero. But, it is a way to participate. Especially since I know that otherwise, it's just not going to happen this year. 

So I'm going to do it. In a few days, much like the past two Novembers, I'm going to curl up with a blank page and a cup of coffee and start to write my little heart out. 

You may not be in a similar situation to me, but if you've already decided your reasons for why you're not going to participate this year, why not jump in and get your feet wet in October?

Because you never know what type of magic might come from simply deciding to start. 

Are you planning on participating in NaNoWriMo this year?

just write: here + now.

don’t worry about tomorrow,
for it may never come.
we can raise our cups to yesterday,
but it’s already gone.
let’s just focus on today,
no matter how hard it may be.
I kind of like the here and now,
because here and now has you and me.

A Year of Journaling: 52 (More) Journaling Prompts.

I think journaling is one of the best things you could do, but if you don't journal regularly, the idea can be overwhelming. And even if you do, it's easy to get in a rut and let months pass by without writing anything down.

So whether you're in a creative rut or you just want to get started journaling, here are 52 prompts to help jump start your creativity. Part one here. Buy yourself a pretty journal and get started!

1. If you had the power to change anything in the world, what would you change?

2. The last time you surprised yourself.

3. A reason you're proud of yourself. 

4. The best part of your week so far. 

5. A list of little things that make you happy. 

6. How you're chasing your dream. 

7. A list of life-long resolutions. 

8. The biggest change you want to make in your life. 

9. A love letter to your life. 

10. Something you've learned this year. 

11. A quality you admire in others, and why.

12. Why you're happy with your life right now. 

13. The last risk you took and how it turned out. 

14. A list of things you love about yourself. 

15. Something in your life worth celebrating. 

16. A little, easy change you can make in your life. 

17. Things that are stressing you are right now and what you can do about it.

18. A list of things you're thankful for. 

19. A bad habit you have. 

20. Ways you've changed for the better over the last year. 

21. The best decision you've made this week. 

22. A plan for chasing your dream. 

23. The last time you got a text (or email or letter) that made you smile. 

24. Your dream job. 

25. Something you'd like to learn. 

26. Something that's making your unhappy with your life right now, and what you could do to change it. 

27. Somewhere you want to travel. 

28. A cozy morning. 

29. Your favorite thing about the current season. 

30. Something you wish you could go back in time and tell yourself last year. 

31. If you could choose one thing about the way your life is right now to make permanent, what would it be? 

32. Your favorite way to spend a morning. 

33. Three things you can't live without. 

34. Quotes that inspire you. 

35. Something you're looking forward to. 

36. A time in your life when you were happier than you are now. What was different?

37. A time when you were brave and how it shaped you. 

38. Write a poem. 

39. Your relationships with your family. 

40. What you hope you to accomplish this week.

41. A five year dream plan. 

42. The last five things that made you happy. 

43. A goal you have for this week. 

44. How you disappointed yourself recently. 

45. A friendship you miss.

46. Someone you need to forgive. 

47. Something you're good at. 

48. Something that makes you unique. 

49. A personal statement. Silly, serious...it doesn't matter. 

50. What month is your favorite, and why? 

51. A compliment someone gave you. 

52. The last time you proved someone wrong. 

just write: so much more to show you.

sunrises and sunsets,
raindrops cooling down your skin.
the world is full of little magic
if you just stop to take it in.
the stars poke holes in the darkness
just to say hello to you,
but you only see them through a screen,
making sure everyone else will see them, too.
the world fights for your attention
as you just fight for more:
more followers, likes, and comments,
when there's magic at your door.
sometimes, just for you
the world shares a little secret.
but when you try so quick to capture it,
then you completely miss it.
and when picking up your phone
is the first thing that you do,
you can sometimes hear the sky's sad whisper,
"but I had so much more to show you." 

Are Your Creative Words Important?

I love words and writing. Creative words and writing especially. Poems and books and stories and even blog posts, taking real life and writing about it creatively. I love writing it and I love reading it. Creative words are wonderful. But sometimes, I wonder if they really matter.

This morning, 22,000 words into a book that I hope is actually a book one day, I'm asking myself that question. Does it really matter? 

Because yes, I love creative words. But they aren't paying my bills yet, they aren't prestigious, they aren't solving a problem. So do they matter? Do anyone's creative words really matter?

I have to believe that the answer is yes.

Because sometimes, the reality of life is hard.

Creative writing isn't pretend. It's taking parts of real life and molding them into magical. It's working through the hard stuff under characters that you pretend aren't you, but you know are, in some small way.

It's taking the best things and the worst things that have ever happened to you and polishing them up or roughening them up and turning them into a story that you're proud of.

It's solving a problem that you'll never really solve, working something out in the process.

It's making words rhyme, because that's something you can do. When you can't find beauty anywhere else, it's making your own. And if you can make the world even just a little bit more beautiful, don't you think that's important?

Your words are important. Whether they are fiction or non-fiction, they are still true. And they are important.

And if you're a writer, they are important because if for nothing else, they make you come alive.

just write: to make you smile.

don’t try to force the things
that were never meant to be.
and all the things you cannot change, 
just throw them to the breeze.
for you’re in charge of so much more
than you really know,
and there is so much happiness 
that’s in your own control. 
don’t worry over the unchangeable, 
for it’s not worth your while
when you’ve got a whole world out there
just waiting to make you smile. 

want me to write one of these for you? click here.

just write: pretty lies.

the lies sounded oh so pretty
from your lips into my ears,
you draped them on me like precious jewels,
which I polished with my tears.
you gave me diamonds, pearls, and rubies
made from lies told as the truth,
and I still wear them every day
for they’re all I have left of you. 

just write: great escape.

sweet like when the summer
first kisses your skin,
for the first time since December
you feel happy again.
so why don’t you pack your bags
and let’s just get away
before it gets any colder
we can make a grand escape.

just write: ocean dreams.

the ocean’s full of secrets, 
so salty from our tears. 
it’s full of bitter, broken dreams
swept off to better years.

when you lay your dream down
and choose to walk away, 
the ocean sweeps it out to sea
to make sure it stays safe.

until one day, years from now, 
you’ll visit the sea once more. 
you’ll have grown and changed in many ways
and won’t be as you were before. 

so when the waves lap at your feet
and you don’t feel so blue, 
that’s just your old dream that the ocean
is bringing back to you. 

just write: wild & free.

if all good things
are wild and free,
what does that say
of you and me?
too old to be wild,
too young to be free,
held here by these
responsibilities.
but maybe one day,
we'll wake up to find
being wild and free
is not about time
or how much has passed,
or how old you are,
because wild and free
both live in the heart.

just write: where the dream lives.

your future isn’t shaped 
in the big moments;
the pristine and pretty ones
where you’re surrounded by
people you love. 
your future is shaped 
in the ugly moments. 
when you’re tired
and alone
and surrounded by doubt. 
and you have to make a decision 
for yourself. 
the dream is often alive 
in the spaces between the trying. 
in the pauses, 
in the silence, 
in the deep breaths you take
right before you’re ready to give up,
when deep down, 
you know you’re really just
getting ready 
to get up
and try again.

just write: right at the sun.

I can’t forget the things you said, 
no matter how I try. 
so I stare right at the sun 
and try my best to fly. 
I can’t forget the way I felt, 
no matter what I do. 
so I stare up at the sky
and hope that I see you.