This week we add another task to our daily list. It would have been apropos a couple of weeks ago, but it fits here too. It is this: ACCEPT IMPERFECTION. This is not a perfect system and you are not a perfect person. We will, from time to time, get off track and have to start again. Whether you begin at the beginning or jump back in where you left off is your choice. The point is to keep going.

Again, the list of things we should be doing every day or every writing day:

MORNING PAGES
TRACK PROGRESS
PREP FOR YOUR NEXT WRITING SESSION
ACCEPT IMPERFECTION

This week we’re going to do a lot of writing. It’s getting more intense. See what you can make of this:

1. WRITE 25 MINUTES
2. WRITE 25 MINUTES
3. REST
4. RESEARCH
5. WRITE 30 MINUTES
6. WRITE 30 MINUTES
7. WRITE 25 MINUTES

Next week is the final week in our writing routine. I’d love to hear how it’s going for everyone.

Happy writing!

xxxlinsey

Welcome back.

By this week, we should be doing three things on a daily basis:

Morning Pages
Tracking
Prepping for next week

This last one is going to depend largely on how much writing time you have. Do you need to prep a week in advance? Or only a day? The point is you never sit down to write without knowing what you’re writing, whether that’s MORNING PAGES, your current work in progress (WIP), or a job you’ve been hired to do.

This week we’re going to do a lot of writing, so I would start by prepping your sessions for this current week.

Here’s the schedule:

DAY 1: WRITE 20 min.

DAY 2: WRITE 20 min.

DAY 3: REST

DAY 4: RESEARCH

DAY 5: WRITE 20 min.

DAY 6: WRITE 25 min

DAY 7: WRITE 25 min.

As you can see, we’re upping our writing days and our writing times. Even if you’re resetting like me, I encourage you to follow this schedule. It’s easier to jump right back in than start over, but don’t let that stop you from starting over if you need to.

In other words, if your space has become a mess or your tracking system is off, feel free to take a step back and reassess those areas first. Still doing MORNING PAGES? That’s another place to start over.

This week I want to focus on diving back into where we left off. If you didn’t do MORNING PAGES today, do them now. Write your 20 minutes now. Do whatever it is you need to do in the time you have now. After all, it’s all we’re guaranteed.

See you next week.

xxxlinsey

For those of you keeping up, I’ve missed a couple weeks.

Not that I wish this on anyone, but we all know real life interrupts writing life from time to time.

This one has been bad. The equivalent, I imagine, of falling off a horse into the dust.

Then we get back on the motherfucking horse.

Next week I’ll be back with week three’s writing routine. If you’ve had to start over, like me. Don’t worry. You can do it. We all can. It’s been my pleasure to be on this journey with you and to share my struggle. I’m glad we are in this together.

xxxlinsey

WELCOME TO WEEK 2!

How did it go? Did you make progress? What does your TRACKING system show? How many days did you get those MORNING PAGES done?

It doesn’t matter what your answers are, it matters that you’re doing this.

Sometimes getting started is the hardest part. Sometimes it’s soldiering on through the heartbreak.

So let’s get started on WEEK 2. Get ready to level up.

First, we’re going to add to our DAILY tasks.
MORNING PAGES
TRACKING

That’s right. Now you’re going to begin your writing time with MORNING PAGES and end it with TRACKING. Each writing session should begin with getting your thoughts out and end with what you have accomplished.

This week we’re going to start out WRITING:

DAY ONE: WRITE 15

DAY TWO: WRITE 20

DAY THREE: WRITE 15

DAY FOUR: WRITE 20

DAY FIVE: REST (you still get to do morning pages and tracking :))

DAY SIX: PREP for next week. Get ready; this is our next daily task. Again, if you’re following the weekly plan, I’ve already done this for you, but you’re still responsible for your schedule.

DAY SEVEN: RESEARCH. Make a list of all the questions that have come up in your writing . That’s all. Just make the list. We’ll spend more time on it next week.

Not too bad, huh? I bet you made it just fine. What else can you do this week?

Let me know how it’s going for you. See you next week.

Well… it’s that time.

Let’s get ourselves together and write all the words. Here’s a break down of your first week. Don’t worry that Monday and Tuesday have already passed. Start today. See where you can get.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: MORNING PAGES
MORNING PAGES sound very complicated and writerly, but it is a really simple concept.
On your writing days, or every day if you’re ambitious, when it’s time to sit down and write, write or type out all the thoughts in your head. All of them.
Even if you start with a curse word.
Even if you start with “I don’t know what to write.”
Start.
What you will find almost immediately, is that this “primes your pump” and gets the words flowing. Don’t worry if you don’t know what to do with your words. Don’t worry if you don’t know where to put them. These are for your eyes only, though they can certainly be the inspiration or basis for something else.

My MORNING PAGES yesterday morning became this blog post.

SECOND: YOU MUST PREP YOUR SPACE
You need a place to write. Maybe you have a corner home office like me, or maybe you have a lap desk and a comfy chair. I’ve been there too. Whatever you have and whatever it is, you MUST make your writing space a writing space. That means for the writing time you’ve scheduled, that office, corner, bedroom, etc. IS your writing space and nothing else. If you have a desk, clean it. If you need to move some stuff around, do it. You will be grateful for this in time.  
You need a surface and a chair. There’s not much else you require. Bonus is a quiet room with a door that shuts, but not everyone has that luxury. When prepping your space, ask yourself what you really need. 
First I think you should determine how you’re writing. Do you need pens and a notebook? Room for a laptop? Do you need noise cancelling headphones because you don’t have a door to shut?

Here’s my before:

It’s not horrible, but it’s also not conducive to focused writing. I needed to remove all the unnecessary and nonessential items and get myself organized. Now I have everything within reach and I have my writing routine calendar right in front of me

This is what it looks like now:

Much better. Let’s move on.

THIRD: TRACK YOUR PROGRESS!
This is very important too. Find or create your tracking process and stick to it. Now look, you have already done your MORNING PAGES and PREPPED your space, so there’s two things you can write down already. Then you write down that you TRACKED your progress. I’m going through this process myself along with you, so my tracking system looks like this. It’s very simple.

See? It doesn’t have to be special or even pretty. It can be functional and plain. Because I like pretty stuff too, I made a different one that I will probably use during the NANOWRIMO months.
If you go to GET ACCESS at linseyewing.com, you can also get this pretty writing tracker for FREE as well as the 5-week writing calendar we’re going through.

NOW IT’S TIME TO WRITE:
The next three days are about making 15 minutes to sit down and write. That’s 45 minutes over the next three days. You can do it. What is going to keep you writing for fifteen minutes? What’s going to be a distraction to you while you write? Move it. Get it out of the way. Turn off the TV or shoo your kids outside and put your phone on do not disturb. Get rid of the things that will keep you from writing. Remember this is only for 15 minutes.
Now write your morning pages.
Write about what you have done and write about what you dream for your space in the future.
Guess what. You are doing it. You are a writer.

REST: It’s just as important to schedule your rest time as it is to schedule your writing time. Since we’ve done an intensive three days, this is the day to rest. You will find your rhythm as you move forward. Right now just schedule it and take the day off.

PREP FOR NEXT WEEK. If you’ve already been to linseyewing.com and gotten your free resources, you should have a guide for next week already, but you can always schedule on different days. The point is to get a routine. Make time to do 4 writing sessions instead of 3. Plan for 2 of those to be 20 minutes instead of 15.

That’s it! You’ve made it through week one. How does it feel?

Drop me a line to tell me how this is working for you or how you think it could improve.
I’d love to hear from you.

xxxlinsey

Last week I asked about your struggles. I was surprised by the confidences and by the honesty.

If you don’t already know, I’m taking part in a few professional challenges, and it’s just as hard to deal with the answers as to ask the questions.

For example, now I have to move forward knowing my writing matters and is helping people. That’s a big step for me. I’m no longer just blogging for myself.

so here’s what I’ve decided to do.

I’m creating a series, here and on my YouTube channel working my way through some writing routines that have helped me in everyday life.

If you’re trying to get yourself in order this year, this series is for you.

while you’re waiting for that to begin next week, I have some action steps for you:

First, if you haven’t already, head over to linseyewing.com and sign up for the waitlist. You’ll receive this graphic for free as soon as the website goes live.

This is where we’ll begin next week so you can get a head start 🙂

SECOND, snag your copy of the newly released Variations on the Theme of Goodbye available for sale on Amazon

THIRD, snag your copy of the equally fabulous Saint Devil by my partner R. here on Amazon

{a word of warning…these titles are not for all audiences and the latter is for very mature audiences}

Thanks for hanging with me here and for your support elsewhere. It means the world to me.

Get ready to whip those routines into shape. See you next week.

xxxlinsey

Can you believe we’re over halfway through our first month of the new year?

I bet no one can say it’s been easy.

Though the world may seem to be falling apart, we do have control over the chaos we let into our lives. We have something else in common. We all STRUGGLE.

If ALIGNMENT is my word for 2021, I want STRUGGLE to be my mission.

Both bearing witness to my own struggles and helping others through theirs.

So,

What are you struggling with right now?

I really want to know.

If we can help each other we will not struggle alone or in vain.

Drop me a line HERE to share your struggles in private. I’ll address as many as I can.

Thanks,

xxxlinsey

It started as something silly. A facebook post on my cousin’s page

FIRST FOUR WORDS YOU SEE WILL DEFINE YOUR 2021!

Something like that. I don’t remember what my four words were, things like love and gratitude, but ALIGNMENT stood out to me.

I thought, what can I do this year to bring myself into ALIGNMENT? And to what do I align?

The answer came yesterday in my planning processes full of frantic energy.

My finances for one, my schedule for another, and my free time finally

I’m pretty satisfied with where I am, but I do have some areas that need adjustment.

For the first time in a long time I’ve made a resolution: to make time for the things that matter, appreciate the time I have, and get everything that doesn’t make me happy under control.

If I succeed, I don’t know where I could possibly go from there, but it’s fun to imagine.

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? What are some of yours?

Can you believe 2020 is over? Did you have a good end of the year? Are you glad it’s over?

Here’s to a new year and the new changes it brings. May it be better than the one before.

Since it’s the thing to do, I think I’ll do a recap of what happened to me and this blog in 2020 since it was, in practice and in fact, the year of the blog.

Blogging is still hard. I still have to make myself sit down and do it, but it’s not the challenge it once was. Writing in general has gotten easier and my voice is clearer than it has ever been. For that I am grateful and proud.

2020 in stats: litewingsink had

54 posts

354 visits

736 views

I have you all to thank for that, so thank you for helping me grow my space. In the new year, you can expect at least one new page from me as well as the usual posts about writing, blogging, or living. I don’t know yet what my plan for the year will be, but as soon as I know, so will you.

I’m also starting a new website that will incorporate, but be separate from, this blog. If you’d like, check it out at linseyewing.com

In the spirit of looking forward, let’s look back no more, but remember the good times we had.

Here are some of your favorites and mine:

MOST COMMENTS: no surprise here, 20 2020 Questions which you’re probably sick of seeing and is now unpinned from the home page.

MOST LIKES: My BUJO setup, how fun and thank you.

MOST POPULAR: It’s a FOUR-WAY TIE, but you can break it: it seems the monthly series are popular
MAYFLOWERS
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
AUGUST, A LIGHT IN
LET’S HAVE A CONVERSATION

MOST HELPFUL: NANOWRIMO LIFE I’m still living it, y’all, and it’s been wild, but fun, and my ROUTINE

Thank you for being part of this year with me. I hope the best for us all in this new year and see you soon.

xxxlinsey

What to say about PEACE?

There was a time when PEACE was the only thing I wanted. My brother asked me years ago what it was I was seeking or missing in my life that made me so miserable. My answer was PEACE.

As with all these ADVENT pillars, PEACE is not something that just appears in our lives. We have to find it and make it a priority.

I usually have plenty of PEACE and quiet in my life, but this holiday season has not been peaceful or quiet. There’s been a lot of noise around me the last few days, but I have been peaceful inside.

I realized PEACE isn’t the absence of noise; it is patience with the noise.

I’ve worked hard to cultivate PEACE in my life, and I think I’ve done a decent job. It isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible either. Neither do I believe PEACE is something that just exists in the world to be grasped. If PEACE isn’t a skill, it’s at least a muscle we need to exercise.

Thank you for traveling this ADVENT journey with me. I HOPE you have found something you LOVE or something has brought you a little JOY or a moment of inner PEACE.

Here’s to a peaceful and happy new year to each of you.

Cheers

xxxlinsey