Writing Ruminations: Writer Reframes

Therapists have a technique called a reframe. This technique takes a negative thought or situation and then "reframes" it to a more positive point of view. Since I'm having some trouble coming up with a blog post for this week, I thought taking this technique and working its magic on doubts that writers often have might be a fun and helpful exercise for me and for you, dear reader, too!

via GIPHY

1. Negative thought: I'll never make it in the writing world.

Reframe 1: I'm glad to have lots of time to learn the craft of writing. When I do make it, my writing will be tight and I'll be ready for success!

via GIPHY

2. Negative thought: My writing sucks.

Reframe 2: Certain parts of my writing may be iffy while I'm learning the ropes, but the more I write the better I'll become.

via GIPHY

3. Negative emotion: Frustration at grammar or editing errors in stories/tweets/books/rejection letters of famous authors or agents. (I've been seeing this one on other blog posts lately.)

Reframe 3: Obviously famous authors or agents are human too. Maybe the fact they make mistakes means that I can achieve that level of success too, if I keep trying.

via GIPHY

4. Negative thought: What if I make a mistake? (My favorite.)

Reframe 4: A mistake in your manuscript is not life threatening. Any re-writing you would have to do will only make you a better writer, and you have the time to play with it.

via GIPHY

5. Negative thought: No one is going to want to buy this.

Reframe 5: This is the story I want to tell right now. After I write it, I can decide what I want to do with it. Being prolific is maybe better than being perfect at this time in my writing career.

via GIPHY

6. Negative thought: Another rejection???

Reframe 6: Good practice. Rejections don't necessarily mean you're a sh*t writer and are going to happen. I'll keep submitting and keep writing. If I don't, I'll guarantee I'll never be a success.

via GIPHY

7. Negative thought: I have to get an agent/sell a mound of books/make a certain amount of money to be happy.

Reframe 7: I can find joy in writing right now. Writing is fun and creating is magic.

via GIPHY

Do you have any negative thoughts that plague you, or have you seen any mentioned by other writers? Write them in the comments and either write the reframe yourself, or we can work on the reframe together!

Things You Might See While Playing Pokemon Go: September Edition

Hi! As you may have noticed I've missed most of my posts in September. I can't remember what happened for the first week, but after that my father-in-law passed away and that kind of consumed the rest of the month. The end of September got here way faster than I was expecting. It was a blur.

I did, however, play Pokemon Go, so this is a good post to start blogging on again. I realized a week or so ago that I enjoy how mindful creating the blog post monthly makes me. While walking the dog and playing the game, this post makes me live in the moment and observe what I see around me.

This is at a raid, where a lot of Pokemon Go players come together to fight a large-sized Pokemon that you wouldn't be able to catch on your own. It's actually a lot of fun and there is a Pokemon Go community that you get to know through teaming up to play the game. The cannonball memorial is actually the gym where you go to fight the OP Pokemon.

I like to take pictures of the pretty parts of town, but this closed mall is down the street from my house, in a part of town that is now considered "blighted." Sadly, this is how many rural towns in Nebraska have ended up. The city is trying to re-develop the area, and there are a lot of interesting ideas floating around with what to do with the mall.

I know the name on the tombstone is Wood, but doesn't it look like it's saying "MOOD"? 😅

Yes, you can even play Pokemon Go at the Symphony! At least, you can when they play their annual concert in the park!

Tom "Bones" Malone, of Blues Brothers fame, was the guest musician at the Symphony. He also visited the schools and worked with the Jazz bands at the Middle and High Schools. Boy 2 learned the basics of soloing on his tenor sax from him! The music program here is amazing.

I just love this building. It's one of the oldest still standing in town.

My father-in-law's funeral was in Phoenix, Arizona. It was my first time seeing such large cactus and desert plants. Phoenix was beautiful and I wish we hadn't had to go for such a sad reason. I didn't play a lot of Pokemon Go while we were out there, but I did have some moments. You get extra points for some things when you catch/do them at a distance.

This is the sight right after we got off the plane in Las Vegas! And yes, the airport was FULL of Pokestops and gyms. All of the airports were - Omaha, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

After returning to Nebraska, I've been rushing to to get all my home visits done. This is on a back road between towns where I visit clients monthly.

The Pokemon is MewTwo and it was such a cool picture I had to share it. The game has an AR camera where you can take pictures of the Pokemon in the real world. The picture was taken in a nearby rural town where I visit the Assisted Living facility. I had to wait for a client to be available so took a short walk.

Lastly, here's my pup with a Lillipup! There's a resemblance, I think!

Sadly I didn't work a lot on Growing Old is Murder, but I did make some progress, so I guess I'll have to be satisfied. I should be able to start actually writing in October. Yay!

What were you up to in September? If you have artistic endeavors, have you been able to make progress? Have you read anything you'd recommend to others? Tell us all about your month!

Things You Might See While Playing Pokemon Go: August 2019

Another month has passed! Time just keeps flying along and I'm straggling behind a good majority of it. However, I'm alive and life is good. If I don't quite get everything done as I plan, it's okay. This has become my mantra so I don't beat myself up for failing to meet my time goals.

I have to admit something, though. I've been working on planning my story (still) and I'm finding all the choices are starting to give me anxiety. Now that I'm aware of this writing hazard, I'm trying to talk myself into not freaking out, making decisions and relaxing into the story. How strange that the very thing that makes story writing fun also stresses me out.

Anyhoo - we had a fun month playing Pokemon Go and I walked a ton.  Getting up early to walk the dog and play a little PoGo has become habit, so I actually look forward to it. 

These first photos are from downtown Lincoln. We went early in the month to purchase a cello for Boy 1 and drop off Boy 2's saxophone to be fixed. I'm happy to report the cello has a beautiful tone and the saxophone is quite jazzy! Lots of Ralts Pokemon were caught because it was Community Day. It was a really pleasant day.

This little grotto is in my hometown. The funny thing is that, until my husband mentioned it, I totally didn't realize that those plants are actually just weeds.

I had a ton of sunrise and sunset pictures, but instead of boring you with all that beauty, I picked the best one. This is around the corner from my house.

Another picture from a park in Lincoln from when we went to pick up the saxophone last week.

I have seen some gigantic dragonflies and praying mantis this week, but I was able to take a photo of the cicada drying its wings after hatching. Absolutely beautiful.

Here's to a fast August and hopefully a lower-key September. Maybe we'll have a moment to catch our collective breath and relax into fall.

How was your August? Did you see anything interesting you'd like to share?