When I clocked in to WP Admin today I noticed that this post would be number 85 for Tumblemoose Writing Productions. Not necessarily a milestone, not necessarily prolific. (Heck, I think ProBlogger posts that many in a month.) Still, given that Tumblemoose has been around for only about 5 months that’s not too bad. My mathematical powers deduce that that equals about a post every two days. In fact, when you consider that my posts average 500 words, I’ve written a small novel in less than six months.
What a long, strange trip it’s been
It has been an interesting journey, as most writing projects are. I’ve zigged when I thought I would surely zag, I’ve known the high of a post reaching nearly 13,000 in a day when I had no clue that it would be anything special. I’ve busted my hiney over the Pulitzer bound brilliant post that netted 46 newcomers. What a strange trip it has been indeed.
Even though I write about being inspired, sometimes it’s a lot easier to say than to do. And given that I’ve tasked myself with “Inspiring Writers Every Day”, my task is doubly difficult in some respects. Oh sure, the occasional off topic post is ok, but my readership expects to get some inspiration from these writings, even if it is just a nugget that they can leave with that carries them through another day.
What’s your point, George?
The point of this post is that the cumulative is not always readily apparent. On those days when it all seems to be just too much and you long for the stability of a paycheck every two weeks, take a moment to reflect on all that you have accomplished. Dig through your files and find a story that you wrote last year. Calculate how many words you’ve written and put them in perspective. If need be, pull your writing files and stack them in front of you.
Don’t sell yourself short. You are doing some writing, aren’t you? No matter if it is the novel that you’ve been slugging through for the last three years, or the writing journal that you update once a week. It all counts, folks. Keep with it, you will reach your goals. If I can do anything to help, please drop a line.
A little help, please
I am a bit desperate for some ideas about what kinds of things the readership would like to see from the Tumblemoose perspective. I guess it doesn’t really matter if the subject matter has been covered elsewhere. If you’d like to see my spin on the subject then please post a comment. And by all means if you have a fresh topic you’d like covered then I’d like to see that too, obviously.
Congrats on 85 posts! You’ve certainly filled them with loads of useful tips. One of the things I’ve been struggling with is organization… I’m not looking for general tips on being organized like “eliminate paper waste” and “keep your e-mail in check”. I really need some specifics. Like, how do I manage all of the different story ideas I have, and where I’ve pitched them? What’s the best way to keep track of contacts? What kind of bookkeeping should a writer do, and how often?
If you have any thoughts, I’m all ears. Congrats again … the blog is fab!
Congrats George! This post really hit a nerve with me – after reading it I tallied up my own writing and found that today will be my 163 post, and at 500 words a piece that’s over 80,000 words…I was blown away to look at it from that perspective. If I needed inspiration, I just got it. That’s why I come here.
As for topic ideas, here’s a quick brainstorm:
Topics on writing for different mediums or effect (web copy, vs article writing, vs novella, vs technical writing, etc)
How to articles such as “How to grab your readers attention in the first 10 seconds”
Your writing routine – what does a typical writing day look like for Tumblemoose
Author profiles
Author interviews – less well known authors, so I can get some ideas of who I should be reading
Book reviews
How to take a year off and write your first novel
Tips – such as “10 Ways to use alliteration in your writing”
Writing cliché’s and how to avoid them
How to tie an article together with a great summary ending
Writing for yourself vs writing for an audience
Okay, I’ll stop now…hopefully this gives you at least one idea!
Matt
Matt | Smallbizbee´s last blog post..Getting Word of Mouth to Work for You
Congratulations George!
I really like the idea of posts on how to stay organized. I am a mess!
Tracy´s last blog post..I’m going on the Shangri-La Diet
I have always touted that I am the most organized person I know. I am not sure if I was successful in getting other people to believe it but I sure convinced myself. Ha! Apparently I WANT to be the most organized person I know. I have 15 started and unfinished projects in the works from laundry to home repair to writing. Yeah, I think I would like that post George.
Dee Langdon – BloggerNewbie´s last blog post..The Feed Reader Debate
George, if you’ll allow me a little license… I think it’s quite a tall order to try and inspire writers every day. Even to try and inspire *myself* every day, I’d find that a tall order!
Maybe if you just shared your perpsectives on what works for you, things you’ve tried, what you’ve noticed, what you find funny…
Maybe ‘sharing’ rather than ‘inspiring’ might take some of the pressure off and allow you to go in the directions your muse (and/or readers) took you?
Joanna Young´s last blog post..5 Prescriptions for Tenacity
Hi, George,
Do you keep a writer’s notebook of any kind–lists, random thoughts, etc. Might be interesting to share from your notebook–what you wrote, why, what you were thinking when you “collected” that thought…
Linda704´s last blog post..My Twitter Mosaic
Hi Monica,
I think as a writer gets more and more busy, it is crucial that they have a system in place for organization. That topic will be my very next post – more than likely Thursday or Friday this week.
Thanks for the ideas and the kind words. Hope all is well over at Writersresidence.
ATTN Tumblemoose clan: If you’ve not been to Monica’s site you owe yourself a trip over there, along with a little bit of time to poke around. She offers a number of quality services including a blog with great info for writers as well an on line portfolio service.
George
Matt:
Wow, man. I hate to sound like a broken record but you really do rock. The list is astounding. I’m going to cut/paste and put it in a “Posts To Do List”. Those are some wonderful ideas – I’ll get started right away.
OK Tumblemoose readers, here is another shout out. Matt has been a treasured supporter of Tumblemoose for as long as I can remember. I’m a big fan of his SmallBizBee site as well. With good reason. He always has authoritative original content that applies to real world situations that apply to us all. If you’ve not done so, go pay him a visit. I guarantee it will be time well spent.
George
Tracy,
I’m excited to do that post. I can’t stand to be disorganized or cluttered. It should be a lot of fun to write.
Folks, Tracy runs a few blogs and sites that are worth a mention in case you’ve not been there already. if you are in the mood for a pick me up from a real and humorous perspective then you really need to visit her site: IHateMyMessageBoard Oh did I mention it’s an Alltop fav?
Cheers
George
Dee,
Thanks for the post vote. I do love to organize. Now if I could just find my $^&*%^#@! car keys, life would be grand
Dee has a very real and engaging blog over at BloggerNewbie. Not that SHE’S a noob. Her posts are witty and sincere and have a lot of information that I enjoy reading, which is why I subscribe. Give Dee a little RSS luv, Tumble-clan. You know you want it.
George
Joanna,
Thanks for dropping by. I respect your opinion a great deal and I will take your points to heart. I do feel as if I’m putting too much pressure on myself.
Hey, I’m sure Joanna is a familiar figure to most of you. I’m hoping you’ve had the chance to go over to ConfidentWriting recently. She has completely upgraded her theme and the effect is astounding. Not only that but you can also catch the tail end of the month of tenacity, where the posts center around the advantages of being tenacious.
Cheers
George
Linda704,
It’s nice to see you here. You know, I’ve not kept much of a writing journal. I do have a notebook that I use to jot down ideas and concepts and such. I think you are right in that it may be an interesting read and post topic. Very creative.
Did I tell you I’m sub teaching part time?
Hey Tumblemoosers, Lida is a friend from Twitter. I enjoy her tweets because they are insightful and varied. She also has a web site http://linda704.wordpress.com/ – E-flections of an Educator. Don’t be fooled, it’s not a strictly teaching or teacher’s site. There is some pretty cool stuff there that I think you will enjoy reading.
Cheers
George
I’m looking forward to the post, George! And thanks a ton for letting your readers know about Writer’s Residence. I’d love to hear from anyone who has a chance to visit…
… for now I’m going to visit a bunch of you guys. (The internet is a great way to put off organization.
Monica´s last blog post..Best Social Media Sites for Writers
I was going to second/third the organization idea but it looks like you have already added it to your list. I tried to find one of my stories just this morning and it wasn’t saved in my “books” folder – argh.
Another part of the organization issue beyond a file system for completed or in-the-works writings is that I constantly write ideas down on sticky notes then when I have time try and type them up. Of course some are simple 1 liners and I am always debating if I should have a single file for each idea or 1 big file with lots of ideas. I would love to hear someone elses thoughts on that as I seem to have taken the “both” approach thus making it more complicated. Other methods I have tried include – putting them all into a jar (yes a big plastic jar – still have some in there), trying to keep them in a notebook, and a personal wiki.
Congrats on the “small novel” by the way, that is a lot of commitment.
Mitch´s last blog post..Illustration – part 2
Monica,
Hehe. You get back to your organization chores, Missy.
Glad to mention Writer’s Residence. It’s shoutworthy!
George
Mitch,
Thanks for heading on over and commenting. I’ll tackle this as part of the organization post for sure because I know it is something that a lot of us struggle with.
Cheers!
George
George,
Congratulations on reaching this milestone! After reading your goal to “inspire writers everyday” I’m wondering if I missed something.
Is it supposed to be pronounced like Tumble-muse?
Terry Heath´s last blog post..Three Ways to Make Your Inner Critic Neurotic
Hi Terry,
I appreciate you coming by and commenting.
Hehe. Well, the intention was moose – like the animal, but I am liking a LOT the Tumblemuse thing. That grinding sound you hear are the rusty gears in me head, attempting to engage…
George
85 in 5 months is pretty good… congrats
Save Few Bucks
Ishan´s last blog post..Best FREE Antivirus: AVG Antivirus
Hi George – Congratulations on your 86th post. That is a HUGE milestone. Isn’t it funny when we start a blog, 85 seems so far away, and before we know it, Wha-la.
I don’t have a preference what you write about. You always write from the heart, so whatever you post is a joy to read.
So…just keep doing what you’re doing.
Barbara Swafford´s last blog post..Like Bees on Honey – Learn to Attract Comments to Your Blog
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for the words and the congrats. They mean a lot to me.
I think when I started I had no concept of what it would be like to have so many writings under my belt. You’re right, all of a sudden it was like, “85? Really?”. it’s been a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to what the next 85 will bring.
George
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