Preptober is in full swing over here in Shelby writing land. This past Saturday, I took the time to do my own prep for NaNoWriMo. In order to prep though, I had to decide what project I was going to do for NaNo 2020.

I Tried an ENFJ Writing Routine

A few weeks ago, I was inspired by Bree Buonomo and Hudson McCarthy to try a writing routine based on my Myers-Briggs personality type. I have a lot of experience with the Myers-Briggs personality types from when I wrote my blog post, “How to Use Myers-Briggs Types to Create Characters,” but I never thought about applying the personality types to my own writing routine until I saw Bree’s YouTube video.

Three Things I Learned From Camp NaNoWriMo July 2020

I have officially won Camp NaNoWriMo for the first time!

3 Reasons Why You Should Have A Playlist For Your WIP

If you’ve been around here for a while, you know I can’t stand writing in silence. I need some sort of noise to get myself to focus. This is why I created 3 playlists to get through my writing time in my blog post, “Try These 3 Spotify Playlists To Bring Excitement Back To Your Writing Life.”

Even though this sounds like a great idea, you may still be on the fence about spending precious time worrying about creating a music playlist. Today, I’m going to give you three reasons why you should give it a try for your own work-in-progress.

Scribbler Subscription Box Review August 2019

I love the allure of subscription boxes. There is just something about giving myself a surprise gift every month that brings joy to my heart. I have purchased dog mom-related subscription boxes in the past, but I was determined to find a writer-related subscription box. After many Google searches, I stumbled upon the Scribbler subscription box for writers. A month later, the subscription was in my cart and purchased.

Try These 3 Spotify Playlists to Bring Excitement Back to Your Writing Life

I have a confession—I can’t stand writing or working in silence. It drives me absolutely bonkers. However, I can’t listen to super distracting music either, or nothing gets done. So to please my ears and my work ethic, I listen to hand-picked writing music. In this post, I’m sharing 3 of my favorite writing playlists for whatever writing mood you’re in. These playlists will keep you engaged and writing all night long.

3 Ways to Beat Impostor Syndrome

I struggle with impostor syndrome.

On this blog, I work hard to be positive and provide helpful tips for writers. I desire to have an air of expertise to convey authority on the subjects I’m speaking about. Because of this need, I don’t talk about my writing insecurities often, but I deeply struggle with impostor syndrome.

Do Blue Light Glasses Work? A Writer's Perspective

I took the plunge two weeks ago and purchased my first pair of blue light blocking glasses on Amazon for $20. The Cyxus blue light glasses had the highest reviews on Amazon, but there was a large disparity between reviews. Either they were life-changing, or ineffective at best. Blue light glasses are all the buzz right now, but I’ve always asked, “Do they really work?” In order to answer this question for myself, I committed to wearing blue light glasses over the course of one week at work and at home.

5 Easy Ways for Writers to Practice Self-Care

Everyone needs to participate in self-care, including writers. Grinding away on your work-in-progress every day, while also dealing with life can be mentally and physically straining. Since most writers write on the side, I believe it is even more important for us to participate in self-care because we have so much on our shoulders. In this blog post, I’m outlining five easy ways you can practice self-care to keep yourself refreshed and writing.

How to Turn Your Workspace into a Writer's Haven

I have a confession. My “workspace” since I moved out of my parent house has been the couch. Sure, a lot of people work on the couch, but what makes this more embarrassing is that I have a perfectly fine desk I could work on. Working on the couch has been incredibly distracting for me (due to television, the dog, conversation, etc.), so I wanted to make my own writing/blogging haven that would immediately put me in work mode when I sat at it.

23 Things I Learned About Writing and Life Before 23

Today is my birthday and I’m officially 23. While I know in the grand scheme of things I am young, I still feel like I’ve learned a few things in my brief moment on Earth. I present to you my musings on everything I’ve learned about writing and life before 23.

How to Keep Writing When You're Sick

Last week, I was laying-in-bed-hating-my-life sick. The kind of sick that makes you look at all of your best-laid plans and say, “Nope. I’ll just die here alone and unproductive.” Unfortunately, we can’t always stop writing or working on our passion projects. To keep you going, I’ve compiled 5 tips to keep writing when you’re sick.

Nature Saved My Writing

Before I graduated college, I lived for a month at a family friend’s lakehouse. This lake house was a tech-free zone—no internet, no cell service, no landline phone, and had a TV with only three channels. When I first arrived, I was in a terrible emotional place and frustrated with my lack of internet. I had struggled with writing and anything creative for most of 2017. At this point in my life, I had to complete an essay for workshop and I believed that nothing would ever come to me or be as good as my last essay. However, at the tech-free lake house, I stumbled upon my own version of Thoreau’s Walden Pond.

The Two Best Things About Writing Nonfiction

After many weeks of “serious” and intelligent posts, I thought I would take the time this week to write a more “fun” post. This will be my fifth year writing/studying creative nonfiction and I have definitely learned a few positives and negative points when it comes to writing nonfiction. Today, (in good spirits) I’m going to lay out for you the top two positives and top two negatives about writing nonfiction.

3 Writing Resolutions for 2018

It is the time of year again where everyone is making resolutions about how they wish to change their life for the new year. I’m all about the “New Year, New Me,” but I’m one of many people who have issues keeping their resolutions. I’m hoping if I make a public declaration of my writing resolutions, I will chose to keep them out of fear of embarrassment. Without further ado, I present my three writing resolutions for 2018.

Why I Failed NaNoWrimo 2017

I failed NaNoWrimo 2017 on my first try. Yes, you read that right.

In case you are unfamiliar with NaNoWrimo, the goal is to write a novel of 50,000 words over the month of November. Currently my project “Alyssa’s Nightmare” has around 1,000 words written.

I know what you’re thinking. Wow Shelby that’s really under the mark. Trust me, I know, and I’ve beaten myself up over it a million times over the past month and a half. Since I’m trying to avoid the never ending cycle of calling myself a bad writer (it’s not good for my confidence), I’ve decided to reflect on exactly why I failed NaNoWrimo this year.

The sad truth is I thought I was 100% prepared.