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#AprilCreativity – Day 4

#AprilCreativity – Day 4

Today’s Prompt

AprilCreativity - Day 4

 

The Details

All #AprilCreativity is, at its most basic, is a bunch of writing prompts that I create or find and then post on the blog and my instagram page. On occaision, I’ll also post snippets of writing that came from my use of the prompts, and I’d love to see yours as well!

Feel free to reblog the prompts on instagram, just please tag me in them!

If you reblog or retweet or otherwise share, use the #AprilCreativity hashtag.

Write! I want these to be something that you find useful. If they aren’t useful, then I’m not meeting my goal. If you really like a prompt (or type of prompt), let me know. Same if you hate it. I’d love to have the feedback so I can do better next time.

There will be one each day in April, and they will vary between photo prompts, youtube/musical prompts, and word prompts.

A few tips

If you’re struggling with where to start, I have a few suggestions.

  • Look the photo over for a few moments. Make a list of the things that stand out to you. Then use as many or as few of those things as the focal point of your first few sentences.
  • Start by describing the scene in the photo. See if that takes you somewhere else.
  • Look at the photo for a few moments. Then set a timer and write anything that comes to mind for five minutes. If the timer goes off and you’re on a roll, ignore it and continue. If you are struggling, go ahead and stop. You never know what gem might be hiding in what you think is terrible writing.
  • Save everything you write!

Also, don’t forget about the #30daystarchallenge! If you’re interested in finding out more about that, which is a daily word count goal challenge I’m running at the same time, just visit the other blog posts.

I hope you’ll join me! Connect with me over Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! I always love talking to readers and writers!

New website is coming!

New website is coming!

Pardon my dust! There is a new and updated website coming, on a new hosting service. After being silent for so many months, things are finally beginning to get back to some sort of normal. We’ve had a hard year – I’ve had two miscarriages, and there have been so many other things happen that it was just hard to be motivated to get much of anything done, let alone be creative and write. But slowly, things are looking up. I’ve started doing more art (mostly junk journals) and I’ve got some great ideas for a story – a good one – that I want to finish by June.

Another thing that I’m motivated to accomplish is to revamp this blog. For so long I didn’t have  a direction for what I was doing here. But now I’ve decided on a path – writing is a passion of mine, even when I have setbacks like I have recently. I love helping other people see the joy in writing and putting words on paper. So many of my posts from here on out are going to be (or attempt to be) writing tips, techniques, and idea generators. I love writing prompts, so I’ll be continuing those – starting with my #AprilCreativity posts. (These are going to be an annual event, I think). I’m even tossing around the idea of creating and running a writing competition of some kind, though right now that is just an idea.

For now, I’m going to start with getting the blog in order. I’m switching from one host to another, and there may be some growing pains as I try to get things in order. Please, don’t let that deter you! Things may be a bit wonky as I get the new site up and running, but I firmly believe it will be worth it!

Back in the Saddle

Back in the Saddle

I apologize to all of my readers for being absent for so long. There have been some pretty hard things going on in our house, and its been a rough year. After two miscarriages in under 9 months, I have had a hard time focusing on anything, let alone writing a word. But slowly, things are looking up!

I’ve got a story brewing – a good one –  and I’m hoping to get it finished by the time school is out in June. I’m also back to making art as well – junk journals and mixed media – and it helps get those creative juices flowing!

To Read Tuesdays will be returning next week, and I’m debating the writing prompts weekly as well. Would you be interested?

What other things would you like to see on this blog? I want to write something that you want to read – so please let me know! I also may be moving the blog to new hosting and revamping the website, so don’t be surprised if things look different soon!

To Read Tuesday – Garden of Thorns by Amber Mitchell

To Read Tuesday – Garden of Thorns by Amber Mitchell

I’m still a little thrown off by the burlesque group and what exactly the Garden is, but I’m sufficiently intrigued enough it give it a go – how about you?
After seven grueling years of captivity in the Garden—a burlesque troupe of slave girls—sixteen-year-old Rose finds an opportunity to escape during a performance for the emperor. But the hostage she randomly chose from the crowd to aid her isn’t one of the emperor’s men—not anymore. He’s the former heir to the throne, who is now leading a rebellion against it.

Rayce is a wanted man and dangerously charismatic, the worst person for Rose to get involved with, no matter what his smile promises. But he assumes Rose’s attempt to take him hostage is part of a plot to crush the rebellion, so he takes her as his hostage. Now Rose must prove where her loyalties lie, and she offers Rayce a deal—if he helps her rescue the other girls, she’ll tell him all the Garden’s secrets.

Except the one secret she’s kept for seven years that she’ll take to her grave if she must. 

To Read Tuesday – The Hollow Girl by Hillary Monahan

To Read Tuesday – The Hollow Girl by Hillary Monahan

This one just looks interesting. There isn’t much description yet, but I love the pitch at the top of the book cover, and anything with Wales I’m interested in. So yeah, I’ll keep an eye out for this one!
Delacorte Press has acquired Hillary Monahan’s feminist horror YA novel THE HOLLOW GIRL, about a Welsh Romani girl who must exact a horrifying revenge to save a truly good person and punish a crime against her. 

Publication is scheduled for fall 2017

To Read Tuesday – Ghostland by Colin Dickey

To Read Tuesday – Ghostland by Colin Dickey

I’m a sucker for ghost stories and legends, and this just seems like it would provide some really awesome ideas. 
An intellectual feast for fans of offbeat history, Ghostland takes readers on a road trip through some of the country’s most infamously haunted places–and deep into the dark side of our history.

Colin Dickey is on the trail of America’s ghosts. Crammed into old houses and hotels, abandoned prisons and empty hospitals, the spirits that linger continue to capture our collective imagination, but why? His own fascination piqued by a house hunt in Los Angeles that revealed derelict foreclosures and “zombie homes,” Dickey embarks on a journey across the continental United States to decode and unpack the American history repressed in our most famous haunted places. Some have established reputations as “the most haunted mansion in America,” or “the most haunted prison”; others, like the haunted Indian burial grounds in West Virginia, evoke memories from the past our collective nation tries to forget.     
       With boundless curiosity, Dickey conjures the dead by focusing on questions of the living–how do we, the living, deal with stories about ghosts, and how do we inhabit and move through spaces that have been deemed, for whatever reason, haunted? Paying attention not only to the true facts behind a ghost story, but also to the ways in which changes to those facts are made–and why those changes are made–Dickey paints a version of American history left out of the textbooks, one of things left undone, crimes left unsolved. Spellbinding, scary, and wickedly insightful, Ghostland discovers the past we’re most afraid to speak of aloud in the bright light of day is the same past that tends to linger in the ghost stories we whisper in the dark.

Writing Inspiration #13

Writing Inspiration #13

I have another video for you. Mainly because I love this piece of music. Ignore the movie it came from (if you can) and just listen. Then freewrite for about 5 minutes. See what happens! This one is totally on my playlist for my newest WIP. 

I’m putting together an art/writing journal set of prompts, one for each day in April, with an intro. Please, let me know if you’re interested! Even if you have no artistic ability, it will be fun and (hopefully) inspiring! 

To Read Tuesday – Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

To Read Tuesday – Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

As one of those kids who loved Labyrinth, this book is a no-brainer. I mean, its a retelling (sort of) of that idea. What’s not to love? And reading the description it sounds like its being taken to a whole new level. Yes, yes, I will be reading this. For serious.
Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.

To Read Tuesday – Haunted by Lynn Carthage

To Read Tuesday – Haunted by Lynn Carthage

I’m in the mood for some creepy reads, and this one looks like it will fit the bill….
Moving to my stepfather’s English country mansion sounded so promising. But the Arnaud Manor is neglected and unwelcoming, and I get the feeling it isn’t exactly uninhabited. Something wants to hurt us—especially my litter sister, Tabby.

Okay, so I might be a little sensitive lately. My parents act oblivious to me, my old life is far away in San Francisco, and the gorgeous guy I just met tells me terrible stories about the infamous Madame Arnaud who lived here long ago, and about missing children and vengeful spirits. The kind of stories that are impossible to believe—until you’re living in one of them, fighting to protect everyone you love… 

Bookish Ornament Tutorial

Bookish Ornament Tutorial

 

I’m actually cross posting this from my little hobby business page so I apologize if you’ve seen it before, but it fit both places, and I really think its such a cute idea!

​If you’re looking for a last minute gift idea, these book page ornaments are a great way to give new life to a damaged book, or just something fun to make! If you have questions about anything, please leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer it.

I can’t take credit for coming up with this idea. I found a tutorial a couple years ago online for these, and then modified what I did to suit myself, but I’ve lost the link to the original tutorial I learned from, but there are several for these types of ornaments out there!

Supplies

  • old book
  • paper cutter, scissors, craft knife, or other cutting tool
  • ruler
  • pencil
  • glue stick
  • stapler
  • white glue (optional)
  • glitter (optional)
  • ribbon or string to hang the ornament!

Step 1

Okay, so the first step is made REALLY easy if you have a paper cutter or rotary cutter of some kind. If not, use a craft knife, ruler, and a lot of patience!

You’ll need to cut your book pages into strips. I made mine 1 inch wide, but I’ve made them 1/2 inch wide and they work well too. Whatever you do, make sure the pages of your book aren’t too flimsy. This was an old dictionary. I also cut up part of another old book, but the pages were extremely thin and a pain to work with.

Once you have your strips cut (I used between 18-22 per ornament), stack them together.

Step 2

Even up your edges, and then fold your stack in half. Unfold it, and staple it along the crease. 

You can do a variation of this where you have smaller and bigger loops. If you want to do that version, fold each strip in half, and use the crease to line them up together, since the edges won’t line up neatly.

Step 3

Now, get out your glue stick! I prefer the purple ones that dry clear because I can see where I’ve glued – but that’s just me. You’re welcome to use regular white glue, but it is harder to handle.

You need to apply glue to the top third of the strip, and then glue it to itself. Make sure the tip is glued near the crease line, as close as you can get. 

Continue gluing in the same direction all the way around.  It’ll look like this when you get about halfway:

Step 4

Done! You can leave it like this, or I like to dip the edges in white glue and then in gold or white glitter. It looks pretty (who doesn’t love sparkles?) but it also helps stiffen it a little more, which I also like.

If you wanted another variation, this is what it looks like with only 11 strips, and alternating shorter and longer strips:

This is the same thing, with more strips (I believe it was 22) and dipped in glitter. I’ll post a better picture soon – this one was taken after the camera died!