Category: Real Life Writer

My favorite stationary for writing and bullet journaling

<a href="http://Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/monfocus-2516394/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=3297317">Monfocus</a&gt; from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=3297317">PixabayToday’s lovely art is from Monfocus.

After a long month of cleaning and organizing our whole lives, let’s take things down a notch today. Let’s talk about one of my favorite things and something you probably like too.

Let’s talk about stationary. 

Specifically, this is a list of the products I use to write rough drafts and keep my bullet journal. This isn’t a sponsored post, I don’t get kickbacks for any of these products. They’re just what I’ve found works best for me over the years.

LePen

I’ve talked about these pens pretty frequently. It’s because I’ve been writing with them for six years now. They’re beautiful, come in a ton of colors, and they write on almost anything. I don’t know what it is about a felt tip pen that makes me so happy. But it does.

These are great because I can use them for literally anything. I write rough drafts, write in my bullet journal and planner with them. They’re just one of those things I have to keep on hand at all times.

Good old composition notebooks

If you’ve read any fiction from me, chances are it started life as a rough draft written longhand in a composition notebook.

I mean like the old black and white marble covered ones we used to use in school. 

They’re cheap, let’s start with that. So I feel comfortable writing absolute shit in them. I also love that they’re hard covered, so I can more easily take them places to work on novels outside of my home. Easily the best notebooks to write rough drafts in.

George Stanley notebooks

I do enjoy something a little more long-lasting for my writer’s notebook, though. I stumbled upon one of these notebooks at Staples years ago. After using it for quite some time, I was impressed by the quality. The coil doesn’t come apart, the paper is thick, the cover is solid. I drag my notebook all over the place, as any good writer should. So I need a notebook that’s going to stand up to that sort of abuse. Yes, these notebooks are a bit pricey. But it’s the sort of thing I need to invest in.

Index cards

Another staple in my office is index cards. I use these mostly for outlining. So almost any novel starts with me buying a fresh new pack. 

What a feeling that is. 

I love this because I can write out plot points on the cards and then spread them all out over the floor while I’m figuring the story out. It looks a little mad, to be honest. 

Post its, multiple sized

No writer should be without post its. They play a part in most of my editing. I use them to mark out chapters, keep notes in rough drafts, leave messages and reminders in books. Essentially anytime I need a layer of paper on top of paper, this is what I reach for. 

If I can get them, I also like the little tab markers for keeping drafts in order.

Moleskine

I think these have fallen out of style for bullet journals, but I honestly don’t care. I love these things.

I always get the lined hard covered ones, but I’ll switch up the color. I love everything about them. I love their hardcover. I love the little ribbon to mark my place. I love the envelope in the back to store things. I love the creamy paper that rarely bleeds. I love how soft the paper feels. I love the elastic holder.

Sometimes you can grab these on sale if $20 is too much to drop on a notebook. And keep in mind, I don’t go through these. I might fill two a year. If I went through any more, I don’t think I’d buy the super expensive ones.

Tombow Brush pens

These are a recent find, but I love them. These brush pens are used in my bullet journal and for any drawing I do. Their colors are bright and vivid. They last forever. And they just feel so artsy. 

They also cost a decent amount, usually $3.50 per pen. So it’s a good damn thing they last awhile. 

Sakura Gelly Roll 

Because I like to do a lot of layering in my drawing, gelly roll pens are a must. I use them to draw over ink I’ve already put down. This is especially useful with a white one. It helps me give dimension to drawings or make them look like they’re shining. 

Pilot Precise V5 in red

In red and red only. I use these pens for just one thing, editing. 

The pen tip is super sharp, and it makes me feel like I’m literally cutting the fat out of my drafts. The ink stands out well and doesn’t dull when I’m shuffling through pages for months. 

So that’s it. Those are the tools of my trade and where most of my money goes. But now I want to hear what you think. What are your favorite stationery supplies? Let us know in the comments.

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Life audit with me, week one

2020 sucked and I’m so glad to kick it to the curb. It was a dumpster fire of a year. And the worst thing about it, the absolute worst, is that I fell into some coping mechanisms that need to stop right the hell now. I stopped doing a lot of good things that I need to be doing again. 

In general, my life is a bit of a mess. I needed a life audit in the worst way. So, in early December I wrote a list of things that needed an update in my life. These were things in my personal care routine, my writing life, my family life and my spiritual life. 

Since I’ve made that list, I’ve done one thing every day to make my life better. To make things run smoother. And I’ve been pretty happy with the results. So I thought it would be a great thing to share with all of you. Because I bet (no judging) that you’ve fallen out of some good habits and into some bad ones too. Let’s get better together. 

I’ve separated each prompt into categories, starting with self-improvement, then home care, money, and ending with business. Each Friday I’ll give you the prompts for the next seven days. I’ll also tell you a little bit about it went for me.

I’m including a whole week in one post for two reasons. One is that I’m working on two major projects right now and I just don’t have time to post every day. But I also understand that everyone has different levels of work on any given day. Some people will have time on a Tuesday afternoon to clear out all their craft supplies. For others that will need to be a Saturday activity. I don’t suggest trying to do more than one activity a day, whatever you do. This is a thoughtful process, you need to give yourself time and space.

That being said, let’s go into week one.

Day one-Your nightly routine

What you do right before bed has more impact on your life than you can imagine. I will die on this hill! It sets you up for a good night’s sleep and a smoother morning. 

Start with writing down what you do before bed now. Do so without judgment. We aren’t doing this to beat ourselves up. We are doing this to make small changes to make our lives better.

Next, write down all the things you’d like to do before bed. You want to be realistic here. I think we’d all like to end each day with a rose-scented bath, full-body lotion, a cup of lavender tea and thirty minutes of journaling. But that’s not happening every night. We just don’t have the hours in the day for it.

So think about instead what’s going to help you the most. What would you like to wake up to? 

When I did this, I came up with the following list.

1. Set out clothes for tomorrow.

2. Make my to-do list for tomorrow.

3. Put on face cream and under-eye cream after shower.

4. Take my medication.

Boom, that’s it. I’ll have clothes in the morning, I’ve put everything out of my mind and onto the page, and I’ve delayed the ravages of time on my face. I can now sleep easy. Your list may look different than mine, and that’s perfect. It’s a personal thing. 

Day two- Your morning routine

Now that your evening routine is in place, it’s time to build on that. What do you want to do in the morning?

Do you want to make time to move your body or read a devotional book? Maybe your day would be so much better if you could just watch the birds out your kitchen window while you drink coffee in peace. 

Whatever goes onto your list, you want to make sure it follows two rules. It should improve your day and be something you have time for.

Here’s my list. 

1. Wake, feed pets, make coffee

2. Do ten minutes of yoga

3. Dress, brush my hair and teeth, do my makeup.

4. Meditate and pull an oracle card.

5. Check in with my planners. 

6. Track my spending from the day before.

Day three- Your afternoon routine

This is what I call my after-work routine, but it could also be an after school routine or a before dinner routine. It’s a list of things that are meant to keep my house orderly. The goal of this list is that it should take no more than 30 minutes.

Think about the biggest problem areas in your home. The things that bother your the most if they build up. The things that smell. That’s my biggest issue. I can handle clutter, but I can’t stand it when things smell.

Here’s my list.

1. Scoop the cat box.

2. Do the dishes. 

3. Do the FlyLady task of the day.

4. Water the plants.

5. 10-minute pickup.

And boom, we’re done. Just like that, the house is in good enough shape for me to make dinner and relax for the evening. 

Day four- Daily task list

Think of this as sort of a chore chart. Certain things need to be done, but they don’t need to be done every day. Things like running the vacuum, taking the garbage out to the curb on trash night. Because I’m a blogger, I also have tasks like writing my weekly blog posts.

Start by writing down everything that needs to be done in a week. Then, decide what day it’s best to do it on. Try to not have more than one task on a day, or it’s going to get overwhelming. So maybe you clean out your car on Sunday afternoon, vacuum your house on Saturday and clear out your fridge on Wednesday. You get the point.

Day five- Plan spiritual activities

No matter your faith there are certain activities that you probably like to practice to observe. Maybe you attend service or perform good works. I like to give donations, help people, read devotional materials. All of these things are more likely to happen if I, you know, schedule them. I’d say they’re probably not going to happen if I don’t schedule them.

If you aren’t someone who considers themselves spiritual, then certainly you have things you wish you did more of. Gardening, reading, things like that. There is something that feeds your soul. Find it, and find time to make it happen.

Day six- Plan what you want to learn

This is where things get fun. What do you want to learn this year? Is there a class you can take for a better job? Do you want to learn a new language, or take an art class? Seriously, there’s no better time to get some education in. I’m taking an ASL class, and I subscribed to Skillshare. I’ve been working through all the writing courses available. But I think I’ll also be taking some hand lettering classes. I love some hand lettering. My bullet journal is going to be freaking awesome this year.

So what do you want to learn? Remember, we’re not in school anymore. There are no required classes here. You can learn whatever you want. How cool is that?

Day seven-Audit your notebooks and apps

This one isn’t as fun, but man did I need to do it. I had a ton of planners and notebooks, not to mention a bunch of apps I used to organize my life. The problem is, I’ve got way too many. Some of them I only used for one thing. I mean, there was one app I used only for a list of twitter ideas. I used another app to remind me when to water my plants. Which is, you know, great if I remember to open it. But if I was the sort of person who remembered to open an app to see what plants needed to be watered, I’d probably be the sort of person who didn’t need an app for that in the first place.

Most of my app info got moved to bullet journal spreads. I still have a budget book and a yearly planner. Everything else got downgraded.

That’s it for the first week. Stay tuned next week for week two of our life audit. And if you share any pictures on Twitter, be sure to tag me so I can see them.

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The top ten posts of 2020

I always look forward to writing this post every year. It’s a look back at what’s been on our collective minds for the last twelve months. And in a year as twisted as 2020, I was especially interested to see what posts resonated with you all the most.

This year I’ve limited the list to only posts that were written in 2020. I don’t know why I haven’t done that in the past but there it is. Here are the top ten most popular Paper Beats World posts for 2020, the year that shouldn’t.

The Middle Finger Project, The Book, Launches today!

I love that this post got so much attention because it means this book got a lot of attention. And it deserves it. No, you deserve to read this book. Because it’s life-changing.

The holidays are going to look different this year

I don’t think I was the only blogger talking about this. But it helped me to get my feelings out to the world. I hope that it helped you to see the good in the holidays even if they weren’t what we wanted them to be. 

Don’t forget when this is over

I’m going to keep repeating the message for this post. We can’t stop fighting in America. We’re too great a country to settle for what we’ve got right now. There are still babies in cages at our border. There are still people going hungry in one of the wealthiest countries on the planet. Don’t forget, and don’t stop fighting to make our country better. 

I’m going for a Milwordy

This was a big shiny goal that I had at one point. It didn’t go to plan. But more on that later. 

Should we even do Nanowrimo this year?

My answer to this was yes. And I think I wrote an awesome book I can’t wait to share it with all of you in 2022. Did you write a book in November? Tell us about it in the comments.

Why Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes works

I loved this book, as I’ve already mentioned. I guess a lot of you loved it too. I hope you learned something from this installment of Why it Works. I enjoy writing those and will keep doing so in 2021.

An interview with Madolyn Locke

Madolyn Locke is a writing buddy of mine and a great author. I’m so happy this interview got so many reads. If you like my work, you’ll love hers. Tell a friend. 

I’ve decided not to do a Milwordy, here’s why

Best laid plans and such. I thought a million words in a year would be no big deal with all the different projects I have going on. Turns out when you’re a professional writer you spend a lot more time editing than writing. Oh well, live and learn.

Things that irritate me as a fantasy fan

This post still riles me up. I’m glad you all liked it, and I hope you agreed with some of my pet peeves. 

Writing Medicine in Fantasy Books

This was the most popular post of the year by far, and I’m so glad. I love writing detailed posts about little writing tools, and I’m going to write more of them in the future. 

So that was it for 2020. I have some really exciting things planned for 2021 that I cannot wait to share with you. Let’s raise some champaign glasses and kick 2020 the hell out of here. 

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Don’t Stop Us Now

The American election is pretty much over now. There are still some things to wrap up, but for the most part, we’ve done our bit. And man, did we ever do our bit. More people voted in this election than literally any election before it. That’s astounding. This whole election has been astounding. Also, terrifying, heartwarming, stressful, heartbreaking. I’ve been voting since I turned eighteen, never missed an election, and I’ve never seen anything like this. People way older than me are saying the same thing.

For some of us, this feels like a big win. It feels like the light at the end of a fucking long tunnel. It feels like after four years we can finally take a break. Sorry, I have some bad news.

We can’t. 

We cannot stop paying attention to what our politicians are doing. We still need to pay attention to the news, pay attention to what’s going on in the world around us. 

The problems in our country didn’t start with Trump. And they won’t end with him being booted out of office. Though I’ll personally rejoice to think that he’ll never again set a diet coke on the Resolute Desk without a coaster.

We the people found our voices this year after far too many of sitting complacently at the sidelines. We cannot go back to that.

I will not go back to that. 

There are still marches to walk in. Laws to fight for or against. There are still kids in cages at our border. Millions of Americans still don’t have health care. We still need a Green New Deal. We still have to defend a woman’s right to chose. Flint Michigan still doesn’t have clean water. There is work, so much work, to be done. And it doesn’t start at the top. It starts with us.

I get that this is overwhelming. But it’s where we are. And if we’ve learned anything in the last four years, it’s that we cannot expect our elected officials to fix things for us.

If you, like me, want to make sure you’re doing your part in the coming years, here are some things you can do.

Know your local politicians.

I’m sort of bad about this myself. I didn’t even know our Lt. governor here in PA was a damned king who I need to pay more attention to. But this is where real changes that will impact you start. Who’s your mayor, state representative, governor? You should know their names, where they stand on issues that impact you, and what their email addresses are. Maybe even where their office is.

Yass, King

Vote in local elections.

When you know who your local politicians are, you can vote with more understanding. And you should vote. There are elections at least every two years. Know when yours are, and make a plan to vote in them. These people are going to make decisions that impact your life whether you vote for them or not. You should have a say in who they are.

Pay attention to the news.

Yes, I’m fully aware that this is hard. The world can be dark and scary. But we have to know what’s happening to make it brighter. I subscribe to The Skimm, which I read every morning. I also follow independent journalists and look into the information they provide. Just don’t shut down. Knowing what’s happening is the first step to doing something about it.

Call or write letters about things you care about.

This may seem like a waste of time, but I promise it’s not. We have to have our voices heard if we’re going to get anything done. Don’t ever forget that your politicians work for you. And you should tell them what you think of the job they’re doing. 

I know that life is hard. There’s so much to do. Adding anything to our already bloated to-do lists seems like an impossibility.

But not paying attention is what got us here. It’s like in Phantom Tollbooth when Milo ends up in the Doldrums. Tock, the Watchdog, asks him how he ended up there. “I guess I wasn’t thinking,” Milo tells him.

“Then what do you think you need to do to get out again?” Tock asked. 

We got here by not thinking and not paying attention. So, what do we need to do to get out? 

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A last minute Preptober list that you totally have time for

Today’s image is by <a href="http://Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/candid_shots-11873433/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4489579">Candid_Shots</a&gt; from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4489579">PixabayCandid Shots.

It’s October 16th. If you’re participating in Nanowrimo, we have half a month left to get ready.

If you’ve been procrastinating, now is the time to get started on your Preptober list. 

If you have no idea what the hell you’re supposed to be doing for your Preptober list, I’m here for you. Each of these things can be done over the next two weeks and will help you succeed in Nanowrimo this year.

List five ideas every day

Notice that I didn’t say good ideas. You should feel free to write the worst ideas you can think of. Just get yourself thinking about your story. What might happen?

Remember, you’re not required to use any of this in your novel. It’s just there to start you thinking. You might even use this to list things that for sure will not happen in your novel. 

Gather your supplies

What do you write with? I’m writing my Nano novel this year on paper because my eyes have been messing with me and I don’t want to stare at a screen any more than I need to. So, I’ve stocked up on notebooks and the specific felt tip pens I like. I’ve got a big stack of index cards for outlining. I’m ready to go.

Make a list of things you need to write your novel, and get them now.

Let the people in your life know your plans

This is especially important if you’ve never done Nanowrimo before. I do this all the time, so my darling husband just rolls his eyes.

We can’t expect our family to respect our goals if they don’t know what the goals are. So let your family know what to expect over November. You’re going to need time away, daily, to write. Figure out if things need to be taken off your plate and whose plate they can be comfortably set on.

Plan your time

When do you have time to write? Are you a morning person or do you work best late at night? Can you write right after work or during a lunch break? Would you be better off getting your writing done in one long session, or breaking it up over the day? Are there going to be days this month you can’t write at all?

Take a look at your calendar and block out time now. If you have this time in your calendar already, you’ll have fewer excuses when the time comes. 

Brainstorm for a full week

You need time to think about your story. Mull it over. Write about your characters, their background. Just play around on paper for a full week. Set nothing in stone yet. Right now, your ideas are play dough. 

Outline for a full week

If you’re a pantser, go ahead and skip this one. You’re wrong, but you can do it. 

Outlining is time-consuming. But if you do it right, it makes the rough draft a lot easier. You’re not lost, wondering what to do with the story next. I mean, that might happen when you’re outlining, but that’s sort of the point.

Keep in mind that the outline is not written in stone. In the course of your rough drafting, you might find the story going in a different direction. That’s okay, let it. The outline is just the start.

We have half a month left to go before Nanowrimo. Are you ready? 

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Should we even do Nanowrimo this year?

2020 has been a dumpster fire of a year. Literally, the worst one I’ve ever lived through. I’m not going to try to make light of this.

So what if we don’t do Nanowrimo this year? What if we throw our hands up and say it’s too much. With everything else we’re dealing with, who could add writing a novel in there? Shouldn’t we all spend November trying to just survive and figure out how to have Thanksgiving on Zoom?

Hell no. 

Mind you, I’m not shaming anyone who doesn’t participate. But I’ll be doing it. And if you were thinking of writing a novel this year, you should do it too. Here’s why.

Publishers are still buying books

Agents and publishers are still accepting queries. Books are still coming out. People are still reading. So why not write a book?

Fiction can reach hearts and change minds.

If you’re feeling helpless, write about it. Write about your story of 2020. Write out your anger, your pain. Write about losing your job, your freedom. Whatever this year has been for you, write it out. 

Or you could write a fictionalized story about a country that let a deadly pandemic run wild even though they had the means to fix it and save thousands of lives. Just a thought.

Fiction can reach hearts and minds that straight facts can’t. Think of how many times fiction has hit you right between the eyes and made you see the world differently. You have the opportunity to do that now. Writing is the voice we have in addition to voting.

Vote!

So let’s use every tool we have. Get your story into the world. 

It’s a needed creative outlet

Okay, so not everyone wants to change the world with their words. Some people just want to create something. 

It’s in our nature to need a creative outlet. To make something. To paint, sing, write, draw, knit, whatever. If you just want to write a little something for fun or to say you did it, go for it! Write something and don’t worry about what you’re going to do with it later. Just love the process.

We can get something good out of this year 

We know how hard this year has been. There hasn’t been a lot to be happy about. Everything went wrong. People will be spending holidays without loved ones they had last year. 

We have to get some good out of this year, damn it. Any good we can. And if we can end the year on a high note, be able to say we did this one big thing, that’s a win. 

Let’s win just a little this year, together.

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I’ve decided not to do a Milwordy. Here’s why

You might remember a month ago I decided to go for a Milwordy. I did a whole post about it. For anyone who doesn’t know, a Milwordy is when you try to write a million words in a year. 

I do this sort of thing sometimes. I hear about some fancy new challenge online and it just sounds fun. I can make a little chart and track my progress. I can watch my numbers go up like on a video game. It’s a good time. 

It’s also, like, instant gratification for me. If I have one complaint about writing, it’s that gratification is at a minimum. Writing books takes time. Writing short stories take time. Writing a damned poem can take time. And getting any of that work published? Don’t get me started. Years, you guys. Years. For someone like me, gratification is so important. (Not that kind, you pervert.) I need to feel like I’m accomplishing something. Word counts are a great way to feel that way. Watching them pile up is great for me.

Of course, I wanted to do a Milwordy. Especially right now, when I’m working on a bunch of projects that all need a little progress every day. Yes, a little progress adds up, but not near fast enough for me. A daily word count that includes all my little projects and any freewriting I do?

Hell yes, sign me up.

After trying for a whole month, I’ve decided that a Milwordy doesn’t serve me at all and I’m done trying. 

Now, a quick disclaimer. Just because something doesn’t serve me doesn’t mean it won’t serve you. There are many people for who a Milwordy goal is fantastic. And it’s great! Good for you, in the most honest way possible. 

I’m also not advocating for quitting things too soon or because you don’t like a challenge. Sometimes challenges are good. Sometimes a thing will serve you very well if you give it some time to exist in your life. Even if at first it serves you like a cannon in the gut. 

But if we all stuck with everything, some of us would have screwed our lives up. Some of us would be in abusive marriages, shitty jobs, poorly chosen college majors.

That being said, I wanted to go through some reasons I’ve decided not to do a Milwordy for a few reasons. One, because I’d hate for you to think I’m just a big quitter. Two, because I hope that if you’re struggling with whether or not you should keep at something, this will help you make the best decision for you.

To start with, a million words is sort of an arbitrary number. I mean, it’s a beautiful number. It’s a nice big, round number and I love it. But when we’re talking about a million words as a word count for a year it doesn’t work. It’s not the same as, for instance, Nanowrimo. That’s 50,000 words in a month, the minimum required word count to be considered a novel. That being said, let’s do some math together. Let’s say an author writes a novel in a year at 50,000 words. Let’s say she also writes a short story every month at about 2,000 words and maybe two or three blog posts or articles a week at 1,000 words each. To be fair, let’s assume that same author does three pages of free writing a day, maybe a page of journaling. Now, a rough estimate of that word count is 300 words a page. That’s roughly 440,000 words in a year. Not even half of the Milwordy goal and that’s a shit ton of writing. Want to know how I know? That’s roughly how much I write in a year. And if you want to know how I figured out those rough estimates, keep reading. We’re going to get into that.

Yes, achieving a Milwordy is a massive goal, and it should require you to stretch and work hard. But there’s achievable goals and stupid goals. More than doubling what’s honestly already sort of a lot of writing comes down to personal abuse. 

I could probably do it, though. I’m not bragging, I probably could write a million words in a year. I wouldn’t be taking any days off, and I’d probably get even fatter than I am now. But I could write a million words. 

L.Ron Hubbard wrote a lot. A stupid scary amount. Most of it’s hot garbage. Like, bad. Sit down and read some of his stuff, it’s hideous. Hubbard was able to do that because he focused on quantity, not quality. If I wrote a million words in a year, it would take me another three years to edit, polish and publish all of it. And by that time I’d probably be sick of the whole thing. Or, let’s face it, I’d have lost my notebooks.

Let’s talk about notes now. I, like many writers, take a lot of notes. I take notes while I’m watching movies to review, when I do research for an upcoming project, or just sorting my thoughts out on the page. But notes don’t necessarily take a lot of words. I generally keep my notes pretty short, as they’re just there to jog my memory later. So, when I dreamed of pages and pages of notes filling up my word count every week, I was not considering reality. This Milwordy goal was encouraging me to expand notes unnecessarily, wasting time. I don’t have a lot of time to waste.

Now, I’d like to go back to something we talked about earlier. I have some weirdly specific numbers regarding my writing. For much of my work, my trusty computer does all the counting for me. But I do a lot of writing on paper. And that meant I had to count that by hand. 

Okay, so I didn’t count every word. I counted the words on 100 lines and figured out the average. Which works well if I’m writing out a full line.

Do you have any idea how much time it takes to count all that? Again, time I don’t have to waste. It’s one thing when I’m doing Nanowrimo, counting out words in a rough draft for a month. Doing that for a whole year? No way, Man. I’m still having PTSD from it. Try writing out several pages of nightmare details at three in the morning. Then, count it the next day. See how happy you are about it. 

Now, I can’t emphasize enough that some people benefit from doing a Milwordy. If you’re one of those people I want to hear about it. Please let us know in the comments below. But now it’s time for me to set this goal aside and focus on what’s important.

Telling stories. 

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Have I really been doing this for six years?

Today’s image is from Tuku.

Yes, yes I have. For six years now, I’ve been showing up here at least once a week to share posts with you. Some have been popular, some haven’t. Some have been good, some haven’t. Some I look back on with pride. Some I’d prefer not to look back on at all. 

It’s been a ride, and I’m popping some champaign today. I wouldn’t have missed a minute of it.

It’s been six years of learning. I started this blog before I started my first book. I didn’t know anything about writing a blog. I just sort of started. I had crappy graphics, typos. I wrote about things no one cared about. Honestly, I just had no idea what I was doing.

It’s astounding to see how far this little blog has come. Especially in a time when a lot of people are shutting their blogs down. I am still amazed anytime someone subscribes or likes one of my posts. That never gets old. 

I’m also really glad I started this blog way back in 2014. The world is a little crazy right now, you might have noticed. I’m beyond thankful to have a place to speak up about the state of the world. I hope I’m bringing you information you can use, along with a little bit of hope and maybe a laugh. We could all use a laugh right now. 

Paper Beats World is going to keep right on changing, getting better hopefully. I’m not going anywhere and I hope you’re not either. But I’d love to know if you have any suggestions. Is there something you’d like to see more or less of? Do you have any questions about writing or a book you’d like me to review? Please let me know in the comments.

Thank you again for six years of writing joy. As always, you keep me accountable. 

Stay tuned. 

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I’m going for a MilwordY

Today’s image is from StockSnap

I love a good challenge. Especially if it’s an incentive to fix a problem I’ve been having. Well, a few problems.

So I’m going to go for it. I’m going to do a Milwordy. 

You can be forgiven for not knowing what that is, as I didn’t know less than a week ago. It’s pretty simple.

Write one million words in a year. 

That sounded easy until I broke it down and realized that was over 3,000 words a day, assuming I took occasional days off.

Okay, now it sounds a little insane, right? But I think I can do it. The rules, when you look at them, are generous. Here they are.

All writing counts

This isn’t all going to be publishable content. I hope this will be more books, short stories, blog posts, poems and other fun content that I love sharing with you. But it will also be journaling, brainstorming, stupid things I jot down because they’re in my head. Writing about that weird dream I had about being locked in a bathroom. Angry letters I write to politicians. Any time I put words on the page, it counts.

Edited words count too

I don’t mean like a quick grammar check. I mean like when I’m writing the third draft of a novel and I’m going through every single damned word with a red pen. Those edited pages count. 

So, why am I doing this? Because I’m feeling like I’m not doing enough writing. I know, that sounds crazy. But I’m not writing beyond my novels. And I want to be writing more little things. I’ve never understood why authors don’t write more little pieces. Micro-fiction and haikus. To me, it’s like being a painter who never doodles in the margins of a workbook.

I also want to journal more. I want to write about what I’m seeing in the world right now, process it on the page. Because damn, a lot is going on right now. I’ve found myself wondering if this sort of writing is a waste of time because no one but me sees this.

I swear, I can hear Natalie Goldberg yelling at me right now. Since she’s not here to say it, let me say it for her. 

Freewriting in your notebook is probably the most important writing you ever do! 

I know, I know. But this is the part where my artist brain and business brain duke it out. My artist side knows that practice is essential. That getting my feelings out on the page is good for my mental health. That I should be writing in my journal every single damned day for myriad reasons that I don’t need to list because I and every other writer has listed already.

The business side says, “What’s the point if it’s not making you money or getting you exposure?” 

I can’t just ignore that voice. I’ve learned it’s best to work with my darker instincts, not against them. Give them what they want but in a healthy way. And that voice likes numbers. It likes to see numbers going up. So if an hour of writing haikus in my notebook can be seen as increasing my word count for the day, then I’m all in.

What I love about this goal is that it’s not on top of what I’m already doing. I’m not writing a novel, blog posts and podcast scripts, then writing a million words on top of that. That would be stupid to the highest degree. What this is, is me stretching. Writing more than I usually do. Writing more consistently. Reaching for a goal. A big, fat, scary goal.

Being my impetuous self, I did start right smack dab in the middle of August. I didn’t wait for the first of September. I didn’t wait for the new year. What’s the new year mean? Every day is a new day. I can set a new goal any day I want. Dream a new dream at any time. Who says I can’t?

I’m sure I’ll be giving you regular updates. And next year I’m sure I’ll do at least one big long post about how my year trying to reach a Milwordy went. My deadline, far away in 2021 is August 14th. Let’s see if I can write a million words in a year. What do you think?

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Do we really have to defend the post office now?

Today’s image is from Dean Moriarty

Has your mail been on time? If it has been, it might not be for long. Because apparently, we have to defend all of our rights in 2020, including the mail.

That’s right. I’m bringing a bonus post to you this week because we have to get the word out. 

I’m sure if you pay any attention to the news, you’ve heard Trump talk about how terrible mail-in voting is. How it’s not the same as absentee voting and will lead to rampant voter fraud. Spoiler, he’s wrong. Mail-in voting is the same thing as absentee voting. There is no difference.

But since Trump couldn’t fear-monger about that, he’s taken some additional steps to dismantle our postal service. And yes, I do have receipts.

Let’s start with Louis DeJoy, who was given the job of Postmaster General on June 15th. Fun fact, he used to own a lot of shares in Amazon and UPS. He sold, well, some of them. He’s also a long time contributor to the Republican party with no experience in the postal system. He’s the first Postmaster General to ever not have experience with the post office.

These are facts. Make of them what you will. 

Another fact is that Trump ordered the removal and dismantling of 671 high volume mail processing machines. This started in June, by the way. Again, just facts. Why this was done is up for debate. Some say it’s more cost-effective. What I don’t get is, and tell me if you have an answer for this, why it saves money to get rid of something that you already have. I assume it won’t save me money to have my dishwasher taken out.

The machines aren’t just being removed. They’re being dismantled. Why? No one knows. At least, no one’s saying on the record. 

This might not be intentional, but it sure as hell feels like it is. It feels like a way to rig the election in a year we need an election. It feels like a way to sabotage mail-in voting during a pandemic when it might literally kill you to go vote. It feels like some people saw some polls that suggested they might not win and decided to do something about it. This isn’t speculation on my part so much as it’s an educated guess.

Then, of course, there’s the removal of sidewalk mailboxes. You know, the cute little blue ones that if you’ve ever lived in an apartment building you kind of rely on? They’re being removed. Not everywhere, just in Democratic-leaning areas and swing states.

All of this wouldn’t be so suspicious, I guess if Trump hadn’t flat out said he was blocking funds to the post office to derail mail-in voting. He said it, not me. I just say he’s an unconstitutional scumbag.

So what can we do about it? Write to your representatives. Here’s a link to the Resist app. It makes it easy to contact your local reps and let them know what you think about this. You can also let them know what you think about them taking a month-long break in the middle of a pandemic that has people out of work unable to pay their bills. You can, if you so chose, tell them to get their asses back to work and protect our postal service. Our constitutionally protected postal service.

We only get to keep the rights we fight for. 

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