Two simple words to your younger self.

I read this prompt on a website at one point in time and I wrote it down in my blog binder to eventually write about.  I definitely think that now I know exactly what to write.  The prompt was to basically write two words to your younger self that really said a lot and that would be...

Be Yourself.

As a teenager I wanted to be popular and cool so badly that I made myself into what I thought other people wanted to be.  I tried to do absolutely everything that would make me cool or popular, but it never did.  I don't know why I even continued to try, but I did.  

Having children and getting older really made me realize that I needed to grow up. I had the unconditional love of my children and my family and my extremely close friends, I don't need to be anything else other than what I am.  I also tell my children the same thing, to just be yourself no matter what anyone else wants you to be.  All that matters is you. :)

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“You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” ― Jack London

I'm about to share one of my deepest, darkest secrets...Ok, not really but it's a trick I use to post my amazing posts. ;)

Every blogger knows that chronic bloggers block is a horrible illness to come down with.  I don't have it often but there are days where it feels like I stare at the blank computer screen for hours with no ideas.  Rather than me sitting there, frustrated, about to give up and waiting for an idea to smack me in the head, I take a look at some writing and blogging prompts sites that I have bookmarked throughout the past few years.  Something usually jumps out at me as an exciting and great blog post and I usually end up writing on that prompt.  Today was one of those days -- sitting here for 10 minutes, I just knew nothing was going to inspire me because I'm exhausted and have horrible allergies.  I clicked on one of my favorite blogging prompts sites and started reading through some prompts.  One struck me as very funny....

How do you develop your writing/blogging ideas?

Why did that strike me as so funny?  Mostly because I was reading this on a blogging prompts site. lol  Was this person hoping for a shameless plug from someone who chose that prompt?  I mean, if you're looking at a blogging prompts website, apparently you don't have any ideas. (Ok well most some of the time.)

But you know what...I'm going to take that prompt and write about it.  Why?  I'm a rebel!  I like to be different...and strange.  It's just who I am.  

*clears throat*

My writing and blogging ideas come from almost everywhere.  I am an artist and artists just see the world differently.  We think of everything in terms of stories, art, beauty and ideas.  We get inspiration from the most random of places, but at least we get inspiration!  I could see a park and an idea (that has nothing to do with a park, mind you.) will come popping into my head.  Why?  Creative thinking? Creative mind?  I'm not actually sure, but I don't mind it.

I also grab inspiration from things I hear from people, situations I get into with my kids, things my kids say, news stories that I hear, blogs that I read, tweets that pop up on my feed -- my inspiration comes from absolutely anywhere.

Sure, sometimes I have no ideas and get ideas from prompts, but I take those prompts and I really run with them.  Sometimes I may end up off topic or sometimes I may start writing and actually get a completely different idea from the prompt, it just depends.

Either way, I love blogging and love meeting new people.  I have made some wonderful friends while blogging and got to know some great bloggers, I wouldn't change that for anything else. :)

Where do YOU get your inspiration from? If you blog about it, link yourself in my comments or you can just leave a general comment about your inspiration.

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Why blogging sometimes seems like a chore.

I absolutely love blogging, don't get me wrong.  Though, this morning on Twitter I saw a tweet and blog post that I could really relate to a lot.  This kind of goes back into my blog post/article about "What Makes a Popular Mommy Blogger" because it has a lot in common with what I wrote there.

There are some smaller known bloggers (who still have a following) that are great at writing but don't get the recognition others do.  This happens no matter how hard they try or no matter what they do to bring up their readership.  Some people just can't win and I do see the discouragement in some blogs about this when I read them.  It's not like we are picky, but we just want to know why some blogs are singled out.  Is it because they make money and have tons of sponsors?  Is it because they blog multiple times a day?  It is because they tell all in their lives, even the obscene moments? (I have none, so I can't write about that. LOL)  It is discouraging and frustrating a lot of the time.  Yet we still blog.

I can tell you right now, I don't blog for the money or recognition. [As much as my complaining sounds like that!] I blog because I absolutely love to blog and because writing really makes me feel better.  Even though, sometimes I wish more people would read what I have to say; doesn't every blogger wish that?  It's the reason why we continue to improve and tweak our blogs.  This is why it feels like a chore.

Occasionally you write a post, read it over, and feel it's inadequate.  Even though it's our own feelings, our posts and writing style seems completely inadequate and not up to par with other bloggers.  We shouldn't feel like this, but the entire "blogosphere" is competitive.  It's hard to feel comfortable about our posts when we read others that get comments up the freakin' wazoo and ours get 1-6 per post.  Rewriting our posts and trying to add lines in there to make things funnier and more interesting, it's hard.  It's exhausting, it's frustrating and defintiely feels like a chore and an effort when it should be fun.  I believe this is why a lot of mommy bloggers, and bloggers in general, quit.  They feel like they've been beat and just stop trying to succeed.  That will not happen with me because I love my blog too much, but I can understand why some feel like that. 

Any thoughts?  Popular and less known bloggers welcome to form their own opinions!

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Why do you write?

I think this is a pretty cliche post for any blogger to publish, but I also think it's important.  It isn't like we have to justify our thoughts, opinions and passions, but I think that so much can be learned by answering this simple question.  I also believe that every blogger has their own reasons for blogging, reviewing, writing about parenting and other issues close to their heart.  Why not learn about those reasons?

When I was young, I used to want to write a book.  I would write and illustrate "stories" when I was a kid and throughout my life.  Of course, they all started out being short stories with stick illustrations written on a few pieces of construction paper and tacked together with those gold swing tacks. The stories usually consisted of flying dogs and dolphins that could talk.  They all ended with, "And they lived happily ever after..." as well!  The most important thing, looking back, was that I had two passions and ambitions: Art and Writing.

At age 10 I was in fifth grade and when I transferred schools we really got into writing.  They encouraged us to share what we would write in class, and I had found that I had a talent in writing.  I now had even more motivation for writing.  It was now my inspiration to do something with my new found talent.  I wanted to be a writer and had dreams of publishing a novel.  (Which I did start and just never finished.)

There are many reasons why I write:

• I believe mommy bloggers have a few different (but important) purposes.  One is to spread the positive/negative opinions about products.

I've always loved to review products I purchased and loved to spread the word if I loved an item.  I would really promote it to death to my friends and family.  I feel that word of mouth is really better promotion/publicity than a company spending so much money on advertising.  If someone you know loves an item, wouldn't you want to purchase something that is tried and true?  I would!  I'd be more inclined to buy something that I know works!  That's why we usually check the reviews on products before we purchase them!

• Maybe, through my blog posts and obstacles and successes, someone can learn something from a post of mine.

This one delves deeper into my reasons for blogging.  I feel that maybe some of my difficulties or mistakes could possibly help someone.  If I impact at least one person, I feel like I have done my job.  Honestly, I feel like I am a very strong person for situations that I have been through.  I post so openly about them because I am proud that I have overcome so many obstacles in life, obstacles that I'm sure are very common amongst others.  Things that I'm sure I can help someone prevent or repair if they were in some of the same past situations as myself.  I feel very strongly about this, and I hope this is something that I can eventually do.

• To blog about their children and just brag!

Every mommy loves to brag about their kids!  Friends and family get tired of hearing about it, but I'm sure the blogosphere loves to hear about it!  :)  Even if they don't, I still brag!  

Most importantly, I write because I want to and because I love to... That's all that counts.

So, why do YOU write?

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Coffee is needed!

This is how I feel lately!  When I was a sophomore in High School and my English teacher suggested I become a writer, I was excited at the thought of maybe being able to do something exciting for a living. Something that I loved to do and something that I actually wanted to do.  For years that was my aspiration until real life came to bite me in the butt.  Hitting reality, having children and knowing I needed a full time job, I did what I had to do and put writing completely on the back burner.  It wasn't until about a year or so ago, when I started my blog, that I thought about writing again for a side job.  

I recently became a freelance writer for a few different companies and I do love it, don't get me wrong.  It's just not the great exciting job I always fantasized it to be.  It's very time consuming, it's stressful when you get assigned topics that you have to do research on and have to actually write handwritten notes for.  It's hard to write with the distractions of kids, my mom and the background noise and the lack of concentration really puts me on edge.  There are times when I go off like a rocket at anything because I can't think enough to finish writing as quickly as I want to.  I get assigned 4 articles per 48 hour period, which isn't difficult.  I can finish them as quickly as I'd like and get assigned more or I can wait until the past moment to submit them.  Working on a deadline is something that is completely new to me as well.  

It is true that freelance writers work for almost nothing.  The most that I get paid per article is $8 and the least is $5.  Again, it's not that bad.  I make, right now, about $100 extra per week and that helps a lot.  I would ideally love to get more, but I don't know how possible that is with the hecticness of my house and my full time job starting on Monday.  I am, however, determined to keep it at $100 extra per week even when I do start my FT job.

Don't get me wrong, I love writing.  It's important to me and it really helps me when I need something therapeutic, but it can also be a real pain in the ass when I want to sleep and have to reach a deadline! lol

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