Writerly Things 11/4/19: Countdown to New Year, What Have You Accomplished?

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Writerly Things 11/7/19:  Countdown to New Year, What Have You Accomplished?

Traci Kenworth

I’m doing a review of what I’ve accomplished this year.  How about you?

Books Read.

I’ve read approximately forty books so far this year.  My goal was fifty so I’m hoping to meet or pass that. Next year, I want to read seventy-five. I like to challenge myself to do more. Reading is something I enjoy and it’s also a great study for craft. I try to absorb as much as I can as I go along. I’ve read some good books, some so-so books, and some that just didn’t resonate with me. I will post a list of books before the end of the year. It’s nice to look back and see how far I’ve come.

Craft.

Let’s see. I’ve been studying setting and its presence in a story. It is very important to not let your characters live in a white space. On the other hand, don’t bang the reader over the head with details either. Instead, dig deep. Go further. See through the character’s eyes. What catches their eye? What do they ignore? You’ve got to know all the details, but keep them to a minimum. Sort of like a hand in poker. Don’t show everything.

Websites.

I’ve learned to juggle three, though with the holidays it’s kind of hectic and I’ve needed to slow down some. I had enough recipes to give me downtime as far as Halloween for four days. Now, on Halloween night, I’m back to making Jack O’ Lantern Stuffed Peppers, Spooky Tacos, Black Widow Lemonade, Purple Punch, Snake Calzones, Halloween cookies, among other items. The peppers and rotisserie chicken for the Graveyard Enchilada dip have to both cook about five hours each on high. Meanwhile, I’m baking the calzones. The other items will be made in the order of time it takes to get closer to eating and our party. I’ll be posting items and pics on Sat. hopefully, if not, Sun.

Unfortunately, another reason I’m lacking with the website this week, is dental work. I’ve been down a couple days. I’m on meds and pain killers but the pain doesn’t go away all together and it’s hard to eat right now. Though, I’m SO hungry today, I don’t care, lol. I hope to juggle better in the days ahead as I’ve developed a schedule for the other website. Halloween is the only month we’ll post recipes more than a few days in a week. The other months, we plan to rotate some columns. Only Sun. (recipes) and Fri. (the Cartoon Holiday Bash) will be regulars. Others will be 2 x a month or only once in a while.

This’ll cut pressure down on us and give us a breather while we grow the other website. So far, we’ve been banned on Facebook because we used Halloween names for some recipes that included bloody, poison, and toxic, lol. I never liked FB much anyway but I can still post to my tracikenworth site. The only problem is FB won’t allow me to post the link, so I put it in the pics, lol. I hope people will copy and past the link into the search bar and follow us that way.

Family Life.

We took a chance on a website. The cats are popular. Especially our cat-dog, Callie, who will fetch her toys for us. Her toys include toy mice, balls, straws (yes, she steals our coffee straws from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, lol), and sometimes confiscating the other cats’ toys. She even buries her toys in nests around the inside of the house. They’re all indoor kitties. Cartoon Girl is exploring options for her future as is Video Game Boy. Me? I’m hoping to get my work published and sold.  

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