humor, self-help, Writing Stuff

NOT The NaNo!

Photo Oct 22, 11 18 28 AM
Get fit for winning, NaNoWriMo!

NOT THE NANO! Can you feel it? Are you excited?

It’s not here yet; but it’s on it’s way! woohoo!

Which means, we’ve got more things to think about, dear writers and friends, than just NaNoWriMo this year… The getting prepared for it, kind of things, to think about!

I’m going to put into today’s post a few references to help get you ready; but, we’re going to focus on Pre-Preptober planning this week.

This sounds like more work. Aren’t you a pantser?

(a pantser is a writer who doesn’t plan)

Okay, yes, you got me there. But, I’ve realized more now that a little planning, even if you’re a pantser goes a very long way. And really, I plan pretty much everything. Even if it I appear spontaneous… I likely planned it. *wink

*slaps forehead

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. It occurs during the month of November annually and is a writing challenge of writing 50,000 words in 30 days! If you have wanted to write a book or have wanted to challenge yourself to writing a book in 30 days or less, this may be just the jump start you are looking for! It’s free to participate and you will be connected to authors from all over the world!

So, since preptober is the “getting ready” prep time all NaNoWriMo participants take to start getting our shit together, let’s pre-plan, our prepping for planning… And, I’m definitely making up that there’s a Pre-Preptober, so don’t worry, it’s not like it’s a real thing.

I do that sometimes! ha!

Take a look at October’s Bullet Journal setup. It’s super easy, and fast to setup. And no, it’s not twelves pages of journal; it’s literally, two. An eerie, halloween vibe calendar next month that has your one menu to the right for bullet-style monthly to-dos.

It’s the healthy habits we need to integrate into our daily writing routine. Like hot dogs? No.

Coffee? No.

Well… actually, coffee is fine. I’m definitely problems, all day, if there’s no coffee.

So, I get that one.

Not only for NaNoWriMo but for our daily writing routine outside of writing 50k in 30 days! So, I came up with some easy suggestions below with the writer in mind. We sit so long, typing away, we forget that moving our bodies is a necessity!

Ever find yourself annoyed by the fact that you’re cramping up, your back hurts, your mind is wandering or you just feel blah inside? You want to keep writing but things just feel off? Well, this week, I offer you some simple tips to help get you re-energized, motivated and re-focused! In this week’s video, we cover our physical, mental and spiritual health that can become affected while writing our novels in sedentary.

This is true for all of us now who sit at our laptops and even on our phone to get everything done that we need! We’ve streamlined our tasks so well that we now can do more.

ugh! and yay!

Now, get me that Hot Dog Coffee!

an ode serenades & marinades blog rita slanina
How To, humor, music, Writing Stuff

Ode To Serenades & Marinades

an ode serenades & marinades blog rita slanina how to write a song songwriters beginner

An ode to serenades & marinades!

Is it just me or does anyone else feel it’s long overdue that we need some Fall-themed Holiday Songs? The ode to serenades & marinades of Fall, we’ll call it!

No. No? No.

Darn it. No one jumping onto that bandwagon, eh?

NO.

FINE. *rolls eyes

But, with so much to do!

music & lyrics a songwriters journal rita slanina shop now perfect for the songwriter album and song title brainstorming pages
Music & Lyrics: a songwriter’s journal

skipping happily into my office, with lyrics to write, and my loving book projects to wrap up, and my favorite time of here with NaNoWriMo’s impending arrival, it’s only fitting to – Nope. Don’t do it. Oh, the ode to the serenades of Editing, reading and staying the course of all my line item marinades. *insert piano playing plus a warble here

*she did it. Focus, girl.

My joy of fall

truly just wouldn’t begin without the exciting news of writing my next album. So, no pressure, but I have the goal of getting it done before Preptober. Don’t you got books to write, bish!

Now, who knows if that’ll be possible, but I believe in tackling a little each day and eventually it’ll get there. Once a groove is playing along, it’ll happen. I’m rapid fire-like that. *wink The first couple of tracks always seem to be the hardest. Although, channeling all that emotion is pretty rough too.

Wish there was a way to do it sans THAT roller coaster! Sadly, there isn’t.

Did you just pun. Ah, yes. Yes, I did.

I digress.

In all essences of productivity, and in all honesty though, must confess that I was a bit distracted this last week. I was not sleeping well. There were incessant, racing thoughts. Lest not forget, the half-heartedly act of convincing yourself – okay, geesh, MYself – that it’ll all be fine

is a fairly tall order.

(Reminds me of a song I wrote a few years back.)

A ghostly shell of yourself walking around, daydreaming of… you know, things past, present and future. *sigh* And anyway… You know how it goes.

Just to notate how writing songs can sometimes keep these pains lingering. I mean, I guess it can be therapuetic; although reliving trauma over and over probably isn’t healing. *is that numbness?

Which, in one part fairness, and bits of reflection confetti… are GREAT WRITING CONDITIONS.

Maybe when I get to the end of this bucket of chicken staring back at me, it’ll change. *hand over the marinade! This needs more flavor!

*slaps forehead Put down the wings. You better get writing, girl!

So get to it, lady… get out of the weeds!

You had to know I was taking this somewhere!

The next three weeks, I am publishing a songwriting music series on how to get a song from idea to sold! We’re going to call it:

drumroll, please….

THE HOW TO MUSIC VIDEO SERIES

We’re going to chunk this series down into three installments.

  1. How to write a song
  2. How to record a song
  3. How to publish a song

Since it is all things serenades & marinades of my favorite time of year, fall, and I just happen to have some A and B Roll in the vault from literally two years ago and it’s staring at me, asking me “why, oh Lovely Rita, haven’t you shown me to the world?” (I hope you added a southern drawl -channeling your inner Gone With The Wind character – when you read that! Because, I sure as heck did!

an ode serenades & marinades blog rita slanina how to write a song songwriters beginner

*You raised your hand to your head too… didn’t you.

Why, yes, kind stranger, I surely did!

*stop it

Okay, fine.

So, here we go! For the next three weeks, I am going to cover just that. *Terrible accents?

Ha. Ha. Noooooo…

I am going to show you an easy, and simple way to getting your song idea out of your head and into the marketplace. If you’ve ever wanted write a song – regardless, if you play an instrument or not – I got you! This week we start with the 3 simple way to writing that song and boy, oh boy, it will be easy!

Now, get ready!

Grab your notebooks!

Snatch up those pencils!

Go write a song!

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4-hot-tips grab a blender i've got lemons rita slanina starting over create fresh start in life
Exercise, healthy and beauty, How To, humor, new years resolutions, relationships, self-help

Grab A Blender… I’ve got lemons!

Okay ya’ll! Grab your blenders… because I’ve lemons!

Er… Wrong Blenders, Love Bug

You know the saying, “When life hands you lemons… Add a spritzer!”

Okay, so no, that’s NOT how it goes… but if you stumble upon some champagne, let’s have a party! *wink

So, I was trying to figure out how to write this post. Starting over suddenly, without warning because you HAD no other options totally stinks. But, I have mulled over the details just way too much. And as much as I want to “spill the beans” on my traumatic event which got me here, I’m not even really over it enough to do so.

Ergo, in pure “Rita” fashion… I decided, to keep it light and funny. As you all know… it’s what I always do! Suppress that ish! And work through the hard shit!

Man up!

Head up!

Chin up!

Shoulders back!

Smile!

Because sometimes, life hands you lemons. So… you are forced to figure out how to create a fresh start in life. Again. You don’t see it coming. Or maybe you did. It’s like you’re watching a nightmare unfold before your eyes. And this time, it’s not Halloween. And you’re not watching a horror film. You’re living it. Or you suddenly you just needed a change. The world has gotten so freaking weird and now Florida sounds like a wonderful place to just touch ground.

So you got the lemons crapped all over you. No biggie. Make the damn lemonade!

Just kidding. I don’t know why I chose to curse!

But, not really. C’est la vie! 

I had finally found peace and solace in the mountains. Finding joy in the mundane was my motto for that chapter of my life and it was fabulous. 

I wish I could’ve kept that life forever. Enjoy the rest of my days following a simple; but amazing plan in retirement with the love of my life. But… as luck would have it, I got freakin’ screwed. Sure, I dodged some lemons for a while. But eventually, the whole tree just dumped on me. Alas, mon ami…. no boohooing. At least, not yet!

But it’s time to highlight why picking myself up off the floor – after imprinting myself on it for a while – is good news for you! *It doesn’t sound exactly like good news.

Right. Well, stick with me.

So…Why, is it good news, you ask? 

Because… eventually, I was able to at least get up off the floor. You know, after the numbness subsided, and the bedsores healed. Just kidding about the bedsores. But, not the numbness. Granted, tears were just NOT stopping but hey… you take what you can get in this game called Life CAN Suck. 

So, how do you push forward?

*Oh no.

Yup!

*No…

YUPPERS!

*Not the lists.

Yes! Yes! YES! I’ve got LISTS! Wahoo!!

If you prefer the more watching me work the list; as opposed to reading it check out this week’s video below.

Just a simple note: I DO NOT have it all figured out. But, I believe we never have it ALL FIGURED OUT. (I think I wrote a song with the same title – Ha! – add it to your playlists!)

– that which I swear by –

In the essense of humor, I do believe grabbing a blender when you have lemons is the best analogy to make smiles & hopefully inspire those who are also having entire life adjustments. Regardless, of your current situation, however dire or bleak, give these 4 Hot Tips a try. You never know what could happen!

You might invent a new margaRITA! *wink

See what I did there…

Yes, we all saw it. *slaps forehead