A blog post about the feelings that stopped me from writing my first essay for Patreon and how I managed to push past them. PLUS an excerpt from my very first essay.
Why I've created a writing vlog on IGTV
Why I'm Creating a Patreon Account
Okay, so it's time for a brand new writing adventure for me.
And I'm pretty nervous - so I'm trying not to think too hard about it. I'm just typing the words and pressing the buttons on the keyboard. Sometimes that's just the best way.
I've just finished filling in my Patreon creator account page. As per the rules of Patreon you have to fill it in then submit it to them to ensure it's within their community guidelines. So I pressed the big red button to submit and now I'm waiting for someone to let me know it's all good to go and I'm now live.
You might be thinking...Helen, what on earth are you talking about? What is this Patreon you're referring to?
Well, Patreon is a site for creatives - bands, artists, podcasters, filmmakers and writers (to name just a few) who are providing something in return for monetary support from patrons.
Nervously writing & editing fiction || Chapter One
My writing projects for the month of June
Last month I wrote about what my writing projects were going to be during May. I never really thought about doing this again for the month of June but it was fairly successful and I learned from it so I'm going to go ahead and chat about what worked last month and what I'm going to work on this month.
So, as a quick recap, I've come to the conclusion that the best way for me to work is to divide the month up into projects. Not to have deadlines or to get so many words written in a day. But to say, this month I'm working on 'x'.
Last month my two main goals were
1. to increase the amount of blog posts I write
2. to work on my novel.
I achieved both. But maybe not quite as productively as I'd hoped.
Feeling vulnerable when sharing my fiction writing
My Writing Projects for the Month of May (and why working on projects in monthly 'chunks' is more efficient for me )
My writing projects for the month of May 2018 || What if, at the start of every month, I gave myself one big or a couple of small projects to solely work on that month? How would this affect my writing output?This way I won’t worry about the other ideas I have that distract me. I can simply write those ideas on a list and schedule them in for another month.
This blog post details what I’m working on, creatively, during May.
An honest post about my creative year & my ideas for 2018
Due to nobody's fault but my own 2017 didn't quite go to plan for me.
It started off well. Then I hit 10k on Instagram and my focus evaporated. I got sidetracked by other things. I was like a social media magpie picking my way excitedly through the shiny online advice.
I created another brand, another website, I started a coaching business. Oh my goodness this took up a lot of time and effort. But I was missing using my own creativity. And subsequently lost my appetite for work. I was beginning to flounder and flail.
It wasn't until a summer holiday when my mind had the chance to breathe that I realised I'd become side-tracked. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't, metaphorically speaking, kick myself long and hard for losing focus.
But, as I said when I was being interviewed for a podcast last week, this is my journey. Just as I haven't yet finished my novel, just as my blog posts and Instagram account has yet to go viral (insert wink emoji) there is, I think, a reason for many of the decisions I make. And, even if there isn't a reason and it is a stupid mistake, I can still learn from it.
And what I've learned this year, in a looong roundabout way, is that I really want to focus on storytelling. I want to create a beautiful body of work on my blog where I tell my seasonal stories all mixed in with the other blog posts I enjoy writing on books, Instagram, food, beauty, writing, chickens, ducks - whatever takes my fancy.
And I know I love sharing my stories on Instagram, too, but I don't want to put all my chickens' eggs in one social media basket.
So, what come's next? Well, I'm going to have a proper think over the Christmas break but I do have a few ideas now.
Even though I won't be doing one-to-one coaching anymore I have been answering DMs and emails from people who've reached out to me and who are interested in setting up their own blog and sharing their own stories but don't know where to start.
So...
IDEA NUMBER ONE
With social media becoming harder to build a following I firmly believe that creating a blog is important if you want an online presence. A blog is your business card, it's your portfolio. It is also a place to be creative. To experiment with different ways of telling stories: film, photography or writing.
So, I thought it would make sense to put all my knowledge from the past few years into a course focusing on the practical side as well as the creative and storytelling side of building a beautiful blog. A course looking at how to build up to sharing your work and writing (which I know can be so daunting) in addition to finding places to share and promote it.
I know that being confused about the techie aspects of writing and sharing online can be a real stumbling block so I genuinely want to help cut through all the advice so creatives can set up their blog simply and effectively then concentrate on creating.
I've actually already started to write the course and love how it's coming together. If you're interested you can sign up on this page to receive more information and I'll email you when I have a date and further information.
If you have any questions about the course do send me an email. I'd love to hear from you.
IDEA NUMBER TWO
I'd love to create A Bookish Baker - the Book Club. A place to enjoy cosy reads. Whether this would be via newsletter, on a private area of this blog or on Facebook I'm not sure. What do you think? Is this something you'd be interested in?
IDEA NUMBER THREE
A podcast talking books and stories. Maybe chatting to authors but also chatting to bloggers and creatives to discover the behind-the-scenes stories.
This seems like a lot of projects I'd like to do when you also consider I have this blog, a novel to write and my Instagram photos and mini-films.
BUT now I have found the path I want to be on I realise I love doing all of this. All if it. And I am so ready for the next stage of challenges.
What we, as online creatives, can learn from the Zoella Advent-Calendar-Saga
As I start to write this on the morning of Tuesday 14th November 2017 the fall-out from Zoella's advent calendar is ongoing. In fact, it's pretty much taken on a life of its own.
If you haven't heard about all the drama essentially Zoella's lifestyle range has released a luxury advent calendar, a twelve days of Christmas one - so with 12 doors - and the contents are, well, not very expensive. For example you have some sparkly confetti behind one door, a small candle behind another, seven stickers in one and a small cookie cutter behind another. And for twelve gifts like this you pay £50.
No more novel procrastination?
I'm sipping coffee whilst staring out the window. I'm scrolling through social media, from Instagram to Twitter, to Feedly, to YouTube, to Pinterest even to the dreaded Facebook.
Not many people online. Probably all working. Or writing. Damnit.
I should be writing. I've just read through a rough outline of my novel. I got excited. I got more ideas. I started to think about writing it.
But I don't pull out my notepad or the rest of my notes. Oh no.
I just carry on scrolling.
And now...I'm writing this.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Writing about not writing
My head is like the today's sky which was smothered with an eerie Sahara sand. Casting a strange sepia light onto the earth below. I want to write, I see glimmers of the red sun, and clear skies in the distance, but however long I drive I can't quite reach them.
I took last week off. And half of the week before. And when I say off I mean off writing, off blogging. At first I tried other creative pursuits. I recorded film, I made my Instagram Stories mini-films, I read magazines, listened to podcasts.
What I learnt about writing online from Zoella and other YouTubers
My husband laughs at me. My teenage son rolls his eyes. And my daughter, she's eight, asks 'are you watching Zo-ella, again?' She's already learnt the art of taking the Mickey.
And, to answer her question, yes. Yes I am. As I write this I'm watching Zoella's Vlogmas from 2016. Her countdown to Christmas by vlogging every day in December. And I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
During Vlogmas we see her house dressed up with Christmas trees, we see her laughing hysterically with her friend Mark and supermarket shopping with her boyfriend, Alfie. We open her advent calendars (yes, plural) with her, see her takeaways and her oh so cute black pug, Nala dressed in various seasonal outfits. It's all very tame, very homey and it's certainly not an expletive or action packed video. She bakes banana loaf, goes to garden centres, describes what clothes she wearing and puts on make-up whilst chatting to her audience. Her more recent videos, where she shows her (incidentally, gorgeous) new house, has time lapses of her tidying cupboards.
You might be thinking...huh?
I know. I understand.