JOIN: Celebrate This Week

Every Saturday, join me as I CELEBRATE This Week 

with Ruth Ayres from Discover. Play. Build.

Last week, I was celebrating because NaNoWriMo was starting. I finished my beat sheet. Thanks to Elizabeth Eulberg, I discovered Blake Snyder's Save the Cat and I used the beat sheet to revise my first NaNoWriMo project and I used it to draft my 2nd YA and now my 1st MG. 

Hold it a second, can I just stop and say it's so wild for me to even be able to write those words above!? It just hit me and now I have to stop and marvel at what I've accomplished. I mean this in the most humble way. Over the last four years I've spent so much time writing and that last paragraph made me realize what all of it has added up to. Whoa. I still feel like that first-time NaNoWriMo-er not knowing at all what she was doing...and maybe I'll always feel a little of that.

So anyway, over the summer I came up with my why. It's taken me a long time to get here and to know myself but I know I'm all about the growth mindset and believing in the impossible. I like to think of myself as a daydream believer (I wouldn't be here blogging at Story Exploratory if not...it's a total dream come true.) and so the words, "I believe I can and I will" seemed perfect.

Growing up, my dad always repeated these words to me: "Anything is possible, if broken down into manageable segments, stabilized by balance, and purified by belief." Those words are a big part of why I so strongly believe in the growth mindset and the potential inside each and everyone of us. 

Which brings me back to NaNoWriMo...here are some of my tweets from the week. Writing isn't easy, it takes dedication and a lot of strategies to know how to persevere through all the crazy feelings that come up when I write. The more I talk to writers - and even creators in general, the more I realize how we all deal with emotions when we write or create. This week, I took to Twitter as a way to let my thoughts out as I wrote!

And now I'm off to really, actually, and truly read what words I wrote last night! I was so tired but I was determined to write something. I vaguely remember writing a scene from my traumatic 5th grade spelling bee into one of my character's back stories...that should be interesting!

What are you celebrating? 

Nano or writing or anything else, please share!

I've got (virtual) confetti at the ready. 

Thanks for stopping in to explore with me!