Content Writer and Editor
For the past couple of weeks--months?--I’ve batted at random crap flying at me. Appointments, project deadlines for personal and work-related projects, general stress bombs that have exploded (not to mention the latent stress bombs that could explode at any freaking moment). I’m all for healthy tension but there’s been a little too much of it… Continue reading Prioritize exercise, prioritize yourself
I began drafting this post on my dad’s birthday. He turned 69 on March 17, and he won’t be alive to see 70. My dad has been sick for a long time, acutely so for a couple of years. He’s currently in a nursing home and has been on hospice since August 2017. My gut… Continue reading What’s weighing on me
After a decade filled with moments best framed as “learning experiences,” the big three-oh may feel a bit overwhelming. Even if you’ve finally landed in a bona fide career and be sophisticated enough to know not to order the cheapest glass of wine on the menu (the second cheapest, thanksverymuch), some areas of your life… Continue reading 7 Unfortunate Truths about Turning 30
It’s that time again. Goal-setting time. New year, new you--you know how it goes. So many brilliant people have written about the science of setting goals and how even more important is maintaining as habits the behaviors required to achieve them (shout out to James Clear--all of his work on this topic is worth a… Continue reading New Year, new goals
The end of the year--the darkest days--feels like a time when we’re supposed to feel bad about ourselves. Lose weight, eat better, find a new job. Pack away those Christmas lights, too, while you’re at it. New year, new you. Because whatever you’re currently doing isn’t working, you flawed human. But here’s a thought: What… Continue reading Resolving to continue to do well next year
As I shared in my last post, I did it--I wrote 50K words in the month of November, effectively winning National Novel Writing Month. I’ve never drafted a full novel before, and it turns out that if you set a daily word count goal and work to hit or exceed that almost every day, you’ll… Continue reading NaNoWriMo: Now What?
Holy sh*t, I did it. I won NaNoWriMo.* 50,303 words (this includes section headers which amount to fewer than 150 words total, so fuck it), completed two days ahead of schedule. I. DID. IT. HOOOOW. Wait, I know how. I wrote almost every day. I hit or exceeded my word count every day. I carved… Continue reading NaNoWriMo: Week 4, the Grand Finale
Accountability check-in time: I’ve given up calculating my time spent drafting. I pretty much average around an hour a day, but I’m not able to measure the time I spend thinking through issues and ideas for the storyline(s). So, I figured that measuring draft time only gives me a partially accurate amount for total time… Continue reading NaNoWriMo: Week 3
Time for another NaNoWriMo accountability check: Still writing every day. Some days I’m more enthusiastic to start than others. Some days I end a session feeling buoyed by the process, and others I just feel tired. As of Nov. 14, I’ve logged 13 hours and 16 minutes (still less than an hour per day drafting).… Continue reading NaNoWriMo: Week 2
Seven days into NaNoWriMo, it’s time for a check in. My stats for the past week (shared in attempt to hold myself accountable): I’ve consistently written every day. During the work week, I put in about an hour of work before starting my day job. On weekends, this work takes place at some point in… Continue reading NaNoWriMo: Week 1
Gail Marie Cole 