Good morning!

Andrew Neil for Unsplash

I have been writing daily since the beginning of the year thanks to Linda G Hill and her JusJoJan prompts inspired me so much. The results have been amazing! I have met some new and wonderful bloggers, further developed my writing habit and stretched my creative muscles a bit, written more on other blogs and publications, seen my following grow, and so much more. She had no idea how much her simple prompt would affect me and possibly other bloggers wanting a fresh start to the new year!

My goal (since I don’t really do New Year resolutions too well) was to scheme my way into earning a paycheck with my writing. Blogging is a way of networking after all, so it may open some doors that have been closed to me by simply getting more involved. Writing takes me out of myself and helps me focus on others, their lives, their needs, and maybe even teaches me something new.

The other positive thing that has happened is on Medium. I have tried to do the same thing there by publishing a poem a week, or a story on one of the many publications I have to choose from and wow! My participation has earned me lots of new followers and my stats were way up for this month already! Now, I won’t be able to pay the bills from what I earn on Medium unless I write exclusively there, but my network of people is growing and I am pleased as punch about that!

All of this is keeping me really busy, which is a good thing, and maybe my family will start to believe and support my writing more if I treat it like it’s my livelihood and not just a hobby. That’s not to say I’m going to start trying to monetize this blog, because I’m not. This is my happy place, where I can say what I want among friends. I can be creative and relaxed, just tell you a story or what is happened to me that day. I don’t want this blog to become a source of stress…it’s a place to put my words on a page, hence the name.

I just wanted to give a shout out to Linda for being my inspiration this year, helping me grow in so many ways! Thanks again Linda! Thanks also to Kristian and Cyranny for their WOD challenge prompts which I try to do daily if not several times a week!

Word of the Day Challenge