I AM WRITING

May 2021 It's truly a big month. My heart stuck in my throat. Sometimes I want to throw up. Looking at houses. Getting the house in a seller's market Seeing my past come by My husband was really supportive My son got upset about the thought of having to live in California   He got upset therefore he got me upset. My daughter insists that she is too emotional  therefore needs her medication increased Feeling useless Feeling like a failure Also, my daughter grieves her dad Because she missed him so Misinterpreting it as having a mental breakdown Big emotions Complicated emotions Sifting through them is tough Tomorrow we go back to Tennessee What the future holds Is uncertainty You want to make things fit just right. It's hard and there are Too many sacrifices. You know life is so complicated I've written about wanting it to fit Just perfectly so in whatever container I want it to But it never does I get discouraged You look at your children as extensions of yourself And y...

If you’re a fiction writer, you might not want to hear this. And I don’t blame you. It can be hard to hear. Because what we  want  is for our fiction to stand on it’s own. What we want is to believe that if we’re good enough, we don’t have to do any of that icky marketing stuff. But it’s not true. Not for you. Not for me. Not for Stephen King or J.K. Rowling or anyone. Finding your audience is your responsibility. Trust me when I tell you that your publisher won’t do that for you. They’ll support you as best they can, but it is your job to let readers know about your book. And since you’re you’re good at the whole stringing words together thing, one of your best available tools is blogging. Writing a blog (on your own website, on a free WordPress blog, right here on Medium, wherever) is a way for you to build a bridge between yourself and your readers. Let’s assume I’ve convinced you that if you’re a fiction writer, you need to blog. Your instinct might be...

This is one of my favorite exercises for developing solid characters. It came from one of my MFA professors. Think of virtue and vice on a continuum. Like Aristotle did. To humanize both your protagonist and your antagonist, it’s important to understand where they’re coming from and how they got to where they are. For your hero — think about their biggest virtue. Maybe they’re just very nice. Or maybe they’re brave. Or noble. Or honest. What happens when you take ‘nice’ too far? You get a doormat, right? You get someone whose vice is that they can’t stand up for themselves. A bravery? Taken too far, bravery becomes recklessness. Nobility taken too far becomes arrogance. Honest leads to cruelty. Your hero’s failing is probably connected pretty closely to the thing that makes them most heroic. For your villain — turn it around. If your villain is cruel, maybe the root of that cruelty lies in honesty. Or maybe there’s someone that they’re nice to (ma...

***Five Ways to Boost Your Writing Output*** 1. Write mobile - Once I embraced cell phone writing the world opened-up and gave me hundreds of writing opportunities per day. Yes, the writing is choppy and the moments are short, but I literally add hundreds (sometimes thousands) of extra words per day, just by writing in stolen moments (waiting in line, during meetings, in the bathroom, waiting for anything). 2. Write daily-  Daily writing allows me to knock out more than a million words per year without writing in huge day-long writing sprints. I write every morning, doing my best to hit my goals before noon. I developed a daily writing habit that became permanent after practicing over 60 days. Now, I've reached 300 days without missing one. 3. Listen to audiobooks and podcasts when you're not writing - If you want to be a prolific writer you've got to be a prolific reader too. We can't deliver the output if we don't feed our melons with quality input. B...

I will be migrating our host website from Siteground to FastComet This is our "ABOUT" page We are Dulce and Jimmy. I am a psychologist who is currently focusing on publishing my first novel and blogging. I offer life coaching and pre-marital counseling Jimmy, my husband, is a massage therapist, kriya yoga guru, wedding officiant, and writer. Drop us a note or subscribe so we can keep in touch.

Hey Legends, Last week we discussed some of the  common misconceptions around making money from doing work that you love . The premise of that post was about how I often see people put so much focus on the outcome that they end up losing sight of the journey. And the whole point of doing things you love, is because you love doing them, right?! So, be sure to check that out that post if you haven’t read it yet, as it will give you the background on what we are talking about today. It is easy to think that happiness lies in the outcome, that once we get to the mystical 'there', all our problems will be solved. It’s helpful to have goals, dreams and intentions but if you constantly want to fast forward to the final beat, you end up missing the best part of the song… Which is why I believe in, live by and have been witness to the fact that a happy ending (versus a short-lived high) only comes if and when we find joy in the journey. So, here’s a few ways to enjoy the ride a little ...

Contributors’ Guidelines Thank you for your interest in contributing to  ADDitude . We’re always looking for strong writers, expert webinar hosts, and powerful stories about ADHD, learning disabilities, and other related conditions. 1. Writing for  ADDitude  Magazine Who : Most  ADDitude  articles are written by journalists and mental-health professionals. However, we are happy to receive first-person articles by parents, employers, teachers, etc. with personal experience with ADHD or LD and insights that might be helpful to  ADDitude ‘s readers. How : Read articles on ADDitudemag.com to understand the kinds of articles we publish. Please be aware that story concepts you propose may have been suggested previously by others or may already be planned for publication by our editorial staff. What : If you’d like to propose an article idea or submit a manuscript you’ve already written, please send a query letter to  ADDitude . Your quer...