IWSG - what the heck happened to March?

because if i knew, i would have put up a post yesterday. but i completely forgot. and since life is a little crazy, i'll recycle an older one for my new visitors. (excuse me for a moment while i go searching...) well, that was not helpful. seems i keep saying the same thing over, but in different ways. guess i'll have to write something new. of course, my editing mind wants it to be brilliant. and i'm a little chagrined that i forgot, when i'm usually pretty punctual about this. but i'm going to let all of that go and just be me. i'm not here to impress you. just encourage you. life wouldn't be life without mistakes.

so here are some words of advice about writing, and i've been writing since 2005. you probably know some of these already, but here they are anyway.

-- write like a first grader. you can always polish it later, but if you don't write anything, you have nothing to edit later. i should take that advice from myself again now that i'm stuck, again.

-- find someone to bounce ideas off of.

-- be yourself.

-- don't be so hard on yourself. you're going to make mistakes. get up. dust yourself off. i should listen to that one too. perfectionism is a hard taskmaster.

-- your worth is not measured in how many people like your book, how many sales you make, how many book signings you schedule, or how many rejection letters you get. you have value because you exist. you have a uniqueness and beauty all your own.

-- help someone else along the way with a kind word.

-- your story is important. write it. when it gets hard, take a break. take a walk. plant a flower. help a neighbor. don't obsess.

-- now go eat some chocolate.