inspired

Blogging Insights — Forcing It

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For this week’s Blogging Insights prompt, Dr. Tanya has given us a quote about writing and asked us for our reaction to the quote.

This week’s quote is from American author and journalist, Tom Wolfe.

“What I write when I force myself is generally just as good as what I write when I’m feeling inspired. It’s merely a matter of forcing yourself to write.”

I am not the type of person who likes to be forced to do anything. If I had to be forced to write or had to force myself to write, I probably wouldn’t write. Fortunately for me, I rarely have to force myself to write. I can find plenty of fodder for my blog posts just by observing what is happening all around me — and around the world. Of course, I’m not attempting to write the great American novel and I’m not facing any writing deadlines, either self-imposed or externally mandated.

On those rare occasions when I’m at a loss for words, there are members of the WordPress community who host a wide variety of prompts to stimulate the imagination, to come to my rescue.

So when with respect to Tom Wolfe’s quote, never having been forced to write something, I can’t say for sure if my forced writing would be as good as my naturally inspired writing. But I tend to think it would not be.

Sadje’s Sunday Poser — A Tip of the Hat

Fandango10 Comments

For her Sunday Poser today, Sadje wants to know…

Do you give credit to the blogger who inspired your post?

Yes, I do. If I write a post that is in response to another blogger’s prompt, I always link back the prompt (or prompts) that inspired my response. If inspired by a photo or image that another blogger used, I do the same.

If I’m not responding to a prompt, but to something another blogger posted about that inspires me to create my own post, I will definitely mention the blogger who inspired my post and, if applicable, link back to their post.

I would hope that other bloggers would do the same when responding to one of my prompts or to a post I published that inspired them. It’s common courtesy to do so. And rude not to do so.

My Daily Schedule

Fandango5 Comments

Rory, of Earthly Comforts, has asked us, in this week’s Coffee Morning Question Time prompt:

Do you write a daily schedule for your blog or is everything as it happens on the day itself?

My answer is both. I host a number of prompts, one daily and the rest weekly. For the prompts that I host, I plan them in advance and schedule them to be posted on a specific day at a set time.

All of my other posts, including my responses to prompts (such as this one) and the daily prompt words from other bloggers, are what I’d characterize as spontaneous.

In addition to responding to those daily prompts, I might be inspired to post about something I read in the morning newspaper or heard on the news or saw in my newsfeed. So, to use Rory’s words, such posts are “as it happens on the day itself.”

Share Your World — 03/21/2022

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Melanie is back with the latest edition of Share Your World. So let’s see what she wants us to share this week.

What very common thing have you never done?

Watched “Game of Thrones.”

Are we morally obligated to be charitable, if we have the means to?

Morally obligated to be charitable? No. Is it the decent thing to do if you have the means? Yes.

What is the most amazing fact you know?

Fact: Donald Trump was the worst American president in the history of the United States.

What’s your favorite sandwich and why?

Ooh, tough one. I’d say it’s a toss up between a pastrami Rueben sandwich, a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, and a French dip sandwich. Why? Because they’re all so good!.

Something that inspires me…

The people of Ukraine.

Share Your World — 01/17/2022

Fandango15 Comments

It’s Monday and Melanie is out with another edition of Share Your World.

Fill in: ‘If I were really completely honest, I would say that …’ This is a question for ‘radical honesty’. What are the things you wouldn’t normally say? Things you would otherwise actually hide? What’s on your mind? What would you really like to be able to say?

If I were really completely honest, I would say that being “completely honest (i.e., brutally honest) is no way to win friends and influence people. While honesty is the best policy, sometimes you have to couch that honesty in a way that doesn’t hurt others. So rather than being “radically” honest, I would try to figure out a way to make my point without making matters worse or destroying a relationship.

Have you ever broken anything? What about rules?

I’ve broken traffic laws (mostly by driving faster than the posted speed limit). I once went through the express (15 items or less) line at the grocery store with 16 items. I also have a tendency to break arcane grammatical rules, like never start a sentence with a conjunction or end one with a preposition.

Are you also afraid of spiders? What is your biggest fear, other than spiders? (If you’re not afraid of spiders, use your biggest phobia instead.)

I am not afraid of spiders, but I’m not a fan of spiders, either. As to a phobia, which is defined as an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something, I don’t have a true phobia. That’s not to say I’m fearless. It’s just that my fears are neither extreme or irrational.

Do you think time goes faster as you get older?

Definitely. When I was a kid, time traveled at a snail’s pace, but now, my god, it whizzes by. Take 2021, for example. That year lasted for the blink of an eye.

Please share something that really inspired you from this last week or month.

I think what inspires me the most are those of you who read my blog, who respond to my prompts, who create your own prompts that inspire others, and who share your worlds with the rest of us.

10,000 Comments

Fandango18 Comments

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I saw today that my posts have received more than 10,000 comments. 10,013 as I write this.

It’s rewarding to know that there are people out there who were inspired enough by what I’ve posted that I would accumulate 10,000 comments, even if more than half were my own comments responding to other people’s comments, and some were simply smiley face emojis.

What is interesting, though, is that my most commented upon post, Surrounded by Assassins, is not my most viewed post, which is  Manscaping. And these posts were published last July and August, when my blog was still in its infancy.

So, to all of you out there in the blogosphere who have taken the time to read and comment on my posts, thank you very much. You have made my day.