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On the 15th of September (this past Sunday morning) I had to put my cat, Mowgli, down. He was sick and losing too much weight. He was 12 years old. I held him as he died.

I got him from the shelter when he was about 4. He had been there for almost 9 months.

No one wanted him.

I took Mowgli in. We bonded quickly. He was my writing buddy and best friend. I was his person. Everyone who met him always claimed we were well suited to each other.

He saw me through some rough times. I miss him.

Needless to say, I was (and still am to some extent) a mess.

Losing a beloved pet can feel like losing a family member, and the pain is very real.

The only way through the pain is forward.

Here are some thoughts and comforts that might help you through a difficult time:

1. Celebrate Their Life: Reflect on the joy your cat brought into your life. Think about the moments of happiness, the purrs, the playful times, and the comfort he provided. These memories are a testament to the love you shared.

2. Grie

This was a fun read.

A glimpse into the artist's life (writers, composers, painters, poets, sculptors, etc.) and how they go about their day creating (or NOT creating) their work.

I found it worhwhile to read about other writer's daily rituals, habits, and discipline.

It's comforting knowing there are others sharing similiar struggles.

How about you all?

What are YOUR writing rituals?

Did you know that novlr has a free option?!

Use the novlr writing platform for FREE and save up to 5 writing projects!

https://www.novlr.org/pricing

Hello Everyone.

So.

We're well into December and Christmas is upon us. It's my favroite time of year. But, alas, 2023 is closing out soon!

Let me ask you this : where are you with your writing goals and projects?

Somewhere? Nowhere? Why? What did you do all year?

Whether or not I had a member show up every Thursday at 7 PM EST for the live, un-recorded, Zoom writing session, my butt was in the seat writing.

I finished a 26K novella and started my second one.

Writing Buddy is discipline. You already are motivated to write or you wouldn't be a Meetup member of this group. However, motivation is NOT enough.

Discipline gets the work completed.

Yes, it took me the entire year.

Doesn't matter. I have a finished book.

I'll ask you again. Where are you with you OWN writing projects?

Join NOW. Writing Buddy is the Discipline you NEED.

It's August 28th! Summer 2023 is coming to a close. It flew by, didn't it?

The YEAR is coming to a close, too. Before we know it the Autumn/Winter Holidays will be upon us.

I'm working from home today and taking a writing break here on my lunch hour.

Have you reached you writing goals this year?

If not, why not?

Let Writing buddy assist. Sign up now! Try it out. You can cancel at anytime.

Hey Everyone.

It's been awhile since I've written here to you all. I plan on making the time to drop more essays and perhaps some blog posts here with more frequency.

I've been pondering the Latin "Memento Mori" which translates to "remember you must die" - A week ago I found out a friend of mine had died. He was only 33. Our mutuals friends are all shocked and saddened.

So much he will never accomplish or experience.

We're all going to die someday. On a gut level we know this. Yet we act as if we're not. It could be decades from now or it could be tomorrow.

We procrastinate, we delay, we convince ourselves we have time to do the things we want to do later. Hell, I do it myself at times!

In our cases, the time to do this 'thing', is writing.

If you've been thinking of starting your novel or short story or memior...stop thinking and start.

If you're in the middle of a writing project keep going!

Don't delay, don't stop!

Talk to you all soon.

Do you make up your story as you go or do you write up an outline?

My first novella was 'plotted' out chapter by chapter.

This was something I did after taking a Udemy class by Sean Platt of Smarter Artist almost a decade ago.

Each chapter had "story beats" which were essentially several paragraphs of explication of what I wanted each chapter to be.

For the most part, I followed this. Yes, there were some changes here and there as the characters and the unfolding story took me in different directions. This is okay. The story beats are just an outline to follow to keep the story flowing and within a reasonable length.

It gave me something to stay on track, really.

My latest action adventure detective novella is completely pants, chapter by chapter, every month.

It's been fun, for sure.

What do you do? Do you pants your stories or do you outline them?

What is your preferred platform to write?

I like to write with novlr.org - owned and operated by Kim and Thomas from England.

It’s a browser based writing interface to write and store your work.

It’s clean and well built ‘software’ for all your writing needs.

A few key features:

• Constant saving
• Works offline and online
• Focus mode
• 100% secure - never lose your words
• Access from any device
• Import from .txt .rtf .docx .odt
• Publish to ebook
• Sync to Google Drive
• Sync to Dropbox

In addition, you can create chapters and scenes. You can make notes, too.

For myself, I sync to Dropbox and have it set for once a week backups.

You can write online and offline.

When you’re offline, your work is saved in your browser cache until you get connected again.

Thus, you can log into your account from any device, from ANYWHERE in the world with an internet connection and a functioning browser.

It’s $100/year to ‘subscribe’ and to me it is totally worth the price.

Some of you may be saying, “But what about