Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen (but not forever!)

Hi Everyone,

It’s with a heavy heart that I announce that I will no longer be using this blog. I’m sad, of course; this was my first real attempt at blogging and it taught me a lot about finding a niche, consistency, and quality. Though I never had many visitors, it always brightened my day to see that somebody had liked one of my posts or followed my blog. I may not have had many supporters, but thank you to anyone who ever took the time to read what I had written. It encouraged me to keep writing and keep learning.

You may be asking why I’m giving up this blog. It’s not that it’s too much work or I hadn’t gotten the results I wanted; it’s that I’m starting a new blog! That’s right, a completely new one! A friend and I decided to start a blog that revolved around literature, girl power, and writing ( a few of our favorite things).  Check us out at The Inkhorn. It’s rather empty right now (we just started today) but give us a few days- we’ll get there eventually! I will be moving some of my writing posts over to that blog so we have some content, so you don’t need to worry about losing any of the resources on this blog (including my free writing printables!). I will be taking down any posts that I move, though so this blog may be a little empty from here on out.

Like I said, I’m sad to see this blog go. The Meandering Manuscript will always have a special place in my heart, but it’s time to move on to bigger and better things, right? Wish me luck on my newest blogging adventure and I hope you check it out!

Thank you!

Katie

Making a Short Film: Part 2

Hello Everyone!

I know it’s been a long time since my last post in this series, but life has caught up to me and slowed me down this summer. I’ve been experiencing a horrific bout of writer’s block, so tomorrow I’m planning on doing a mini-writing retreat to get me back in the game (more on that tomorrow). Anyways, this is the second part of my short film series and today I’ll be focusing mostly on preproduction. Hopefully, the hardest part of preproduction, actually writing and editing your script, will be over for you and you’ll be able to move on to preparing to film.

Tips for Starting a New Novel

Hello Everyone!

School just finished up a few days ago, so now I’m free for the summer!  Well, not really.  I’m working four days a week and have a lot of summer homework to do, but I’ll find time for writing somewhere in there.  Hopefully.

If you’ve read any of my last posts, you’ll know that I finished my previous novel.  It’s a structural mess, though, so I’ve been putting off the editing process.  And what do all writers do when they don’t want to edit?  They write more!  Or at least I do.

So, this post is for anyone, like me, who’s in the planning stages of writing a new novel.  Enjoy!

Mixed Berry Breakfast Bowl

 

I know that my tagline is ‘My Journey in the World of Writing.’ I also know that I haven’t actually written much about writing lately.  In fact, I haven’t written much at all as of late, but I’m slowly getting back into the groove, and if I want to write about food, I’m going to write about food, because food blogging is technically a venture into the world of writing.

Anyways…

I love smoothies.  The thought of throwing things into a blender and having it end up a liquid makes me giddy.  Mostly because I can sneak in an extra two servings of spinach without actually having to taste it, and I’m all for making healthy food not taste all that healthy.  When I heard that people were making bowls full of smoothie, naturally, I was excited.  It was a bowl full of smoothie.  How could I not be?  My excitement vanished when I started looking at recipes for said smoothie bowls, and discovered that most involved coconut flakes and mulberries.  Who has mulberries in their pantry?  I decided that, much like everything else I’ve ever done, I should just wing it and see what happens.  I’m proud to say that my winging it paid off, and I created a smoothie bowl, perhaps not as fancy or pretty as some of my food blogging counterparts, but likely just as tasty.

So, I’m here for all you who don’t have an upper middle class pantry, but still want to make a smoothie bowl.  I made enough smoothie for two, so keep that in mind as you read.

1. Start off with 1 1/2 cups of fruit.  I used 1 cup of mixed frozen berries, 5 large chunks of frozen mango, and a peeled small apple.  If you didn’t get the point, I’ll spell it out for you- you can put in whatever fruit you like, in whatever combination you like.
2. Add in 1 1/2 cups of a leafy green!  I used spinach, but kale would also work just fine, or forgo the vegetables if you so wish, but I highly suggest putting them in, especially if you’re not a huge vegetable fan, because you can’t even taste them.
3. I prefer my smoothie bowls to be a little thicker than a normal smoothie, so I added in 1 cup of Greek yogurt, but you could use a combination of banana, avocado, and regular yogurt as well.  I also added in some oats, but they are by no means necessary.
4. You need a liquid or else you will have smoothie sludge, and no one wants that.  I usually put in 1 cup of green tea, but you could use milk of any sort, or juice if you preferred.
5.  Once you’ve blended the smoothie and put it in a bowl, it’s time for my favorite part- the toppings!  I used chia seeds, almonds, cheerios, and strawberries, mostly because that’s what I had at the time, but you could use a number of different seeds, nuts and fruits depending on what you have.

Now I’m off to continue editing my novel.  I bought two great books on self editing (Revision and Self Editing by James Scott Bell and Self Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne) and have been studying.  I’m not looking forward to the editing process because I tend to lose confidence in everything I’ve written, but it must be done.  Have a nice week, and get writing!

Katie

 

On Finishing a Novel

Well, as of ten minutes ago, I just finished writing a novel.  How am I feeling right now?  A little empty.  A little sad.  A little worried that my ending sucks, but I’ll save that for editing.

I started this book nine months ago, after reading some random Wikipedia page about stone circles in Ireland.  It’s weird to think that Wikipedia was the cause of 100, 524 words and 3/4 of a year.

I never thought I was going to end this.  Just last week, I was cringing at writing the ending, grappling with who I should kill off, and wondering if I even liked this book anymore.  About three hours ago, I just sat down and said to myself, “I’m ending this.  Now.”  Sure, my ending’s a little abrupt, but at least it’s done.  And I have to say this is one of the strangest feelings in the world.  I feel accomplished, but at the same time I have another daunting task- editing.

This is a short post, but I just had to write something tonight.  I’ll (hopefully) keep you guys updating as I edit, but finals are coming up, so we’ll see how that goes.

 

Good night,

Katie