DahliaDW – Page 10 – Dahlia DeWinters

5 Ways of Self-Care for Writers

As an author, sitting is an unfortunate by-product of the profession. When I first began my writing career, I confess that I spent too much time at my desk, desperately typing, revising and editing, so much so that I ended up in the emergency room with a pinched nerve in my back. I’ve had three children and I have never experienced something so painful in my life. Even now, as I write about it, I cringe at the memory! Needless to say, after recovering from that ordeal, I made definite changes to my writing routine. By doing so, it has not only improved me physically, but also kicked up my mental processes, making writing that much easier. My muse is so much happier and she shows it by letting the ideas flow! There are five things that I worked into my writing routine that helped me improve the way I… Continued

Blogging, Tip Tuesdays, Tuesdays, Writing

Tip Tuesday – Make it Work with One Notebook

For those of you who’ve seen me flitting about on social media, especially Instagram, then you know how much I love my journals and notebooks. It is truly an affliction. I can’t resist the call of a beautiful looking journal, knowing I can fill its blank pages with my genius thoughts. Once I get the journal home, it’s another story. The pages are so pretty and pristine, I am reluctant to sully them with my less than important. So, I put the date on the journal and place it on the shelf. It still looks pretty, but it’s unused. What happens next? Well, I get into an organizing frenzy. Since I see so many journals on the shelf, I pick one for story ideas, one for daily to do lists and one for note taking. Since they’re so disparate, I do need the three journals, right? After about a week,

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Writers: Increase Productivity with these 3 Tools

Follow my blog with Bloglovin As a writer and a lover of technology, I find I like to try a lot of different things I think will increase my productivity. Sometimes I find a tool helpful, sometimes it simply pulls hours of frustration from my life with no real return. Right now, I want to share some of my best apps and tools which assist me in make a life as an author and as a mom a little easier. Writing often includes research, lots of it. From recipes to the right way to give CPR to trying to find out if a .357 Magnum would really blow your head “clean off” as Dirty Harry once told us, “writing” isn’t all about getting words on the page. In fact, it’s the research that helps us find our flow and get words on the page in the first place. I always

5 Favorites Friday, Blogging, Movies--Books--Music--Television, Music

5 Favorite Fun Christmas Songs

It’s getting closer! Our tree is up and I have most of the presents I need to give. Of course, I’ve got a ton of cooking to do, but, hey, I’ve got Saturday and Sunday. No cooking, except for the turkey, I think, will be done on Christmas. (Famous last words, right?) I wanted to take this time to wish everyone a happy holiday and a restful one, too. Having fun is part of the season, don’t let the mundane things drag you down. Oh, yes, my list of my fun Christmas songs. These are the songs that really pep me up – it’s not “officially” Christmas unless I can hear at least three out of these five songs. Let’s begin, shall we? If you missed my list of classic Christmas songs, do click here. 5. Santa Claus is Coming to Town – Bruce Springsteen I have to admit that

5 Favorites Friday, Blogging, Free For All Fridays

5 Favorite Classic Christmas Songs

Season’s Greetings! I enjoy Christmas. I love being with my family on the long stretch of holiday between Christmas and New Year’s. The cold, the snow, and the good food, (natch). It’s a wonderful time of year. The after-Christmas sales can’t be beat either. One of the things I like most about the season is music. As a self-proclaimed music geek, I’ve played in orchestras and sung in a few chorus and choirs in my time, and the best music was always the winter music. Right now, I’m going to invite you to participate in the spirit of the season and check out my five favorite classic Christmas songs. Little Drummer Boy – Version: The Harry Simeone Chorale The voices in this arrangement are so soft and lovely, how could anyone not be affected by this music, I don’t know. The message is so apt to Christmas too: “I am

Blogging, Real Talk Thursdays, Writing

For Writers Only: Coping with Criticism

Writing is not a profession for the faint of heart. Sure, you wrote a paragraph or two about how the end of The Walking Dead should have been, or an alternate version of Breaking Bad’s nursing home scene (I’m still sick sick sick over that) , but when you REALLY take the plunge, you’ll know. The Degraded Life of a Writer Let’s look at the downward spiral you will take. First, you have to complete a story, a task in and of itself. Many different endings will present themselves to you, if you’re lucky to get that far. Otherwise, you’ll dilly dally around the middle, adding in a character, or three, perhaps a death or some kind of natural disaster to get you through the classic “center of story” slump. Or, you’ll shilly shally around the beginning, crafting that perfect first word, sentence, paragraph, chapter, over and over again. Whatever

Author name: DahliaDW