Auteur : Marie Alice

It wasn’t planned at all.

Maybe it was in the air for a while and I ignored it.

In the middle of a pretty happy morning, I left my laptop on the kitchen table, where I find myself working these days, and went straight to hubby-to-be’s office.

There I declared I was done working freelance. He said ok.

I think he knew before I did.

Why Quitting the Work-from-Home Dream?

See.

Years of trying.

Trying, again and again.

Only to fail, again and again.

At some point, you have to be gracious enough toward yourself to simply wrap it up…

… and move on.

Done fighting with guilty feelings. I’m done. Time to put an end to the devouring financial stress.

Maybe I didn’t plan well enough. Maybe my timing was just wrong. Maybe I’m not a businesswoman.

(Oh wait, I know I’m NOT a business gal!)

Anyway. There. Done.

Is it just me or is there more air in the world right now?

How to Keep Up?

New day job, new writing schedule. I know.

Indeed, I wrote a post about adjusting to a new writing schedule… hum, it was literally yesterday for me.

How fast our world can change. In my case, as fast as it takes to lock eyes with yet another « sorry but we’ve decided to go in another direction » email.

My main concern soon became how I would keep up with my writing goals since I planned my writing time around my working freelance schedule.

Turns out, once I calmed down a bit, I realized I could have even more time to write.

As long as I choose the day job accordingly.

It means a near-stress-free day job.

No crazy deadlines – just the sound of those words makes me wanna dance!

In fact, no craziness whatsoever – what the heck, let’s crank up ABBA (don’t judge me).

Because, for me anyway, to keep up with those ambitious writing goals of mine, that’s what I have to do.

To keep up with my writing while working, I have to look for a day job that :

• gives me more peace of mind regarding the monthly payments
• is in a field I’m genuinely interested in,
• doesn’t consume my every waking (or sleeping) hour,
• keeps my energy level up
• is fun, easy going and motivating

I am willing to go on that path also because my main goal is not to make a 6 figures salary. It never was.

Don’t get me wrong, it would be great to have enough money so I could write and read all day, take care of the garden and go for very long hikes in the woods with my family.

However, I rather get an easy-going day job and earn less than many successful bloggers out there.

And have time to write, be with my family, to volunteer at my kiddo school.

At the end of the day, I will rather be happy than rich.

Peaceful Heart & Soul

To describe to you, fellow writer… the incredible feeling of peace, of calm that overcame my little heart and soul after the decision was made.

It felt like taking off a very heavy scuba.

I swear my whole body felt lighter.

With this newly acquired peace of mind of mine came an incredible feeling of freedom.

The freedom to write my stories, in my words, without worrying about the algorithms.

I really really like sharing writing tips and hacks and funny writing adventures with you, fellow writers.

Thanks for being here, thanks for reading. Until next time!

Dealing with the back-to-school new schedule

It looked like a tiny little star.

My kiddo’s heart. The first time I saw it, sitting most awkwardly in a medical chair which – I don’t know how – someone had successfully stuck in the smallest room of the fertility clinic.

A tiny star blinking fast.

It could have been a little shooting star, some hope just passing by.

Lucky us, the tiny little star stayed. And grew.

Today, my kid is starting kindergarten.

Of course, I was expecting the excitement, the mama tears.

But not the time-consuming aspect of getting ready to go to school.

Continuer la lecture de « Writing Adventures Day 3: Back-to-School »

How to stop oneself from writing too much (Do You Know?)

You know that feeling.

That fizzely fizzeling energy more so.

Every word is flowing, ready to go, ready to change the reader’s world.

One with the words, in front of that page. You’re at the right place, doing precisely what makes sense. What you’re meant to do in a way.

Write a story for the people of the world to enjoy.

As many people as possible (0f course).

Therefore, it’s tempting to keep going.

Just half-an-hour.

Or until 11pm.

Top.

Highway to Fail

It might sound harsh, but for your humble novelist here, pushing it even a little more than planned is THE way to fail my writing goals.

Especially the nearly unrealistic ones!

Since I burnout it all out, words and will to write, I’m on a self-care mission.

No matter my writing drive, when that clock hits 10 pm, or 9pm if the day job stuff has been stuffy-to-the-top like today, I have to stop.

Although it is hard as heck to tame that stubborn writer mind of mine!

Geez.

Only yesterday, I did the exact opposite of what I need to do – hear that brain, what I need to do – to keep the mojo up and running for a long, long while.

Will I never learn? Yes indeed, fellow writer. I will.

See, today went oh so well.

I don’t mean to brag or anything, it’s just such a wonderful feeling, I can’t help but share it with our whole writing community!

Anyhou.

8pm ding dang somewhere on an old pendulum clock (this a lovely, lovely English word, pendulum).

What’s with the pendulum clock now you may ask, dear fellow writer?

Because one was hanging on a wall in my grandparent’s house.
A little house sitting happily on the side of a very long Main street. We could see the horse pension from the kitchen window. My grandmother sat nearby on a comfy rocking chair.
Now that clock lives in my mother’s house, as a mere wall decoration.
The clock did mark every hour and half-hour. In the silence of the old days, without a radio or a tv, the pendulum clock voice must have been sort of comforting.
I wrote a bit about the grandparents of the main character today, maybe that’s why the souvenir came to visit the present.

Anyhou.

8pm came, and I stopped. Right in the middle of a sentence too.

Quite frustrating and rewarding at the same time.

All there’s left to do is relax, read a bit, and try not to think about the next sentence.
The next chapter.
The next everything!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!