beaquinlan - Tumblr blog

beaquinlan · 4 months

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Actually used the lemon-yellow Freewrite this morning, so 2024 is off to an excellent start for me.

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beaquinlan · 5 months

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Apparently I have the same music taste as the average person in Bozeman, MT.

#spotify wrapped #bea irl #hilariously bozeman is where i'd planned to move next #but i've got work in indy so...#at least i guess i'm on the right track?

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beaquinlan · 6 months

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Sometimes just scribbling it out by hand is the only way to make it make sense.

For example, I set a goal this week to "figure out writer's plan for 2024." This year I bought a couple of Freewrites and they were expensive so what am I going to do to with them? I'm not rich enough to let $1200 sit around collecting dust. Also, don't tell anyone, but I turn 40 next year and this is not where I want to be in life when I confront the specter of my own mortality.

So I scribbled something out by hand and accidentally revealed that there are three things I want that I can identify, define, and effectively progress toward:

to give my kids comfortable stability

to excel at my job

to write

In the words of some famous toddler, "That's just three things."

Now my fingers are covered in ink because my dollar store fountain pen sprung a leak and the first page of my seven-year-old "too pretty to use" notebook is all smudged and bleeding. But who cares?

It makes sense.

#bea irl #writing is hard and figuring out what you want is hard and life is hard

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beaquinlan · 7 months

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Write in the beautiful notebook! Use the fancy pens! Drink the special coffee! Wear the expensive perfume!

#bea irl #reminders to self #i have so many pretty notebooks and this year I've done really well writing in them #but sometimes old habits rear their heads #and it's like 'oh can't write in that it's too pretty'#and i bought all these purple pens for valentine's day that are japanese so not easy to replace so i've been trying to ~save~ them #i bought them to use!#i bought all of this to use!

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beaquinlan · 7 months

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He's just so nice to look at...

#bea irl #i ordered this for myself for my birthday this year and i'm very much looking forward to it #he's just lovely and aesthetically those photos are <333

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beaquinlan · 7 months

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Queuing this for later as a reminder, but some days are just a struggle. I'll get halfway through the morning and realize that I've failed every task, and not even successfully. So I do three things to get myself back on track:

Abbreviated morning reset. I have a morning routine, and chances are I didn't follow it. So I follow it. A shower, fresh ice water, and if it's early enough or I feel like it, a fresh cup of coffee. Close all the browser tabs, maybe restart my computer, and try the whole thing again from almost the beginning. It's almost as good as going back to bed.

Fresh to-do list. Early this year I bought a digital notebook, which has drastically cut down on my paper waste. So I start a new page in the day's file and write out a fresh to-do list, usually including subtasks. It can get painfully detailed. But once it's done, I can just go down the list for the day without thinking, and that's the goal.

Let my brain wander, but stay physically in place. On days like this, my brain wants to do whatever it wants to do. Dwell, flit, twist, fly. Whatever. I have zero control over my thoughts. So it helps to let them wander, but remain physically where I am, in the middle of my task, and just wait. Fingers on the keyboard, work on the screen. My brain comes back, and I can go back to work.

I am incredibly fortunate in that I work entirely from home as a contractor, which means setting my own schedule. If I need a mid-morning break to reset, I can take it. This little list won't work for everyone, I know, but it helps me immensely.

#bea irl #this year i've put effort into working with whatever is wrong with me rather than fighting it tooth and nail #it has made my life a lot easier and I've gotten a lot more done with a lot less guilt #it's nice

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beaquinlan · 7 months

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One of the things I love about Canva is being able to play around with ideas. This week I tried phone wallpapers. The first one is my favorite, I think. I'm not cool enough for the last one.

#bea irl #i'm trying to figure stuff out #canva has been such a great tool for work

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beaquinlan · 7 months

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I borrowed this from the library a month ago and finished it fast because I needed to know what happened next in each sentence. It's weird and uncomfortable, but it has such a happy, unexpected ending. Be aware that it's gory; it's definitely a horror story. But 10/10 no notes.

#bea reads #lone women by victor lavalle #i'm so going to have to read some other work by him it was so good #it was so good i even mentioned it to my boss when he asked what i was reading #normally i just talk about whatever non-fiction I've read recently #but i was like 'it's weird and kind of unpleasant and i can't tell if the monster is real yet or just a metaphor but it's fantastic'

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beaquinlan · 7 months

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Re: naps in 2023. Oh boy I have taken SO MANY.

#bea irl #i was looking at my resolutions and realized I've put effort into keeping them this year #so it turns out perhaps setting reasonable goals actually works??#who knew?!

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beaquinlan · 7 months

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Back in March I bought myself a Freewrite Traveler and I love it so much that I pre-ordered the special yellow one to give myself for Christmas.

#bea writes #bea irl #i decided this year to take my own writing seriously #not seriously-seriously like don't get carried away #but to be more deliberate and intentional about it #and give myself tools that make it easier #i have such a problem with editing as i go #and the traveler has helped so much with that

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beaquinlan · 1 year

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Turning up the heat is like turning up the brightness or the volume on my phone. Oh, it's luxury we're after today, ok, cool.

#bea at home #it's been unseasonably warm lately but today it's going to SNOW and my fingers are cold

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beaquinlan · 1 year

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I'm using my professional editing tricks on myself today. I'm also reminding myself of really basic writing tips, like "act out what your characters are doing to make sure it physically makes sense" and "read your characters' dialogue aloud to make sure it doesn't sound weird."

#bea writes #it's like i've forgotten how to write goddamn

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beaquinlan · 1 year

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Soft-touch keyboards were made to save my fingers from angry typing.

#bea irl #there has been a lot of angry typing lately #i'm not a 'per my last email' person #i'm a 'thanks and could you also [the thing i asked for the first damn time]' person #but i'm about to be a 'per my last email' bitch if people don't learn to read

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beaquinlan · 1 year

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God, this is such bad writing. SO BAD.

#bea writes #it's SO BAD #i want to set it on fire #no one can ever read this

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