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revenant-dumpster-fire · 3 years

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Blog Update

(Ignore if not interested, but I’m looking for input so... I would be happy if you wanted to add to the conversation.)

TL;DR:

Blog Update: I will catch up on asks ASAP, fiction writing is done for 5 weeks (yay!).

Blog Question: Should I take art requests during my free time (or just vibe)?

Blog Question: Should I take short writing requests during my free time (or just vibe)?

Fanfic Question: Is the name “The Lost Files” good for the miscellaneous chapters, or do you have a better idea for a name?

Fanfic Question: Tumblr sometimes cramps my writing style, do you all prefer reading on here or AO3 and why (if you don’t mind expanding upon that)?

Blog Updates:

All the writing stuff is updated, ready to go, and is queued up for the next five weeks. That means I can focus on other things for a while!

For the main chunk of the blog, I would like to do the following:

Get the sitting asks done ASAP with art (if possible)

Get back to making Revenant art because I need to get my mojo back

On this note, I would like to try taking art requests (as long as they’re not too complicated). I know my art isn’t the greatest possible thing in the world, but the more I practice the better I’ll get, and... I really want to get better.

Would officially opening art requests be a decent idea? Or is this a prime way to exhaust myself during my five weeks off my main project? I’m not exactly sure how many people would get in on it, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do in order to expand my horizons a bit. At the same time I wouldn’t want to drown myself in requests and feel guilty for being unable to complete them all in a timely manner.

Also I wanted to do short writing request too for fun, just Revenant stuff with more flexibility than my main project. Would anyone be interested in writing requests? I dunno I figured it could be fun and really help me brainstorm a bit.

Fanfic Updates:

Oh hey, so if you’re here you probably saw the most recent part was posted. That’s the second to last chapter, and after that I have three more lost chapters lined up, meaning every Wednesday for the next five weeks [including this week] (bar me getting hit by a bus) I will have something to post. Yay!

Also, Just a Volunteer (Book #1) has been completely proofread, fixed, updated, and the final version is available on AO3 with all edits/fixes! Yay!

So... that wraps up the first book. It ends with lots of questions, pretty open ended, but it would be wrapped up enough that if someone wanted to find a break to read something else, it’s a good place to break.

After that’s done, the “The Lost Files” as I’m calling it (for now, may change the name to be more fun than that, feel free to leave suggestions) will drop one at a time. These differ from the main story in multiple ways:

They focus on different/new characters I’m adding to the fray

They are not in 2nd person POV (you/your)

They are in 3rd person POV (he/her/they)

They mostly avoid the Reader or Y/N character and focus on events she could not or did not see

They fill in the gaps and set up the insanity I want to write for book #2

I am not shooting for a 10K word per chapter ideal, it’s just however long it is.

I am very excited for these because I really just had fun with them. To give you an idea of what’s coming up:

Character piece and setting up an “oh fuck” moment for later

R e v e n a n t

An “oh fuck” moment

There will be more than those, but for now those are all written already.

As for Book #2, I am feeling like migrating completely over to AO3 for posting it (obviously including links on Tumblr as well)... I wanted people’s opinion:

Is there any reason you prefer to read on Tumblr rather than AO3?

You may wonder why I’d want to migrate off of Tumblr. On my side, it’s limiting to have to constrain myself to 250 paragraphs and messes with my formatting at times. I have also had people point out that the mobile app crashes and makes them lose their place or lose my blog entirely (if they hadn’t followed it), so... ack. Should I keep trying to post to Tumblr? Or if it exceeds 250 paragraphs just post a link?

But yeah, also if you didn’t read above, I’m considering doing short form writing requests. I’m guessing my fic readers would be the most interested in that, so what do you all think of that?

#q&a schedule #q&a #q&a fanfic

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goodshipsherlollipop · 4 years

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Self-interview (but not really)

When I heard about @sherlollyappreciationweek hosting a self-interview event, I thought it would be fun to participate, so people could get to know me better as an author. But, instead of doing a self-interview, I approached some of my readers and asked them to pose questions for me to answer.

I’m not aiming at making this about me personally. It’s all about me as an author. If you want to know about who I really am outside of my writing, feel free to chat with me privately.

The name of the person asking the questions will precede each section. As this interview is rather long, I will do it in two parts.

MossRose10

Q: What personal experiences or skills (in broad strokes), besides your faith, have influenced what you write about for your characters?

A: I know I see Molly differently than most people, in a more wholesome way. When I look at her character on the show, she doesn't seem the type to have a long sexual history, but instead, seems to be someone who has devoted her life to becoming the best pathologist she can be. I adore her character, and to be honest, I put a lot of my own traits into her - including her love of singing and faith. My post TFP Sherlock has had his true nature restored by the events of Sherrinford. Thus, he is emotionally stable and able to love Molly deeply. I can write him that way because I happen to have a romantic, loving husband (lucky me!). A lot of times in my married stories, I draw on experiences I've had that I have fictionalized for the characters. I usually refer to these in author’s notes. I also love writing about their children, and put a lot of thought and personal experience into writing for them from watching my own daughters grow.

As for the other characters, I just write them the way I feel reflects their personalities best from what I’ve observed in the show, working on fleshing out their characters more as I’ve continued 3 years worth of storyline beyond TFP. For example, my version of Mycroft has mellowed a lot and married Lady Smallwodd, and John has also become a Christian and is remarried with a son.

Q: What kinds of characters do you find most challenging to write, and what strategies do you use to write them?

A: I don’t think I necessarily have a lot of issues in writing the canon characters because I have watched the show so many times I feel I know them personally. Probably the most challenging thing is writing for OC’s or peripheral characters I may have brought into a story that we haven't seen a lot of (like Billy Wiggins or Philip Anderson). I must admit, I have written very little about Moriarty, because most of my stories take place after his death.

dmollyc

Q: What character is hardest to write?

A: I kind of addressed this one in the above answer, but I do think I'd find it difficult to write for Moriarty because I'm not sure how well I could get into the psyche of a deranged madman!

Q: Do you get any nasty reviews?

A: Thankfully, not many. Most of the negative ones are people reacting to a story out of context. They will read a story in the middle of my chronological timeline and then complain that the characters are OOC. When I write my continuing stories, I assume that people are familiar with the characters as I’ve written them already, so this can cause confusion.

Because of the Christian themes, I have lost readers who object to the theology I present through my characters. Obviously, I will not please everybody.

But generally speaking, people are very kind about my work when they review it, and I especially love the reviewers who immerse themselves into my world of Sherlock and Molly and embrace my post-TFP version of them.

Q: What do you like best about your stories?

A: Probably what I like best is that I've found a unique niche in the fandom in creating a whole Christian theme, and writing a lot of different stories with the same theme. I've not seen anyone else doing that (although I'd love to see it done by others).

I enjoy writing my own continuing post-TFP happy ending for Sherlock and Molly, expanding their universe and that of the other characters from Sherlock as well.

Also, I enjoy showing Molly as someone with a belief in saving herself for marriage. It's not going to be a popular idea for the general population, but I know many Christians can relate to that desire to keep sex for that special someone rather than experimenting with every boyfriend they date.

I also think I do a pretty good job in writing love scenes that are steamy, but still clean, although I’m aware that some readers are more sensitive who find them too steamy. I write using my own inner guide for how far to take things in the bedroom. Some stories are definitely steamier than others, but there are certain graphic terms I will never use in my writing because I feel they cross the line of my own comfort zone.

Chelseamh98

Q: How have you overcome the challenges of your vision impairment?

A: This is definitely an ongoing process for me. When I began writing, my proofreading would just consist of looking over the chapter a couple times to try to errors. I have issues when typing on my iPad because of the flat keyboard surface. That means I often type a word incorrectly. To help compensate for that, I have hundreds of words in my “text replacement” section, so that certain words I often mis-type automatically correct to the right word. I have a bad tendency to hit the M instead of N or vice versa, for example. A few months after I began publishing, someone suggested I use a text-to-speech app to help me identify incorrectly spelled words. That did help. I copy a chapter into the text-to-speech app and watch my chapter in a split screen as I listen to the words. That has been a big help. Then, this year, I discovered a free website called prowritingaid, which I now use as another editing tool, and it identifies even more spelling and grammar errors. So now I find myself writing, proofreading as I go along several times as I write. When the chapter is finished and I am ready to publish, I do another visual read. Then I use the prowritingaid site as another editing step. After that, I use the text-to-speech app and listen as I read. Finally, I copy the whole thing into Google Docs, add italics and bold type and glance through the chapter again to see if Google Docs has discovered any more errors. It's a very long process, believe me, and it takes so much longer to do the editing and proofreading than to write! For me, the writing part is easy!

Q: Does it (visual impairment) affect the way you write?

A: Physically, yes. I cannot use a computer, because I need to be inches away from the screen to see what I am doing. Sometimes I will sit at a table and write, but usually, I put three cushions on my lap and sit my iPad on top. Over time, that method has caused me to have pretty severe tendonitis, but I have no other way to write, and it's worth the pain to keep writing! Currently, I am also dealing with frozen shoulder as part of the physical issues.

Also, I have to enlarge my text to write. I use the Colored Note app for my chapters, set to the maximum size of 36, and when I go into Google Docs, I set the size to 25 so I can read it.

Q: What part about writing do you find the most challenging? What’s the easiest?

A: As I mentioned above, the most difficult part is definitely the editing/proofreading process because I have to work so much harder than a normally sighted person, and it takes up a huge chunk of time.

Also, I am very particular in trying to write realistic fiction whenever possible. That means a ton of research. For example, in my story where Molly was shot, Confronting Evil and the Truth, I researched a lot about gunshot wounds and how to care for them. In A Honeymoon Journey, my characters went to Stratford-upon-Avon, and I researched that location thoroughly for many of the chapters. In my latest COVID-19 series, I have followed the pandemic closely in the UK and have added many real situations that have happened there. Research, research, research!

The easiest part is definitely writing the story itself, especially dialogue. I can hear the characters in my head telling me what to write. I rarely suffer from writer’s block, unless I am trying to think about how to write a mystery or crime and how to resolve it.

Aslan's Princess

Q: Where do you find inspiration? Is it something specific? Or multiple things?

A: I find inspiration mainly in two areas. First, from watching episodes over and over and analyzing them. Second, I also find inspiration in my own life, in bringing in real experiences I am familiar with (such as pregnancy and childbirth). Occasionally I will read a story or a review where someone tells me something that sparks my imagination. My current WIP, The Good Book, was actually inspired by a gif-set one of my readers, Penelope Chestnut showed me. It got me wondering what would happen if Sherlock suddenly discovered the Bible (shown in TBB) in his bookcase and decided he wanted some answers about the meaning of life.

Justwritebritt

Q: What drives you to keep writing?

A: Certainly, one of the most motivating factors is hearing from readers who enjoy my work. Readers generally have no clue what kind of power they possess when it comes to encouraging a writer to keep going. A pat on the back is always a good thing. I wish more people could understand that.

Aside from that, though, I feel a calling from God to keep writing. I like sharing my faith through Molly (and Sherlock). My hope is that people will find my stories inspiring and encouraging.

Q: What/Who can you absolutely not write without?

A: I cannot write without my iPad. I use it not only to write, but to research and to watch Sherlock on Netflix. it's my all-in-one resource!

Q: What is your favorite story you've published so far?

A: I will always love A Journey to Love, Faith and Marriage, because it is the “mothership” from which all my other stories spring, but my writing technique was not great at the beginning; there’s an obvious improvement in later chapters. But, I am also very fond of Sherlock’s Dream of What Might Have Been. That one tells a story of Sherlock and Molly meeting in uni, and then jumps to the canon, inserting a secret relationship (and child) throughout the series canon. I put a lot of thought into filling in Season 4 backstory as well.

Q: What (in vague terms) story are you looking forward to telling next?

A: I have a few stories in the pipeline that I am looking forward to sharing. One that steps away from the overt Christian themes is a Pretty Woman AU. I haven't seen anyone attempt an AU for that movie, and I look forward to sharing it. Perhaps it will spark interest with a few more readers because it isn't heavily weighted on the Christian theme scale, but is merely one of my more whimsical, creative story ideas. It is the first story I have written that combines elements from both a movie and the Sherlock narrative.

I also have a couple of one-shots that I will publish in the timeline of my WIP Journey to a New Home, one,that deals with the topic of divorce using a Biblical perspective, plus one that sheds light on the subject of depression.

End of Padt 1.

#sherlollyappreciationweek #sherlollyselfinterview20 #interviews20

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thecassadilla · 4 years

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Serendipity

Word Count: 3,427/AO3

Pairing: Kristanna

Summary: Apparently, the best way to meet someone during a global pandemic is for their groceries to be delivered to the wrong address. Or, how Anna and Kristoff meet for the first time during a time of social distancing.

Authors Note: Honestly don’t know how I managed to write this if I’m being honest...but it’s inspired by true events. Over the course of the past few weeks, the wrong groceries/food orders have been delivered to my apartment repeatedly and it usually just causes chaos between my roommates and I as we try to figure out where they belong. This also has the possibility of being expanded upon. I hope you like it!

Ser·en·dip·i·ty (noun) - the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

“So, how are you liking living in Florida so far?” Anna asked as she plopped onto the couch beside her sister.

“I like spending time with you,” Elsa replied, skirting around the actual question.

Anna rolled her eyes. “You know that isn’t what I asked you.”

“Well��” she started, then paused. “It just seems so unnatural that it’s 93 degrees in March.”

Anna couldn’t help but laugh. “Just think of Australia - their summer is our winter and our summer is their winter, so it’s not that unnatural for it to be hot this time of year.”

“Yes, but your logic is flawed - if I recall correctly, Florida is hot for almost the entire year,” Elsa smirked. “I just prefer cold weather.”

“I don’t! No shoveling, sunny days -

“Hurricanes.”

“You know as well as I do that there are hurricanes up north, too,” she responded with a glare.

Elsa shrugged, conceding. “I suppose you’re right.”

“I wish we weren’t quarantined. It’s Saturday, we could be at the beach. Or Disney World,” Anna pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Better to be safe than sorry.”

“I know, I know. It’s not a bad thing to be stuck inside, but - ”

She was cut off by the doorbell ringing.

“Were you expecting company?” Elsa asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

“No,” Anna replied, sliding off the couch and maneuvering around the coffee table to get to the front door. “Social distancing, remember?”

Upon reaching the front door, she closed one eye and looked through the peephole.

“No one’s there,” she remarked with a shrug. She unlocked the door, a blast of heat hitting her in the face, and lo and behold, a few bags of groceries sat on the floor in front of her door. “Oh crap, there are groceries here.”

Elsa quickly stood up and joined her at the door. “What do you mean? You didn’t order anything?”

“No,” she shook her head. “I bet they got delivered to the wrong apartment.”

She crouched down to look for a receipt or some kind of information about who the groceries actually belonged to.

“Don’t touch anything!” Elsa exclaimed.

“It’ll be fine, Elsa. I’ll wash my hands. I just need to find out who these belong to,” she said, as she started to dig through the bags. Unfortunately for her, there was no receipt.

“What do we do?”

“I have no idea,” Anna shrugged. “I could take a walk around the area and see if someone is looking for groceries.”

“That’s a horrible idea - we should be staying inside. And you can’t just ask strangers if they’re missing groceries, anyone would jump at the opportunity for free stuff.”

“Well we can’t just let it sit out here, some of this stuff is supposed to stay frozen.” She stood up and hopped over the bags. “I’ll be right back; just wait here and see if someone comes looking for them.”

She didn’t wait for Elsa to respond, and instead made her way down to the bottom floor of her building. No one was there, so she stepped outside the protection of the breezeway and into the bright sunlight. No one was on the sidewalk in the area around her building, and she wasn’t sure if it was a bright idea to start looking in the other nearby buildings. So, she turned around and went back under the cover of the building. She went up to the second floor, and didn’t see anybody around there either. As she walked through the breezeway, glancing at the other apartments, she swore she heard a door close and footsteps. She raced up to the third floor, again seeing no one, and then finally reached the top floor, where she lived. A man was waiting near her door, staring at the bags that were sitting on the doormat in front of her apartment.

“Hey,” she panted, wiping sweat off her brow. “Are those your groceries?”

“I think so,” he smiled.

“Sorry, I’m a little winded from running around,” she explained, placing her hands on her knees and attempting to catch her breath. “I told my sister to wait for someone to come by while I went looking, but I guess she got too hot. I’m glad you found them, though.”

“Thanks for not stealing them,” he responded, gathering the bags in his hands.

“Anytime,” she said, waving a hand, unable to actually get a good look at him. As soon as he turned away and headed down the stairs, she re-entered her apartment.

“Did you -” Elsa started, but Anna cut her off.

“Yes, yes,” she answered, still breathing heavily. “The guy was waiting outside our door.”

“Sorry, I got too warm just standing there with the door open.”

Anna wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “How do you think I feel? I just ran around the entire building - and because there are no doors or windows, it’s practically outside and it’s hot.”

“Your face is really red,” Elsa pointed out.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Anna remarked with an eye roll. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go take a shower.”

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A few days later, Anna would find herself in a similar predicament. Wanting to avoid leaving her apartment, she decided to order groceries to her apartment.

“I’m going to take a nap,” Elsa announced, closing her laptop and standing up.

“Okay, if you hear the doorbell ring, just ignore it. It’s just the groceries I ordered,” Anna explained. Elsa nodded and retreated to her temporary bedroom.

She put on the television while she waited, hoping to kill a little time. A short while later, she received a notification that her groceries had been delivered - but no one rang the doorbell or even bothered to knock on the door. Confused, she stood up and walked to the door. Sure enough, upon opening it, she discovered that her groceries hadn't been delivered - to her, at least. They were definitely delivered to someone, though; the person who delivered them had uploaded a picture to the app, but it was incredibly unhelpful as she couldn't tell where exactly the groceries were. She suddenly felt frustrated, and quickly closed the door, ready to contact support from the website she ordered the groceries from. Before she could find their phone number, she swore she heard footsteps and opened the door again.

It was the man from a few days ago, carrying several bags of groceries. “Oh, uh, sorry. I think these are yours?”

“Did they get delivered to your apartment?” She wondered aloud. She was finally able to get a good look at him, unlike the other day, and jeez louise, was he attractive. Sandy blond hair, golden brown eyes, and the lightest dusting of freckles across his pale nose. He also had to be at least a foot taller than her, too, and she nearly found herself drooling over how good-looking he was.

“Yeah, I ordered groceries too and thought it was weird when they got delivered earlier than they were supposed to - but there aren’t any ladies living in my apartment and I quickly realized they weren’t mine,” he remarked with a slight blush, placing the bags at her feet.

Her own face turned red at the thought of her handsome neighbor discovering a box of tampons in what he thought were his groceries. “Well thank you for bringing them to me; I was just about to try and figure out where they were.”

“I think they’re getting the apartment numbers mixed up,” he concluded, pointing to the small plaque on the wall next to her door. “You’re in 403, and I’m right downstairs in 304.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” she agreed. “Thank you again, I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” he smiled, mimicking her sentiment from the other day.

She smiled to herself and watched as he turned away and headed down the stairs, sneaking a single glance at her over his shoulder just as he moved out of her line of sight.

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Nearly a month went by without another incident, but Anna secretly found herself wishing and hoping that there would be another mix-up and she’d have the opportunity to see her incredibly handsome neighbor again. She couldn’t believe that she’d lived in the building for nearly a year and had only just laid eyes upon the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen - during a time of quarantine and social distancing, nonetheless.

She also worried that she was being a little ridiculous about the whole situation; she’d only met the guy twice and they didn’t talk for long either time. But damn, she’d be lying if she said she didn’t dream about running her hands up and down his broad chest, or running her fingers through his hair. And then she’d remind herself that she didn’t even know his name, or anything about him, and, God, as awful as a global pandemic was, she really hated that she had so much free time to dwell on her thoughts. She wished that her roommates had stuck around so she’d have someone to gossip about her feelings with - it was too awkward to talk about with her sister.

The sisters had settled into a routine to avoid driving each other insane; they’d focus on their work during the day, or relax if it was the weekend, in the privacy of their own rooms, and at night they’d convene for a few hours to cook dinner or watch a movie together. It was business as usual for them on a Friday night in late April; sitting on the couch and having a drink, ready to spend a few hours together.

Anna looked down at the wine she was sipping and sighed. “I miss cocktails.”

“You can make those at home, you know,” Elsa pointed out.

“I know, but I miss going to a bar and getting a cocktail. I guess I’m starting to really miss the outside world.”

Elsa nodded. “I agree, and I never thought I’d miss leaving the house; I’m such a homebody.”

“I just wish this whole thing wasn’t happening,” she declared, shaking her head. “Anyway, what should we put on?”

They spent the next few minutes searching through titles on Netflix and finally agreed on something to watch. About fifteen minutes into the movie, a knock sounded out in the apartment.

“Did you hear that?” Elsa whispered, her eyes wide with panic.

“I think it was the front door,” Anna answered, placing her wine glass on the coffee table and standing up. She walked over to the front door and glanced out the peephole. “There’s no one there.”

“Here we go again,” Elsa groaned.

Anna swung open the door, and sure enough, a meal that they didn’t order had been delivered to their apartment. Her heart leapt with excitement, and she crouched down to get a better look at what had been delivered. She glanced at the receipt stapled to the bag and immediately became confused.

“Elsa, can you come read this?”

Elsa joined her in the doorway and glanced down at the receipt. “What am I missing?”

“This receipt has our apartment number on it. Look, it says 403, right?”

Elsa squinted at the tiny sheet of paper. “I suppose it does. That’s strange. Maybe we should call the company that delivered it? I’m sure someone is awfully disappointed that their food hasn’t arrived.”

“I bet it was supposed to go to that guy downstairs,” she said, grabbing the bag in her hand and standing up. “I can bring it to him.”

“Anna, you don’t even know that it belongs to him!”

“Well, I’m about to find out,” she retorted confidently, turning on her heel and walking towards the stairs.

“You’re not even wearing shoes!” Elsa called after her, stepping into the breezeway.

“I have slippers on!” She yelled back, already halfway down the staircase. She heard her door close and grinned, as it meant that Elsa had given up. When she reached the third floor, she cautiously approached the apartment, and decided it would probably be better to place the food down in front of the door so she wouldn’t have to hand it directly to him. She did so, rang the doorbell and then took a few steps back. A moment later, the door opened.

“Hey,” he smiled, leaning against the door frame. “What’s up?”

“I think your food got delivered to my apartment,” she said, motioning to the bag she’d placed on the welcome mat.

He glanced down and frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t think this is ours.”

Her face fell at the revelation. “Oh, I thought -”

Just then, a shorter man with dark hair appeared in the doorway. “Cool, our food is here.”

“You ordered food and didn’t say anything?”

“Yeah, it was supposed to be a surprise,” he answered, bending down to scoop up the bag. As he turned back into the apartment, he patted his friend on the arm. “Happy birthday, man.”

The taller man groaned and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

“Happy birthday!” Anna exclaimed excitedly.

“Thank you,” he blushed. “And thanks for bringing the food down here.”

“Of course!” She smiled. “And just a heads up, your friend accidentally put my apartment down on the order, so that’s why it was delivered to me instead of you.”

He blushed even harder and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “Sorry about that, he’s an idiot.”

“I can hear you!” Called a voice from inside the apartment and Anna couldn’t help but giggle.

“Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your birthday,” she offered. “And I’m really sorry that you can’t go out and celebrate.”

“It’s all good, I probably would’ve been doing the same thing, honestly,” he shrugged.

“I’ll be really bummed if I have to celebrate my birthday in my apartment, and it's not even for another two months,” she stated, but decided to clarify. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ll stay where I’m supposed to until it’s safe, but like, I’ll still be upset.”

He nodded in agreement. “Hopefully life will be different by then.”

“I really hope so,” she sighed. “Anyway, your food is probably getting cold, so I’ll stop talking so you can go eat.”

“Oh, okay,” he said, sounding slightly disappointed. “Thanks again.”

She gave him a small smile. “Anytime,” she promised, forcing herself to turn away and start heading up the stairs.

“Hey,” he called out before she could reach the second step. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Anna,” she answered, turning back to face him.

“I’m Kristoff,” he grinned sheepishly. “Nice to formally meet you.”

“Third times the charm,” she joked. “I’d shake your hand, but y’know, germs.”

“Pity,” he mumbled.

“I mean, we totally could - if you wanted to - and I could just go wash my hands, but that would be bad social distancing, right? I haven’t come in contact with anybody who was sick, I think, so you wouldn’t have to worry about catching it from me; my sister and I haven’t even left the apartment in a month. But then again, I could be one of those people who got it but never had any symptoms, so maybe it would be a bad idea after all,” she spoke quickly, and when he chuckled in response, she blushed. “Sorry, I ramble a lot.”

“Don’t be sorry - it was actually really adorable,” he smirked. “I, personally, don’t care either way. It’s just my roommate and I here, and neither of us has left in a while, but a handshake would definitely be considered bad social distancing.”

Her heart fluttered a little when he called her rambling adorable; everyone else thought it was annoying. “No one would know but us, but I think it would be, like, morally wrong? If that makes sense.”

“I never would’ve thought I’d be having such a difficult conversation about a handshake,” he laughed.

There was a moment where neither of them spoke, until a brilliant idea popped into Anna’s mind. “How about a compromise?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”

“How about I give you my phone number so we can stay in touch until it’s socially acceptable to shake hands again?”

The corners of his mouth turned up. “Yeah. That would be great.”

She recited her number and he promptly typed it into his phone. “You’ll have to text me so I can get your number because I left my phone upstairs.”

“Easy enough,” he vowed.

“Now, I could stand out here and talk all day, but your dinner is definitely cold and my sister is probably having a conniption fit, so I should probably go now. But you can text me whenever, okay?”

He chuckled. “Okay,” he agreed with a nod.

“And try to enjoy the rest of your birthday,” she commanded.

“Thank you.”

She smiled one last time before finally turning around and jogging up the rest of the steps. She was absolutely giddy but was going to attempt to hide the fact that she wanted to jump up and down from excitement from her sister.

Elsa turned to look at her as soon as she opened the door, like a parent who had just caught their child sneaking in later than expected. “What took you so long?”

“We were just talking,” she answered coolly, locking the door behind her.

“Anna! That’s so dangerous!”

She walked around the coffee table, ignoring Elsa’s glare, and settled back into her spot on the couch. “It’s fine, I kept a safe distance.”

Elsa shook her head. “I hope we don’t get sick now. That was so reckless.”

“It’ll be fine,” she said, brushing her off and eagerly grabbing her phone to check for any new messages. When she saw that she had one, she smiled to herself. “It’ll all be fine.”

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“Hey, Ryder, where did you put the food?” Kristoff asked as he made his way back into the apartment, sliding his phone into his pocket, adrenaline coursing through his veins.

He popped his head out of his bedroom door. “Yours is in the fridge, I already ate mine.”

“You seriously couldn’t wait for me?”

“I didn’t know how long you were going to stand there and awkwardly flirt with that girl, so no.”

“You’re incredible,” Kristoff grumbled.

“What? I still got you food!”

“Yeah, thanks for that. But I thought you ordered the food so we could eat together for my birthday.”

“Ohhhhh,” he chuckled. “No, you misunderstood.”

Kristoff shook his head. “I’m confused.”

“Your birthday gift was that I sent the food upstairs instead of directly to us. The food is just a bonus.”

“You put the wrong apartment number intentionally?” He asked incredulously.

“Duh,” Ryder remarked, rolling his eyes.

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I got tired of hearing about the girl upstairs. ‘The girl upstairs is so pretty.’ ‘The girl upstairs this, the girl upstairs that,’” he said, in a tone mocking Kristoff’s voice. “You haven’t shut up about her since the first time you saw her, even though you literally said she was all sweaty and gross from running around outside. Like, I get it; you like her. But I’ve been hearing it for a month now - tell her that, not me.”

“First of all, I never said she was gross -”

Ryder cut him off. “It’s hotter than Satan's asshole out there; she was definitely gross.”

“Second, read the room, dude! There’s a fucking pandemic going on, you can’t just jeopardize people’s health like that,” he snapped, then softened his voice before continuing. “Maybe I could’ve talked to her when all this stuff is over.”

“I know you, man. You wouldn’t have done anything; you would’ve been all ‘oh I don’t want to bother her, she probably has a boyfriend’ and would’ve carried on being miserable or something.” Ryder rolled his eyes. “And if you weren’t going to make a move, then I was going to do it for you. Did you get her number this time?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “In fact, I already texted her.”

“See! My master plan worked. Now you can talk to the pretty girl instead of just daydreaming about her all day.”

“You’re a conniving bastard, you know that?” Kristoff joked, giving him a playful shove.

Ryder gave him a huge grin. “Yeah, but you know you love me! Now go eat your dinner and text your pretty friend.”

Kristoff couldn’t help but smile to himself. What had started as a minor inconvenience had developed into something great - something serendipitous.

#kristanna #kristanna fanfic #anna #kristoff bjorgman #elsa #frozen #frozen fic #ryder #don't ask me how i managed to write something else #also I've been on tumblr for 5 years and i still hardly know how to use it #also can we talk about how cute they are #pondering the morality of a handshake and whatnot #stupid virus

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didimentionthatimawriter · 6 years

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Finding Inspiration

Have you ever had writer’s block? It’s one of the most annoying and discouraging things that can happen when you’re trying to write. You want to sit down at a computer or notebook and write a novel or short story or poem or whatever. But when you sit down, there’s something about those blank pages and that blinking cursor that feels almost…intimidating. And just like that, you realize that nothing’s coming to you and you don’t even know where to begin.It can be a scary feeling, especially since you already know what you need. You need a spark to get this fire going. You need inspiration. But where is it?

A lot of professional writers say not to be discouraged when ideas don’t flow to you all the time, (some even say that writer’s block doesn’t exist, because it’s never impossible to write). Most of the time inspiration isn’t something that you can just pull out of your pocket whenever it’s convenient. It’s more like something you stumble upon. No, actually it’s more like a lightning bolt that strikes you with no warning. It’s impossible to know when it will come, but when it does, you know it. It’s usually pretty easy to tell what triggered it, though, so you may be able to use that to make it come back. A few examples would be something your friend says to you, the mood of a song you’re listening to, or even the weather.

I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve been stuck on a story or needed a fresh idea, but over the years I’ve been able to pick out a few things that help me get some ideas pretty regularly. Today, I’m going to share them with you in the hopes that these things can help you when you get stuck.

1) Don’t Beat Yourself Up.

Like I said, all professional writers, (and artists in general), go through this. It will pass, so there’s no need to worry about it. It doesn’t make you a bad writer. Until it does pass, you can try some of the following things to get the creative juices flowing again.

2) Read.

This bit of advice is going to pop up in pretty much everything that offers advice to writers. Does that make it redundant for me to put it on this list? Maybe, but it’s so useful I can’t avoid it. Reading is simply the best thing you can do to make yourself a better writer. It’s great for expanding vocabulary, broadening thinking, exploring ideas, and yes, finding inspiration. Read the things you love and write about why you love them. Read the things you hate and write about why you hate them. Revisit stories from your childhood. Do some research on a topic you find interesting. Read news articles about what’s happening in the world. Even reading those annoying ads on websites can spark some inspiration for you. Read as much as you can, whenever you can.

3) Listen to Music.

Music is one of the biggest things that gives me ideas for stories. I have a whole playlist on Spotify dedicated to songs that have given me ideas or made me feel a certain way that I listen to over and over again so those ideas stay fresh in my mind. So try listening to some of your favorite songs to see if they will give you ideas for plots, characters, settings, or all of the above. Or, try exploring places like Spotify, YouTube, Soundcloud, or whatever platform you listen to music on to find new songs. Some platforms even have playlists created by other writers and artists full of inspiring songs. Music is great, especially if paired with my next bit of advice:

4) Go for a Walk.

Walking is another great thing for you to do when you’re in a creative slump, mostly because it gives you time to think. You can let your mind wander as you explore your surroundings. This also helps you become more aware of the world around you, which is essential to writers. Every passerby is a potential character, every building a potential setting. Everything has the potential to strike an idea, really. Just make sure you’re careful and aware of your surroundings while you’re walking.

5) Keep a Dream Journal.

This one is tricky, since not everyone has dreams that they remember when they wake up. It still does help to keep a little notebook by your bed, though, in case you do get a dream. Dreams are weird, complicated things that are really hard to understand, but if you try to describe it the best you can in a notebook while it’s still fresh on your mind, certain images can give you ideas for stories. Fun Fact: Frankenstein was inspired by a nightmare Mary Shelley had.

6) Keep Notes at the Ready.

This one is not so much about finding inspiration as it is about what to do when you find the inspiration. I always did this on my own, but I first saw it as advice when I was reading an interview with Neil Gaiman. He said keeping a small notebook on you at all times is good for those moments when you do get struck by that unexpected lightning bolt. You need to write down anything that comes to mind as soon as you get it before it’s gone. It can be on anything, whether it’s a notes app on your phone or a napkin at a restaurant. I do recommend handwriting notes over typing them, though, because it’s easier to put down your notes quickly. You can always type them up with more detail, later.

So those are my biggest pieces of advice for finding inspiration. If you have any more advice for finding inspiration you’d like to share, feel free to do so on this post. Also, if you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, don’t hesitate to send me a message here on Tumblr. And of course, thanks for reading!

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deehollowaywrites · 6 years

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If there’s a thing sports fans seem not so keen on, it’s the use of the word “fandom” to refer to their passions. Whoever heard of being in the Mets fandom? Fair enough–the word is a newer coinage, comes with all sorts of attendant baggage, reasonable and less so–but it’s easy shorthand, especially when you are a fan beneath the broad umbrella of a sport but without tendencies useful for identification. I can’t really say, for instance, that I’m a horseplayer. I very rarely play the horses, “playing” (betting) being considered the common denominator among racing enthusiasts and the form of participation most recognizable to the public.

(Sidebar: this came up in recent weeks, since the only press Thoroughbreds get in the US is middling-to-bad press. But Diana, you cry, didn’t some horse just do that thing horses try to do every year? Sure, but it’s only been two years since that thing happened last, which makes it less worthy of note or something.)

Coming from the arenas of Star Wars, comic books, and fantasy literature arms a person with certain expectations for engagement. Reams of thinkpieces have been written about how the Internet transformed human interaction, particularly that which relates to entertainment. Did you know there are dating apps based on a person’s favorite media? (You probably did; there’s a dating app for everything.) Put in the title of your favorite book and watch the possible matches stack up. Of course, this almost never works anywhere but on paper–a common interest in a band does not mean that I have more than a handful of positive interactions with strange men at metal concerts. Female fans of all kinds expect gatekeeping, derision, and calls to prove themselves, especially within fandoms that are perceived as male-centric. Don’t be hanging out on the paddock fence unless you’re ready to give your opinion of race five’s lineup on demand. Why would you be sitting at the bar with a form if you aren’t betting? Tell me why you belong here. Show your work.

How many Robins are there? Six, I say, bracing myself for the guy who manages to forget Carrie and Steph.

I really enjoy David Hill’s writing (and horseplayer analysis, as heard on the 6/2 episode of The Winners Circle). I love Alex Evers’ photography (and enthusiasm, and attention to jockeys, and the way he uses multiple exclamation points in every paragraph). My favorite racing!Twitter threads usually involve multiple participants talking about memories, or firsts: one of the delightful aspects of this sport is longevity, since there are many still-active participants, fans and photographers and trainers, who have an uncashed ticket from Secretariat’s Belmont sitting in their jewelry box at home. But the common thread, beyond the horses themselves, seems to be that very longevity… and to newbs, it’s an intimidating atmosphere. A person my age is a fan because their parents were, or grandparents, because someone took them to the track when they were seven years old, because they grew up that way. The industry side of racing is chockful of dynasties. Fathers and sons race horses together as trainer and jockey; riders marry each other; breeders’ and trainers’ children turn into analysts and bloodstock agents. Even the newer acolytes reminisce about the Preakness being on TV in the background of some family party when Rachel Alexandra won. There’s a world in which people just put on horse racing, even if only for the big days. Alien.

That Evers could be looking through a grandparent’s belongings and discover a commemorative scarf from the inaugural Breeders’ Cup is a baffling and beautiful and very foreign idea.

A Tweet that I can no longer find, of course, because the Devil rain down brimstone upon the ‘Things Your Friends Liked’ feature, talked about the rarity of queer people growing up in a queer family. The reality remains that, once teenage or adult, a queer person generally has to discover their own family, create a circle from scratch, find a community and a place for themselves within it. It’s probably not coincidental that fandom spaces, especially online, are a beehive of queer connection, media, and thought. Plenty of people, especially those of us in digital-native demographics, explore identities through media and fanworks before bringing those ideas home to ourselves. In this mode, being a late bloomer has done me no favors. I don’t really have queer friends outside of the Internet; I’ve never frequented a scene in any of the cities that I’ve lived in, because until recently I didn’t believe I had the right to be there. A woman at a queer mixer put on during a recent writing conference flirted with me and I didn’t know what to do–I had never been in a room where it could reasonably be assumed that I was not straight, because nobody else was either. The mental and social framework is not in place. I am, quantifiably, not queer enough.

One person among many spectators on the racetrack apron can reasonably be assumed to be a racing fan. A few questions may be enough to unveil them as faking.

How many tracks have you visited? Two. What’s your biggest win? $12.

Try explaining to someone with an uncashed Secretariat ticket how it is that you woke up one day changed. Try coming from the feminized side of fandom, transformation rather than curation, and encountering a strange gate with familiar keepers. Try loving a thing, and being told that you can hate it as long as you’re good at it; recall the concept of being good at enjoyment. Try immediate attraction to everything except the thing that matters, the fulcrum, the sport’s raison d’etre. Try watching, in real time, your heart expand to bursting, knowing that even this will be unconvincing. Impostor syndrome is all well and expected in the career realm, but what is it doing poisoning my downtime? There’s a strange wriggle of pleasure in being invited to offer picks for a big race day on a fansite. It compounds when my pick wins, and then I wince in advance of someone asking how much I scored. Is it cheating if you pore over the PPs and then don’t place the bet?

You playing Gulfstream, says that old guy in the bar at Tampa Bay–you know the one–barely a question because who isn’t playing Gulfstream? Who we picking for race four? Luis Saez on turf, I say. He’d been having a good winter, as you may recall. Twenty minutes later, the old-timer gets up: What, you not going to the window? You bet online?

I didn’t bet at all. I just like Luis Saez, and turf.

I will never be queer enough. My pain is not overt, my sexual history is not gay, my presence leaves no mark. If it’s indeed possible to be bad at liking a sport, I’m terrible at loving horse racing, with my $2 show bets on big weekends that offend the sensibilities of true believers. Oh, you had some grand explosion of self-discovery at the ripe old age of 28? Great, congratulations, you’re now The Gay Cousin at family reunions. Oh, you decided to get into sports, like a good American, and instead of going for a comfortable, obvious underdog--the Browns, perhaps--you picked a hidebound archaism in its probable death throes? Godspeed!

I couldn’t have planned this better if I tried.

#Urban Hayseed #diana's writing

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mystic-heads-blog · 7 years

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Role Swap - @mysme69minutes Time: About 63 minutes. This is more of a start to something than it’s finished, and I’ll definitely write more to it if I get the chance (=if uni doesn’t kill me with homework again starting next week lmao). I swapped Saeran and MC, and I do have some ideas of expanding on the work already there, so we’ll see! 1819 words, from both MC’s and Saeran’s perspective. Enjoy!

MC huffed. It’d been a few years since she’d encountered Mint Eye. At first, she’d investigated it out of pure curiosity, but eventually she’d been requited. She vaguely remembered.. resisting? Maybe? But wasn’t entirely sure about this, as she’d been a member of the organisation for ages now, always loyal and obedient. Just as she was being now.

She was sitting with her laptop near an apartment building. One of the screens on her computer showed the feed of a hacked CCTV, focusing on the door of one of the building’s apartments – the apartment that used to belong to the Saviour. Why exactly she was doing this, MC didn’t know, as the Saviour had a tendency to explain her plans as they developed. But MC was always ready to follow orders.

Why she then huffed? Because this particular mission meant she’d have to get involved with people who weren’t members of Mint Eye, who didn’t live in Paradise, and who she thus was unsure how exactly to approach. But right now all she had to do was hack into an application, and goad someone into showing up at the apartment.

Hacking she could do. Goading, however..

Letting out a soft sigh, she got down to business, soon being in touch with the right person. ‘Hello?’ She texted, waiting for an answer. She got one, though it consisted of merely a question mark.

‘Finally! I thought I’d never get in touch with someone.’ Was her following text, though the recipient didn’t seem too happy to be talking to a stranger. ‘I’m sorry to be bothering you. I’ve been trying to contact people through this phone to figure out its owner.’ This seemed to catch the guy’s interest, as he inquired to why she was using a phone that wasn’t hers. ‘I found it at the subway station. Could you help me out?’

A pause, a few minutes of silence, so MC send another text.

‘Please? There’s an address on the phone, but I’m currently abroad, so I can’t visit it myself. And the police probably won’t be able to help me, either, as I doubt they’ll go through the trouble of delivering a phone to another country.’

Another few minutes passed, before there was finally an affirmative reply.

‘Thank you so much!’ MC was almost relieved. It was imperative that this person would be going to the apartment, and not anyone else. MC had spent way too long figuring out the guy’s schedule, knowing he had little connections to others, finally deciding that he would play along nicely when it came down to it, as he seemed.. lonely.

She sent the address next, followed by a text. ‘I know the area, it’s quite crowded, so it’s safe :).’ ‘Let me know when you get there’.

She got another affirmative answer, followed by a while of staring at the CCTV to make sure the guy actually showed up like he’d promised. To her relief, half an hour later, there he was, in front of the door to the apartment. She saw the guy ring the doorbell, waiting for an answer, then texting her that no one was home.

‘Oh.. Can you get inside?’

He couldn’t, there was a passcode-lock.

‘Try these numbers.’

He did, the door opened. He seemed to hesitate before entering, sending another text, asking whether it was okay to enter an apartment like that.

‘It’s fine. You can just leave a note with an explanation, as well as my number.’

He didn’t seem to realise just yet that he’d never gotten MC’s number, as he immediately after reading the text entered the apartment. Then MC executed a program that hacked into the RFA chat, a smile on her face as she logged out of the app herself, but not before sending one more text.

‘It’ll be really fun from now on. Enjoy your time with everyone. I’ll go get you soon.’

That had gone better than expected. MC continued to watch the CCTV for a while, to make sure that the guy wouldn’t leave again. She kept an eye on the hacked app’s log for a bit, to make sure the plan had worked and the male would actually join the RFA – but everything seemed to be going according to plan. Satisfied, she closed the laptop, returning to Magenta to report her success to the Saviour.

Saeran frowned. He had been having a very peaceful day so far, just hanging around his home and working – which worked out, as he was a writer – when he decided to download an app. It was supposed to let you talk to strangers, in order to make friends. Saeran figured this would be the best course of action if he wanted to stop feeling so isolated, as he wasn’t exactly seen as sociable by most standards, and people tended to avoid him.

Upon downloading the app, which he’d conveniently encountered as an advertisement on his own blog, he’d immediately gotten a text message. But the username was ‘Unknown’, and Saeran thought the other was talking rather weirdly for someone using an app to meet others.

The first text greeted him, questioningly, and he returned the inquiry with a question mark. The second was an exclamation of relief, as the stranger had apparently been spending some time trying to get in touch with someone.

‘That seems to be saying more about you than anything else.’ He’d replied. Using an app specifically designed to chat with others, and then still having trouble getting in touch with someone? It didn’t seem to speak of high intelligence, or maybe the person he was talking to wasn’t the most pleasant person to chat with.

But the conversation only got weirder, the stranger telling they were attempting to find the owner of the phone they were using.

‘You’re not using your own phone?’ He’d inquired. It would explain why they weren’t familiar with the app, as they definitely didn’t seem to be. Luckily, Saeran had gotten an explanation, as the person he was talking with had apparently found the phone in the subway. But they’d asked for Saeran’s help, and he’d felt little for helping someone he didn’t know, especially when it’d likely involve actual social interaction.

But the other was abroad, and really wanted to locate the device’s owner. Sighing, Saeran had replied that he would help, considering he wouldn’t be able to live without his mobile phone himself, either. Many hours he wasted playing games or scrolling through social media, or using his GPS to locate new places he was visiting. Maybe it was weird and gullible, but despite his general isolation, Saeran had no lack of empathy. He liked helping others, especially if he could relate to their problems.

The stranger had replied with a thanks, as well as the address that was apparently saved on the phone. They knew the area. So did the Saeran, and it was indeed crowded, so relatively safe. Not that he’d been worried about the stranger attacking him per se, although their request was somewhat odd.

He’d gotten up and made his way to the apartment, ringing the doorbell upon arrival. There’d been no answer. He told the stranger this, who instead goaded him into entering the apartment. He did, and was about to ask for the other’s phone number, when he saw his phone crashing. Then it stabilised, showing a chat screen.

These events had brought him to the current situation, in which he was frowning at his phone. Initially, the five people in the chatroom had been oblivious to his presence, but then they’d noticed and started flipping out – then asking who he was. He wasn’t quite sure what to do.

‘It’s impolite to ask for someone’s name or identity before introducing yourself.’

This got him mixed reactions, but eventually resulted in everyone having introduced themselves. Yoosung Kim, a university student. 707, a hacker of the same age as Saeran. ZEN, a musical actor – whom Saeran had actually heard of before. Then Jumin Han, the heir of C&R International, a face often found in tabloids and newspapers, and his assistant, Jaehee Kang.

‘My name’s Saeran.’ He finally told them. They proceeded to ask him how he’d gotten into their chat room, emphasising that he shouldn’t have been able to, but not explaining why. ‘I downloaded an app to chat with people. A stranger approached me, I helped them at their request, then I ended up here.’ He paused, a frown still on his face as he looked at his phone. ‘Think my phone was hacked.’

This caused even more of an uproar, and the hacker yelled something regarding the apartment he had entered.

Rika’s apartment? Who was Rika?

‘Right, if you’ll excuse me, I can just leave.’

But they told him that he couldn’t, not now that he knew the location of Rika’s apartment and had access to the chatroom. Saeran sat down on a chair in the apartment, feeling a headache coming up. He knew he shouldn’t have gotten involved with strangers, or downloaded any app for socialisation – he was better off on his own. Apparently, the members of the group-chat were now calling on their leader, who entered minutes later.

‘Hello.’ Saeran sent, just to remain polite, but the members mainly seemed to be talking among themselves. They finally explained why it was such a huge problem he was in their chatroom, and then the leader seemed to decide that it was a sign, and that they should ask him to join their organisation.

Saeran remained quiet. They didn’t seem to take the hint, and explained what it was they did exactly, and what exactly he had to do.

Biting his lip, Saeran considered his options. Apparently, the chatroom was for the RFA, or Rika’s Fundraising Organisation. Rika had passed away a while ago, and they hadn’t done any fundraising since, as they didn’t have a guest coordinator. Now they were asking him to be said coordinator.

Saeran knew he wasn’t good with people. But he was lonely, and.. it would give him a chance to actually get people in his life, and maybe to improve his socialisation skills. It was all digital, it involved no actual human interaction – just writing, typing on his phone. And writing was what he was good at, right?

He ran a hand through his red hair, shaking his head, then typing his answer. ‘Alright, I suppose I can try.’

Most of the members seemed excited. Jaehee seemed suspicious.

‘I’ll do my best.’

Then, one by one, they started leaving the chatroom, leaving Saeran in the strange apartment. Was he supposed to stay there? Probably, if he were to work for the organisation. He got messages from several of the members welcoming him, and he answered them all politely, once more biting his lip as he looked at his screen, hoping he’d made the right decision in joining the RFA.

#mysme69minutes #Saeran Choi #Saeran #Saeran Mystic Messenger #Saeran MM #Mystic Messenger #MyMe #MysMe #MC #MC Mystic Messenger #Actually it'd be nice if people would let me know if they're interested in me expanding on this!#But I probably will anyway if I have the time c:

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jesseneufeld · 5 years

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Recovery Workouts: Two Simple But Powerful Ways to Speed Fitness Recovery

For my entire athletic career, I considered the gold standard of recovery to be sleeping, resting on the couch watching T.V., and generally being still and inactive. Come on, what could be more effective than couch potato mode to recover from the hormonal and inflammatory stresses of marathon training runs or long days of extreme swim-bike-run workouts? I’m kidding (mostly), but it’s not a total exaggeration. Our understanding of fitness recovery has grown exponentially since I was in the elite arena, and it’s exciting to see new and better approaches taking root that genuinely speed recovery and stave off burnout. I’m sharing two such techniques today. They’re simple, mostly free, and accessible to anyone with the most basic fitness opportunities and venues.

Note: Here’s the thing…. This is the stuff you should focus on before considering advanced techniques like exposure to cold or heat, Theragun treatments (although I happen to be a fan of this device), hyperbaric oxygen chambers, etc.

“JFW”

The first recovery technique is to move more instead of just sit around. That’s right, science is validating the idea that if you make a concerted effort to increase all forms of general everyday movement in the hours and days after strenuous workouts, you will help minimize the inflammation and oxidative stress caused by strenuous workouts.

Let’s call this strategy JFW—Just F—ing Walk.

Moving your body through space helps you burn fat better, which will maximize the fat reduction goals of your workouts. Walking also helps boost brain function. A 2017 UCLA study comparing MRI scans revealed that active older folks (over 60 and walking more than three kilometers per day) have faster brain processing speed, better working memory for quick decisions, and better memory consolidation than inactive folks. In his book, The Real Happy Pill: Power Up Your Brain By Moving Your Body, Swedish researcher Dr. Anders Hansen reports that just taking a daily walk can reduce your risk of dementia by 40 percent.

Walking and general movement of any kind improve lymphatic function for a huge recovery boost. The lymphatic system is a plumbing network running throughout your body that detoxifies every cell, tissue and organ through a separate operating system from the cardiovascular system. The lymphatic system operates through a pumping process instead of a beating heart. This means that you’re obligated to move your muscles and joints to turbocharge lymphatic detoxification and avoid the pooling of lymphatic fluid caused by chilling on the couch in the hours and days after heavy workouts. Even the old-time exercise apparatus of the mini-trampoline has come into vogue recently because bouncing around for even a few minutes has been shown to significantly boost lymphatic function.

To help your lymphatic system function optimally, be sure to hydrate adequately at all times. While my original Primal Blueprint presentation suggested that you simply honor your thirst to achieve good hydration, recent science suggests that successful hydration can be a little more complicated. Stacy Sims, Ph.D., a hydration expert who studied thermoregulation at Stanford and is currently a senior research fellow at University of Waikato in New Zealand, is doing some great work in this field. Check out this fantastic infographic. Her research suggests that the female menstrual cycle can influence hydration needs and strategies. Another breakthrough insight is that strenuous workouts have the potential to mute your thirst mechanism; you may become too hot and tired or distracted to notice that you’re actually getting dehydrated. For most minimally active folks, going by thirst might be just fine; the kidneys do an excellent job regulating fluid and sodium balance in the body.

If you are a novice fitness enthusiast, a high performing athlete, or routinely exercise in hot temperatures, a deliberate pre- and post-workout hydration is a strategy worth considering and implementing. Sprinkle some high quality natural mineral salt in each glass of fluid, which will help it become better absorbed in the tissues throughout your body.

“Rebound” Workouts

Joel Jamieson, a noted trainer of world-champion MMA fighters in Washington (8WeeksOut.com—as in eight weeks out from a title bout), and developer of the Morpheus Recovery app, advocates a system called Rebound Training where specially designed workouts can actually speed recovery time in comparison with total rest. The idea that a Rebound Workout can boost recovery is validated through the tracking of Heart Rate Variability. Joel is a pioneer in Heart Rate Variability and has been tracking his fighters and other high performing athletes for decades. Yes, decades, as in dating back to the original hospital grade $30,000 units that required placement of a dozen electrodes on your skin.

The idea that a Rebound workout can beat couch time is an extraordinary revelation. Amazingly, when you drag your tired, stiff, sore body into the gym and do some foam rolling, deep breathing exercises, dynamic stretches, and even very brief explosive efforts, such as short sprints with long recovery on the bike, or “positive-only” deadlifts (lift the weight then drop it to the ground to prevent soreness caused by eccentric contractions), you can stimulate parasympathetic nervous system activity and actually accelerate recovery. The parasympathetic is known the “rest and digest” component of autonomic nervous system, and counterbalances the sympathetic “fight or flight” component.

You can learn more about Rebound Training and see a sample workout here. If you just want to dabble in the concept, know that increasing your walking and general movement in the hours and days after a challenging training session will help boost blood circulation and lymphatic function to speed recovery. I always find ways to walk more and spend more time at my stand-up desk in the 24 hours following a tough Ultimate Frisbee match or sprint workout.

Sample Restorative Workout

The next time you throw down a killer workout, trying heading to the gym the following day and creating a restorative experience.

Start by lying flat on the mat and completing 20 deep diaphragmatic breath cycles. When you’re in the prone position, you can hone good technique by placing your hand on your abdomen and making sure that the abdomen expands upon inhalation. First expand the abdomen, which enables the chest cavity to then expand outward and enable the full use of the diaphragm for a powerful breath. You notice this sequence better when laying down.

After 20 deep breaths, commence 10 minutes of foam rolling, dynamic stretches and flexibility drills.

Then, get a little sympathetic stimulation going with some bike sprints or positive only deadlifts as follows:

Exercise bike: Warmup five minutes, then sprint for 10 seconds, followed by 60 seconds of easy pedaling. Repeat for five repetitions.

Deadlift: With 70% of your one rep maximum weight, raise the bar three-quarters of the way to the top, then allow it to fall to the ground with minimal muscle engagement. Repeat five times.

The idea with these efforts is that you’ll trigger a brief stimulation of fight or flight sympathetic nervous system activity, but because the effort is so brief, you’ll prompt a compensatory parasympathetic reaction during the recovery period. The net effect of the session is to turbocharge parasympathetic for hours afterward to a greater extent than just chilling on the couch watching Netflix.

Thanks to the gentle nature of the session, you enjoy an increase in energy and alertness from getting the oxygen and blood flowing throughout the body—but without the cellular breakdown and glycogen depletion of a more strenuous workout. You should leave the gym feeling relaxed and a little looser than before the workout.

Implementing “Rebound”-style workouts, along with making a general effort to walk around more in the hours following your most challenging sessions aren’t just fun diversions; they’re part of putting recovery as the central element of your training program.

Final Thoughts…

Speaking of HRV, Jamieson offers a breakthrough insight that has helped me further appreciate the value of tracking HRV over time, and also alleviate some confusion that arose during some data accumulation over the past several years. If you’re a fan of HRV, you know a high HRV on the familiar 1-100 scale is indicative of a strong and rested cardiovascular system. You have a greater variation in beat-to-beat intervals than a lower score, indicating a harmonious balance between fight or flight sympathetic nervous system function and rest and digest parasympathetic nervous system function. A low HRV indicates a more metronomic heartbeat, and sympathetic nervous system dominance over parasympathetic. These are reliable signs of overtraining or a general overstress condition in life, or a weak cardiovascular system in general.

By tracking HRV for several weeks, you can establish a healthy baseline, then gauge your level of stress and readiness to train based on daily HRV fluctuations. Low equals overstressed, high equals healthy. That’s all well and good, but here’s an important nuance I learned from Joel about HRV readings significantly higher than your baseline: An 86 seems better than the usual 72-75, but actually an abnormally high HRV could be an indication of parasympathetic dominance versus a sympathetic-parasympathetic balance. When your parasympathetic kicks into overdrive, it’s possibly because you trashed yourself way beyond healthy limits, and you’re struggling to return to a rested and stress-balanced state. This explained some strange outlier readings where I felt pretty cooked after coming off a jet travel binge or a series of extreme workouts in a tight time frame but delivered a rock star HRV reading.

As I’ve written about before, I’m not a fan of overdoing biofeedback devices. I’ve used them and still do occasionally when I’m attempting something new or just want to check in with some hard data, but too much tech can disconnect you with your intuition—what should always be front and center in your assessments. Dr. Kelly Starrett references scientific research indicating that the single most valuable and accurate metric for your state of recovery is “desire to train.” I wonder how this goes up against the blood lactate meters at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and any ring or watch data you can accumulate. I have confidence it would hold its own in most scenarios.

Thanks for stopping by today, everybody. How do you do recovery? What have you learned over the years in your own study and experience. Have a great end to the week.

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lauramalchowblog · 5 years

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Recovery Workouts: Two Simple But Powerful Ways to Speed Fitness Recovery

“JFW”

Let’s call this strategy JFW—Just F—ing Walk.

“Rebound” Workouts

Sample Restorative Workout

The next time you throw down a killer workout, trying heading to the gym the following day and creating a restorative experience.

After 20 deep breaths, commence 10 minutes of foam rolling, dynamic stretches and flexibility drills.

Then, get a little sympathetic stimulation going with some bike sprints or positive only deadlifts as follows:

Exercise bike: Warmup five minutes, then sprint for 10 seconds, followed by 60 seconds of easy pedaling. Repeat for five repetitions.

Deadlift: With 70% of your one rep maximum weight, raise the bar three-quarters of the way to the top, then allow it to fall to the ground with minimal muscle engagement. Repeat five times.

Final Thoughts…

Thanks for stopping by today, everybody. How do you do recovery? What have you learned over the years in your own study and experience. Have a great end to the week.

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kristinejrosario · 7 years

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214: 4 Realities of Blogging All Bloggers Need to Talk About

4 Difficult Realities All Bloggers Face

During a conference last year I was invited to have dinner with three other bloggers who had all been blogging for 5-10 years and were now doing it full-time.

It was a fun dinner, and we covered a lot of ground in terms of conversation. But during dessert the conversation got a little deeper as one of them began to share how they were struggling with their blog.

On their surface, their blogging was going okay. They had a great readership, and the content they were putting out was going well. But on the inside they felt disillusioned.

And as they continued their story, I looked around the table and saw a lot of nodding going on. Their story was resonating with us all.

I related to it a lot. Blogging can be hard sometimes, and it’s to become disillusioned.

As a blogger I’ve heard people rave about my, blog with comments like:

“You’re so prolific!”

“How do you stay so productive?”

“How did you write that way?”

But on the inside I’ve wondered why they can’t see what a grind and a struggle blogging can be.

This podcast is largely positive and constructive about how to build a profitable blog. But after reflecting on this conversation from last year it struck me that while I often talk up blogging, and share the benefits of doing it and the tactics of building profit, it may be worth acknowledging some of the hard stuff we face as content creators.

So in today’s episode I want to talk about four realities of blogging that many of us bloggers don’t always share.

Part of why I’m doing it is to give you a realistic insight into the life of a blogger. But I also think it’s important for us bloggers to realise that we’re not alone in facing some of these things. Being a little vulnerable with each other during that conversation last year seemed to lift our spirits a little. And out of the conversation came encouragement to keep at it.

So today I present four things about blogging that are hard. By no means is it a definitive list – I could probably come up with a lot more for a part two – but I hope it’s helpful.

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Further Listening on 4 Realities of Blogging All Bloggers Need To Talk About

167: My Million Dollar Blog Post (and How Procrastination Almost Stopped me Writing It)

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Hey there, and welcome to Episode 214 of the ProBlogger Podcast. My name is Darren Rowse and I’m the blogger behind problogger.com, a blog, podcast, events, job board, and series of ebooks all designed to help you to grow a profitable blog. You can learn more about what we do at ProBlogger at problogger.com.

In today’s episode, I wanna do something a little bit different. Last year, I was at a conference and was invited to have dinner with three other bloggers. They were bloggers who had all been blogging for 5 to 10 years, they were all full time at what they do. Relatively successful bloggers. It was a fun dinner; we laughed, we joked around, it was fairly lighthearted for the main. We covered a lot of ground in terms of our conversation.

Somewhere around the time that dessert was served, the conversation got a little bit deeper as one of our dinner party began to share that they were struggling with their blog. On the surface, this particular blogger’s blog was going okay; they had a great readership, they were producing lots of content, they had built a team, they had a beautiful design. It was all going well on the outside, but on the inside the blogger was feeling disillusioned.

As the blogger shared, I looked around the table and I saw that we were all nodding at the story. The story that the blog was telling was resonating with us all. I personally related a lot. There are times in blogging where it’s hard. There are times where it’s easy to get disillusioned. There are times as a blogger that I’ve heard people rave about my blog with comments like, “You’re so prolific” , “You’re so productive”, “How do you write like that?” But on the inside, I’ve wondered why they can’t see what a grind and a struggle it can sometimes be.

This podcast is largely pretty positive and constructive about how to build a profitable blog, but it struck me this week as I reflected upon that conversation that whilst I talk about blogging a lot, sometimes I don’t talk about the negative sides as well. Perhaps, it’s worth acknowledging some of the hard stuff that we as content creators face. In today’s episode, I want to go there. I want to talk about four realities of blogging that many of us as bloggers don’t always share. We like to present the positives and that’s great, but perhaps sometimes it’s worth going into these slightly darker and more personal, vulnerable places. I hope you allow me to do that today.

I want to do so partly to give a realistic insight into the life of a blogger. It’s not all bells and whistles. I also want to share it today because sometimes I think as bloggers, we think that we’re the only ones facing this kind of stuff. It struck me during that conversation with my blogging friends last year that simply by us each sharing about the tough stuff that we went away from that dinner with our spirits lifted a little bit more, slightly more energized and encouraged by one another’s stories.

Today, I want to present four things about blogging that are hard. By no means is this a definitive list. I can probably come up with 40 of these things, and perhaps there will be a part two at some point. I hope in sharing these four things that whatever you’re facing at the moment as a blogger, you’ll be a little bit encouraged that you’re not alone and perhaps come away with some ideas about how to combat these four things.

Let’s get into the first tough things about blogging that we don’t often share.

The first thing that I want to talk about is that it’s hard to be creative every day. Content creation, when you’re doing it on a regular basis, whether it’s daily or even weekly, it’s hard sometimes. There are times where it just flows. There are times where you sit at the computer and ten blog posts just come out of you, or three podcasts, or you get so many ideas and you get into the flow. But there are also many times in the life of most bloggers where you sit at that screen and you wonder what it is that you should be writing about, or you feel like you and everyone else has already written on every topic that there is to write about in your niche, or you doubt whether you are the right person to be writing on that topic, whether you have the skills, or experience, or authority to really go there. Or where you struggle to get into the flow of writing, you’re just getting to that flow. Or where you’re fighting distractions or even boredom with the task at hand.

The reality is that it is sometimes hard. There are days where it does flow and there are many days where it doesn’t. I just want to acknowledge that as the first thing today. My tip for you, if that’s what you’re facing, there’s many other podcasts we’ve written, I’ve put together, on this particular topic but my main thing that I want to say to you today if that’s the place you’re in is to push through the pain. You need to know that hurting is an essential part of growing your creative muscles.

I’m sitting here at my desk today, I’m standing here actually, and my muscles are sore. My triceps are sore. I went to PT, my personal trainer, yesterday, and he worked my triceps and they hurt. It hurt at the time and it hurts today but I know that the result of that hurt is that I will have stronger triceps. I don’t think they’re ever going to be massive but I’m experiencing growth as a result of some of that pain.

The same thing is true of your creative muscles. Good things happen when you exercise that creative part of yourself. You need to push through that, you need to persist with that.

Get into the flow by creating something, anything. Sometimes, the hard bit is just starting out. But once you get going, once you push through that initial resistance, that’s where the energy comes, that’s where the ideas come, that’s where the creativity comes. Make creating a regular thing, schedule it into your day, into your week, and push through that regularity and repetition of creating something, anything, even if you don’t publish it. It’s part of getting into that flow.

Number two thing that I want to talk about is that first drafts are almost always bad. My favorite bloggers, they just seem to have this innate ability to put words together in such an amazing way that seems, as a reader, effortless. It looks almost like some sort of superpower. There’s a couple of bloggers that come to mind. Every time I read one of their articles, I just feel alive as a reader. It’s amazing, they have this incredible gift.

The reality is that behind the scenes, the article that you’re wowing over usually starts out nothing like its finished, public version. The article probably started out as a hastily scribbled bullet point list on the back of a napkin, or them jotting something down into a notes app on their iPhone. It was probably then turned into a first draft that was full of mistakes and awkwardly formed ideas. In time, it was probably refined and re-worked. It was probably revisited time and time again. It was probably added to and then subtracted from. Its headline, its opening lines, its conclusions were probably agonized over, it was probably critiqued and edited numerous times and then polished and eventually it was published. It was probably published by someone who then continued to proofread it and edit it after it was published, in the days after.

Creating content takes time. It rarely, if ever, comes out of the author ready for publishing in its first draft. I’ve never, ever written a blogpost that didn’t get an edit, didn’t get reworked.

The tip I have for you, if you are looking at that piece of content that you’ve written and it’s awkward and it’s not flowing and it doesn’t look very good is to keep putting effort into editing, into finishing your work. You need to put as much time into the editing and the polishing and the finishing of your work as you do into that first draft, if not much more.

The second thing, your first drafts are usually almost always pretty bad.

The third thing I wanna talk about is that—this is speaking from my experience—you never really finish anything. Nothing is ever perfect. In 15 years of blogging, I don’t think I’ve ever hit publish on anything on my blog or my podcast that I’m 100% happy with. There is almost always, as I hit publish, a tension within me, mixed feelings. Excitement on one hand, pride, satisfaction. But also on the other side, there’s almost always some uneasy feeling that maybe I could have done a little bit more, or maybe I could’ve added more detail, or maybe I could’ve polished it further, or maybe I could’ve got an extra quote, or maybe I could make it look better.

On one hand, these feelings of “I could do more” can be a good thing. I just spoke in the last point about how you should let those feelings drive you to improve those first drafts. On one hand, those feelings are great, but on the other hand some of us as content creators allow these feelings of “I could do more” to stop us publishing or releasing anything at all. I think, really, one of the skills as a blogger is to find a place between those two extremes. Perfectionism can be both a superpower and a curse. Allow it to drive you to improve what you do, but also learn that you sometimes just need to set free, you need to put what you’ve done out there, you need to set free what you create.

You can always tweak later, but you will never build anything of value unless you hit publish on it. Leave with that tension. Acknowledge that perfectionism within you. Work with it, but also resist it so that you do publish something.

The fourth thing kind of relates to this idea of perfectionism. The fourth thing that I want to acknowledge is that procrastination impacts us all. It happens to us all. We all know what it is to procrastinate.

Here’s a little secret for you. I outlined this very podcast in March of 2016. It was the day after the conversation that I had with my friends. Now, as I sit in front of this podcast, my microphone, recording this podcast is now the 4th of October, 2017. It’s taken a year and a half for me to get this podcast done. Even the most productive people have the temptation to put things off. In many cases, it’s the things that we procrastinate about that ultimately have the power to hold us back most.

For me, procrastination is often tied to fear. It’s the things that scare me that actually are the things that have the biggest potential to bring good things into our life as well. You need to learn to see procrastination as a signal that it’s something you need to really pay attention to. If you’re a procrastinator, after this episode finishes, go and listen to Episode 167 for my ultimate procrastination story and tips.

I hope somewhere in the midst of these four things, there’s some encouragement for you. I don’t want this to be a Debbie Downer, I don’t want it to be a negative podcast, but I want to acknowledge that sometimes it’s hard. It’s hard to be creative every day. It’s hard when you look at those first drafts and you think it’s awkward and it’s not working. It’s hard when you put off things. It’s hard to get things finished. These are four things that I’ve struggled with over the years and I want to let you know that it’s okay to have those struggles too but I encourage you to push through them.

I would love to hear what struggles it is that you wish more bloggers would talk about. You can do so in a couple of ways. You can do it over on our podcast notes, show notes today at problogger.com/podcast/214 or over in our ProBlogger community Facebook group. Love to connect with you there and I look forward to chatting with you next week in Episode 215.

If you’re looking for something else to listen to, go and listen to Episode 167, the one I mentioned in that particular episode. It’s about procrastination. It was me telling a story of my ultimate procrastination, something that cost me a lot of money when I procrastinated on but it gives you some practical tips about how to get things done too. Go over and join the Facebook group. problogger.com/group.

How did you go with today’s episode?

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