Know Thyself Challenge

It’s that time of year again. The point of the year where I am again trying to figure out where to which level I would like to take my writing and my writing style. I’m not a conventional writer. I don’t really follow any rules or any sort of standards of writing. I just do. But I want become a successful writer. I want to make a difference in someone else’s life through my writing. I would like to have a positive impact and/or influence over the younger and older generation in the same way writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Jorge Amado, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Sandra Cisneros, Eric Jerome Dickey and Maya Angelou have had on me, my life and my writing.

As usual, I’m forcing myself to complete a writing challenge so that I can “jump start” my motivation to write more. It’s a horrid cop out buuuuuuuut it’s all I know how to do. Not so much cop out of things, but to try to complete challenges. And just because I’m feeling adventurous, I might just try to complete two maybe three challenges at the same time. Lawd what in the fuck am I about to do to myself.

The first challenge is called the Know Thyself Challenge. I found this challenge about two years ago when yet again I was going through a creative slump and tried to reinvent the wheel instead of just spinning the sucker round and round. From what I can tell, this challenge is trying to get the writer/blogger to analyze and examine why he or she writes. What motivates the writer? What do you hope to accomplish as a writer? Yadda yadda yadda…

It’s a 25-day challenge. So that’s a post a day and if I start today then I should be done by August 23^rd. fuck that’ll be sooner rather than later! I could just wait until Saturday which is August 1^st buuuuuut I need to go shopping. #priorities

So there you guys have it. The daily prompts are below. I hope you guys embark on this journey with me. Please feel free to leave words of kindness and encouragement.

 

Thanks for reading…

 

the southern yankee

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Day 1: What do you consider your greatest strength as a writer?

Day 2: What is your biggest writing weakness, and what do you think you need to change to work on it?

Day 3: What’s the BEST writing advice you ever received?

Day 4: What tends to serve as the most reliable source(s) of inspiration for you?

Day 5: What do you hope a reader will take away from your writing?

Day 6: What do you find to be the most rewarding aspect of being a writer?

Day 7: Do you find that inspiration to write happens organically, or do you sometimes feel that you need to seek it out?

Day 8: How old were you when you started writing? What did you write?

Day 9: Do you feel that you have found your voice in your writing? Or are you still searching?

Day 10: What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process?

Day 11: How much of your writing time is purely research?

Day 12: What is the last book, story, or poem you read that had an effect on your writing? Are you a better writer for having read this work?

Day 13: What motivates you to keep writing?

Day 14: Share with us your strategies for overcoming writer’s block.

Day 15: Which writer or teacher most influenced your work?

Day 16: As a writer, what are your biggest fears? How can you overcome them?

Day 17: Which genre of writing is your forte? Why?

Day 18: Which genre of writing have you not explored but want to? Why?

Day 19: Describe your revision process.

Day 20: Who has been your biggest writing supporter?

Day 21: How do YOU hope to help your fellow writers–now or in the future?

Day 22: Why should someone read your work?

Day 23: If you held all the cards, where would you want your writing to take you? Would you want to be the NEW YORK TIMES next big hit or a voice for the underground?

Day 24: Who are you writing for? Do you have a target audience in mind?

Day 25: What makes you want to write more?

Fit Fabulous & Fahn: Staying Motivated

 

Keep ya head up peeps!

 

the southern yankee 

Writer-vation: Milestone Monday

I can hardly believe it’s been five years since I started this blog. Geez time has flown by so quickly.

In five years, I’ve written almost 250 post; which I hope to double that number sooner rather than later; and have gained over a hundred followers; which, I have to say, shocks me every time I look at my blog stats.

I never really imagined even having that many followers much alone posting so many post because well I’m lazy as fuck. As you all know, I’m really sporadic when it comes to posting. I really don’t adhere to one particular topic nor do I follow any sort of writing/blogging/grammar rules. I write cuz I am in the mood or cuz I happen to be motivated by something.  I suppose one could say I’m museless. is that even a word “museless” ni modo Ima roll wit it.

I could and prolly should write more to perhaps invigorate my creative writer’s mind but it takes effort. I dunno I’m at a point again in my writer lifetime where I’m blocked mentally and emotionally. I find myself having more than enough to say just not enough time or motivation to write. But what else is new?

So with that said, I would like to say thank you thank you to those who have signed up to witness the most random weird madness that is my writing, life and blog. Please feel free to drop a line or two in the comment section. I hope you guys stay aboard the crazy train.

 

Thanks for reading…

 

the southern yankee

Happy New Year!!!

It’s a new day and a New Year!

Every year I say I’m going to make a resolution or two but let’s be honest, how many people really make good on their resolutions? Not I said the fly. Or me said the flee! So I’m not. I’m not going to waste my time or yours telling you about the resolutions that I’ll more than likely break in a month.

What I will say is this: I’m going to try harder. Not at any one given thing or aspect of my life but just in general.

I’ve learned over the last year, it isn’t about winning the war but getting through the battle. I also learned I have to learn when a battle is worth the impending war. Meaning not every battle is meant for me to fight. Sometimes I just need to let go and let God. but y’all know I’m stubborn tho right?!

Which means I have to learn that I can’t control everything. I can’t have the mentality of “it’s my way or the fucking highway!” I just can’t anymore. The more I try to control every situation the bigger the possibility of me getting my little feelings hurt. I’ll also lose sight of what matters most and honestly I can’t afford to lose that viewpoint.

So here’s to the New Year! Thank you again and in advance for falling me on this crazy foul mouthed journey! Hope you all had a safe and wonderful New Year’s Eve and a great first day of 2015.

Thanks for reading…

The Southern Yankee

Fit Fabulous & Fahn Friday: Fitness Goals

Sooo as you guys already know and if you don’t know now you know, last week I embarked on a journey to become Fit, Fabulous & Fahn.

I have been overweight for most of my adult life. I am literally 100lbs heavier than I was when I was pregnant with my daughter in 2000. Of course, I was much younger and a very active pregnant lady. I ate healthy and exercised more often than I even think about exercising now. However, let me just say my daughter’s health and well being was the strong motivation for wanting to be healthy while I was pregnant. So I ate a ton of fruits and vegetables and walked everywhere I needed to go on campus.

Let’s fast forward to present day. To be quite honest and mildly petty sounding, there really isn’t anything motivating me to be healthy or to get fit. Quick and easy has been my best friend for almost ten years now. Emotional baggage has played a tremendous role in my lack of motivation to do anything to make myself feel better about me, myself and I. Driving fitty trillion gazillion miles not literally to and from work has taken a toll on my body and the amount of sleep I get every night. Instead of buying raw fruits and veggies to snack on, I opt for a yummy Snickers or Twix or Skittles. taste the FREAKING rainbow of chewy goodness mayne And don’t get me started on my drinking the sugar infused calorie loaded espresso drinks from the dealer i.e. Starbucks. gold card certified mayne! Or the fact that I absolutely loooooooooooooooooooooooove an ice cold almost frozen Vanilla Coke. OOOOOOOOR all the sweet and salty goodness contained in a good bag of kettle corn poppy corn. Yeah I know all thangs that ain’t gon help me lose approximately 50 lbs before my baby sister’s wedding in January 2015. Yes lawd I know that’s a good seven months away. BYE FELICIA!

Which brings me back to this Fit Fabulous & Fahn series on The Southern Yankee.

You know Southern Yankee readers, there is nothing that stops me or you from becoming the very best we can be. Nothing in this world can stop us from becoming what we’ve always wanted to be. From traveling the world and experiencing everything our wildest dreams. The truth of the matter is that willpower is a mutha fucka and sometimes it fails us and that’s okay. So as long as we realize that this journey is going to be long and arduous, we’ve won half the battle. Now it’s time to conquer the war!

For me to win this war of weight loss, I feel I need to lose approximately 50 pounds. I honestly feel that’s not a bad or impossible goal. I currently weigh 246.6 pounds and wear between a size 20 and 22 which isn’t too bad but I have dunlap disease with a plumber’s crack. That’s neither kosher or cute if you ask me. Since I’m tall, I don’t look as fat as I actually am. But shit I’m tired of looking like I’m carrying triplets. Hell quadruplets even… But all bad jokes aside, I honestly feel it is time to take control of my life and my weight. I know I can do this I just need to stay motivated and keep pushing through to my goal.

So here is a list of my goals:

• Weight:
  • Short Term: 195 lbs by January 2015
  • Long Term: between 165 and 180 lbs
• Clothing Size:
  • Short Term: size 16 or 18 by January
  • Long Term: size 14 or 16
• Fitness:
  • To be able to jog around the track at the gym
  • To last longer than five minutes on the “death machine“
  • To press 100 to 150 lbs on the Linear Leg Press 
  • To lift 20 lbs on the free weights
  • To run a half marathon (long term goal)
• Food
  • To cook more instead of buying processed foods or fast food
  • To eat more raw fruits and veggies
  • To drink more water and less sugary drinks
  • To eat well balanced meals and healthier snacks
  • To eat candy and other “desserts” in moderation

Okay I think I should probably stop there with the goals. I don’t want to be overly zealous with my goals especially since college football season is coming up and work is about to get cray cray.

So I guess that’s it for now. Remember if you would like to be a guest blogger for the Fit Fabulous & Fahn Friday series please go to the Fit Fabulous & Fahn Friday Submissions page to submit your story.

Thanks for reading…

The Southern Yankee