Colbie Magazine is a quirky lifestyle magazine for young women. Geared towards teens and twenty-somethings, it is a magazine that explores all aspects of life, culture and the arts, letting ladies from all different walks of life explore life and grow within themselves as well.
The name Colbie was derived (and the magazine was inspired) by a little fictional beach town in North Carolina named Colby, where young adult author Sarah Dessen sets and explores the lives of various young women, all who are simply trying to find themselves, who they are and where they fit within the world.
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A Beginner's Guide to Snail Mail: What's a Mail Tag?
by Tiffany
So, if read our first snail mail related post, A Beginner's Guide to Snail Mail: How To Get Started, and have successfully gained a pen pal or two, you may be wondering about a few things. One of those things--and a very important one to know in order to make getting to know your new pen pal a bit easier--is a Mail Tag.
What's a Mail Tag?
Mail Tag is a game created by Bianca of goodnight little spoon. It is a clever little game you play via the post. A great conversation starter, sending a mail tag with your letter is a great way to get to know your pen pal right off the bat. Essentially, it’s a small list of questions, random quick questions, that you and your pen pal send back and forth to each other and answer however way you want. As Bianca put it:
“Mail-tag consists of an exchange of postal correspondence between (2) people. The first person begins the game by requesting one or more desired things. That person then mails those requests to the other participant – who interprets those requests, writes a list of their own requests for the other participant and sends them back. You can take as much or as little time to compose and send back your reply, ask for a few or as many things in your requests and generally interpret requests in whichever way you see fit.” – Bianca
She even gives you a little cheat sheet of sorts to help you better understand the game.
You only need a pen pal to get started playing! Get a small card or a lot of people used gift tags, and write out your questions. It can be one or two questions, or five or six. It doesn’t matter! (As a general rule of thumb: most Mail Tags consist of about four or five questions on average, but you can list as many as you want.) Then include it in your letter and send it out! That’s it! Then wait for your replies and you’ll know a little bit more about your pal.
A LIST OF MAIL TAG QUESTIONS TO GET YOU STARTED
When’s your birthday?
Ten things I should know about you.
Five things you can’t live without.
Ten things on your Bucket List.
What’s your ideal mixtape?
If your life were a song, what would it be?
What’s your favorite childhood memory?
What are some of your biggest pet peeves?
What’s your favorite place in the whole world?
Describe your dream trip.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I love blogging. I like sharing my interests online with likeminded people. I like geeking out on books, study tips, writing, and organizational methods with people. I enjoy commenting on posts and reading comments that I’ve received but blogging can also be a bit overwhelming to someone who’s just getting their feet wet. Like a friend once pointed out, “blogging is like having a job”. It takes up a lot of time to generate content, it takes time to manage and perfect your layout, and it takes a lot of time to make sure that your posts are good and appropriate for your audience.
For me, writing has always been the harder part of blogging - forcing myself to sit down and get the post done. But some people have a hard time organizing their ideas and keeping track of their posts or their posting schedule. If you’d like to post more consistently, this article is for you. If you’d like to have a more organized system for keeping track of your posts and ideas for future posts, this article is for you.
I’ve recently started a three blog project - writing for Colbiemagazine, a lit enthusiast blog, and an education blog to better student study skills. If one blog is like having a job, managing three is a full time job with overtime - minus the getting paid extra. It was a bit a overwhelming at first but as usual, I’ve found that organization is key.
These are 3 tips I’ve found in organizing and managing these blogs:
Keep a Writer’s Bible
When I was in high school and trying to write my first novel, I heard of the writer’s bible. It’s basically a notebook or binder where you keep all of your writing. I use a Five Star Flex Hybrid Notebinder. It has five dividers which create the five sections of my writer’s bible: creative writing, Colbiemagazine, the literature blog, the student study skills blog, and a back section where I keep extra looseleaf paper.
The first few pages of each blog section are dedicated to a running list of possible blog articles. Whenever I get a new idea for a post, that’s where it goes. This way I never forget an idea and when I need to come up with a post while I'm dry of inspiration, I have my list to fall back on.
The pages after that are dedicated to the articles themselves. I use headers with my blog topics on the top of the page and use the front of the page to brainstorm and the back of the page to write a draft of the article. Once I’m satisfied, I type it up and post.
While I have a physical notebook, I’m sure you can use a similar system with a word processor or writing app. A good substitute would be Evernote.
Schedule Time for Writing
This is true for writing of all kinds. You have to make sure that you dedicate time to writing - whether you’re working on a novel, generating content for your blog, or journaling. If you don’t, it’s easy to fill up your time with other things and next thing you know, it’s been weeks since you’ve posted anything.
Think about what kind of person you are and pick a time that’s right for you. I, for example, know that I’m more productive in the morning. I hate doing anything other than watching tv and surfing the web after a day at work. It’s impossible to pull myself away from Dance Moms or Elementary to go and write. So I’ve dedicated my morning hours to writing - one hour of creative writing (because I’m STILL trying to write a book) and one hour to write and post my blog articles every morning, Monday through Friday.
I know this sounds hard, making sure to stick to a schedule like this, but like most things, once you make it a part of your daily routine, it just becomes habit.
Try to Schedule Themed Blog Posts if Possible
This may not work for every blog but it’s been a great tool and timesaver for two of my blogs. Having a themed post on specific days of the week takes away some of the pressure of having to post. If I know that I post a student app of the week on my student study skills blog and that I post an author of the week on my literature blog every Monday, I’m not freaking out about missing a post or what I should post about.
I try to schedule at least three themed posts a week and leave the other two days for other article ideas I may have had. I find this creates a good balance and makes your posts feel a little less formulaic.
For writing up my schedule, I use a weekly notepad I bought from Target for $1 and Target’s dollar spot. In the boxes for each day, I include the name of the blog and a bullet point for each of the articles I have to write for that blog.
This way, there’s less of a chance that I’ll miss posts and I’m never scrambling keep up with which blog I should be posting to and when.
I hope these tips are useful to you and if you have any comments or suggestions I’d love to hear them. I’m always looking for ways to make my organization systems better.
“If those people are so uncool, why don’t you just un-friend those people?”
Well, there are a lot of reasons. For one, these aren’t people that I talk to all the time and un-friending them on Facebook could mean losing contact all together. Call me sentimental, but I hate the idea of just letting people fade away from my life. Also, I hate getting a Facebook message asking why I’ve un-friended people. Awkward!
“Then why don’t you just un-follow them?”
A smattering of obnoxious posts doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be able to go on Facebook and see how the person is doing. It’s nice to get posts about what old high school and college friends are doing now.
“Okay… then why don’t you just click ‘I don’t want to see posts like this’?”
By then the damage is already done.
All I’m saying is that I guess I feel there should be some sort of etiquette among Facebook, and really just general online, users. You don’t go into a restaurant and start yelling about your political views because it’s rude. You don’t go to the movies and show people pictures of your newborn during the movie because it’s rude. I don’t know how online etiquette hasn’t caught on. People feel completely justified to write what they want when want. And I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be able to express your opinions on the Internet. That’s not it at all. I’m just saying that maybe Facebook is not the appropriate place to do it.
You have strong political views? Fine. Write about them on your blog, a political blog, a website about politics, a news website talking about a political issues. Not Facebook. Or at least not on your wall. That’s what Facebook groups are for. Want to put your religious beliefs on blast? Join the CatholicNYC group and go for it. But don’t make me put up with long raptures about your faith.
It’s not that I have anything against politics, religion, or baby pictures, I just feel that you should be aware of who you’re throwing all of that information out to and that you should be considerate of people who wouldn’t necessarily want to open their Facebook to that.
The Internet provides a very easy soapbox for people to get on top of and preach about their opinions. Sometimes it’s appropriate and sometimes it’s not. But taking a site that was meant to connect people, from old classmates to new acquaintances, using it to explain your political ideals, religious belief, and personal life is just not the way to go.
Like most writers, you need to be aware of your audience.
A Beginner's Guide to Snail Mail: How To Get Started
by Tiffany
It's so interesting how certain things in life seem to cycle. In a very digital age, a lot of people are switching back to analog ways of doing things. More people are listening to vinyl records instead of mp3s, and using planners instead of the calendars on their phones, and writing letters instead of text messages and emails. I know, I do all of these things. While the first two are relatively easy to get into, writing letters and mailing it to different people--often complete strangers--and gaining them as pen pals always seem to phase some people I've talked to. I get a lot of messages asking "Do you want to be pen pals?" and to be frank, I can't be pen pals with everyone. Another question--a more important question--that I get all the time is "how do I get a pen pal?" And while it may seem like a tricky things at first, getting strangers to be willing to write to you, it's actually fairly simple and I'm going to explain how.
HOW TO GET STARTED
This always seems tricky to first timers. I know, I was there once. How do you just start writing letters to random strangers? How do you even find random strangers willing to participate in this seemingly random exchange? The task of just finding one person to write to seems daunting in the beginning. Where do you go? How do you start?
Well there are a couple of ways to begin. What I would suggest is for you to get a taste of what it would be like to have a pen pal. Ask yourself, are you ready for that sort of commitment? Can you afford your time and the price of postage to send your letters? I sort of dove right in after a few swaps and realized that writing letters is time consuming and the price of postage can really get expensive when you have a lot of pen pals! But I found my groove and only take on a small number of pen pals at a time, so that I have time and the funds to send mail.
To get a taste though, I suggest trying out a few things. One is Swap-bot. Swap-bot is wonderful for first timers. After joining the site, you are able to participate in various swaps with other people. You can swap just about whatever you want as long as there are others wanting to swap as well. I joined a Pen Pal swap, which partnered me up with two people: one person to send to and one person to send to me. After the swap we were encouraged to continue our correspondence with each of our two new pen pals. And that’s how I gained my first two pen pals.
There are other sites that are similar to Swap-bot. Postcrossing is one of those sites. I haven’t used the site yet, but I have a few pen pals who have used it. You’re basically sending postcards to random people. You sign up and get assigned an address to send a simple postcard. Then someone else receives your address and sends you a card. The process continues as such whenever you want. I think this is another great way to gain a few correspondences or to just get a feel of what it would be like to have a pen pal.
These are for the most part one-time swaps. If you want a long term pen pal, you’ll have to figure out what you want out of it. Are you really going to commit to one, two, five pen pals? Think about it. Set your limits, then post a pen pals wanted ad.
THINGS TO MENTION IN YOUR WANTED AD
What you’re looking for? Include age, gender, location and other various qualities you want in your pen pal.
How often you want to write to each other? Is it weekly, bi-weekly, monthly?
A little about yourself! Include your age, gender, location, some of your interest, etc. Generally you want to find a pen pal with some similar interests to make the first letter a bit easier to write before you get to know each other.
I would suggest including a descriptive list of your likes and dislikes. It gives prospective pen pals an idea of you and what they can possible send you, etc. The more you have in common, the easier it is to connect.
There’s a really big community of snail mailers on Tumblr and Instagram. Utilize these platforms and join in on the discussions there. From experience, everyone is very nice and extremely supportive, and it makes it easier to ask people if they want be your pen pal. I would suggest writing up a Pen Pals Wanted Ad and posting it on Tumblr using the tags “snail mail,” “snail mail revolution,” “pen pals,” “pen pals wanted,” “letters,” etc. Then it’s just a matter of waiting to see if anyone is interested!
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Where did you get that tablet case/organizer in your "Organize Correctly" post?
Hi! The photo is actually from MochiThings.com, but I believe that particular pouch is sold out. You can always check out their other pouches here. Also, I purchased one 6+ months ago through Ebay. These seem to be the only colors available from doing a quick search on Ebay. Oh, I just found them on Fallindesign. Looks like they’re all in stock. The brand is Minibus, the Zoo Soft Multi Pouch, if you want to do a search for yourself. Anyway, I hope this helps! :)
If there was one bit of advice that my mother gave me when I was younger that has resonated within me for years it’s that you only ever need just one good friend in your life. Just one. And I guess I have lived my life by that rule. Since I was a kid I was always alone. I wasn’t a loner, but I didn’t have many friends. Sure in elementary school I was nice and well acquainted with all of my classmates, but there really were only about six of them that I ever invited to my house for play dates. Those were my good friends. At least as good a friend you can have when you’re eight.
In middle school I had even less friends, but I suppose that was because it was in those years where I was able to really begin to pick and choose the individuals that I really wanted to hang out with. I’ve always been a great judge of character. I suppose as a quiet, shy, extremely observant child, I was always able to pick up on little things innate to ones character but rarely–if ever–expressed on first site. I don’t know, I’ve always just called it vibes. I’m really good at picking up on people’s vibes. If I get a really bad or uncomfortable vibe from someone, I generally don’t associate with them much longer after that (course, that’s if it’s in my power to cease all association. Cause sometimes you’re stuck having to be with a person you don’t particularly like for many different reasons that are totally out of your control. In which case, I avoid contact as much as possible, though I’m very subtle about it.) I can always tell if a person will be a good fit for me as a friend.
I’ve always had one very good friend. I suppose you can call them my best friend (though the term is a bit obscure now that I have more than one best friend). But in my school years I’ve always had the one. In high school, that best friend title sort of became obscured. I suppose it was a blessing in disguise.
Middle school was a horrible time for me. Looking back on it, I dislike those three years even more. The program I was in was very cliquey and there was very little diversity amongst the students. I felt sort of like an outsider , an oddball, and I suppose I was. I had two really good friends and a few okay friends, but that was about it. I could count them all on my hands. So naturally, going into high school I just assumed it would be the exact same atmosphere that I left in middle school. But oh how wrong I was.
I had a group of friends in high school–a rather large (by my standards) group of misfits who just liked being in each other’s company. Honestly, I don’t even know how our little group even formed, but it seems so natural now that I’ve learned not to question it. The idea of having just one really good friend sort of morphed into having multiple good friends. Of course, I find myself closer to a few of them more than others, but we’ve all experienced so much with one another that I can honestly say they are like my family. I have eight really close amazing friends (and a few other good friends, but not many) and I’m okay with that number. And I’ll tell you why.
Since the beginning they have never judged me by how I look, speak, act, my sexuality, my religion, anything. I did the same. They simply accepted me for who I am and I accepted them for who they were in turn, and by that we established a mutual understanding of one another. We are just comfortable in each other’s presence and I think that’s a beautiful thing. All of my friends have something in common with each other and then we sort of branch off in our commonness, but we still try to accommodate what each of us enjoy. And while I sometimes think that we as a group have little in common with each other now that we’re a bit older and have new friends and interests, we still have all of these shared experiences and memories that seem to hold the seems of our friendship together. And you know what? We continue to embrace that and create brand new experiences and memories with each other because we all genuinely care for one another. As we change, our friendships change, but for the most part we are still the same group of misfits who just love being in each other’s company.
I wholeheartedly believe that it’s not in the quantity but the quality of your friendships that make them last, and my friendship with all of my friends have just about proven that to me. I’ve known some of these people for over ten years! It’s quite amazing how we are all still friends with one another, me especially since I’m a hermit at heart. But a great friend is someone who’s patient and understanding; someone who thinks of you even when you don’t think they do. Someone who’ll spot you a few bucks when you’re short, or stop by your workplace and wait around until you get off. A great friend is someone who would go to the ends of the world with you and back, someone you’re not afraid of getting lost in a strange city with, or getting stuck walking (or running) through the pouring rain with. Someone who let’s you crash at their place late at night because you forgot or lost your keys and no one’s home, or someone who’ll stay up with you until dawn, just talking about anything and everything with. A great friend is someone your parents genuinely like and always ask you about even if you don’t always have the answers to their questions because you were too busy having fun with them to ask them about how school or work is going for them. A great friend is someone who will dress up with you in fancy clothes for no reason, or cosplay, or sing karaoke for hours with. Someone who you can geek out with over whatever it is you like to geek out over. A great friend is someone who forgives all your mistakes and understands that you are you and there are just some things that don’t change about that, and that’s okay. They still love and support you because they are a great friend.
I love my friends, the small few that I have, and I’m very blessed to have them in my life. And if you have just one great friend, you are blessed too.
I recently had a conversation with someone about the power of positivity. There's no denying that positivity is a key element in completing difficult tasks. Positivity allows for the ability to delve into creative projects and more importantly, to take chances in your daily life. As pessimistic as I am by nature, I find that positivity is a must for surviving finals and overcoming work and life obstacles.
But positivity is not my thing, you might say. I don't know how to be positive.
Negativity can keep you from doing amazing things: not traveling for the fear of the unknown, not seeking new job opportunities for fear of failure, etc. It is positivity - the telling yourself that you can do things you might be afraid of or understanding how much you'll get to experience despite how scary it is to take a chance and delve into the unknown, that allows you to takes chances that will enrich your life and benefit you in the future.
So the next time you feel like you're not going pass your final? Tell yourself that you will if you learn just one more thing. Doing this will allow you to focus better during your studying, will make sure that you ace at least one topic in the exam (be it a specific kind of math question or facts on a specific book), and, if you're the kind of person to really power through during studying, may get you through more material than you had planned!
The next time your job asks a task of you that you're not sure you can complete? Tell yourself you can with some hard work and some assistance from Google. There have been multiple times when I've been asked to tutor in a subject I don't specialize in. I used to freak out. I used to drive myself crazy thinking I might get fired because I didn't know EVERYTHING. Forced positivity allowed me to minimize anxiety, put more time into learning the material, and allowed me to feel proud of myself for being able to get through the material successfully.
And the next time you're thinking of saying no to an experience that scares you (as long as it isn't dangerous and doesn't hurt others)? Do it. Take a chance and experience something new. You'll usually be glad you did.
But as great as the power of positivity is with its far reaching benefits, it also has its downfalls. Too much positivity can lead to stagnation and resting on your laurels. People who are too positive are in danger of accomplishing something and then riding that accomplishment for months or sometimes years.
So what if I got a C- in this one class? I'm doing so much better than two years ago when I failed most of my classes and didn't learn anything.
So what if I'm an adult with a minimum wage job? It's better than when I was an unemployed college student and my parents paid for everything. At least I have a job, even with the economy being bad. And I live with my parents and I don't have many bills to pay anyway. I'm still young. I don't need to worry.
Looking at these situations in a positive light will keep you from dwelling on your failures and encourage you to learn from your mistakes but you don't want to tell yourself that it's okay to be mediocre or to not realize your goals. Instead you want to tell yourself that you'll do better next time and work hard towards those results.
Also, people who are too focused on positivity have a tendency to push aside negative emotions in order to "remain positive". This tendency is unhealthy to your emotional needs and growth and the negative emotions being pushed aside have no outlet or release, resulting in a build up of negative energy that will eventually drain you emotionally and physically before you explode.
In these situations, you should give yourself some time (but not too much time) to mope about your mistakes before looking positively at what your failures have taught you and how you'll respond differently to the same situation in the future.
Harnessing the power of positivity is a balancing act of understanding and accepting your limitations and failures, allowing yourself to mourn and mope about your mistakes, and thinking about making positive changes in order to work hard for the future. So be keep these thoughts in mind and be careful not to fall off the edge.
--> Know your strengths and weaknesses. They’re good to know in general and show self-awareness, which is a trait all employers appreciate. You shouldn't lie about what you're good or bad at but you should know how to showcase your strengths, and how you make up for your weaknesses.
--> Know that while you are in a professional setting during an interview (be it a job interview or an interview to enter some sort of program), an interview at it's core, is a conversation. Make eye contact, be polite, and be professional but also make sure to be genuine. Be your best self. No one wants to hire a robot.
--> Be thorough and specific. A lot of people have a hard time finding a balance with this one. When asked a question you should be specific with your answer but feel you should also have a small list of details in your answer.
--> Always be positive. I'm a pessimist at heart but you would never know it during an interview. I explain my weaknesses as challenges I'm battling to overcome, look at past failures as learning opportunities, and if I mention a problem I have noticed with something (for example with the education system in America), I mention a way to fix it. People respond well to positive energy and will see your positivity as an asset when stress or a complication arises on the job.
--> It's important to talk yourself up and list your accomplishments, but also mention what you can offer your employer. It's great that you have so many strengths and that your resume may list some impressive places of employment but the likelihood is that you're not the only person with an impressive resume and what's going to set you apart is that you have something to offer your organization. So if you're an especially hard worker, are willing to stay late in order to finish a project, or are willing to work from home, mention that to your employer. They'll appreciate that you're taking one for the team and that you're a team player.
--> Know your stuff. If you're interviewing at a specific company, do some research. It's always good to know about the place you're applying for and will show that you have initiative. If you're applying to something more low key, like a tutoring or babysitting position, mention some impressive job skills (CPR certification, what you know about the common core, that fact that you make your own worksheets and lessons plans) that others may not have.
--> Finally, be grateful. Thank your interviewer for their time and tell them to have a great day. Even if you don't get the job, they may remember you and keep you in mind for future employment or refer you to someone else. Every interview is an opportunity to get better until you finally land that job you wanted so appreciate your experiences and opportunities and don't be discouraged by rejection.
So the next time you find yourself being called into an interview, take a deep breathe, follow these suggestions, and remember: being called in for an interview is a GOOD thing, they like you and want to get to know you so if all else fails, BE YOUR SELF, YOUR BEST SELF.
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Why You Should Take a Gap Year and Explore the World
by Tiffany
It’s safe to say that when you’re a kid, your parents told you that you must stay in school, do well and graduate, so that you can go on to a good university and get a college degree. “Education is important!” they said. Well, yes, yes it is. The idea of going to college and furthering your education is great. But having said that, college is not for everyone. I would know. I dropped out of college after my freshman year, and even though I eventually went back (“transferring” to a different school), I can understand those who don’t go to college straight out of high school. To be honest, I wish I took a gap year and actually thought about what I really wanted to do at uni before enrolling and spending a year’s tuition on something that I wasn’t even happy about.
Being “undecided” when you enter university isn’t always a bad thing, but it’s definitely an indicator that you should take some time off and do something else. In my opinion, you should go off and explore the world. Though, that could be taken in many different ways, three ways stand out:
I know a few people who instead of going to school took up a job or some sort of trade and gained work experience. That’s definitely a great way to figure out what it is you would like to do, but most importantly, it helps you figure out what it is you don’t want to do. Knowing beforehand what you don’t want to do is fantastic for trying to decide what you do want to do. The more you know about what you dislike, the better off you are in your journey for trying to figure out what to do with your life. You might even end up with an amazing job and never want to leave. If that happens to you, you my friend are very lucky.
Volunteer! Volunteering is a great way to stick your foot into different jobs without the guilt of quitting after just a few days because you just didn’t like it. You can find volunteer work almost anywhere (people like it when other people want to work for them for free) and if you think working for free seems stupid or a waste of time, head over here and read why it’s not. The best advice I can give you is to look into subjects, places or organizations that interest you and see if they have a volunteer program. You never know what may happen. You just may like volunteering at one place so much, you want to do it again every single year (*cough*BEA*cough*). Or even better, they might like you so much that they end up giving you a full time paid job.
Travel. This is probably the best and most appealing idea ever (and maybe the most expensive, depending how frugal you are) for exploring the world. Being the most literal option, traveling is a great way for you to find out little things about yourself and other people. You end up learning how you adapt to change, how to meet and deal with people of different backgrounds, and definitely how to read a map! It’s the easiest way to learn about different cultures and while super enriching, it’s also just really fun to explore a new place. You make friends from different parts of the world, which is great when you want to visit where they live. Hop around, explore different countries, different cities and towns. Hey you never know, you just might end up really liking one place that you decide to never go home.
Now, I'm not saying you should never go to university because you should. Getting a college education is fundamental nowadays for acquiring an excellent job. Jobs in all fields hold a college education very strongly when deciding on who to hire. But definitely take some time off beforehand to decide what you're interests are. It makes choosing a major a lot easier. Plus, it puts certain things into perspective because you've experienced the "real world." And that's the great thing about university, you can attend whenever you want. College waits for you, the world does not.
I am so glad that I found this magazine! I saw your post on being organized and after that I read the rest of your posts and I love them! You've inspired me for the rest of my evening and possibly my life! In all seriousness, your resources are very helpful and your posts are very informative. Thank you!!
Thank you for reading our magazine and for your sweet comment! You are totally welcome and we're so glad to hear that our posts have inspired you! It's what we aim to do and it makes us so happy to hear that you've been inspired!
So, with the popularity of our “Documenting Your Life” post, I decided to curate a lovely list of journaling classes and workshops that you can participate in to document your summer. I love journaling my summer. For one, it’s convenient because you’re out of school and have more time to do things. For those of you who work, summer just brings a whole different feel. The weather’s nice and people just seem a lot different, a bit more happy, and you tend to spend more time outside because it’s nice. You don’t have to participate in any of these classes this summer—to be honest, you can do them any time during the year—but since summer is around the corner, I thought it might be a fun thing to share.
Classes:
In The Sun by Natalie Malik. This is a series of art journaling classes held in 2011 and 2012 by Natty from Genuine Major. These classes are free to follow on the respective blogs that are up, and you can even download the PDFs of each journal prompt, to do the class offline and at your own pace!
Summer of Love by Kara Haupt. I loved this class when I took it last summer. Unlike In The Sun, Kara’s class is not free. It’s $22 to download a PDF version of the live class that ran last year, but totally worth it. It’s full of art journaling and photography prompts. You even make your own journal from an old hardcover book. But keep an eye out on her website. She might run the class live again this summer!
Play That Song by Kara Haupt. Safe to say that I’m definitely a fan of Kara’s art journaling classes. I own a total of three of them (one of them I won in a giveaway), and even though I originally wasn’t going to include this one on the list, I am for one reason: it’s a great class for some one who wants to begin art journaling. Music is universal and this class is all about using the music you like and listen to, to create great art journal pages. But like Summer of Love, this class is not free. It’s $12.50, but once you buy it, you gain access to the private blog and own the class forever as long as you remember the login password.
30 Days of Lists by Kam and Amy. This is a simple journaling class. It’s essentially making lists. You get a new list prompt each day for a total of 30 days. And even though you are just making lists, a lot of people get super creative with how they document their lists. The workshop is usually $5-10 when they run it live, but you can get the past classes for $5 each. Their first run, March 2011 is actually up for free here. You don’t really have to do these lists during the months they were originally done. Just take out 30 days—any 30 days—and give it a go!
Dreamtastic Creative Journals by Andrea Schroeder. I actually stumbled across this fun little page of self-meditating art journaling prompts from a past Google search. You can access all the prompts right on that page and she even includes wonderful videos to follow along. 30 lovely prompts and videos for 30 days to help you learn about yourself and your dreams, you can do this all at your own pace and it’s all for free!
52 Weeks of Art Journaling by Rachel Denbow and A Beautiful Mess. I have not taken this class yet, but I did take its predecessor, Art Journal All Year, which is no longer available. I really enjoyed it and find myself going back to it whenever I need some inspiration or want to try a technique that I hadn’t tried yet. They’re both the same class, except this new one, 52 Weeks of Art Journaling has some new journaling prompts and techniques. As with Summer of Love, this class isn’t free. It’s actually one of the more pricey ones on this list, at $34. Yet, once you purchase the class, you have access to it forever.
Class and Workshops from Two Peas in a Bucket. If you’re more interested in scrapbooking, scrapbook site Two Peas has an excellent archive of current and past classes and workshops that you can explore. There are a TON of free classes that you can follow, some paid workshops and tons of videos that are free to watch and follow. Honestly, you could spend hours sifting through all of the content here, gaining so much inspiration and learning a technique or two.
Resources:
Art Journal Everyday from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. This is basically a free art journaling resource. There are plenty of tips and tricks on how to start and keep a daily art journal. Great if you want to start a journal but want to do your own thing without taking a class.
Keeping your Visual Journal This is just a page on why some people keep visual journals. It’s a great resource if you’re struggling with starting or just wondering why you should start a journal.
1. You have to make time or you'll keep putting it off forever. Pick a time that you can write every day and stick to it. Find a way to make it a part of your routine.
2. When you do make time for it, try to follow some sort of structure instead of just meandering in words. Sometimes, writing nonsense is unavoidable but don't just type to fill up your writing time. Make an effort to progress your story, to get to know your characters, or get out a few scenes that have been playing in your head (even if it's out of order with where you are in the narrative).
3. Don't edit while you write if you can avoid it. This is one of the things I have the most trouble with. I spend a lot of time feeling like I'm a better editor than a writer and have a hard time getting anything down on paper because I'm editing so much in my head. Get out of that mind space and set word count goals for yourself before you edit your work.
Recently I've been using sites like http://www.finaldeadline.co.uk/index.php and http://ilys.com/ to keep me from editing while I write. They are great tools for writers who want to force themselves to get more down on paper.
The final deadline offers an array of different features. It lets you set up a project with a desired word count in a specific amount of time and tells you how many words a day are necessary for you to reach your goal. It offers "everything from organisational tools to character development exercises, to extreme incentivising measures - and we're adding new tools all the time". I find that the tools are very useful and kind of remind me of an on crack all year round version of nanowrimo.
Ilys on the other hand, has a much more basic layout. You literally put in a word count and the site does not allow you to edit at all until you reach your goal word count. At first it can be a bit disorienting as you only see what you're typing letter by letter as opposed to seeing what you're writing in a text box but it really forces you to clear your mind and just go where the narrative takes you. People find that they can get 1,000 words or more written by using ilys.com without all of the sweat, tears, and frustration of staring at a blank Microsoft Word screen.
I highly recommend both sites.
4. Be organized. This can be tough. So many of my notes are scrawled across several different notebooks that when I remember a brilliant idea I had three months ago, I have to spend 20 minutes hunting down the correct notebook to flesh out the idea. Keeping everything in the same place will keep you from treasure hunting for past work, or losing it altogether.
Some people use Author's Bibles - binders with different sections such as characters, settings, scenes, etc. But I find that as I change my mind, I have a hard time keeping track of all that paper and how to organize it. So I've taken to using websites and apps to do my organizing for me.
Evernote (https://evernote.com/) has been a great place to jot down random ideas and scenes. With tags and notebooks to keep me organized, it's become much easier to find everything when I need it.
Recently I've also been using A Novel Idea, an IOS app for writers that breaks writing up into novels and other specific categories such as scenes, characters, settings, etc. It's a great way to have a organized account of detail information about your writing.
5. Finally, share your work. I stopped doing this a few months ago because honestly, I had nothing to share but having people ask me about my writing is a surefire way to make sure I keep writing. Not only is it good motivation to have others read your work, but it's also a great way to get constructive criticism about what is and isn't working in your piece. It also forces you to admit that as hard as you've worked, there's always more editing and more story boarding you could be doing in order to explain details better, erase plot holes, and get a better general flow to your story.
So if you're thinking of getting on with the novel you've been meaning to write, try some of these tips and resources and let me know what works for you.
Keep calm and write on,
Reese
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Teen movies are the greatest guilty pleasures in all the world. Each generation has it’s own batch of movies and the 1980s probably has some of the best and most classic teens movies around. The best ones are honest and true. If you haven’t seen a handful of these films, here’s a list of the most prominent ones to get you started!
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