Tag: December

Writing is Hard | WIP Update | December 2022 | Happy Holidays!

~ Jai Lynn ~ 9 Comments

Previous Post: Writing is Hard | WIP Update | November 2022 | Wondering…

IT’S DECEMBER!!!!

If my previous enthusiasm wasn’t enough haha allow me to explain. December is one of my favorite months of the year. One reason is because the holidays are coming! Which means I get to celebrate and see my loved ones and eat delicious food and delicious leftovers haha 🙂 And the other reason is because December is a month of closure. Another year is in the books and we survived and learned and grew. 2022 was one of the best and one of the hardest years of my life and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

This year I left one job and started another, and it’s going extremely well! I started running a few times a week and I love the change I am seeing in my mood, body and overall mindset. I eat a lot healthier than I used to and feel fueled up for all the things I want to do. I am actively playing my violin again and it is hard but so, so rewarding. I’m learning Italian in my free time because I want to go back to Italy someday. I feel very grateful to have my family, boyfriend, friends and my puppy all in my life for how much support and love they show me.

Andddddddd I’m fitting writing more into my routine and it makes me feel so fulfilled! I have retained a much healthier mindset with regards to writing this year and, as I’ve mentioned before, I am writing The Lowell Saga for me and me alone. To finish it is the goal and where all my happiness lies and if it were to be published one day that would be a wonderful bonus. So let’s get into how that is going, shall we?

I crave an obsession.

And by obsession what I am referring to is that childhood feeling you might get when a new Pokemon game comes out and all you want to do is sit there and play play play. Or when the next Shadowhunters book by Cassandra Clare comes out and you spend the next three days spending all your free time turning page after page. That’s the kind of obsession I crave. I want to be totally consumed by something. Well, there is something specific I have in mind to be honest.

And it has happened before, so I am trying to manifest it again.

I want to be immersed in creativity again and have my new obsession be writing. Surprise, surprise. When I was in high school I remember coming home, after finishing my homework of course lol, and spending my night consumed with writing. Mostly fanfics, but then I deviated to my own original creations. Some! Of! Which! Appear in The Lowell Saga.

So basically, I want my 2023 to be a writing obsession.

Editing The Lowell Saga has slowed down this month because I’ve started a new job. But! After reading many books about habits, and time management and blah blah blah I am working on creating a new routine that will make it impossible not to write. And still live my best life.

I wish I had more for you guys in terms of an update but what I can say is that I am plugging along chapter by chapter trying to make it the best it can be. So far I am editing Chapter 2. I already have edited the Prologue and created a better opening for Chapter 1 to have an easier introduction into the world instead of what I had before so, slowly but surely, I am making progress. Hopefully in January I will have more.

My resolutions for the new year are as follows:
1. Creating my new, productive routine
2. Writing
3. Saving up some $$$$

What are some of your resolutions for the new year dear readers?

Happy holidays everyone!! And Happy New Year to those of you who are celebrating!!

Till next month,

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(Currently still revising the first draft of TLS…..)

Snapshot 12/31/20 // “The End.”

~ Jai Lynn ~ 3 Comments

Currently listening: “champagne problems” – Taylor Swift
Currently watching: 90 Day Fiancé S2
Currently playing: Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Currently reading: __________________________

I don’t remember much of December TBH. After the busy bee I was in November I took the time to relax and chill in December. I didn’t post as much as I usually do, since I didn’t have a discussion post this month or a writing update, and I took some time away from my WIP to clear my head a little bit in order to tackle it again in January with fresh eyes.

Christmas wasn’t the same this year. Last year was a bad Christmas and who would have known it could be worse. A lot of little things just adding up (we even lost power on Christmas morning) but I KNOW next year will be better. I KNOW IT, I SWEAR. Things happen for a reason. So, I’m going to just sit year till the new year indulging in laziness, anime and the entire plate of brownies my Grandma made for me. Cin, cin!!

December Goals:

  1. Continue researching, world building, prewriting, plotting, outlining & WRITING my WIP! Check, I did do a little bit!
  2. Become more interactive on social media! Check… I did a little bit, I swear. My handle is @jaiiiilynn4 for both Insta and Twitter if you want to connect!
  3. Continue making submissions with my writing! No check, but I expected as much.

January (the month where 2020 was just a nightmare and now we are awake again) Goals:
(AKA my 2021 resolutions in general)

  1. Be healthier! In everything… honestly I have been garbage since Christmas. I’ll get back to doing my yoga in the morning, exercising at least three times a week, eating vegetables lol, positive thinking and leaving the old behind to move on to better things.
  2. Write! My WIP draft for The Lowell Sage is halfway done (and that is better than never started) and into 2021 I will keep writing. No deadlines, just keep going. Every year I keep getting closer.
  3. Get a tattoo! I wasn’t able to get my 2020 tattoo because of a global pandemic. So, dammit, this pandemic better be over so I can get it in 2021.

What I Read:

  • The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I was enthralled by this book. So much so I read it slowly and savored every damn chapter. Honestly. I started this around the beginning of November and finished it mid-December. That’s a long time for me to be continuously and consciously reading a book. The story is basically a love letter to readers and writers alike. It’s deep, touching, and resonating. That being said the story may not be for everyone, especially those who don’t like slower paced novels. But I’m also going to say it’s a beautiful book and I love love love love it so much. 5 STARS BABYYYYYY! All the way. I can’t. So many feelings and I just love Erin Morgenstern so much. So if you are a reader or a storyteller go read this book! I’m not going to spoil anything, just enjoy it 😉
  • ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. It was a good book. But, though I do appreciate Steven King, his writing style isn’t for me. It was a great story, realistic. I wasn’t scared per say but I enjoyed what I did read. It’s perfect reading for the fall and very outside of the usual genres I read. But I can see why it is a classic. I don’t think I’ll read it again but I am glad I read it. 
  • The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur. I honestly have so many post it notes sticking out of this book. So many of the poems are so good, and healthy, and just give off all the vibes we need to hear and know. If you are looking for relatable, healthy and contemporary poetry pick this up right now.

What I’ll Be Writing:

  • Poetry- posted every Wednesday
  • Writing Is Hard | WIP Writing Update- posted in the middle of the month
  • Snapshot! Monthly Recap- posted the last day of every month
  • Announcements- posted as needed

If you want more information about any of the above, you can check out the About page on my site or just click here.

My Round Up of December Posts:

I learned and did a lot in 2020. I grew so much and learned so much about myself. I’m taking all of it and throwing myself into 2021. Throwing. Myself. Full force.

Down with 2020. Up with 2021! Be on the look out for some changes to the blog in the coming month. Jai is getting her shit together lol, haha! 😀

What are your resolutions for the new year?

2021 can be about making all the changes you want to become the best you. Together let’s stick to them to make this a much better year. This is the beginning. Make it count.

Till next time,

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Vignette #36 “This Christmas”

~ Jai Lynn ~ 11 Comments

Christmas won’t be the same this year.

The thought is visible in the smaller tree in her living room. There was a time when the pine tree had stood ten feet high adorned with garland and popcorn trimmed all around its edges. Ornaments of all sizes and shapes would be strung out around its branches. The lights would change from pure white to multicolored and back in blinks of time. Now her tree is only 5 feet. There is no garland. There are no lights. Just one single ornament she found lying in an old drawer, by chance, to put on.

There are no presents under the tree. In random and rushed trips to the post office everything had been mailed weeks ago. She still isn’t sure if some of the presents reached their recipients. She hopes they did. The only thing left under the tree now is a snow white cat, sleeping soundly.

There is no music playing this Christmas Eve. The house is quiet, so quiet that even a mouse stirring would jar her enough to make her jump. There is nothing baking in the oven. Only take out containers in the kitchen garbage.

She nurses her second cup of egg nog. It’s really more rum than cream but there is no one around to argue with her. No uncles telling her jokes. No aunts wrapping her in warm hugs. No cousins to jump around and make fools of themselves with. No brother to even tease and laugh with like every other year past.

Christmas won’t be the same this year. She takes another sip of her drink.

But there is still hope, she tells herself as she looks at the empty fireplace. A year from now she will buy a fifteen foot tree, even if it doesn’t fit in her house, and she’ll throw every string of light she owns around its edges. Not an inch of pine will be left uncovered as she’ll drag the ornaments down from the attic by herself if she has to. All year she’ll save up and use wily ways to figure out what everyone on her list wants as a gift. That fifteen foot tree will be too small to hold everything she’ll find. The music will be as loud and roaring as the fireplace, and the whole house will smell of hints of garlic, drops of lemon and eventually sugar cookies.

She puts down her drink.

Good things are worth waiting for. Next year, she knows, will be the most magical Christmas yet.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

©2021 Jai Lynn

This post “This Christmas” appeared first on Jai Lynn.

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Snapshot 12/31/19 // Learning From the Risks and Rewards of 2019, and Anticipating the Roaring 20’s Ahead

~ Jai Lynn ~ 7 Comments

Currently listening: “Meet Me In the Woods“- Lord Huron /
“New Year’s Day“- Taylor Swift
Currently watching: The Office S3/ Shameless S4
Currently playing: Sims 4
Will be (re)reading: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2019 is over.

It was a terrible, wonderful, weird and life changing year. I switched jobs, got super sick, then got super healthy, and grew a lot (A LOT) I believe as a person in 2019. I certainly feel different at least. December was a culmination of everything 2019 was: terrible, wonderful, weird and life changing. Let’s take a look at those goals shall we?

December Goals:

  1. Research, research, research! Check. I didn’t do an enormous amount on my WIP but I did a decent job (which will continue into the new year…. spoiler alert lol).
  2. Post 2 Living Life vignettes this month. Check.
  3. Redesign my website a bit. Check. I did a little of this and am going to be laying it out in January so be on the look out for some changes to my blog!
  4. Play my violin more. Check, check! I played more than I did in November!

So overall December was very successful! 2019, though challenging, was also kinda… fun. I risked and (thankfully) was rewarded. I met a lot of new people, learned a lot of new things, and discovered a lot about myself. Now let us head into 2020….

2020 Goals Heading into January (aka the ROARING 20’S ARE BACK BABY):

  1. Research, research, research! Again I’m putting this one on because this month I intend to finish all. the. research. for that pesky WIP. That way I can move onto outlining, and then finally WRITING. The BEST (and hardest) part. This baby step will help me to reach one of my ultimate 2020 resolutions to FINALLY finish that first draft.
  2. Plan a steadier posting schedule! That way I can get a routine down for myself and for all the lovely viewers out there kind enough to listen to my rambles and read my stories.
  3. Enact redesigning the site! I’ve planned, and I’ve got some more planning to do but I hope to show the changes by the end of this January.

Christmas has come and gone.
My food coma is growing strong.
Cleaning up my room is taking too long.
BUT, all is okay.

I got to see the Rockefeller Christmas Tree (which was wonderful and brought me so much joy) AND the new Little Women movie all in the same month. Just a small PSA. EVERYONE NEEDS TO SEE THIS MOVIE. IT IS BEYOND AMAZING AND I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT.

Okay I’m done. But really you need to go see it. Now.

What I Read:

–Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. What can I say about this book. That it ruined romance for me? Yes, because no boy alive can compare to Will Herondale or James Carstairs. Not to mention that Tessa is just so relatable. I love this book. I will love this series till the day I die. It mesmerized me for years, ever since the summer before I started college when I first read Clockwork Angel. It shaped a lot of who I became, and it always seemed to fit with whatever was going on with my life at the time. Will loved to read, Jem loved the violin, Charlotte reminded me of my Aunt, Henry my Uncle. It got me through so many hard times. This series is one of my tops and though I enjoy a lot of books not many make it to the top. I love it so much I think I won’t read it again for a very long time. That way it will sort of seem like new again.
–One Day in December by Josie Silver. Fun, romantic read that I enjoyed. Definitely more of an adult book, and not very young adult. Modern, contemporary story about love at first sight and fate and chances taken and chances NOT taken. It did lag though at some points but it always picked up. Reminded me of the play If/Then with Idina Menzel that I was fortunate enough to see. It also reminded me of Sleepless in Seattle a bit at the end with the (SPOILERS) radio and Laurie calling in to speak to Jack. Everyone knows a person like Sarah who is stardust incarnate. Jack was agreeable. Laurie was very relatable, quiet and just trying to get through life like the rest of us. Enjoyed it very much though. Not gonna lie I also really liked Oscar, and his whole personality and spiel. Recommend if your looking for a December romance read.
–The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann with illustrations by Sanna Annukka: A classic, I’ve wanted to read this story for years because every Christmas I always watch the ballet on Youtube so I wanted to know where the original story originated from. Not disappointed. I really enjoyed it, and it is very much a fairytale. Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson vibes. I am going to try to integrate it as a book to reread every year. PICTURES IN THIS EDITION ARE GORGEOUS. Overall, it is a quick, lovely Christmas read.
–The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo is one I’m sorta reading right now. Here and there. I’m enjoying it! It is inspiring me to clean my room…

Aaaaand drumroll please…… tomorrow I will be starting my reread of….

oh yessssss THE GREAT GATSBY! I’m so excited. It is finally the return of the Roaring 20’s!!!!!

What I’ll Be Writing:

  • Living Life vignettes
  • (moody) Poetry
  • Monthly Snapshot! post
  • and who knows… maybe some surprises?

My Round Up of December Posts:

Alright 2020… I think I’m ready. Bring on the downs, the ups and all the screams of fear and excitement for the roller coaster ride you’ll be. I’m ready to ride.

What are some of your resolutions this year? I’d love to talk in the comments!

Till next time,