I’m scared and excited this week to participate in my very first Blog Hop. Excited because I was invited by Sophie at The Mother Load. Sophie’s twice award-nominated blog is beautifully presented and she’s a wonderful writer, incredibly open and generous about her thoughts on life and is reflective, intelligent and honest in her writing. You should definitely check out Sophie’s post here.
Scared because the subject of this blog hop is a look into the writing process and how we go about it. I also get to nominate four other people to take part and discover wonderful insights into how they attack the blank screen when writing their posts.
But, are you sure you want to go down this rabbit hole? Even I’m afraid to travel deep down into my own mind without some kind of life insurance cover to see how it all works. It’s no Willy Wonka factory, let me tell you. More like if Willy Wonka was on crack and Albert Einstein on LSD and their lucid dreamings crossed streams and melded into a menagerie cloud baby that joined forces with a robot from the 12th dimension in a nice tailored suit, and was refused entry to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party because he wanted to bring along his own boom-box with a mixed tape of his favourite 80’s songs. Then my mind…would live next to THAT guy.
So, if we’re going to do this, you’ll need a few things. A machete to cut through all the bullsh*t, a sieve to sift through all the weirdness, an organ donor card, a permission slip from a Parent/Guardian, please inform a loved one of your whereabouts in case of emergency, keep your hands and head inside the vehicle at all times (there’s so many ideas flying around in here you’re likely to get something cut off if you aren’t careful), and leave your GPS at home because you’ll get no signal in here, my friend.
Okay then, let’s go!
Firstly, A Bit of Background…
I started telling stories in a funny way when I was a kid. I created my own comic strips and my first job was as a cartoonist for our local paper. As an adult, I’ve written TV pilots, feature films, sketch comedy, standup comedy and recently turned to blogging when Mumma fell pregnant a couple years ago. All because I asked my parents what they could remember about what I was like as a kid and how they felt about being parents, I thought blogging would be a perfect way to reflect back on my actual thoughts and experiences through words, pictures and videos that my kids could access years into the future when they ask me the same question.
What Am I Working On?
Currently, I’m working on getting this piece of chicken out from between my teeth with the corner of a teabag tag. You kind of have to get it on the first go before the paper tag gets soggy, then you have no chance at all. Other than that, I’m working on…this article (duh!) Also, I’m getting a vasectomy this week (I think that’s an Italian Sports Car), so there’s that to look forward to. Plus, I’m going back to uni for the next two years doing the Advanced Diploma of Professional Screenwriting.
How Does My Writing Differ From Others In My Genre?
I never lie. Everything I write about is 113% accurate and true as it really happened, except for the bits that I write using actual ‘words’. This first and foremost is a comedy blog. I like to write about real things, thoughts and experiences that actually happen but in a funny and entertaining way. There’s plenty of other blogs out there that talk about life, parenting, ‘plushies’ (whatever they are) in a serious and informative way. But if you want to laugh, relate and be informed in an entertaining way, then have I got the blog for you. (Mine…I mean…this one. You got that, right?) I prefer my own genre. A mix of both Information and Entertainment. What I like to call…Info-mation-tain-ment-ohh?
Why Do I Write What I Do?
Life can get pretty serious at times and you only have to watch or read the news to see just how seriously people can take it. Well, I had a heart attack when I was 27 years old. Pretty serious, right? But it was the best thing that ever happened to me because I realised that at any moment, it can all be over. All that worry, stress, frowny-face, I’m a serious…’serious person’ and you should take what I say seriously, is all for what? Who wants to waste whatever time they have being ‘serious’? Seriously! I write what I do, in the way that I do because I want my own experience of myself and other people’s experience of interacting with me, to feel relaxed and entertained and be remembered with smiles, laughs and a cheeky wink 😉
How Does Your Writing Process Work?
Jaffas…lots of jaffas. Plus, if I get an idea for something whether it be a subject, a title, a phrase or whatever, I jot it down in my Notes App on my phone or I’ll quickly add it to a quick draft post on my blog. Then I come back to it later on and think, what the hell does that mean? That doesn’t even make any sense? If I’m inspired by something, the writing comes easy, if it’s not, I forge ahead with procrastination. Usually I start and finish an article on different months days. I write in bits and pieces because I look after Indy during the day. Best times to watch YouTube write my articles are during his midday nap and on the weekends, when Mumma takes him to Granny’s in the mornings. Sometimes I start on my iPad and finish on my computer or the other way around. Sometimes I write a serious article, then go back through it to funny-it-up. Generally I get Mumma to read it before I publish it, especially if she makes a cameo in the article. Just so I don’t end up with a home-vasectomy in my sleep. Although, driving round in a home-made Italian Sports Car does seem appealing.
Phew, looks like we survived and made it out with little or no casualties or minor scarring to our psyche. Except for that one guy who was one day off retirement and was getting ‘too old for this sh*t’. He will be missed, but on the plus side…hey, I’ve got a new gold watch!
Before we part ways, I invite you to check out these four amazing bloggers who I greatly admire for their bravery, honesty and humour that I thoroughly recommend for your eye-viewing pleasure…
Lisa from Cut My Milk
Once upon a time, I was known as Lisa. I was a teacher of the deaf traveling from school to school in suburban Melbourne supporting children with hearing impairments in their classrooms. Now, I am known as Mum, Mummy or OhMyGodYou’reSoEmbarrassing to a 14 year old male mood, a 13 year old female shopaholic, two 5 year old girl cyclones and a very cute, very spoilt, 2 year old blonde bombshell. I began Cut My Milk a few years ago because I could no longer afford therapy (true story), to share my experience of living with depression & food addiction, and hopefully reach out to some people who need to know they are not alone. My journey is a work-in-progress of imperfect parenting, humour, sarcasm and overexposed honesty.
Rory from Memoirs Of The Mind
This blog is a journey. It is a person’s life. It is not about 5 tips for this or 10 tips for that. It is not about perfection. It is about imperfection. It is about struggle. It is about first world problems, first world successes. It is about every day highs and lows. It is a quest for understanding. It is a search for acceptance. It is a wallow in self-pity or an inspiration for those whom it might inspire. There is a story here. There is a story in every human life. So many of which are left untold. And at the end of the day that’s what I am. I am human. I make mistakes. I love, laugh, cry, judge, hurt, dream. I pray, hate, succeed, fail, dance, hide. I strain. I struggle, fight, play, fall, get up, run, walk, stumble, crawl. And someday, I will die. I soldier on in the greatest marathon of all. The marathon of life. A marathon run by countless billions. A marathon which no one has ever failed to finish. This is a record of my marathon. It is a human account. I hope that you might join me in my journey. Because truly, as human beings, we are already all in this together.
Chubba from Tacklenappy
I am a dad struggling to juggle 3 kids under 4 and my preoccupation with teaching them dad jokes.
My 3 loves are my kids, the demons and writing my blog www.tacklenappy.com not always in that order.
Blog wise I write about the trials and tribulations of… oh hang on I actually write about poo, crying and spew and that’s just the posts about myself.
Seamus from Dadinating The Country Side
Seamus is a father of 2, husband of one and a high school teacher of dozens. He is also a tree changer living in Central Victoria, a geek, ancient literature buff and a try-hard greenie. Seamus writes about life the universe and everything. That means he writes about how he stumbles his way blindly through being a parent and being an adult. His blog is about coping with kids, making some sense of the chaos and about trying to live well. He covers topics from sustainability to cat pee, but mostly writes about how amazing he finds his babies. He also deludes himself into thinking an almost 3 year old is still a baby.
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