Creatively Flexing My Muscles

This week on the podcast we talked about taking our crafts when we travel. I have to admit, I’m a proCRAFTinator. I just made that word up. I honestly don’t normally craft when I travel. Last summer, when I went to New Orleans, I took my craft bag with me on the trip and didn’t open it once. That being said, I do take some sort of craft when I travel…and that means across town as well.

I am a beast of burden. I carry my backpack with me everywhere, and in that backpack, I may as well have bricks for all the use its contents do for me when I travel. Every day to work I carry my backpack full of crafty things and occasionally I will carry my craft bag with me as well. In my backpack, I have practical things that I need for work such as my laptop and planner but I also have a plethora of other things I carry with me that I don’t necessarily use but hope for a fleeting moment of free time to get a little craft in.

Crafty things I always have on me:

• All three sets of my pens: In my backpack, I carry three sets of pens in three different pen bags in case I need them. I carry my gel pens (Papermate™ and Pilot™) in case I want to write something down in my APN (all-purpose notebook) in many different colors. I carry my flair pens because sometimes you need a bit of flair instead of gel. I also have my Sharpie™ pens because they can be used for a completely different purpose than my other two sets of pens.
• Scissors and glue: You never know when you need to cut or glue something. If I remove either of these things from my backpack, I always find an occasion when I should have had them.
• My list journal: This is a given. My list journal is one of my current projects that I am always working on. I carry it with me if I get to add to it. I also use all three sets of my pens in this journal. I mentioned this list journal on our “Current Projects” podcast.
• My art journal and pastels: I usually carry my art journal with me as well, and if it is not in my backpack, it is in my car. I don’t use this journal regularly, but it is always nice to have it when I get the inspiration to draw or collage (this is where the scissors and glue come in).
• My All-Purpose Notebook: I carry this with me everywhere. Other than my planner and gel pens, this is the one thing I carry with me consistently. I started keeping an APN when I was in middle school but I started carrying it with me everywhere when I was in high school. The full ones are dated, numbered, and cataloged on my bookshelf.
• My Happy Planner™: This is where I do all of my planning. I mentioned my planner and how it transformed my life on my Day Planners blog back in April. I carry my planner with me everywhere and I keep everything I do not keep in my APN in my planner such as my daily activities, my classroom activities, and my grocery lists.  Sometimes I have things in both.

Other things I carry with me everywhere:

• A book: I always have a book in my purse.
• Crossword puzzles: I always have my ColorCross™ book with me.

My takeaway is that you don’t always have time to craft when you travel, but, I have the things I enjoy with me in my bag in case I get those little stolen moments to craft (or read). I want to hear from our readers. What do you take with you for your downtime when you travel? Let’s continue the conversation below or on our Facebook Group: MMC Chat.

National Novel Writing Month

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope our readers have safe Halloween plans for this evening. Today, I dressed up as a literary character for my school’s spooky celebrations; I am dressed up as Elphaba from the book and musical Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. The novel is a reimagining of the Wicked Witch of the West character in Frank L. Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Speaking of novels, this week on the podcast we are talking about National Novel Writing Month, which begins on November first. As a writer, National Novel Writing Month is one of my favorite writing “holidays.” Sure, other cool things happen in November (such as Thanksgiving and my birthday), but this time of year always makes me inspired to sit down and write! Getting the motivation to do it is another story.

What is National Novel Writing Month? According to NaNoWriMo, a nonprofit dedicated to helping struggling writers and education programs, National Novel Writing Month started in 1999 as a challenge to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. As of last year, the writing event spans 671 regions and hosts 427, 653 participants. NaNoWriMo even has a Young Writer’s program for students and educators. 

Popular novels that have spawned from National Novel Writing Month:

• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer

This year, I hope to participate in the event myself. I try every year, but I never complete 50,000 words and sometimes I don’t complete one word. So, I’m going to start small and write a short story. That’s not hard, right? I think the biggest problem for me is getting started, the result, when I write, is always so satisfying. 

So, I am issuing a challenge to our readers and my co-hosts, and I will also be issuing this challenge in my classroom: start small and write one short story (at least a page in length) that has an element of Magical Realism. What is Magical Realism? It is a style of fiction that depicts a realistic view of the world but adds magical elements. Magical realism often crosses the lines between fantasy and reality.

I want to hear from our readers. Do you participate in National Novel Writing Month? Do you complete the challenge? What other writing challenges do you participate in? Let’s continue the conversation below.