Getting In The Habit + 101 Challenge 1

I have lots of habits to get into, both as a person and a writer…But at least for now, this is meant to be a writing blog. So, I’m going to share some of my habits I’m trying to make in my writing life.

1. I want to get into the habit of posting in this regularly. As such, I’ve looking at a list of 101 posts for writers to blog that a new friend shared with me. You can see what to expect in upcoming posts here.
2. I’ve been researching different methods of outlining, as you may recall! I’ve officially started outlining for Camp NaNo today…and I plan to work on outlining every story I can from now on, so that I don’t hit my constant ruts I seem to find myself in because of characters forgetting what the task was. I usually give them nearly full free-reign, but not anymore! Or so is the plan, at least.
3. I hope to use my new vocabulary (I get a new word a day in my email) more often! Some words I can’t necessarily find a use for, but if nothing else, I’ll start writing poems using them to try to get in the habit of using them and not just forgetting about them.

I have other artistic goals and such, but these are the primary writing habits I plan on working on. I’ll share more about my goals every so often as they come up.

Now, as I noted in the title…Today’s post will also mark my first entry as part of the 101 things to blog challenge of sorts I’m going to push on myself (I admit, ‘every day’ may be difficult if I don’t get to my computer…But at least four or five a week? We’ll see! At least I won’t run out to soon!).

TODAY’S PROMPT: What is your favorite quote and why?

I think my favorite quote, from my personal life at least, is “Everyone is born for a reason, and for someone.” It’s something my parents instilled in me heavily as a child, and it can be very useful in writing too if I remember why even a minor character was created. They really have a reason after all! “That character walking down the street is a witness to the main character doing something weird at a storefront, for example.” Even a small part that won’t get named has a purpose. Just like I’m sure I do.

SITE UPDATES:

I got input about my site by a fellow blogger recently, and they noted a few things that might help the site. One such thing is to rename the contact page to the more common “Contact” as opposed to what I have it as: “On the Web”. I was also told it would be better to put social links on every page, not just that page.

However, that leaves me with a dilemma. If you take a look at my contact page, you’ll see some links for where I’m published that aren’t exactly social media. Would those make sense as Sites to See related? But that’s meant for sites of others that I think would interest people, not really self-centric. If my lovely readers could give me input on the following, it’d be great help! You can react in the comments or contact me otherwise through the “On the Web” page:

1. What should I call my contact page? (should I keep it as “On the Web”? “Contact Jaluna”? Or should I make it something unique but not part of that list? Share your thoughts!)
2. If I were to put social links on every page as part of a menu, what should I do with the sites I’m published on? Include them in the social links menu? And should I make the links have buttons I made, or not?
3. I just want your general thoughts on themed days. Today’s Thursday, for example. A lot of people use it as a ‘throwback’ day (not that I have anything to do for that anyway). Do you like themed days on blogs? If so, any ideas? I have some concepts I thought of, but I’m not sure the general idea serves enough purpose.

Here’s wishing you a great day!