Let me tell you a little story. It goes like this: I used to have a blog called Its My Time to Write. I started it almost two years ago as a way to carve out time for myself to do what I love – write. But life got in the way and I never got serious about it, even though that was my intention. Then my site got hacked. My little blog with very little traffic got hacked and torn to shreds. Who knows why. I wanted to cry. I wanted to give up. But instead, I took it as an opportunity to start over. And Shannon Morgan Creative was conceived. Over the last few months, I’ve been working with 107 Designs to move the content from my old site over and redesign the new site (the redesign is coming and its going to be FABULOUS). During the same time, I formed an accountability partnership with Liza at (a)Musing Foodie and she suggested I check out Tots2Tweens, a local resource for all things fun for kids and families like birthday parties, summer camps, and cool events (check out … [Read more...]
How The Tots2Tweens Blog Awesome Challenge Changed My Blog For The Better
5 Reasons to Attend Eat Write Retreat This Year
Last year, I had the incredible opportunity to attend Eat Write Retreat in Washington DC for free as a volunteer. Unfortunately, I had to back out a few months before because of pregnancy complications. So instead, I watched the hashtag (#EWR12 this year) and read all the amazing post-conference blogs and really wished I had been there. Well, not this year. Nope. This year, I will be there, thanks to Robyn and Casey asking me to volunteer again. And I’d like you to join me. Here’s why: Networking Networking Networking The number one benefit I read over and over again last year was about the connections made at the conference. Blogger after blogger wrote about making great friends and really connecting with the other attendees. This is a small, intimate conference that is conducive to building lasting relationships. And there are opportunities throughout the weekend to connect with “the pros” – they’ll be dining beside you, not just talking at you. Food Styling & … [Read more...]
Why Writing is Like Running
I haven’t posted in a while because my site was down and I wasn’t sure how to fix it (thank you DreamHost for coming to my rescue). I have been writing in my head, though, so look out for a slew of posts to come, hopefully, more regularly. Yesterday, as I was driving, I had an epiphany as to why I haven’t written a novel yet. Writing a novel is like running a marathon – it takes a good chunk of time to get from the start to the finish. I doubt I’m the first person to come up with this analogy but it was an a-ha moment for me. I have no desire to run a marathon but, if I did, I would train. Training builds strength and endurance and requires discipline. So maybe I should apply that same concept to writing. What if I adapted a marathon training schedule to writing? I could replace miles with minutes. Over the course of several weeks, I’d dedicate a few days to writing, gradually increasing the amount of time spent until I produce a novel. Here’s the Novel Writing Training Schedule I … [Read more...]
NaNoWriMo 2011
It’s November and that means its National Novel Writing Month. The challenge is to write a 50K word novel in 30 days. I attempted it for the first time last year and failed. I only managed to write 5K words. I want to try again but not this year. Its just not feasible with an infant. I was going to devote these 30 days to writing an e-book about food allergies. Instead, I’m going to give myself six months and publish it in time for Food Allergy Awareness Week. And now that I’ve announced that on my blog, I guess that means I have to commit to it. : ) Wish me luck! … [Read more...]
National Writing Day
Apparently, October 20 is National Writing Day. Who knew? You’d think I would. So, in honor of this day, here’s a post I wrote awhile ago about why I write. Still holds true. Enjoy. What have you written today? … [Read more...]
