Hello, and happy Tuesday to you all!
As I approach my two month anniversary of blogging (thank you, thank you very much) I am learning so many awesome things from the different blogs that I read and from the great people that interact with me through commenting on my posts! I think my biggest surprise is that there are so many young bloggers on here– a lot of high school and college kids. I find that interesting because when I was that age I could barely muster up the energy to make it to school on time. Kudos to you all. I am in awe of the energy you all seem to have!
While writing has really made me a happier person (really, I had a co-worker tell me it’s like I have come alive) it has also made me a much fatter person. All of the workouts I used to do to maintain my Winnie-the-Pooh like physique have been replaced with two hour reading/writing sessions while in the company of whatever sugary cereal is left in the cabinet (that I can quietly bogart from my son). Now I am inching towards a Jabba the Hutt like body type and it is really pissing me off. But I just can’t quit this writing thing. Even when I am staring at the screen with nothing to write, I will just sit there and be jealous over whatever everyone else is writing. I guess I’m saying it’s a sweet kind of slide into full time slug mode.
Anyway, I am loving the process of writing, and even though I hate half of what I have written, I am really trying to stick with my plan of having an e-book out by the end of the year. It is going to be a collection of stories from my blog and anything else I find good enough to add to it. Therein lies my problem. Every time I write a story I want to immediately put it on my blog. My feeling is that I need to have some fresh items to put in a book, in case any of my blog subscribers want to read it. I have a friend who thought that wasn’t completely true and that it would be okay to put some of my older stories in the book because not everyone may have read my older stuff. This debate actually gives me the sweats.
Can I get some advice on what you all think?
I defer to you, the brilliant people in my life, to help me with this dilemma. Save me from the sweats! I look forward to your words of wisdom.
Oh yeah, and if you have any advice on how to stop the writing/eating thing, I would be most grateful as well!
a funny thing happened when I was learning myself 
[…] Mini Musings This is a blog with posts which are funny. You would find beautiful pictures and good sense of humor over there. The theme, colors, fonts and overall feeling which I get from this blog is very beautiful. […]
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Thank you. You have got to be the nicest person I have met through blogging! I think you have some of the prettiest photos on your site as well. Looks like you spend a good amount of time merging your pictures with your blog. Everything goes really well together. Thank you for talking about my blog. I am having such a good time writing.
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You are by far one of the nicest people I have met while blogging. It has been a genuine pleasure meeting you. You have been very complimentary to me and I want you to know how much I appreciate it. You like the way my blog looks but I really enjoy all of the beautiful photos on your site. It seems that you put a lot of effort and I think that’s great. Thank you for telling people about my blog!
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As far as I understand blogs have to be different from books. So just keep posting blogs, everyone here likes your stuff so carry on. Mind you I think ebooks are cheap to publish.
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If you are serious about putting out a book, you definitely should save some things for it! I know a few book-bloggers who publish their books and THEN post exerpts of it on their blog as teasers to get someone to buy the book. 🙂
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I think that’s a wonderful idea! Thank you.
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My advice: stop sweating the small stuff. Keep writing and posting to your blog. Keep writing and not posting to your blog. Date it all and know what was posted and what wasn’t. Revisit this so-called dilemma on October 24th. In the meantime, just keep making me smile and laugh. As for the eating & writing thing, go to the park and don’t bring food with you. Easy peasy. Marianne
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My mom tells me not to sweat the small stuff at least once a week! I will keep writing :). Is October 24 a random day or is there something significant, because I’m going to put that day on my calendar…
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Sorry, must be the mom of 3 in me ha ha. Not a random day, I’ll tell you on Oct 24th why that date. Anticipation … it’s making you great. 🙂
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This sounds fascinating. Putting it on my calendar now!
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Hey what does it matter, you’re writing, what I normally do is write it down and leave it for a day or two, read it out aloud and ask myself have I used the same word too often and can I improve on it? If it seems ok, publish it.
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I agree that at least I’m writing and it was hard enough to start doing that regularly. I just want to put something together that is going to actually entice someone to buy a book someday.
Thanks for the feedback!
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It’s not easy I self published two books and haven’t had many sales, so now I just do short stories, of which there will be more. As I said before, keep writing.
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I’m nervous about going through the process of self-publishing but I’m ready to learn. I will keep writing, thanks!
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I love your voice! Very cheerful, and you obviously have a unique outlook on life.
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Thank you. I think I really just write what the voices in my head tell me to write. They try to keep me real! 😉
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Hi There!
Just found your blog space, thanks to Anand.
I can’t give you any ideas with regards to your eBook venture, but I can share the fact that blogging had indeed made me a happier person. Like you, parts of me is also ‘flowing in all other direction’… especially the mid section. Keep on writing. I like your humorous take on life!
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Thank you for reading! Writing has kind of taken over everything for the last two months. I’m trying to come back to Earth and do my normal routines again.
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I’m with the crowd on this one… Your book should show off the best of your work, so include all your favourite pieces, old and new! And if you can, resist the urge to publish one or two stories so you have a treat for your faithful readers. As for the nibbles, I know what that’s like! During my brief stint as an office worker, I seemed to eat constantly! I find that having something to do with my hands distracts me from hunting for snacks… I knit, but you could also doodle or make notes on your reading. Hope that helps 😀
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Hi there, thank you for commenting. I think that mixing new and old would probably work best for me. I could publish anything, but I want to entice people to want to buy my book because they know they’ll
find something fun in there. If I can sell one book to someone who just needs something fun to pass the time on an airplane I will be the happiest person alive! As far as the food things go, I am just going
to have to get tough with myself. I could eat without stopping all day long if I let myself! Have a good day.
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I started my blog Cat in the Cactus about 3 weeks ago, moving from my old blog. Once a week (on a Monday) a repost a story from my old blog site because I don’t want to lose that writing when I permanently shut my old site down. I worried that people may hate re-reading a post, but I have many new followers now who didn’t even know about my old site. I’d go for it if I was you.
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It’s always a pleasure to read a cheerful post like this, one that you ease into and lose yourself in and one that you can relate to! I too would love to write a book but am unsure as to what I could put in it, given that everything I write goes straight onto my blog (or into the Recycle Bin, occassionally!).
Keep writing! I’m sure you’ll manage to find good solutions to all your problems quite soon! 😀
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Happy Monthsary 😉
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Awesome! Thank you!
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I am facing the same thing on my ebook(s), even though mine are going to be non-fiction reference manuals for notaries. The thing is that a book (whether an ebook or a printed book) is a different way of communicating than a blog. People expect more from a book — like a beginning, middle, and an end with good flow between these parts. You may find that simply piling up the blog posts in some sort of order is only the first step; editing that into an actual book will be the next one. That is certainly what I am finding. In any case, good luck with it. I will follow your blog so I can see when the book comes out.
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I think that your blog and the reactions on the stories you put up here give you an idea about how your stories are received. In my opinion there is not reason not to put the stories you’ve put up here in a book. There are other people out there interested in your stories and they might have not found your blog just yet.
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personally, I love it when you retell an actual experience you’ve had…just keeps me in stitches…and I soooo need laughter and joy right now. So thanks.
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Thank you. I love those kinds of stories too. I think it’s easy to tell when I am sharing a story I’m emotionally involved with. Sounds like rough days. Hope things get better soon!
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me too!
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If it’s a collection of short stories, perhaps you could collect them in sections, and put in whichever content you feel right, no matter old or new.
As for the eating part, I love to nibble snacks while reading too, to curb that usually I will put on my headphones with music to distract my cravings~
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I love the idea about making different sections of the book. Thank you!
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You’re welcome 😉
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Congrats on your almost 2 month blogging anniversary!!
Not that I know what I am talking about or anything…but I think you can put whatever you want in your e-book…and kudos to you for even having this as a goal!!
And just so you don’t feel alone…I have been blogging with little sandwich bags of Honey Nut Cheerios beside me for days now…which is because it is much easier to shove dry cereal in my face than to actually make lunch or dinner…so I can probably not help you with that…lol…but know You. Are . NOT. ALONE. 🙂
Oh yeah…and by the way…I have nominated you and your blog for the Liebster Award. Check out my blog tomorrow for the rules of accepting the award nomination, copy and paste the instructions and modify them to suit …Happy blogging!
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Thank you! I can’t believe how fast that time is passing by. I am a complete sugar addict and it is killing me. I am trying not to eat past 7 pm tonight so I feel good in the morning. Thank you for the nomination. I look forward to learning more about it!
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Greetings 🙂
Almost every comment on this blog has said this, but I’m going to say it again- Do what you like (even if it has cons)! Perhaps you could edit the initial stories from your blog a little, so that they differ from the ones in your to-be (inshAllah) book?
And as for the eating habit, I would encourage you to make space in your daily routine for your workouts, since staying fit is as equally important as doing what makes you happy.
I’m sorry if my advice wasn’t of any help, but I sincerely wish you all the best on writing your book, doing your workouts and everything else!
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I actually love working out but I’m finding my feet don’t mind it so much when I skip one or two! As for the blog, I am starting to get a good feeling for what
to do after hearing from you all. I just want to make sure I put something out there that will actually get read! That’s why I’m mostly lighthearted with my reading.
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Hahah, I see! Remember though: Write for yourself, and only yourself.
On a side note, will you by any chance send out copies of your book (once it’s done, of course) for review?
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It’s a terrifying thought, but I probably will.
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I can understand. But don’t worry about it, yet; enjoy writing! And I’d like to review your book then if you’d be willing to. 🙂
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I’m sorry I can’t contribute anything as far as advice about your book, but I’ll be eagerly awaiting other people’s responses on this. Other than that I am still LOL at your “Winnie the Pooh physique” comment. 😆 I so understand the preference to write over workout now that I’ve got this far on the blog! I was actually proud of myself for going to the gym one day last week, which is actually kind of lame.
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One workout is nothing to sneeze out. It’s always good when the wheels are at least still turning! I had such high hopes for the summer and being in shape but C’est la vie! Good night!
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I’m the wrong person to ask, as I have the same dilemma. Are you going to offer the ebook as a free download or a pay to download?
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I don’t really know yet, I have to do more investigating. Seems odd to ask for payment when people can get most of the content from my blog. I guess depends on how much unseen stuff is in the book?
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I agree. I think your first one should probably be free. It could be a nice little teaser to get people to start following you on your blog?
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I agree. Plus I am kind of nervous about publishing for the first time and it will be a practice run for me! Thanks for reading.
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I’d read anything you wrote — old or new. Just keep it up. And as far as the eating/writing dilemma, I’m the wrong person to ask. You know me, Rene!
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Ha! Thanks for the support, it means A LOT!
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Great post and it really pops with your background color and font. I won’t let myself eat and blog. I learned to get up every hour and move around when I was in the corporate world. Too much sitting, without shaking it out is not healthy. I will drink coffee while blogging to keep up my energy.
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I am going to try to make it a non-eating activity. It’s going to be a really hard habit to break, but I cannot keep going down this path!
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I agree put what you want! Stuff from your blog would be great!
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I think I am leaning towards using a lot of my blogs from this site and then adding 2 or 3 stories that are about 5000 words long. Hopefully the best of both worlds!
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yes I think that sounds great!
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I agree with the above comments – it’s your book and you have some great material already. 😀
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Thank you!
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Have you a set theme in mind? That really helps to determine a book’s contents. Sorry, I have no advice, but I do have some great snack suggestions to add including one for cinnamon, chocolate slugs! The powdered cinnamon helps cut down on the sliminess. Yummmmmmy!
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I am mostly all over the place as far as content, but I want the feel of the book to be something akin to a Mindy Kaling or Amy Poehler, funny but autobiographical. I feel like
there a lot of people out there just looking for a fun fast read. Cinnamon chocolate slugs? Uhhh, maybe not! 😉
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Yes, I can see that kind of book doing well and the value of a blog as part of the writing experience. What if you fry them first before applying the chocolate/cinnamon coating. Just a bit of crunch could be the deal breaker here!
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Hello Happy 🙂
I love this post and the overall feel of your blog. It’s perhaps one of the best fonts I have seen so far. The story rings true as young people today are much more creative and intelligent.
I also second the previous comment that you should use whatever you want to use from your blog in your ebook. The audience would not be just the blog readers I suppose. I look forward to read more posts on your blog.
Cheers,
Anand
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I think I am going to use a lot of my blog for my book, but I’ll also add a few longer stories as well. Thank you for reading and commenting!
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Yes that seems like a good idea. 🙂 Welcome 🙂
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I don’t know about the brilliant part, but here’s my two cents. 🙂
Well, first, I think you should put whatever you want to put in your ebook; it is yours, after all. However, I think pulling out the best of your blog to put into an ebook is a great idea. I think your friend is right. Since you will always be getting new readers (we hope!), it will give them the opportunity to read some of your best stuff without having to search back through old posts.
As for the eating while writing and turning into Winnie the Pooh delemma; I understand completely! I could spend hours (and I have) reading through all the great blogs I’ve found. Then I spend a few more hours working on what I want to say myself. You might want to tackle the sugar first. If you’re going to eat while you work (which you reallly shouldn’t) you might try to replace the sugar with some kind of protien and healthy fat (like nuts and/or seeds).
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Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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