Stocktaking – Goodbye January

Hi love and congratulations on making it to the end of January. Just the other day we were marking the new year and considering our new year’s resolutions, and here we are at the end of the first month. I personally have a lot to thank God for and to update you on as well.

As always though, thank you so much for dropping by. You are busy and there are a lot of ways you would rather have spent your time. I am glad you decided to spend it here with me.

Daily Writing Prompts.

Plan for a Vacation – Daily Writing Prompts

In case you are not aware, I have been curating daily writing prompts to help you and me get through our writing slumps. I did the very first one in July 2022 and was very happy to note that I am up to 35 writing prompts as of now (all inconsistencies considered).

It is my hope that eventually, I can successfully get to 365 days of writing prompts. When I do, I will be sure to put together something tangible that I can send out to you to print out and use throughout the year to help keep the writing bug biting.

In the meantime, do enjoy a daily dose of writing prompts here.

Patreon and Ko-fi

Gif by Eli Mwalimu

I am proud to announce that you can now find me and my curated writing prompt and poetry graphics on Ko-fi and Patreon. After months of trying to convince myself to start, I finally did, and with incentives to boot.

I believe in getting value for my money, which is why I wanted to provide something valuable to you. The hardest part of the writing process is the writing itself. Unfortunately, we cannot get past that. What we can do though is ease the decision-making process. That’s where these writing prompts come in.

Instead of getting up and trying to figure out what to write, I spend time every day doing the thinking so that you don’t have to. That way you can just think about the word count and let the story flow. With time I want to incorporate a lot more writer resources on these platforms, and on my blog, but one step at a time. Any and all the help that you can give in support of this will be highly appreciated.

You can do so either on Patreon or Ko-fi.

Poetry

I’m up to 24 poems on my blog as at January. Yeeeiy! When I get to 30 poems, I would also like to compile an anthology which I would love to accompany with some personalized art made by yours truly. Ever since I got my drawing tablet, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to get back to drawing and I love it. When I do finalize these plans I’ll be sure to let you know.

In the meantime, you can enjoy my poems here and pick up a graphic on either Ko-fi or Patreon in support of publishing the anthology.

Stories

The Sweet Shop – Story of the Month

Since I began posting my stories around the same time I started with my poetry, the number is also 24 strong. This should mean that in the next 6 months, I should be getting to 30 short stories. I really love the sound of that. It took a lot to get here. I would also like to create a collection of my short stories in a lovely gift that I can offer you. I am working on this in the background and will let you know when it is done.

In the meantime, do catch up on my stories here.

Art

Art by Eli Mwalimu

This is currently the new kid on the block. As you may or may not have noticed from my Instagram account, there are two separate accounts I added this January. One is strictly for my portraiture practice and the other is for me to discover my own art style in lieu of eventually starting a webcomic.

I have always loved cartoons and written works, so I feel like this move would be me advancing to the next step in my writing journey. In line with that, I also would love to slowly develop an adult coloring book to help expand our creative scope. I personally love to play guitar, read, and do puzzles to sort of detach from the mundane. I think adding coloring sessions to the mix would fit right in, don’t you think?

For those of you wanting to follow along on the art journey, you can do so by clicking here.

Conclusion

All in all, though, this January has by far been the most productive month yet. As you may recall from previous stocktaking posts, burnout and creative fatigue hit me hard. I slumped and just could not get back up. However, slowly but steadily I have been gearing myself back on track. I am a lot more deliberate now about taking breaks, taking things at my pace, and knowing when to just stop and do nothing.

It’s still a learning process, but I’m glad to report that the process is taking. Alongside keeping a journal, I’m being more intentional about my mental health, and of course, my own personal time with God to read the bible and pray. I owe the refreshing to him ultimately because he works in me both to will and to do. I have so many plans, but it is the Lord who will establish my steps ultimately.

What about you? What has your January been like?

Eli

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