Learning for Life Archives - One Honest Indie

A Word for the ‘Aspiring Writer’

08/05/2025 by Debbi

Okay. Wonder what the writer’s life is like? This is what it’s like. I just got through writing, um, how many words did I write? Let me just check. Oh, I didn’t even know. I’m barely aware of my word count these days, but I write every single day. Where the hell did I start? Wait. Nope. Not there. Nope. Not there. Not there. Not there. Okay. It was there, right? Okay. It was right here. Actually. I changed that. Yeah. Okay, so let me see. Come up with that word count.

Forget it. It doesn’t matter. What matters is I ran across a situation where I wrote the word “gobsmacked” and I thought, okay, would a 30-year-old woman in the year 2022, which is when this is taking place, use the word gobsmacked? So I had to Google it or whatever you want to call it, and came up with gobsmacked: “The British Slang Gobsmacked: A Closer Look.”

What Do You Gain From a Community?

11/12/2024 by Debbi

Hi everyone. Well, I am still reading a number of books, but there is one in particular. If you’ll excuse me for a moment as I turn my back on you. Sorry. This book is amazing. I’m just going to repeat that one more time. I Could Have Written a Better Movie Than That! It has a little bit of everything, and if you’re a screenwriter, I think it is something you should really consider looking at.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

04/30/2024 by Debbi

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

Hi. Yeah, just the other day, just yesterday actually, I did a book signing event with several other authors at a local bookstore, The Last Word Bookstore at Savage Mill. Anyway, not only did I not market it, I failed to tell anybody on any of my lists. I didn’t put anything on social media. The only thing I did was talk to some people that I happened to be with that weekend and at some other times, and that was all I did. And I thought, my goodness, what has happened to my marketing skills that I’m not doing anything.

How to Relax and Draw

03/22/2022 by Debbi

So, I’m doing my Sunday morning yoga routine, and I get to the Relaxation After phase, because there are a few phases to my yoga routine.

And, because it’s Sunday, this is the part where I’m supposed to imagine myself on a beach. And I hate the beach. Fuck the beach.

But then I remember the last time I dwelled on that particular feeling and decided to do the impossible, in my mind. And I decided to be impossible (in my mind).

And the image that emerged was this. A cartoon woman with blonde hair and sunglasses, lying alone on a beach. Her hair is too perfect. And she’s tan, which is impossible for me. She lies in a small open area defined by a few palm trees. There’s a distinctly Sixties vibe in this image.

I consider this later and wonder why I liked it. The image is a reflection of some almost antiquated notions about women (to me, anyway). It almost screams “white privilege” and that disturbs me, because that is something about which I’m more than acutely aware.

But, then, on another Sunday, I do my yoga routine and get to that part. And rather than reject, as I did previously, I embrace it again and imagine a different woman than me. She could have skin of any color, but I decide upon a Black woman.

She is also impossible in her mind. I can only imagine what she looks like. But her impossible woman also reflects her own ideals and hidden advantages. In any case, my impossible woman may be alone right now, but she knows there’s another impossible woman out there somewhere. And they’ve each got each others’ backs.