Intentional. A Look Back.
As we are nearly midway through the year, I decided to revisit my “word of the year” to see how it is playing out for me. If you didn’t read the January post where I chose the word “intentional” for 2024, I’ll put a link at the bottom for you.
I usually post my word for the year above the desk in my office. I didn’t exactly have my writing area set up the during the remodel, so much of my writing has been at the dining room table. I can see “thankful” or “bountiful” or maybe “harvest” as part of a display above the table…if I had a word hanging there at all….but “intentional”? I don’t think so.
I’ve always linked my word for the year with my writing. To tell the truth, I hadn’t deliberately thought about the word since January. Yet, it has surfaced…even guided me in my writing efforts...unintentionally!
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| A Replica of Hemingway's Desk on His Boat, the Pilar. His work was both "Intense" and "Intentional" Writing |
Intentional: Deliberate in Action.
You may recall my post in March where I met a gal at a local coffee shop called Cattle Dogs. That’s where I also met a group of writers sitting next to me. This was an answer to prayer. I had looked online for writers in the area. I joined Citrus Writers right away.
Intentional: Focused
To get back into writing mode, I went to the Chicken Soup for the Soul website and looked at the list of upcoming topics. I chose a few of them where I thought I might have a story to share and used them as writing exercises. Focusing on a small story helped me get back into the groove of crafting a story beginning to end.
Intentional: Assess Goals and Take Steps to Achieve Them
I set goals I had for a particular story I could see as a novel. I wrote them down and began the job of writing. I set a word count objective for daily writing. I try to focus on my novel Tuesday through Friday with my blog writing on Monday. It doesn’t always work out that way, but most of the time that’s how I function.
Intentional: Be Present
I try to “show up” ready for work. It is easy to be distracted by social media or games on my computer, but I try to leave myself a challenge the day before so I know what I need to do before taking a break.
Intentional: Think Before Acting or Speaking
Uh…Okay, that probably plays out more in my role as a newlywed than it does as a writer. But hey, even our personal lives need to be actions bathed in love and intentional in what we do and say.
I’d much rather live the “happily ever after” than simply write about it!
Here is the original post on my word choice for 2024: Word for the Year
