#reflections – Page 12 – Words and Coffee Writing

Mini Self Care

What are your simplest “self care” suggestions and tips for stressful times?

This video includes some tips and ideas I share with my writing students when they’re writing dialogue for characters. I think these can help not only if you’re teaching students how to strengthen their dialogue, but also as a friendly reminder if you’re writing dialogue in your own manuscripts. What do you think are theContinue reading “Tips for Character Dialogue”

Strength in Simple Words

Last week I went in for my annual mammogram, and the technologist recognized me instantly. “How old is your little guy now?” “He’ll be two on Sunday,” I said, surprising myself by how quickly time had passed. “Already?!” She couldn’t believe it either. At my very first mammogram, she’d met my son, who had onlyContinue reading “Strength in Simple Words”

Setting SMART Resolutions

This video is a follow-up to my resolutions post. I try skiing while holding my phone because I don’t have any fancy equipment. (This may already be painfully obvious, but I’m not cool, you guys.) Hopefully, this video can help you set your own SMART resolutions or revise your resolutions if you’re interested. Have youContinue reading “Setting SMART Resolutions”

My SMART Resolutions

I tend to set my New Year’s Resolutions like my teacher SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. It’s an acronym that, if you’re a teacher, is probably emblazoned on the back of your mind. Much like the goals I set to help my students, each one of my resolutions needs to serve aContinue reading “My SMART Resolutions”

Two Year Cancerversary

On this day two years ago, I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. When you first get the call that you have cancer, you aren’t given a lot of information: the biopsy that you’ve received indicates malignant cells in your body, but you don’t yet know how far it has spread. Staging is determinedContinue reading “Two Year Cancerversary”

What Inspires You?

What inspires you past writer’s block? Where do you feel most inspired?

Consistently Writing

Today, I decided to talk a bit about how to be consistent with your writing goals and schedule. These are some ideas I’ve mentioned to my students and also ones I occasionally need to remind myself about, especially when my daily schedule changes.

The Windy Road After Cancer

There are many days of overwhelming happiness and gratefulness to be a cancer survivor; however, the progress is not as straightforward as I’d expected….

Descriptive Writing with Imagery

This video is a bit different– it’s an example of one of the activities I use with my creative writing students to help them build their descriptive writing skills. I’ve learned similar techniques in writing courses and put my own sort of spin on it over the years. The technique involves dividing a paper intoContinue reading “Descriptive Writing with Imagery”