The Sunshine Blogger Award

Being the total newbie writer that I am now, you can imagine how incredibly touched, surprised and oh-so flattered I was when I had discovered that a wonderful friend of mine on Twitter, @StephGearyUK, had included me in her nominees for the Sunshine Blogger Award. Since then, there have been many more amazing and talented people out there who have nominated me for the award as well, and I'm so humbled to participate in this!

"The Sunshine Blogger Award"

I've been seeing this award floating around on social media, more specifically Twitter, for a couple of months now but being new to the blogging world and its community, I hadn't ever imagined that someone would feel I was good enough to be nominated for it! It was a touching moment for me, especially as the nominations continued to surprisingly roll in, to the point where I couldn't keep track any longer!

I'd like to acknowledge and give a gigantic thank you to Stephanie, who is a very kind-hearted, talented writer who deserves all the recognition in the world. You can check out her blog by clicking here. I've been more than a little behind on writing this post since she nominated me ages ago, but I wanted it to be done right, with just as much love and care put into it as I would put into any of my other articles!

The rules of The Sunshine Award are as follows:

1. Thank blogger(s) who nominated you in the blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or in your blog

THE QUESTIONS I HAVE BEEN ASKED:

-

1. WHEN DID YOUR INTEREST IN WRITING AND BLOGGING START? 

I've been interested in writing for the last several years. It's always something that has fascinated me and I've been dying to write stories since I was a little girl, before I could even read. But it wasn't until around last year that I discovered the blogging community on social media, and that was what really pulled me in and had me taking the idea of creating a blog for myself more seriously. 

2. NAME THE ONE PERSON YOU CAN RELY ON MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE

Without a shadow of a doubt, that would be my wonderful mother. We've literally been inseparable since the day I was born, she's the best friend I could have ever asked for and I'm so thankful to have her in my life. I've always been able to talk to her about anything and everything, the bond that we have is very important to me. 

3. WHAT COUNTRY WERE YOU BORN IN?

I was born and raised in the United States of America! Though I'll admit, there has always been a part of me that's wanted to live in Canada, it just seems like such a beautiful place! But, that of course, doesn't take anything away from my Country, which I appreciate very much!

4. WHERE DID YOU SHARE YOUR FIRST KISS? 

The answer to this question is terribly uninteresting, I had my first kiss at my house, it wasn't all that great, and there literally isn't anything more I could say than that. It's the utterly boring truth. 😂

5. WHAT WAS THE FIRST EVER FILM YOU WATCHED AT THE CINEMA? 

Being the mid-nineties kid that I am, I absolutely adored Nickelodeon television shows, and I'm almost positive that the first movie I ever saw in the theater was "Doug's First Movie" which I would go onto watch over a million times on, VHS! According to my mother, we got about halfway through before I started to misbehave in the theater and we had to leave early...I'm really sorry about that, mom! 

6. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST ALBUM THAT YOU PURCHASED?

During my pre-teen years, I was the biggest Jonas Brothers fan, though, who wasn't? So, if my memory serves me correct, I believe it was "The Jonas Brothers" their self-titled album, which their second album they had released, and was something I treasured during my pre-teen years. You wouldn't even believe how many times I played that over, and over, on my little CD player...I'm surprised it never broke.

7. WHAT TYPE OF FILM GENRE DO YOU PREFER? 

I've always been very honest about my love of television, so, I will say that I that I much prefer that to movies, so it's a little hard for me to figure out what my favorite genre would be. But I do love Marvel movies,  especially when Spider-Man is involved in them, so I think I'd have to say Fantasy!


8. AS A CHILD, WHO WAS YOUR BEST FRIEND? 

Growing up my best friend was the step-daughter of my Godfather, her name was Brittany and we spent a lot of time together as kids. Lots of sleepovers, birthday parties, and any time our dad's got together we would typically play around outside in our backyards.

9. DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL? GHOSTS, ETC. 

While I've never experienced something supernatural, I do believe there are probably ghosts in this world. But I try not to think about it all that much because quite frankly, the idea kind of scares me. I'm definitely not someone who would go out looking for evidence of such a thing, I don't want any spirits trying to haunt me! 😅

10. IN 10 YEARS, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR LIFE TO BE LIKE? 

As of right now, I'd love to be working as a freelance writer and full-time blogger, in addition to those goals, I would be totally disappointed in myself if I didn't have some sort of book published around that time. I know that's a lot to ask of myself, but I think ten years gives me plenty of time to give it all my very best shot. As you could probably tell, I dream of writing professionally on the daily.   

11. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR?

I'm a big fan of Karen Kingsbury, and I enjoyed her novel "Unlocked" (The story of a high schooler bullied because of his autism) so much, that I read the whole thing cover to cover in roughly a day in a half. It's an incredible read and I highly recommend it to everyone. It takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions, but it's just fantastic!

-

THE ELEVEN QUESTIONS I HAVE FOR YOU:

1. What is your favorite television show of all time? 

2. What was your first word? 

3. Are you a dog person or a cat person?

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? 

5. What is your middle name? 

6. What word do you find yourself using the most?

7. Do you prefer PC or Mac?

8. What is your favorite genre of music? 

9. If you got a new pet what would you name it? 

10. Are you a night owl or an early bird? 

11. What's one thing that gives you the creeps? 

I NOMINATE THESE AMAZINGLY TALENTED BLOGGERS:

1. Amanda: @happyarkansan 
2. Liz @2020balance
3. Travis @TravisBrainBlog 
4. Vicky @nepleutpas 
5. Bexa @hellobexa 
6. Jennifer @Elegant_Living_ 
7. Elysia @BecomingElysia 
8. Kiara @KiaraRoseWade1
9. Stephanie  @steph_vivienne 
10. Lily @LilySegui 
11. Jasmine @DoWhatYouLoveMa 


If any of you wonderful people have already been tagged by another blogger, feel free to send me the link to your sunshine award article on social media! I would love to read it.  

-

I feel honored to have participated in the Sunshine Blogger Award, as it's a totally amazing way to show support for our fellow bloggers and give those who are working hard to grow their audiences more recognition. It's so nice to be apart of a community that contains such warm, loving, and supportive people!

As always, I thank you all for reading, now, go and enjoy the rest of your week!

10 Things That Calm My Anxiety

A close friend of mine who also battles issues with anxiety, recently had asked me during a conversation we were having, "What do you do before, or during an anxiety attack to make it pass?" which got me thinking that it could be a good idea to share what calms me down with others, in hopes that they can try a few of these solutions, too!

"My anxiety will always be apart of my life, but that doesn't mean I'll simply allow it to control me."

Ever since the publishing of my very first article on the topic of anxiety disorder and mental health back in early December of 2017, I have felt incredibly encouraged by my lovely readers to continue on speaking out about my own story and sharing my experiences in a more positive light. A light that could potentially help others who are dealing with similar situations as I am. 

I very much want to continue on with that, which is what has lead me to create this list of ten things that calm my anxiousness, because I think it's important that we all keep track of what relaxes us, or occupies our minds during those more difficult moments. These are some things that really work for me and have contributed to keeping my sanity intact. I hope you all will enjoy!  

disclaimer: I am most definitely not a professional by any means, nor do I claim to be. I'm just sharing with you a few things that help me feel better when anxiety and panic are trying desperately to make their presence known, and hopefully, you'll see one of these things mentioned as worth a try for yourself.

-

1. WATCHING TELEVISION SHOWS

So, I'm a complete and total television junkie. I can't get enough of my favorite shows and with my anxiety issues, they practically mean everything to me. Throughout the majority of my twenty-one years of life, my shows have become one of my greatest, go-to distractions from a troubled mind.

Being an aspiring writer and author myself, there's nothing that makes me happier than the idea of storytelling. Which means that things such as books, comics, movies, television shows, anything that tells a story, and allows me to feel transported to another place entirely, fascinates me. But, overall, a well-written TV series will forever and always, come at first place in my heart.

Sitting down in the living room, relaxing with a drink and a snack while watching an hour-long drama with my dear family, has always done a world of good when it comes to keeping my mind clear of troubling thoughts.

When I'm beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed, following along closely with a good show takes the focus off of anything negative that may be bothering me, and prevents me from dwelling on it any further, allowing myself something much happier that I can turn my full attention to, watching television is something so simple that most definitely helps calm my anxiety and keep things from worsening.

2. JOURNALING MY ANXIOUS THOUGHTS

It's been a blessing to have my own private little escape from the depths of reality. My journal has become a place where I can come forward, release my frustrations and let go of those pesky little things that would normally cast a shadow over my day, without feeling any judgment.

Writing my thoughts down in my journal has not only been a healthy way for me to express my emotions and clear my head, but it's also something I've found to be incredibly relaxing. I love sitting in my room, turning on some fun, uplifting music and writing down my feelings. In fact, the combination of music and journaling is one of my most commonly used cures for anxiousness.

note: I have a separate article you may be interested in, called "Why You Should Keep A Journal In 2018" where I've gone through and made a whole entire list of reasons why I think journaling could be beneficial to you, click here to check it out! 

3. READING DAILY DEVOTIONAL BOOKS 

Throwing myself right into the word of The Lord first thing in the morning and just before I hop into my bed at night is something that has helped prevent my anxiety from coming on in a more severe manner altogether. I've been using a daily devotional called Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. It's a short and sweet little read which makes it easy to keep up with, but when taken seriously, the lessons inside always seem to have a great impact on my day. 

I've really enjoyed having little devotionals such as the one mentioned, laying around to read when I'm feeling low. But mostly, I've found myself using a devotional more as a preventional step. I've been reading it even when I'm feeling fine to grow closer to God, and in the process what I'm learning about has helped me to prepare and learn how to respond properly when life isn't going my way and I start to feel my anxiety kick in. Since I've started this, I've been making great progress when it comes to figuring out how to handle my emotions, and as a Christian, it's great to have a constant reminder that I'm not alone by any means, I always have God with me. 

4. TALKING TO ONES WHO UNDERSTAND 

It's not always easy, finding people who are willing to listen and understand how you're feeling, but when you do, hang onto them. I have a small group of friends who also know the struggle of dealing with anxiety and when I'm really feeling down and in desperate need of someone to talk to, they're always there for me. 

I tend to gravitate to a select group of people who face those similar issues and challenges that I do because it's hard to explain to those who don't know what it's like, why I'm feeling the way that I am. When I try to describe how I'm feeling to someone who doesn't fully understand anxiety, I can't shake the feeling that I'm being judged throughout the conversation, which makes things even worse. It helps to find others like you, that remind you that you're not the only one in the world who is dealing with these problems.

5. WRITING ARTICLES ON THE TOPIC

Now I'll be honest here, these last couple of days haven't been very kind to me at all, in fact, they've actually kind of been kicking my butt. While I'm thankfully, not dealing with too much anxiety at this particular moment, it has been affecting me throughout the week, so much that I recently posted this tweet; 

What you've read there is a prime example of my love for writing, and more specifically at this time, blogging. When I'm feeling beaten down, I have the urge to help keep others from feeling the same way that I do, which usually results in putting all of my effort into future posts that associate with the challenges that I'm facing, and that's how this article you're reading now, came to be. 

This has been a fantastic way for me to cope and in the process, I've also discovered that I really enjoy taking my own experiences, my own thoughts, and feelings and using them to create something that could potentially help others. I'm very passionate about the importance of mental health, and I'd just like to use what I've been through to remind people that they're not alone, and spread the message that there are always possible fixes, solutions, and ways to cope.   

6. ART JOURNALING

I know, another form of journaling, pretty shocking right? This is a fun little hobby of mine that I just recently have taken up. Back in December of last year, my lovely grandmother Beverly (Hi, Grandma! 👋🏼) asked me to send her a list of things I would like for Christmas, and within that list, I sent her a set of watercolors and a pack of three watercolor brush pens, which she generously purchased for me. Ever since I've been keeping a separate journal with art I've been working on. Typically inspirational bible quotes with a little bit of doodling. 

Once again, it's all about having things to focus on that can distract me from the negative vibes I've been feeling. I'm no artist, so I really need to pay attention to what I'm doing in order to not screw everything up. But it's also really relaxing to turn on some music or a podcast and just paint away. 

7. LISTENING TO MUSIC OR PODCASTS

With this one, staying far away from anything that seems to be more on the depressing side is key. Whether it be some fairly sad music or a podcast that's covering a more serious topic, I don't want it. I'm already upset, I'm not looking to feel even worse than I did before. I need something that can lift me right back up onto my feet and give me the boost of energy I need to fight off those negative emotions. 

People are usually pretty surprised to hear me say that my favorite kind of music is rap and hip-hop...Why? I'm not entirely sure, they're so much fun! I can be particular about it though, listening to a lot of the more old-school groups such as Run DMC, Salt N' Pepa, and my personal favorites Beastie Boys and Vanilla Ice. (You can say what you'd like, you know the Ice Man is awesome.) I play their music constantly because it's impossible for me to feel sad or upset while I'm hearing their lyrics. 

As for Podcasts, I'm down for just about anything, but my current favorite is one called "WrestleRamble" which is basically just that, a show where two guys ramble on about wrestling, which I confessed in one of my more recent articles, that I love! I've been obsessed with wrestling since I was a kid, and while it's not always that great, I still really enjoy hearing about it and that has really helped me when times with my anxiety are tough. 

8. PRAYING FOR RELIEF 

Asking God for relief during my anxiety is an absolute must for me. While I totally understand that not all of us are Christians, this works for me personally as I'm someone who strongly believes in God and the power of prayer. There's nothing more relaxing than sitting down in a quiet space and taking a moment out of my day to release all of my frustrations in a place where I'm free and safe from harsh judgment, instead, I'm comforted and encouraged to continue on and be thankful for the good things in life. 

9. HANGING OUT WITH MY FAMILY

Hanging out and spending some much-needed quality time with the family is one of the most simplistic things that can bring oh-so-much joy into my life. It's the little things that make me happy, sitting around together for a quiet meal, going out shopping, or even just staying at home playing one of our favorite board games, it's always those short moments that end up providing us with some of our greatest memories, and there's nothing that can snap me out of a pity party like the love from my family.

10. TAKING CARE OF MY PUPPER

I had the honor of bringing my beautiful little dog, Miss Posey Mae home for the first time back in August of 2015, and ever since then, the two of us have had an incredible bond, and that bond between us had luckily come at a time where I needed it the most. 

In the beginning of that same year, I had been experiencing the worst anxiety of my entire life, I was going through a pretty rough patch, one that seemed to be lasting a lifetime. But, my mom helped me through a road to recovery, and time began to heal my wounds. I was working hard to grow closer to God, change my outlook and progress in becoming a happier person with each day that went by...But I still needed a distraction from negative thoughts and energy in order to continue on successfully, and that's when I had the incredible privilege of meeting a little white dog, known only at the time by the nickname of Mop.  

Both my mother and I tend to describe our now close to three-year-old Posey as a "little ray of sunshine" because she wakes up every morning bursting with energy and happiness, excited just to be alive and living yet another day, which is something we all could do a little more of ourselves. It's been a pleasure to wake up and take care of her every day and when I look at her darling little face, she just makes my heart happy.

She's the sweetest little creature in this entire world and has been one of the absolute biggest blessings in my life. Bringing her home has helped my anxiety improve in so many different ways. I mean, the Lord knows I still have my moments here and there, but between the support from my loving family, and the joy of being Posey's "Dog Mom" I haven't even come remotely close to spiraling out of control like I once did. 

-

Those are just a few of the things that help me battle my anxiety disorder and nervousness. Throughout the years I've been trying my hardest to keep track of what helps me and I'll continue to do so. Anxiety will always be apart of my life, but that doesn't mean I'll simply allow it to control me.

I truly do hope that you were able to find at the very least, one of these things that were mentioned here helpful to you, and please remember, if you ever find you need someone to talk with, you can certainly reach out to me on social media because I'm always more than willing to talk or answer any questions you may have.

 With that being said, thank you for reading and have a wonderful start to your week!

30 Facts About Me | WTWTG

Running this blog has become such an important part of my life this year, and therefore, so have all of you, the wonderful people who are thankfully reading. But, there are still some things you don't know about the gal behind the blog. So, I thought today would be a great opportunity to provide a list with more than a few interesting facts about myself, that could help you get to know me just a little bit better than before!

"When I was younger I wanted to be a professional..."

Each morning I'm woken up by the bright and hopeful sunshine of a brand new day that my loving God himself has given to me. At the very moment I open my eyes, I feel compelled to jump out of bed and grab ahold of my faithful laptop. I'm eager to start my day but even more eager to sit down with a cup of hot chocolate while I begin to work on the latest article for my blog.

My life has been like this for almost three months now. The idea of writing and creating something new to share with my small, but mighty group of followers is literally what gets me out of bed every morning. Yet for some reason, it's only just now occurred to me that things have changed within that period of time. I'm happy to say we have more people reading, people that I've never taken the time to properly introduce myself to.

And with that thought finally dawning on me, I thought it would be an appropriate time to whip out a short list of (possibly) interesting facts that no matter how small, have come together in a way that has formed the person and writer, that you see today. I hope you will enjoy!

- 

NOW, LET'S GET INTO THESE FACTS!

1. I'm a proud dog mom and most of the time put the needs of my little girl Posey before my own. 

2. I have the learning disability of dyslexia, which made learning to read and write immensely difficult. 

3. When I was around the age of ten or eleven I dislocated a bone in my wrist from jumping off a trampoline.

4. My mother homeschooled me and my older brother Ryan from kindergarten all the way to graduation.

5. Writing is my greatest passion in life and I pray that one day I will be able to make a career out of it.

6. I'm crazy about television and watch several different shows throughout the fall and winter each night.

7. I haven't had a sip of alcohol in my whole entire life and I can't ever see myself having the desire to.

8. I love rap music and listen to artists such as Beastie Boys, Vanilla Ice, and Hoodie Allen on the daily.

9. When I was younger I wanted to be a professional wrestler. (Seriously, I'm not joking in the slightest)

10. I ran my own YouTube channel to help support myself financially through most of my teenage years.

11. I'm a little on the shorter side at 5'3...Reaching items on high shelves is not my strong suit. 

12. One of my favorite places to eat is Steak n' Shake and it crushes me that we don't have it in our town.

13. I love hot chocolate and simply cannot get enough of it during the winter season.

14. My favorite sport is hockey, but we're currently on hiatus after my team traded my favorite player. 

15. One of my favorite things to do with my family is watching The Office together.

16. I am a proud Christian and believe in God with all of my heart and soul.

17. My favorite thing to eat is shrimp, I think I could have that every day and never get tired of it.

18. I have one sibling, my brother Ryan, who is nine years older than me...I tease him about that relentlessly.

19. I'm obsessed with the game Five Nights At Freddy's but I can't play it because it makes me jittery.

20. If I weren't pursuing a career in writing, I would want to be a professional photographer.

21. My favorite book series to this day is Diary of a Wimpy Kid...Read them, they're actually hilarious.

22. Spider-Man Homecoming was the best movie I'd ever seen in my entire life.

23. I have the absolute biggest crush on Tom Holland and talk about him constantly...It's a little sad.

24. I got my ears pierced for the first time on my 21st birthday, just last year.

25. I use the word "dope" to describe my excitement in almost everything...It's my favorite thing to say.

26. I had my first kiss when I was around eighteen and I ain't mad about it because I don't like rushing things. 

27.  I've never dyed my hair because I actually really like my natural color.

28.  My mother has been my best friend since I was a little girl and I love her with all my heart. 

29. Team Edge and Dan and Phil are my favorite channels to watch on YouTube.

30. I love thrift shopping and finding good deals on clothes, so much that I rarely by an item at its full-price.

I hope that you were able to learn a little somethin' about yours truly, that you may not have known before! I am super thankful to have this platform where I am able to share a small part of my life with you while getting to know some amazing new people in the process! This is something I love so dearly and my blogging experience has been a blast, so far. I can't wait to continue on and get to know all of you, even better along the way!

What's In My Bag? | Winter 2018 Edition!

Being the curious person that I am, I always love getting a little peek at what other girls carry with them inside their bags! Is that considered weird? Because I have no idea, you'll have to be the judge on that one. But in case you're someone like me, I decided I would share my own bag and what I have inside of it during the winter time!

So, whatcha got in there? 

There is definitely a decent amount of my essentials in this cute little mini backpack of mine, that I have been using throughout this winter, that's for sure. This year I have made it a goal of mine to be more prepared, so, I've been trying to load my bag up with just about anything I thought I could possibly need on a daily basis and there's still more to fit in there, so who knows, there might be an update in the near future!

But for now, below you'll be able to see what I've already loaded my bag up with! Once you come closer to the end, there will be details listed of what has been pictured in case any of these items end up peeking your interest! If you'd like to know more about a specific item, you can always reach out to me on social media through the link at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!

-

INSIDE MAIN POUCH:

• Jesus Calling by Sarah Young
• Cateye sunglasses, black and green
• Teal Nine West wallet/clutch 
• The Body Shop Pouch (makeup bag)
• Krispy Kreme lip balm set 

INSIDE MAKEUP BAG:

• Mini body spray in Venom 
• EOS hand cream
• The Body Shop hand cream
• EOS Sparkling Ginger lip balm 
• Pink compact mirror 

OUTSIDE POUCHES: 

• 5th Generation iPod Touch w/rose gold case
• Red ink/stylus pen 
• Selfie Ring Light 
• Tic Tacs, orange flavor

So that was a little peek into my bag and what I always need to carry with me on a daily basis! I'm sure that all of you could tell, but I have a very strong love for Jesus, as well as lip balm and hand lotion! ...Jesus coming in first, of course! What I'd like to know is, what are some of your "cannot leave the house without" essentials?  

How To Write A Blog Post Like A Professional

In all honesty, it's not nearly as hard as you'd think it would be to improve the quality of your blog-post-writing skills. In fact, really all it comes down to is having a manageable, time-saving routine and a few helpful tools, then you're on your way to creating some outstanding content that you can truly be proud to share with the world!

Welcome my friends and fellow bloggers!

Today I am incredibly happy to be sharing with you my personal writing process that I use for every single one of my articles! This five-step guide has been very beneficial to me as a beginner when writing and because of it, I've been able to keep myself better organized and well on track with my posting schedule. When reading, you will find step-by-step instructions as well as a few of my tips and tricks I've picked up on in my blogging journey. There are also website recommendations that could help you after the writing stage with things like photo editing, where to find free stock photos and more! 

                                                                                                                         

disclaimer: I would like to remind you that I am most definitely not a professional writer or blogger, and this entire post is said from a beginners perspective. The advice that I am offering is only meant to help you improve, and learn to write a post more like a professional while following a process that will make things easier for you when trying to keep up in the blogging community. I'm still learning myself, but what I have learned has worked for me, and I pray that at least some of this will end up working for you, too!

Lastly, I wanted to announce that this is the beginning of a new series that I will be doing, called #WriteOffTheBat where I'm going to be sharing everything I know about blogging as a beginner, so be on the lookout for more articles just like this one, because I'd like to do them monthly if possible...Now without any further ado, let's begin!

-

1. GRAMMARLY                                              

As bloggers, our writing is incredibly important in order to be taken seriously by our readers as well as ourselves, that's why your first step in this process should be installing Grammarly onto Google Chrome or your compatible web-browser. But, wait...What is Grammarly? In case you've been living under a rock or just haven't done much research into blogging, it's basically the greatest application known to the writer. It's a simple, yet very effective writing-enhancement tool that when installed, will check for spelling errors as you go along writing your post which will be such a lifesaver when you're doing something like this on the regular. 

Speaking as someone who has dyslexia, (a learning disability; making the process of reading more difficult.) I've always been more than just a little paranoid about accidentally missing some of my little spelling mistakes before publishing my articles. But, since installing Grammarly, that's no longer been an issue of mine. I haven't needed to double check or triple check anything since I started this blog, and that has been a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders, and hopefully, it will be for you, too.

note: Grammarly is totally and completely free for you to use, but does offer an advanced version with a paid-subscription if you'd like to go another notch up with your writing. You can download the free app for Chrome and read more about their application right here.  

2. TITLE/ROUGH DRAFT

Once you have your newly installed Grammarly ready for use, we now can move on to our second step, the actual writing process. I like to recommend coming up with your title first before anything else. I know that may seem to be fairly obvious for most of you, but still, I like to remind people that titles are an extremely important part of any blog and should have a lot of thought and consideration put into them.

Without a proper title, you could have a brilliantly written, practically flawless article to share with everyone, but unfortunately, that won't matter so much. Without that interesting title, there won't be anything to pull the reader in, nothing to make them consider it as intriguing or potentially worth their time. With that being said, the title of your post should also be straightforward. If you're choosing to write about how to save money in the new year, then make sure your title reflects that instead of calling it something like, "You Should Be Doing This In 2018" Make sure that people understand what they're about to see before they even click. Don't be afraid to make it as clear to the reader as possible what your article will be about.

After coming up with the perfect title for your topic, it's great to start out with a few bullet points, I usually get the ball rolling on this by writing out a few short, but somewhat detailed sentences that contain the main points I would like to address within the article. I'll then take each of those first lines and start building onto them until eventually, I end up with enough to be used as the foundation for a full-on post.

note: It's crucial to remember that in this step we are working on our rough draft. If something isn't perfect, it's more than ok, that's what we have the editing stage for. Right now, think of your rough draft as a chance to explain everything to yourself, so you won't forget anything of importance in the final version.

3. TIME FOR EDITING 

So now that we have our rough draft put together, it may be looking a little bit crazy at this time. In fact, most of my rough drafts are usually just a jumbled mess of thoughts that would only ever make sense to myself. But it's all good because we're about to make some magic happen! We've got plenty of what we need to work with and now it's time to turn that draft into something special that will not only make sense to our lovely readers but will also give them the enjoyment that could potentially bring them back, looking for more to read in the near future!

It's safe to say that editing is where things will really start to take a turn for the best when writing your new article, but it can also be where the pace starts to slow down a bit for some bloggers, including myself. It's a pretty simple process, but if you're someone who can be critical of your writing and find yourself constantly rearranging, or even deleting sentences because you truly believe in your heart that you could be doing better (...That's literally me.) then this step can and most likely will, take up the majority of your time.

But the main purpose of the editing step is to go over what you've already written and start to polish it up until it gradually turns into something that you can feel completely satisfied and confident in sharing. You can use this time to place words within sentences that will help things start to flow a little better than they might have before, maybe even remove some words and replace ones you have used a little too frequently, (though that's hard to avoid depending on the topic and how much you write, so don't put too much pressure on yourself.) But overall, it's really all about tying everything together and trying to make it work in the best way possible.

note: At the end of the day, we're blogging because we enjoy it and it's meant to be a fun experience, so it's best we try to avoid getting caught up in the need for perfection. We can strive to do our very best, and we can totally strive for improvement, just not perfection, or we'll never be happy with the outcome of our work.

AFTER WRITING 

Truth be told, a more professional looking article involves just a little more than the writing itself...

Let's focus on adding and improving some of those bells and whistles before we finish, with our final two steps!

4. TAKING YOUR BLOG PHOTOS

Creating and adding in the right photos to your latest masterpiece can be just as important as coming up with a great title. The first photo you add to your blog post will usually be what your future readers will see in a preview once you've shared your link throughout social media. So, for our fourth step, we'll be focusing on my absolute favorite part of this process, which happens to be taking photos that will spice things up and make all of your hard work stand out and appear more visually interesting. 

I know that there are a ton of people out there that automatically assume you need to have the newest and fanciest camera in order to take professional looking blog photos, but really, the camera on your phone mixed with some good lighting will work just fine! But that there is the key, good lighting. Natural light, or natural light with a little artificial, will end up doing wonders for the quality. If you're using a phone or some sort of mobile device, try taking your photos earlier on in the day or whenever you have the best natural light coming through. I recommend you avoid taking any of your photos at night, the pictures will appear darker and grainer, which will bump the quality level way down.

On the flip side, if you do happen to have a nicer camera to use, you should totally take advantage of its power and use that baby for anything and everything. I'm no tech expert, so I recommend you Google tips and tricks on how to use your camera to the best of its ability. Learning exactly how your camera works will benefit you in so many ways, especially if you're using a DSLR, switching my Canon Rebel T5i from auto to manual was a total game changer for all of my blog photos.

note: I'm planning on doing another installment of this series that involves full details of how I take my blog photos with my DSLR. So, if you're not having much success with learning your camera and taking the best photos, hang tight because help is on the way! I'll try my best to hook you up with the best resources and tips asap!

5. CANVA, STOCKSNAP.IO, AND BEFUNKY

You know, I don't think I've ever gone without editing even just one of the photos I've taken for this blog because if they ended up turning out well on their own, then they could only get better in my mind. I don't spend a whole lot of time on this part, it's pretty quick and easy, just because I don't really do anything too crazy with them, but I do love to adjust and add brightness, change the sizing of each photo to fit my post perfectly, and I'm always adding some cool fonts to certain images, like the second photo you've seen at the top of this article, in order to display the title again, or a similar message.

Alright, so if you'd like to do any of those things that I just mentioned, you'll need to get yourself familiar with using the combination of websites BeFunky.com and Canva.com...Now, you may be wondering why I suggest you use two different sites to edit, well, it's because both sites have very different features that they offer for free, and using the two together is how I'm able to get the most out of my photos without having to pay an extra monthly bill.

Canva is a great site that works really well for any simple graphic design projects. There's a lot of free fonts you can choose from, a lot of illustrations, photos, etc. BeFunky is more for basic editing tools such as brightness, contrast, touch-ups, that sort of thing. Combine all free aspects of BeFunky and Canva together, and you've got a powerful editing tool that can be used for just about anything you'll ever need on your blog as far as design goes.

Now, in case you're having some trouble with photography, whether you don't have any of the right equipment or just can't seem to take the kind of photos that will have the most relevance to what you're discussing in your articles, I have two sites that will benefit you!

Thankfully there are plenty of websites out there that offer stock images, more importantly, there are websites out there that offer free stock images! The two I find myself using most often are called StockSnap.io and once again, Canva. Both sites have an awesome selection of free photos that can get you through your blog posts with ease. You could also use a combination of your own photography with stock images, that's something I do every once in a while and I know a lot of different bloggers like to do that, too.

-

When you take the time to follow this routine or even the time to develop your own that will better suit your needs, you'll be surprised at how much time you can cut down on during your writing process. It doesn't take much to step up your blogging game, just having something to follow along with as you go, will help keep yourself more organized and on track, which will make a world of difference.

With all of that being said, remember to let me know what you thought of this first installment of #WriteOffTheBat and what kind of blogging topic you would like to see me cover in the future! Thank you for reading!