Bethany Henry: Writing & Wellness

Recently my daughter, completely unprompted, ranked her top 10 favorite words to share with us. Her list included a few made up words and has now been expanded to include a more words she “really likes the sound of,” including “peanut butter” and “pickle.” What words do you like the sound of? When was the last time you thought about some of your favorite words? Because words are amazing! They can inspire and evoke and they can be straight-up fun to say. Here’s a collection of a few words to get you started! Next step is to try to see how many we can use in conversation 😉 18 Words for Word-Nerds Definitions sourced from dictionary.com  where you can also find crossword puzzles and other word related fun! Wonky: Not exactly straight or balanced, off-kilter Wabi-sabi: A Japanese aesthetic concept that finds beauty and serenity in objects, landscapes, designs, etc., that are simple, imperfect, and impermanent. Zenith: A highest point or state; culmination. Vermilion: A brilliant scarl...

Our worldbuilding is the setting and atmosphere of our stories. As writers, we don’t want to overlook this critical component of making our stories the strongest they can be! But what makes worldbuilding great? And how do we *do* that? Today we’ll walk through two aspects of worldbuilding: Theme and Details. Theme and Details in Worldbuilding Theme A theme in worldbuilding refers to the big picture concept that pulls everything together. There will be lots of different pieces involved in our world but they all should fit into one unified whole, otherwise the story will feel disjointed or unfinished and leave the reader confused. The goal is to create a setting that is cohesive and where its parts work together: suddenly all the different pieces are more than the sum of their parts and we’ve created something  more. Themed worldbuilding results in powerful settings that interest and resonate with readers and can add to the story’s tone and plot. Aspects of Theme to Consider: How thi...

Today we’re looking at 8 practical ways we can be intentional about improving as writers. With a new year starting it’s the perfect time to think about how we want to be learning and growing! We don’t need to tackle all 8 strategies at once! But building some of these practices into our schedules and regular routines can definitely lead to growth as writers. Some of us may have left our formal school years behind us but that doesn’t mean we can’t be improving our craft! There is always more to learn 🙂 8 Ways to Improve as Writers 1. Read Widely and Well “Read, read, read. Read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window. William Faulkner We can’t be writers without being readers as well. We’ll all have our favorite genres we gravitate towards, but we should also stretch ourselves by r...

Happy New Year! As promised, we’re kicking off the year talking about goals. One of my favorite things! 🙂 We don’t need to be stressed, intimidated, or legalistic about it all: Goals can look like many different things and they can be a hugely useful tool even when used minimally. Along with goals we’ll also be talking about grace. Having grace is when we are kind to ourselves, when we forgive ourselves for falling short of our goals, and when we allow ourselves to not be perfect. Because none of us are perfect!! Recognizing that we aren’t writing robots who never falter or fail is helpful so that we can be patient with ourselves and our own work. This is where things like self-care and rest come in 🙂 Goals and grace are both vital parts of living a balanced and productive life . Goals, Grace, and Focus Words Goals I’ve actually talked about goals quite a bit before.. When you boil it down, it doesn’t need to be too complicated: We review our priorities and decide what we want to foc...

We made it, guys! The year is almost over and a brand-new fresh year is right around the corner. That means, of course, that it’s traditionally the time to talk about goals (one of my favorite things!) but instead today we’re pausing to take time to reflect. Reflection and personal introspection is a vital part of goals and life in general. It’s how we know who we are, where we’ve been, and what we want. So here are some questions for us to ponder. Take some time to sit with them if you can. Pour yourself some hot coco and slow down for a few minutes. Journal if that’s your thing (and maybe even if it isn’t). Don’t rush ahead without thinking about where it is we are now. We have a few weeks before January 1st comes along and gives us a blank calendar to fill in. For now let’s try to take a few breathes amongst the holiday busyness and pause to reflect. Year-End Reflection Questions What did I like about this past year? What were my top 5-10 moments? What is something I’m glad I did? W...