Hello Internet!
First thing I want to say to you is Thank You! Thank You for making October our biggest month yet. September was a record-breaking month for the Website in terms of views and likes, and in October we broke that record again. Our community is growing on the website and we are attracting members from all over the globe. All of it makes me so happy! Your views, likes, comments, and shares make my day and fills me with so much happiness. Honestly, if you told me back in January that people from countries like Australia, Ireland, Russia, China, Bulgaria, Vietnam, and The Philippines, as well as many other countries, would be reading the stuff I wrote, I wouldn’t believe you. But it’s true. We have viewers new and old from all over the world reading the words I write and it blows me away. So Thank You viewers that started reading in January 2017 all the way to readers who just stumbled upon my stuff today (Hello!). I really appreciate all your support, and I know I can sound like a broken record when I say it over and over again, but I really mean it every time I say it. The second thing I want to say is that 2017 is quickly coming to an end. It is now November 1st. Soon it will be Thanksgiving, then Christmas, and then we’ll be saying goodbye to 2017 and hello to 2018. Now I will be taking off some time at the end of the month for Christmas and the Holidays, but don’t worry, I’ll be back in 2018. I’m going to be looking at all the information I have about how well certain pieces performed and based on that, I might change some things going forward. Without getting into the nitty gritty, I just want to let all the readers out there, that I’m really listening to what you guys want to read. For example we had a big surge in viewership this last week of October when I posted all the spooky/scary stories and Halloween themed pieces. So maybe I’ll be posting more spooky stuff in the future, we’ll see. The big thing is, if you like something I do, let me know. The more views, likes, and comments I get on a piece, the more importance I’ll assign it going forward. So if you really like the Pokemon Fanfiction chapters, make sure you go give them a like and leave a comment so I know that there’s a fan base out there. Same thing goes for the Fantasy-based Writing Prompts, or the Dungeons and Dragons inspired pieces, or the Weekly Blogs. Let me know what you like, so I can continue to make stuff that you want to read. I’ll reiterate this in future Weekly Blogs, but I thought I’d plant that idea in your brain now so you can think about it and show your support for the pieces you like to read. The last thing I want to say (I know this is a long introduction to the Weekly Blog), is that I’m going to try to finish this year strong. By that I mean that I want to be consistent with my posting schedule going forward. I believe that a consistent schedule is good for you as the reader and me as the writer. I feel bad when I promise a piece will be up and then it doesn’t get published or it gets published late that day. So going forward I’m going to work on budgeting my time better so I can publish the pieces that I promise when I promise them. This is mostly on me and I don’t really need to be telling you this, but I think it helps to be held accountable by a group of people on the internet.
Ok that’s enough for that super long intro full of thanks and housekeeping stuff. Now it’s time to move on to the New Year’s Resolutions and my November update. Really quick I just want to remind everyone that you can check out the original post here talking about my New Year’s Resolutions and there are also monthly updates (just like this one) for every month if you want to read those. You can find them under the “Weekly Blog” tab at the top of the page. Here is the October 1st update if you want to read it before reading this one. Ok now it’s finally time to move on. Thanks for the patience!
My first New Year’s Resolution I’ve been working on in 2017 is that I want to write more. Throughout my life I’ve always been someone with a hundred ideas floating around in their brain, but I never wrote them down. I had characters, setting, plot, and even quotes I’d want to use, but it was all in my brain. I wanted to change that and that led to the launch of this website. I started a Blog/Creative Writing outlet so I would be forced to write things. Since the start of the website, I have published 137 different pieces (including this Blog) which has ranged from Weekly Blogs on all types of subjects, An ongoing story based on the Pokemon Sun and Moon Videogames, and pieces based off of a wide-range of Writing Prompts. Like I said previously, we broke records in the month of September and we’re doing it again in the month of October. Hopefully we can continue to grow as a community and bring in more and more viewers from all over the world. I plan on keeping up the momentum going into 2018. Things might change around a little bit, but I think the three pieces a week plan is going pretty well and the viewership seems to support that. Again, I want to say Thank You to all the viewers new and old who make my day when they read my stuff and make this whole thing worth it. It feels me with a sense of accomplishment and confidence to write more and more. I know my writing isn’t perfect and I make mistakes, but your views keep me going! Thank you again!
My second resolution for 2017, is that I want to be a positive force to the people around me and I want to maintain a positive attitude. I know the world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows and there can be times where things just suck. Sometimes it’s just storm clouds and there’s no silver linings. In tough moments like this, I really try to keep a positive focus on things. Now being happy 100% of the time is unrealistic and that’s not the goal. The goal is just try to focus on the good and be appreciate of what I have instead of focusing on what I’m missing out on. So I strive to be a happier person and create a more positive attitude around me. I feel like there is so much negative stuff on the internet and in the world, that the world could use more wholesome people and wholesome stuff. I try to create a positive place here on the internet with my website and I try to be a positive force to the people around me. In general I think I’m doing ok at this resolution. It’s kind of hard to tell on how I affect other people, but I’m giving it an honest effort and really that’s all you can do. If you’re trying to affect positive change and you end up failing, you can still say that you are trying. Again, that’s me looking for the silver lining.
My third resolution is that I want to be more adventurous. This resolution comes in two parts: 1) I want to go on more adventures and 2) have a more open minded attitude (or adventurous) attitude towards new life experiences. There’s a big world out there and I want to experience it as much as I can. However, this attitude also applies to the place I live and work. There’s interesting things all around us if we just take a moment to check it out. Of course I’m a poor, college graduate with no money to explore the world, so for now I just have to focus on the local stuff. This attitude also applies to new relationships, new jobs, or just new life experiences in general. Now there’s been issues revolving around this for the past several months, and it saddens me that it hasn’t gotten any better. I’ve just been feeling that I’m stuck. I’m stuck at work. I’m stuck in life. I have a good job and I don’t really have that many complaints. It’s just not my passion. I majored in Political Science and English and I want to use my degree. My job doesn’t require either of those majors. Or any college degree really. Of course I credit my English degree with helping me with writing and publishing here on the website, but this isn’t paying the bills. I’m just kind of stuck in a rut in my life and I don’t know if there’s any way out of it. I’m still hoping something will happen, but I’m losing faith. I just don’t want to look back on my life and have a bunch of regrets because I never got the chance to pursue my dreams. I’m really trying to get something going, but so far I haven’t been able to find a new job and move my life forward. This kind of plays into resolution #2 because I’m trying to keep a positive attitude about the whole thing and be thankful for the job I have, but it really wears me down.
My fourth and final New Year’s Resolution of 2017 is that I want to be healthier: both physically and mentally. This resolution focuses on diet and exercise as well maintaining a mental health. If you have been reading my resolution updates for a while or read the original post, you’ll know that I gave up drinking pop/soda. I am actually nearing three years without pop which will be February 1st, 2018, so I’m super proud of that. Honestly drinking water instead of pop all the time has me so much healthier and makes me feel better. Especially since I drink water so passively now that I hardly notice it when I’m at work. If I drank pop like that, that would be a ton of sugar I’m putting into my body without actually enjoying it. Another thing that I’ve changed about my diet is that I eat a lot more leafy greens. I was never big on spinach or lettuce, but I’ve added more to my diet. I also try to cut down on sugar even though I have a pretty big sweet tooth. Especially since it’s Halloween season and there’s a lot of candy out there. I try to limit myself and be conscience of what I’m putting into my body. Again if you are eating potato chips or cookies or whatever and it’s a passive thing, you won’t notice how unhealthy you are being while you are doing it. I don’t count calories or get that in depth into it, but I’m aware of what I’m eating when I’m eating it. When it comes to exercise, it varies widely. Honestly a lot of my time is split between sitting at a desk at work and sitting at home in front of my phone or computer. It’s a lot of sitting. However there are some days at work or just in life where I’m busy running around and I’m really active. These days kind of balance themselves out, but I know there’s a lot more I could be doing. I know I need to buy a gym membership or something and get someone to keep me accountable so I’ll exercise more and get in shape. I’m not obese or anything, but I’m out of shape and I need to be better about it. Again, it’s all about being conscience of your faults and then acting upon them. Step one is knowing that I need to exercise more. I’m just struggling with step two which is doing something about it.
So that’s my summary for the month of October. It’s been almost a year that I’ve been working on these New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve seen more progress in some than others, but altogether I think I’m improving. It’s all about setting realistic goals for yourself and then figuring out what small steps will get you from here to there. I’m not perfect. I make mistakes and fall into pitfalls. Somedays are better than others. Some days I fail. All of that is ok. It’s about picking yourself up off the ground and trying again. That’s what I’ve been doing and I hope to continue that going into 2018. Now I don’t know if I’ll be doing these blogs going forward, but I plan on having New Year’s Resolutions and then working on them. Now if you’re out there reading this and thinking about your own resolutions, I want to remind you that you don’t have to wait until January 1st, 2018. You can start right now or tomorrow. Just pick something that you want to change about yourself and then set manageable goals in order to get from where you are now to where you want to go or what you want to be. Pick your goal and then start it. Don’t procrastinate. If you wait two months to start working on your resolutions, you’re going to look back and wish you started two months ago. So do your future self a favor and start now. Just be realistic when it comes to your resolutions and realize that you’re not going to change overnight. These things take time and it takes a constant effort. However, in the end, it is all worth it!
That’s all for my November update. I hope you enjoyed this piece. If you really liked it, feel free to give it a like or leave a comment down below on a resolution you’re currently working on or one you are planning to work on in the future. I’d love to hear about the things you are currently working on no matter if you’ve been working on it for years or just started today. I’m here for encouragement or advice. I’m not particularly great at either, but I’ll still help as much as possible. If you enjoyed this piece, feel free to spend some time checking out the other stuff on the website. We have Weekly Blogs as well as Creative Writing pieces. There’s a wide variety of things, so hopefully you’ll be able to find something you’ll like. Finally I want to remind you again that if there is something you really like, make sure you give it a like and leave a comment telling me how much you enjoy it. That feedback will let me know what to focus on in 2018 and going forward. Thank you again for all your support. I really appreciate it!
Have a wonderful week!
-Allen_The_Writer
Header Photo Credit to Inter Stude
https://interstude.com/15-things-to-do-in-november-in-montreal/
Allen The Writer 