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Just Jot It Jan 27 – Incomplete

The word “incomplete” has been running around in my head all day. Somewhere at the back, where it hasn’t been in the way much. I’ve been trying to figure out what, in my life, is complete. The final conclusion is nothing. But why?

Well, if I really think about it (in the front of my head), if something is complete, I usually set it aside. And sometimes I forget it. This is a good thing, of course, if the complete thing is not a thing I wanted to keep anyway. So what of the things I do wish to hold onto?

I wouldn’t want a relationship to be complete, because what would be the challenge after that? Things that aren’t challenging become boring. Take games, for example. An unchallenging game, like playing Crazy Eights against myself, would quickly turn into a game of 52-card pickup. For me at least. That’s why they invented Solitaire. I’m convinced of it.

And even worse, who would want someone else to complete them? Oh yeah, the end of Jerry Maguire is romantic and all. But just imagine it. Being completed. You wouldn’t need to get up in the morning.

“Honey, breakfast is on the table!”

“Not coming down today, Sweetheart.”

“But, I made pancakes! And coffee!”

“Nope! I’m done. You did me!”

That would be awful! I’m so glad I’m incomplete.

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Many thanks go to Cyn for our prompt today, “incomplete.” You can check out her latest post here: https://cynk.wordpress.com/2017/01/27/fitness-friday-secret-identity/ Go say hi!

And Just Jot It January is still a fun challenge, even if the month is almost complete. Why? ‘Coz you can join in any time! Click here for details and to read all the awesome posts: https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/27/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-27th17/


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS and #JusJoJan Jan. 28/17

Friday’s the day today, so today is the day for the Saturday Stream of Consciousness prompt. Sorry I’m so late; I got caught up with my editing after a chaotic morning. I’ll likely write about it later.

This prompt will also be the one for tomorrow’s JusJoJan post, so link back here even if you don’t write in Stream of Consciousness style. Here’s your prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday and Just Jot It January is: “wood/would.” Use one, use both, use them any way you would like. Have fun!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness or JusJoJan post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our SoCS badge. Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant.

You can also use the Just Jot It January badge! Here it is:

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Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!


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#JusJoJan Daily Prompt – Jan. 27th/17

Hey there! It’s 2am where I am and that means it’s time for your Just Jot It January daily prompt. I had an incredibly busy day yesterday, taking my mum out for coffee and editing. I just hope I’m this busy when I have enough experience to be paid for it! …editing, that is. 😉

Here’s your prompt for today:

The Just Jot It January 27th prompt, brought to you by Cyn of That Cynking Feeling is: “Incomplete.” Use it any way you’re inspired to. And make sure you stop by and say hi to Cyn as well! Here’s her blog:  https://cynk.wordpress.com/about/ .

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The rules for Just Jot It January are as follows:

1. It’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. The prompts will be posted every day at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt word, but this will be where you leave your link for others to see. Make sure you link your post to the correct day’s prompt. There will be a post like this every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday, when you’ll find the prompt on my usual Friday Reminder post for Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS).

3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will be at the top.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of the day. You can link any kind of jot back here. Even your shopping list. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge (above) in your post so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!

If you’d like to look ahead to see the upcoming prompt words, click this link: https://lindaghill.com/2016/12/31/just-jot-it-january-2017-rules/ You can always write your post ahead of time and schedule it to come out on the appropriate day.


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Just Jot It Jan 27 – Extraordinary

I decided today was going to be an extraordinary day, and it was! It started with coffee, and then I had more coffee, and then I took my mother out for coffee… It was extraordinary!

What really made my day, other than coffee, was a rare opportunity to help out a friend by giving her a break from looking after her son this evening. It’s not often I’m in a position where I can do more than take care of myself and my kids, so it was a treat for me to feel like I was giving back for a change.

Here’s to extraordinary days – and to posting before midnight! Gotta hurry up. Luckily I have all this coffee sloshing around inside me.

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Thanks very much to Kelli for our prompt today! If you didn’t catch it, it was “extraordinary”! If you haven’t had a chance yet, please pop over and say hi to her. Here’s her link: https://fortyandfantastique.wordpress.com/about/

You can read all the posts for this prompt here: https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/26/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-26th17/ Check it out and join in!


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#JusJoJan Daily Prompt – Jan. 26th/17

Linda back again for your Just Jot It January prompt. I’ll be here for the rest of the month–that is almost finished!! Can you believe it? Seems like just yesterday we were wishing each other a happy new year, doesn’t it? Or maybe it’s just me.

I’d like to say a quick thank you to my guest posters who helped me out this month. Thanks so much Rosemary, Dan, Shan, and Judy! You all helped tremendously, and I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as I do, every time I post a prompt. 😀 I’ll be writing a proper tribute to everyone who lent a hand with the prompts, at the end of the month. So get ready for a parade!!

Anywho, here’s your prompt for today:

The Just Jot It January 26th prompt, brought to you by Kelli of Forty, c’est Fantastique! is: “Extraordinary.” Use it any way you’re inspired to. And make sure you stop by and say hi to Kelli as well! Here’s her blog:  https://fortyandfantastique.wordpress.com/ .

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The rules for Just Jot It January are as follows:

1. It’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. The prompts will be posted every day at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt word, but this will be where you leave your link for others to see. Make sure you link your post to the correct day’s prompt. There will be a post like this every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday, when you’ll find the prompt on my usual Friday Reminder post for Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS).

3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will be at the top.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of the day. You can link any kind of jot back here. Even your shopping list. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge (above) in your post so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!

If you’d like to look ahead to see the upcoming prompt words, click this link: https://lindaghill.com/2016/12/31/just-jot-it-january-2017-rules/ You can always write your post ahead of time and schedule it to come out on the appropriate day.


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One-Liner Wednesday & #JusJoJan 25/17 Prompt – It’s Here!

I finally received my author copy of the After the Happily Ever After anthology!

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And there’s me, right on page 398!!

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Here’s the link to the book’s Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/After-Happily-Ever-collection-fractured/dp/0998498300/  The rest of the stories look awesome. 😀

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The rules for Just Jot It January are as follows:

1. It’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. The prompts will be posted every day at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt word, but this will be where you leave your link for others to see. Make sure you link your post to the correct day’s prompt. There will be a post like this every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday, when you’ll find the prompt on my usual Friday Reminder post for Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS).

2a. Since today is Wednesday, I challenge you to make your JusJoJan post a one-liner. If you don’t care to, or if you’ve already written your post, no problem. Remember, with One-Liner Wednesday you can write anything – it’s only a prompt to write one line, not necessarily to keep to the same theme as mine. The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

(i) Make it one sentence.

(ii) Make it either funny or inspirational.

(iii) Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

(iv) Have fun!

(v) Use our One-Liner Wednesday badge!

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com

3. As long as your blog is on WordPress, you’ll be able to link via pingback. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! If you’re participating from another blogging host, just drop a link into the comment section. Note: The newest pingbacks and comments will be at the top.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. The prompts are here both to remind you and to inspire you to write. However, you don’t have to use the prompt word of the day. You can link any kind of jot back here. Even your shopping list. Note: If it’s 18+ content, please say so in a comment with your link.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge (above) in your post so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!

If you’d like to look ahead to see the upcoming prompt words, click this link: https://lindaghill.com/2016/12/31/just-jot-it-january-2017-rules/ You can always write your post ahead of time and schedule it to come out on the appropriate day.

jjj-2017


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Just Jot It Jan 24 – Elusive

“Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word.” ~ Stephen King

I used to agree with this wholeheartedly. I still do agree with the gist of it; if it’s not a word you regularly use in your everyday vocabulary, then you’re writing outside of your own voice. And your authorial voice is, arguably, the one thing people read you for. You as opposed to the thousands of other authors who write in the same genre, the same tropes over and over again.

But now? Now that I can’t remember my kids’ names half the time and I often get stuck on a word I know I know, but I just can’t spit it out? The thesaurus has become my favourite book. Can’t come up with that word I use all the time that means “thingamajig”? Look it up in the thesaurus and there it is. It’s a “doohickey”!

Sorry, Mr. King, but I can’t live without my thesaurus. And no, it’s not the wrong word. It’s just the word that went for a stroll. The one I can’t find. You know, the “elusive” one. Yeah, that’s the word.

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Thanks to Evelyn of Eclectic Evelyn for today’s prompt word, “elusive.” You can find her latest post here: http://www.eclecticevelyn.com/welcome-snapchat-wordlesswednesday/

And an enormous thank you to Judy, the hostess with the mostess for the last few days. I can’t express how much I’ve appreciated her help. You can find Judy’s elusive post here: http://www.edwinasepisodes.com/jujojan-january-24th-elusive/ Let’s have a big round of applause for Judy!! 😀

And finally, here’s the daily post with today’s Just Jot It January prompt. Click and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/23/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-24th-elusive/


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Just Jot It Jan 23 – Compromise

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with compromise. It’s the most wonderful thing in the world to be able to come to an acceptable agreement between two people who want two different things. That is when compromise is a fantastic tool.

But on the other hand, I’m a bit of a control freak. Especially when it comes to the things I want for my family and for myself. If anything stands in the way of what my children need, there is no compromise. Until I’m told there is no possibility, I refuse to give an inch. And I’m the same with the things I want to do for myself. My new career(s) as an author and an editor, for instance. I will not give them up, and I will not compromise my chances of success.

And then there’s my blog. I’ve tried negotiating with it, but strangely, it still demands the same number of hours a day now as it did when I began, four years ago. Back then, I stalked visited other blogs, sometimes six hours a day just hoping for follows. Now that I’ve become somewhat successful at it, new bloggers often come to me. I could very easily still spend six hours a day visiting everyone who visits me. To understand my dilemma, please see the previous paragraph.

It’s a tough call. With my kids, compromise is cut and dry. If I want something different than someone I care about does, that, too, is easy. I compromise. But this work/blog thing is tearing me. I hate to say it, but something, one day, is going to have to give a bit. And I need food on the table.

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Our prompt today was brought to you by the lovely Ritu. Please go and visit, and read her Just Jot It January post here: https://butismileanyway.com/2017/01/23/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-23rd17-compromise/

And a very special thanks to Judy for hosting today’s prompt! I encourage you to visit Judy at her blog here: http://www.edwinasepisodes.com/jusjotjan-january-23-compromise/

Finally, go to today’s prompt post and read all the other excellent posts here: https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/22/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-23rd-compromise/


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Just Jot It Jan 22 – (dis)contempt

I made up a new word!

“Discontempt”
1. the state of having a lack of contempt for anything.
2. the feeling you have when you’ve eaten too much for your birthday dinner. Oh wait, that’s indigestion. Never mind.

And that’s it for me today. My excuse; it’s my birthday, and I’ll sleep if I want to. Ni’night, all. 😀

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Huge thanks to Judy, for hosting today – you can find her here: http://www.edwinasepisodes.com/

And thanks very much to Rosemary for our prompt today, which I mucked up completely. Here’s where you can find her blog: https://rosemarycarlson.com/

And here’s the prompt post – please join in! https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/22/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-22nd-contempt/


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#SoCS, Just Jot It Jan 21 – Glass

Ah, finally. After a busy day, sitting with a glass of wine or two, happily flitting to and fro like an insane Pomeranian, trying to choose from the many possibilities on what to write of “glass.”

It’s insane, but here I am communicating to the world as my fingers stroke a keyboard, and symbols which can be read appear on a sheet of backlit glass, to instantaneously fly through the ether and into the homes of so very many onlookers. What power! How would Shakespeare have handled such fluidity of information? How much has been lost…

We are such fragile things, we humans with our egos and our importances that we carry with us from day to day, year to year, some falling away like forgotten leaves beneath the first snow. What if we could get a glimpse back through time to the things we found, in the past, to be life-changing but weren’t? We scoff at it now, just as we scoff at the clothes we wore, captured through the lenses of our memory-saving devices – you know, the ones we never had with us when it was most crucial. But now…now…

So much is seen through glass.

I see through my glass that it is empty, again. Time for a refill, methinks.

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This philosophical post is brought to you by a combination of Stream of Consciousness Saturday and

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Just Jot It January. Click the link, read the posts, and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/20/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-and-jusjojan-jan-2117/