Thursday 5 January 2023

#IWSG POST - MY WORD OF THE YEAR!

 Happy New Year everyone! I wish you every happiness in 2023! May your insecurities disappear and your securities grow! 



This is a short post. Don't get much time to open the laptop these days, but hoping that will improve soon!

January 4 question - Do you have a word of the year? Is there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year? For instance, in 2021 my word of the year was Finish. I was determined to finished my first draft by the end of the year. In 2022, my word of the year is Ease. I want to get my process, systems, finances, and routines where life flows with ease and less chaos. What is your word for 2023? Why?

The awesome co-hosts for the January 4 posting of the IWSG are Jemima Pett, Debs Carey, Kim Lajevardi, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and T. Powell Coltrin!

I saw the question and right away decided my word was  -  

Persevere 

Some of you know that we had a bit of a discombobulation at WEP toward the end of 2022 where it seemed each of the team members had life issues that were impacting on their ability to run WEP. Due to life throwing me lemons, I felt I had no choice but to give up my baby, but I didn't want to see it disappear as I believe WEP serves an important purpose - a creative corner of the blogoverse where  members can write 6 times a year and improve.

So when our first plan for a takeover tanked, Team WEP brushed themselves off and decided to continue despite issues, some with a lesser role, but with a strong core to ensure WEP continues to offer writers a chance to participate, to imagine, to create and to surprise themselves each challenge.

So, Persevere I say. Decide what to prioritise and go for it. Life will always throw us lemons, but we can make lemonade instead of collapsing in a heap.

And I just posted an article, #How to become a novelist by our December 2022 winner, Pat Garcia, at the WEP site. Her writing is going ahead in leaps and bounds.



And for all past, present and future participants in WEP, here is our first challenge in February 2023.


Remember, it's all about what inspires you:

GWTW can be the springboard for a million ideas- civil war, love, the definition of beauty (‘Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful but men seldom realized it..’), racism, slavery, strong women, gun violence, plantations, breaking conventions, the bond between fathers and daughters, mothers and daughters, the love for a piece of land, a lament for a vanishing society…alternatively, even an essay on the stars or the film director or the author Margaret Mitchell or some aspect of the making of the film...endless opportunities for creativity.

Post-February 15 to the 17th 2023






18 comments:

Jemi Fraser said...

Love this, Denise. Persevere is an excellent word choice. I might just be borrowing that now and again throughout the year. All the best to you and yours for 2023!

Olga Godim said...

Kudos to Persevere. What would we do without that word?

Elephant's Child said...

I suspect that persevere is more integral to writers than their skeleton (or almost). Keep on keeping on - though I hope this year is MUCH better.

Karen Baldwin said...

Oh wow-persevere! A great word. With all that's been going on in the world, it's what we all must dol Happy New Year.

Michelle Wallace said...

Hi Denise!
I’ve never had a ‘word of the year’.
But I believe in perseverance. You mentioned it over at my place. So maybe that will be my ongoing word for years to come.
All the best for 2023!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Glad you guys are working it out. As you said, it's your baby and you know how to run it best.

Natalie Aguirre said...

Persevere is essential for writers. I hope you work everything out with WEP. Happy New Year!

H. R. Sinclair said...

Happy to hear you all are persevering and working it out. 😉

A Hundred Quills said...

Great woty, Denise. Thank you so much for WEP. I love participating and I'd like to say that if there's ever a time when you need someone to step up and help, please count me in. It will be a pleasure. I wish you a joyous and healthy new year.
-Sonia

L. Diane Wolfe said...

We all need to persevere. I get a thousand things thrown at me for DLP but I somehow manage to get it all done in the end.

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

Persevere might just have been my word for the last couple of years, because that's what I've had to do, too. I hope 2023 gives you everything you need!

Denise Covey said...

Thank you everyone! I've visited you.

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Persevere is a good word and was my 2020 word. I think Persevere opens connects to hope and optimism and faith. Yes, good word, indeed!

J.Q. Rose said...

Perseverance is necessary in all ages and stages of life, otherwise, we would end up in the fetal position sucking on a thumb. Life is hard, but this word focuses on knowing we can get through it and find achievement, happiness, pride and probably a host of other words because we did not give up. Have a great #2023!

cleemckenzie said...

We have the same idea for our 2023 plan! Here's to both of us making those words work for us.

Annalisa Crawford said...

Perseverance is so important in all the creative arts - there are so many knockbacks which have nothing to do with talent or output but solely based on someone else's opinion (an editor, a reviewer, a reader).

Getting up again and fighting through it is sometimes harder, but worth it.

Nilanjana Bose said...

Persevere is a great word. I don't have a word of the year but if I did it would be 'destress' for 2023. Probably for every year haha.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Denise - you've certainly had your challenges and so I hope 2023 will ease up for you and the family ... but at times we most definitely need to persevere ... we can't cruise through life.

I'm so pleased WEP is continuing ... I enjoy the prompts ... sometimes I know which direction I'll go, other times the brain has to do a quick turnaround. Particularly I enjoy reading others' entries - cheers to you and all the very best this year - Hilary