Anthology of Snippets

Tag: writing

  • Freewriting challenges

    Freewriting challenges

    In an effort to encourage Little Miss to exercise her writing muscles, I have shared some freewriting prompts for her to use.

    Unfortunately, the idea of freewriting and blogging is lost on her. She is nervous, hesitant, perhaps a tad bit anxious to bleed on the page – perhaps thinking that she would be criticized heavily. I promised to be kinder and less critical of what she writes. To prove this, I will also join the challenge so that my writing muscles are also stretched.

    It has been too long since I wrote anything of substance.

    In true freewriting and blogging form, I shall simply jot down what comes out of my stream of consciousness nary a concern for style, grammar, or form. Just a reminder,

    Freewriting is a technique in which the author writes their thoughts quickly and continuously, without worrying about form, style, or even grammar. Alongside brainstorming, freewriting is typically used early in the writing process to collect and manifest one’s thoughts.

    I figured that since nobody reads my blog anyway, this is just a good place for me to do brain dumps – as usual. 😉

    Hope you stick around.

  • Change is Constant

    Change is Constant

    As we near the end of the year, can you tell me what challenges you’ve faced and what changes you’ve experienced for 2022?

    A few years ago, I had a chat with a young friend who mentioned that he was getting bored with life. He felt that there was nothing interesting left to do and that he already knew everything there is to know about life. To this, I told him that growth and change are constant in life. You need to at the very least learn something new every year. It does not have to be something that would benefit your career, it might be something more creative.

    At that point, he challenged me, asking what new thing did I learn that particular year (2020)? I proceeded to list down new things I learned, both big and small. He said the small things do not count.

    I said they count if I say they do. And for me, they do.

    So as 2022 winds down, I suggest taking time to look back at the year that was and see if you learned something new. Write it down. Be grateful for the opportunity to learn.

    If you feel you have not learned anything new, then I suggest getting a lined journal, or a notebook, and writing down things that you would like to learn. I suggest making those goals smaller, more achievable, and some that are big. 

    Dream big!

    End of the Year Challenge

    motivational simple inscription against doubts
    Photo by Leeloo Thefirst on Pexels.com

    Since December 2022 is technically not finished yet, I would like to invite you to learn something new this month. Here are some ideas:

    • Learn to play Christmas tunes on a kalimba (you can use a kalimba app).
    • Learn to DIY a Christmas ornament.
    • Learn to make an advent wreath.
    • Learn 25 new words in a different language.
    • Learn something new about Christmas.

    Okay, maybe the themes are Christmas-themed but ’tis the season.

    Give it a try!

  • November Rain

    November Rain

    We’ve come to the end of November, and with it comes the tail-end of 2023. Around this time of every year, I frequently experience fatigue and a slight zombie state of mind. It feels as though I have run a marathon and I am losing speed and losing care that the finish line is appearing.

    Nothing to worry about. It happens every year. This year just feels a little bit heavier.

    I suppose I will have more strength in a few days.

    November: A Month in Review

    Despite the fatigue, November came with surprises and new things learnt. No wonder my back hurts so much. Here are some things to remember this month by:

    • Stretching my coding brain – I relaunched my attempts at Flutter. This time, I made more progress. Perhaps you will soon see my app.
    • Creative BuKo – I’ve taken a step back to reassess where we are with Creative BuKo and thinking of more ways to improve it. I believe I have an idea now, but I just need one thing that I always needed: TIME.
    • Attended conventions – Little Boxes Solutions has attended conventions and participated in n events. One of which was the Cambodia Tech Expo. While majority of the speakers spoke in Khmer, it was still interesting to see how much growth Cambodia has had in the technology scene.
    • Reading progress – I’ve made progress with my reading after a month reading slump. This is one thing I am most ecstatic about because reading is life.
    • Revamped my business card – I have revamped my business card somewhat. Hope to have it printed soon.

    One thing I have missed is my writing, which I suppose this is the reason why I am writing a bit. I really hope to write some more, but the previous challenge was with having to switch laptops. Sometimes having multiple laptops can be challenging when some of the things you need are in another laptop, but you brought a separate one.

    Let’s talk more about other things when I get back.

  • Drafts

    Drafts

    I’ve written entries almost every day for the past week or so. Yet they languish in Drafts. Some are half written, left hanging due to a child screaming for more juice, or a husband who has asked something or other.

    Drafts. Something akin to blog purgatory, where one sits waiting to be processed. Like those books found in the “The Library of the Unwritten” by A.J. Hackwith (review to follow), they once were stories that were meant to be shared with the world — or maybe not.

    Some days, I find myself thinking why I should still bother to write. Yet, in the middle of a busy cafe or on the road under the pouring rain, the stories still come. About the child who stood in the middle of the road soaked in the rain, with foul stagnant water past her ankles, begging for a few hundred riels, or the guy who sits on the top floor of the building nearby, topless day in and day out. Or perhaps the story of the little girl who asked rolled on the floor of the store in front of the bank, because her parents would not buy a chocolate bar. The parents’ reactions are priceless.

    So while I sort through the muddle of stories in my mind, they rest in Drafts waiting for a time to come into fruition.

    Meanwhile, we carry on.