Category Archives: Writing

I should be writing. Instead, chocolate forgiveness cake.

T: Just asking…Shouldn’t I be making a rich chocolate cake into which I then poke holes and onto which I then slather a thin ganache that will seep into the afore-poked holes?

C: What is stopping you?!?

T: I needed personal affirmations. 🤓

C: Go for it!

T: Shame and guilt also work. I am Catholic, after all 😇. Okay then. I’ll tell L that you insist. 

C: It is a little known fact that chocolate can absolve sins! I insist you search for forgiveness!

T: You’re kidding! I could have skipped that spooky confessional and chowed down on a Nestle’s Crunch Bar? …My ‘chocolate forgiveness cake’! I love it! 🙏.

So there you have it. Thanks to my texting pal, making my chocolate forgiveness cake (my name–website calls it The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe {Ever}) was a moral imperative.

This recipe calls for a cup of boiling water as the final ingredient.

As addapinch’s Robyn Stone tells you, the batter comes out very thin. Not to worry, the cake’s consistency came out just fine.

Besides enjoying the cake with my wife,
this was the best 12 seconds of the day.

And now, thanks to addapinch.com…
today’s chocolate forgiveness cake

Note: Back to the opening text conversation, and as if this recipe isn’t solid enough, I added the ‘poke cake’ feature. We tried two icings–chocolate for cake #1 and vanilla for cake #2.

Creating postcards for my ‘Goodwill Words’ project

I made a 3+ minute video showing how the iPad and the Canva app can team up to generate postcards to share as needed. [email, text message, print-and-send]

Here is the video…

Here are a few holiday-themed samples I made on Canva…

A favorite destination for ‘goodwill words’

I’ve recently posted about writing being an act of faith.

In this case, I have faith that my notes to…

https://loveforourelders.org/letters

lift someone’s day.

For sure, they distract me from lots of other disquieting stuff happening out there in the world. [And they remind me that others are hurting so much out there.]

Ian Taylor@carrier_lost

Plenty of writers are directing their thoughts and support to folks they know and some they don’t know, so my ‘project’ is nothing new or unique.

But it’s something that makes sense.

And…

  • it is a self-sustaining ‘volunteer opportunity’, which have dwindled ‘a bit’ since mid-March.
  • it’s one more feel-good checklist item for my day’s end ‘review’.
  • it’s so much better than watching the news.
  • it provides a layer of human contact
  • it’s been fun and rewarding and it will continue.

Let me know if you want to join me. I have a raft of resources that will make the project doable.

th at inventwithwords dot com

Tough writer talk from Margaret Atwood

Larry D. Moore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

“Writing is work. It’s also gambling. You don’t get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but essentially you’re on your own. Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don’t whine.”

I don’t think I’d mess with her. ;->

And geeeez, talk about someone who is not just an accomplished writer, but an accomplished person…

Meanwhile, I love what Grammarly says about her wording:

Curation Corner: Look into MasterClass Live

As I’m writing this, Dan (The DaVinci Code) Brown is the middle of his 50-minute YouTube video that includes a Q and A session with students who had signed up for his MasterClass course.

Here is the link to MasterClass Live on YouTube. Lots of excellent free knowledge being shared by the experts.

I was going to post this next week, but I’m going to squeeze this in today to promote their 2-for-1 annual membership offer through Nov. 30. (Nope, not getting any $$ for doing this. Just wanted to pass this along. I’m inches away from ordering myself, as it opens me up to send a free year as a Christmas gift.)

Many opportunities for ‘goodwill words’

First of all, these posts have nothing to do with giving myself props.

They have everything to do with encouraging others to find a little corner in their daily/weekly schedule and jot down/hunt-and-peck a thought or two for someone else’s benefit.

When I finished posting the note above on legacy.com, it hit me that some opportunities for goodwill writing can reach out and thunk us on the forehead. This was one of those times.

While Fred is reading it from ‘another place’, I hope it brings some comfort and a smile to his family. He was a special guy.

Nothing special, I realize, nothing earth-shaking or life-changing, but as writers, every time we put pen to paper, it’s an act of faith. In this case, I have faith that these simple items will improve a someone’s day, even just a little bit.

Plenty of writers are directing their thoughts and support to folks they know and some they don’t know, so my ‘project’ is nothing new or unique.

But it’s something that makes sense.

And…

  • it is a self-sustaining ‘volunteer opportunity’, which have dwindled ‘a bit’ since mid-March.
  • it’s one more feel-good checklist item for my day’s end ‘review’.
  • it’s so much better than watching the news.
  • it provides a layer of human contact
  • it’s been fun and rewarding and it will continue.

Let me know if you want to join me. I have a raft of resources that will make the project doable.

th at inventwithwords dot com

My ‘goodwill words’ project continues…

I sent this one yesterday. I took out the word cloud and the greeting to provide a layer of privacy for the person, even though her story is featured on moreloveletters.com. I hope the words give special people like this recipient a little shot in the arm.

Nothing special, I realize, nothing earth-shaking or life-changing, but as writers, every time we put pen to paper, it’s an act of faith. In this case, I have faith that these simple items will improve a person’s day, even just a little bit.

Plenty of writers are directing their thoughts and support to folks they know and some they don’t know, so my ‘project’ is nothing new or unique.

But it’s something that makes sense.

And…

  • it is a self-sustaining ‘volunteer opportunity’, which have dwindled ‘a bit’ since mid-March.
  • it’s one more feel-good checklist item for my day’s end ‘review’.
  • it’s so much better than watching the news.
  • it provides a layer of human contact
  • it’s been fun and rewarding and it will continue.

Let me know if you want to join me. I have a raft of resources that will make the project doable.

th at inventwithwords dot com

What inspires my ‘goodwill words’ project?

Here is a sample letter request from moreloveletters.com.

I welcome these needed reminders that others are struggling and my life is on cruise-control. It’s not always easy to come up with what I would consider ‘the right words’, but in those cases, I go with tact, sincerity, and the mantra of ‘better done than perfect’.

Plenty of writers are directing their thoughts and support to folks they know and some they don’t know, so my ‘project’ is nothing new or unique.

But it’s a project that makes sense.

And…

  • it is a self-sustaining ‘volunteer opportunity’, which have dwindled ‘a bit’ since mid-March.
  • it’s one more feel-good checklist item for my day’s end ‘review’.
  • it’s so much better than watching the news.
  • it provides a layer of human contact.
  • it’s been fun and rewarding and it will continue.

Let me know if you want to join me. I have a raft of resources that will make the project doable.

th at inventwithwords dot com

Cruising the Web for writing wisdom

from https://twitter.com/i/lists/120501776 [Writing Gurus]

https://advicetowriters.com/advice/2013/6/7/do-not-sit-and-mope.html

Image by Carlos Alvarenga from Pixabay

Seven Methods to Inspire Your Next Book

from Writing Routines

Three of the methods:

  • Start with one character in one room.
  • Create the world your story will inhabit.
  • Make new stories from tired, old pieces.

My ‘goodwill words’ project continues…

Nothing special, I realize, nothing earth-shaking or life-changing, but as writers, every time we put pen to paper, it’s an act of faith. In this case, I have faith that these simple items will improve a person’s day, even just a little bit.

Plenty of writers are directing their thoughts and support to folks they know and some they don’t know, so my ‘project’ is nothing new or unique.

But it’s something that makes sense.

And…

  • it is a self-sustaining ‘volunteer opportunity’, which have dwindled ‘a bit’ since mid-March.
  • it’s one more feel-good checklist item for my day’s end ‘review’.
  • it’s so much better than watching the news.
  • it provides a layer of human contact
  • it’s been fun and rewarding and it will continue.

Let me know if you want to join me. I have a raft of resources that will make the project doable.

th at inventwithwords dot com