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Daily Inspiration – Imagined
Today’s daily inspiration is a photograph captured and edited by John, please follow the link below titled ‘Imagined’ and be inspired.
You are more than welcome to share anything that has inspired you by this piece. Should you do so, please link your blog post back to this post, or add it to the linky list below. This will be open for submission for one week, then will be closed.
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Daily Inspiration – The Orb
Our very first daily inspiration is a photograph captured and edited by Shannon Rogers, please follow the link below titled ‘The Orb’ and be inspired.
You are more than welcome to share anything that has inspired you by this piece. Should you do so, please link your blog post back to this post, or add it to the linky list below. This will be open for submission for one week, then will be closed.
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New Schedule
Dearest readers, the schedule is tweaked for my convenience (timewise) and is in keeping with daily/monthly prompts/challenges I have started up on Opuss. If you fancy taking part in the Opuss challenges, or just want to be inspired, join me there or write your pieces and link your posts back to me me so I can pop by and have a read.
I will try to keep to the daily schedule; however, I will not restrict myself to it and will post as and when I can, again another element of yikici surprise playing afoot here. 
Daily Muse/Prompt:
Similar to the previous Tuesday’s Triptych Tapestry, the daily prompts will differ slightly, I will keep the concept simpler. I will share imagery every day which I hope will inspire to write anything and everything or just help you start the day with a smile.
In Addition to the Daily Prompt the Following Schedule will Continue:
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News Just In: Wattpad and Opuss Joys
It feels like another eternity has flown past since I last wrote a blog post. The passing times have been difficult, the road to recovery, testing, challenging and perplexing at times. A constant battle in my mind between self-doubt and belief that I can beat this, I believe I will, it will just take time and patience -something, you, my lovely readers have in abundance.
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The First Time
It’s daunting, sitting here typing away the first piece of writing I’ve done in -what feels like ages. It’s been like months since I last wrote to you…so much has happened since then; my life warped in-front of my eyes as different lifestyles were thrown at me. All of which I loved, yet was not enough for me to stay… I have become my own martyr -my own hurdle. Where stepping-stones tried to lead me home, I veered off the path, distracted by the many facets of what could be. A Red Riding Hood losing track of time. A child in a candy store. A flightless bird left at sea. A void in a bottomless pit. A nothingness in the sea of digital living. Life’s mysterious endeavours tried to overthrow me. Life did not succeed.
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Roll-up, Roll-up, (My) Instacanv.as Gallery is now Open
Helloooooo to you all, hope you are well and are on target (for whatever it may be -seriously, I’m curious now, what are you all up to these days? Leave a comment below and let’s have a conversation 
). If you all are asking about moi, these past few weeks I’ve been busy spending time with my family/friends (and Megan), writing, resting and snapping away taking pictures and editing them to my hearts’ content and then sharing them on instagram and here (when I have the time to do so). This has fuelled my creative drive somewhat and other than the odd spurts of dizzy spells (which forces me away from my laptop and any long-burst of writing) I have been feeling rather positive about what is in store for me. Getting back to my art and photography has become a blessing in disguise (as had my writing last year); being able to visualise and bring together images and create imagery which people appreciates’ has been extremely satisfying -as well as it has reminded me how much I missed just doing arty stuff. So, this is me -in addition to my writing; I will be designing visual artworks when I cannot write anymore due to my dizzy-spells; hopefully my art will spur on my writing and vice-versa.
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Making Sense of Scheduling
Image linked to its' original source.
As you all know I have been struggling with keeping to my blog schedule –I’ve changed it a few times; but it’s not turned out quite to how I’ve envisioned it to be. External factors (laptop problems & internet connection issues) and internal factors (my anxiety & bouts of low moods) have stepped in and hindered me somewhat –it’s been pretty depleting and has made me feel like quite a failure (which I know I am not) –therefore, I REALLY hate it. For this reason I’ve come up with a cunning plan which will hopefully allow me to breathe and have fun with creating fun, thought-provoking and creative articles again –all with an element of surprise. I’m DITCHING the pace of the schedule, what this essentially means is I will post articles when they are ready and not to a predefined schedule. I am hoping this will help with lessening the anxiety I put on myself as I normally focus on trying to finish an article on time and then post it when I feel it’s not ready and needs more work. By taking out the time-constraints I hope to not feel pressurised and in turn be more forthcoming with my article. The only aspect of the schedule I will be keeping to is the themes. This means when an article is ready for posting I will schedule it to be published on the relevant themed day. –so when you see a post on a Monday you will know is a Meandering Muse, Tuesdays will be challenge orientated and Flash Fictions, etc…I’m sure you get the idea.
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Savvy Salutations’ to…ermm…the Tagged Person
I’ve been tagged -where have you heard that before -the school playground? Well, sure -that was like ages ago. What I meant was that I have been tagged twice (yep you heard correctly, TWICE) in the blogging community, by two fellow writers (Vikki & Jennifer Baker) who are part of the Fourth Writer’ Platform-Building Campaign. What does this entail? Apparently a Q & A session with yours truly (how lucky you are 
). There’s 2 x 11 set of questions by the above interrogateors -I mean interviewers; I thought (as much as I love answering questions) I’d whittle it down to the usual 11 questions we have here as part of Savvy Salutations. I hear that sigh of relief! *darts a look full of disbelief* Anyhoo, before we go on to the questions, I wanted to share an inspirational song by Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten (above); this is for the fab ROW80 & WPBC posse as well as anyone else who wants to be inspired.
I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined
I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplannedStaring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not findReaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin…
Natasha Bedingfield sings (full lyrics can be found here); I think these words are perfect for what we are striving to achieve, capturing the images and senses in our stories and transferring it into words which someone would hopefully take pleasure in reading one day. To catch up on my ROW80 progress click here, to continue with the questions I have been tagged into please read on.
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‘What if’ Risks Led to your Success?
I’m Guest Posting over at Kait Nolan’s ROW80 Blog
Come and join me as I discuss:
‘What if’ Risks Led to your Success?
There’s something about taking risks that instantly makes us apprehensive, it’s like the wave of nausea that hits you before you decide to take the plunge and jump off a plane on a crazy whim of bravado or you drop everything and go to explore the world –well that may be an ostentatious example; but you get the point.
To read the full article click here.
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A Fun Game – In Your Head (The Theory & Second Analyses)
Now that we have viewed the three sets of character(s) profiles (read post here) we can now move onto analysing Cynthia‘s characters in conjunction with the way she visioned the dialogue and how CM Stewart interpreted Cynthia’s characters in her version of the story -excited yet? You should be.
Here’s Cynthia’s two characters:
Ted: Grounds keeper 75 year old and hates kids. He has a limp and very good eye sight.
Katie: A twelve year old girl hiding in the barn.
Katie knows more about why she was left at the festival than she is saying.
Yes, they are brief profiles; but the real question should be do they speak volumes, will their voices shine through?
Festival of Colour
by Cynthia
Different Styles, Indifferent Ways
I’ve been thinking a lot this past few weeks, trying to understand why I am unable to write the words I want to on my novel, why I have not started to work on my short story properly and why my painting is still untouched. Then it occurred to me -I must be suffering from Gauguin’s syndrome, confused? Let me explain…
Sometime last year (with a good mate of mine) I visited an exhibition by Paul Gauguin which was hosted at the Tate Modern. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience -yes, it was overcrowded and at some point it was quite stuffy but I digress. Whilst viewing the paintings it surprised me to see Gauguin had struggled to find his own style until quite late in his years. I was bemused to note that he attempted to work by adopting styles of the various impressionists (composition being the area he deliberately challenged) and he also tried very hard to incorporate lots of colours in his paintings which I found did not work for him but eventually he came to his own and his paintings in his later years shows that he learnt from his peers and became the artist we appreciate today.
Here’s an example where his style mimics Paul Cezanne‘s very closely (the first painting is the work of Cezanne and the painting below is Gauguin’s -see the resemblance in style?):
Come on join me on a Challenge & Campaign
Remember remember sometime last year I took a dive into the Writers’ Platform-Building Campaign organised by Rachael Harrie? Well, it’s starting over again (a mini one) and if like me, you want to meet and network with fantastic writers all over the globe then head on over to the Fourth Writer’s Platform Campaign, sign-up and join one (or a few) of the groups found here. This time round as well as participating, I am also a member of Rachael Harries‘ fabulous team (go on say hello to Michael Offutt, K.T. Hanna and Steph *waves*); I will (no doubt with the rest of the team) be working hard behind the scenes putting my organisation skills to the test (don’t be surprised if you receive an email from my good self ). If you have any questions etc please do not hesitate in contacting us. I look forward to hearing from you fab-tastic bunch of peops. -Oh and don’t forget the #writecampaign hashtag on Twitter -come on join in with the conversations.
And for those of you who love a good Flash Fiction Challenge, here’s January’s Picture Challenge. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
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My Comments may have been Spammed…
This is no laughing matter; I have been doing my ROW80′s sponsor duties; however, the comments I write seems to disappear into thin-air! I think a conspiracy of some sorts have been collaborated by the spambots -for all the time I delete their comments (a grand total of 1,238 spam comments since I’ve gone self-hosted -that’s no more than 4 months). I will not let them win; therefore, I’ve come up with a cunning plan. I will write the aforementioned comments below and link them to the respected ROW80′ers who has been appointed to them.
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My ROW80 progress-to-date. . . so far so good?
This week and a half has been meshed with me being productive as well as, well, not so much… I will analyse the whys and why not’s in Wednesdays check-in (a creative insight from Paul Gaugain will be shared). In the meantime please have a peep at my progress-to-date-page and let me know how I’m fairing.
For those who like competitions check this out: Cold Open Comp & Turner’s Triptych Tapestries (that’s for the flash fiction lovers within you; hope you take part). I’ll now get back to some writing… See you all on Wednesday.
Copyright © Ozlem Yikici 1996-2012 . All Rights Reserved. Click here to view the Creative Commons License.
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As you already know, thoughts and comments are encouraged as always -even if it is just a word -as ‘all good discussions start with just one word’.
Please click on the to read more button if you would like to leave a comment for this post; otherwise click on the launch link button below to read my ROW80 progress-to-date.
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Not There…Strangers…
Image sourced from: http://alone-alone-alone.blogspot.com/
Do you ever feel left out,
standing in a room, all alone.
-Even if many people are around;
could be your friends or family.
Do you ever feel not part of anything,
not there, as if you don’t exist…
Somewhere in another world,
far far away from this pointless world;
a stranger on a strange planet.
Not knowing who you really are…
When the question is asked,
not knowing the answer.
What’s the point of living
if you’re not acknowledged.
What’s the point of being here
when there’s no one around.
Do you ever feel left out,
standing in a room, all alone;
do you ever feel not part of anything,
not there, as if you don’t exist…
Öζιξμ
Written 21/02/1996
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Grooming of Another Kind: Kill Me if You Can
Thursday’s Topical Tête-à-Tête: Exploitation through the internet and internet ‘grooming’ is something we are all becoming aware of as the days/weeks/months/years pass by; it is frightening to acknowledge such atrocities are taking place; especially when it involves an innocent child/adolescent. This topic disturbs me to no end therefore, I will not delve too much into it as the direction I want to take is slightly different from the normal discussions surrounding this; however, similarities are likely to be observed.
I watched a documentary a while back, oddly titled Kill Me If You Can (please click on the link (it has a blurb and discussion feed) and take a quiet moment to watch it (or watch it below) -it’s 49 minutes long but it is a must see; I promise you it would be worth your time); why did I watch it? Other than the blurb and the title, the way in which the documentary was filmed piqued my interest (sometimes creativity rules over everything else!); so I watched it till the end and then it got me thinking… (If you still haven’t watched it, now would be the perfect time -unless you are happy about possible spoilers!)
To this day I still wonder if this was a work of fiction rather than an actual criminal case!
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A Fun Game – In Your Head (The Theory & First Analyses)
(Whoopsie -I apparently hit save draft instead of schedule *embarrassed smile* -I wondered why I could not see it here on the blog. Here’s yesterdays’ post; apologies for the delay.)
When I set out devising this game, I had no idea how things would pan out and how life would prolong the inevitable end. Here we are -the part of which where I reveal my theory and if my findings are as I thought it would be. I realise this will likely to end up as a rather long(ish) post; therefore, depending on it’s length I will spilt this up into two or three posts (for the sake of easy reading). Before I start I would like to thank Cynthia, Stephanie, Billie Jo Woods and CM Stewart -you guys have been great sports for taking part and extremely super for being sooo patient!
Now let’s get back to my theory. My theory is a simple one; it was spurred on after I took part in Voice Week hosted by Stephanie. We were required to use different voices to re-act the same scene. Whilst taking part a thought popped in my head (a common known flaw at the best of times ); would a perfect character sketch allow for any writer to write in the same voice (or close enough) as another writer? Hmmm was my response and then this game unwrapped itself.
I can’t believe how ironic it was that the character sketches provided by Billie Jo, Cynthia & CM Stewart was sooo different.
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A Story… Looking Good on the ROW80 Front
After my odd week last week -and my realisation of what was going on on Monday (if you haven’t read Monday’s post, do so as I had an epiphany on how powerful our mind can be and how it can affect our daily lives) the past two day has been relatively productive. This change in the breeze is a welcome relief. 
I’ve visited and commented on all my allocated team for Sunday’ check-in (a promise is a promise). *yay* I’ve written two blog posts (including this one), a guest blog post for Rance Denton over at The Action Prose and added 240 words to Our Story Begins; here’s a snippet:
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ROWed Under -it’s been Difficult…
I should have updated my ROW80 page yesterday and posted it as a fabulous update on the ROW80 linky list; but I couldn’t, my heart was not in it -nor is it today; but I owe you guys some form of noise, so I will babble about what’s been going on (well, I’ll try)…
I was trying to find a balance between my inner and outer world -AKA as my writing and my world outside of writing; the two parts of me are not gelling as well as I hoped it would. When one goes well, the other is neglected for a while; then when one goes from bad to worse the other becomes non-existent as the guilt for messing up riddles me with many holes which I find difficult to heal.
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Challenge Issued: Turner’ Triptych Tapestries
It’s been months since I issued a challenge -or even took part; and now my patience is wearing thin (who said patience is a virtue ). So, hence forth I have taken on a challenge set by Sonia G. Medeiros (she’ll be my next fab guest blogger on Sunday, so keep an eye out for that); my entry to her challenge is below (a fifty word story which has to contain one of the words on her prompt list) -following that I have last month’ participant(s) and a new challenge for you to take on…
En Route
A shiver went down my spine; strands of hair moved with force; it tickled in an uncomfortable way. Casually, I tilted my head to free the strands; it wasn’t enough, my hand gingerly swept over the annoying section; it pierced my finger, it throbbed; a wasp tumbled onto my bag.
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A Fun Game – In Your Head (A Recap)
The week is nearing to a close as we finally get to the long-awaited A Fun Game – In Your Head (thank you for your patience); so I thought a recap would be the best thing (to re-familiarise ourselves with the game and also re-read the stories. Before I went AWOL we were one story short (Cynthia was unable to continue with the game; which meant I had to see what I could do to make this work. Then an idea hit me; remember I took part in Voice Week (see point number one below)? Well, I thought it would be apt to ask the brains behind that -and what a sweetie she turned out to be yep, Stephanie agreed to participate (you’re such a lifesaver Stephanie!). I’ve copied the relevant parts for this game below from my initial post (apologies if you have read it before; great if it is a useful refresher and if you want to skip it, please do so; but make sure you check all the stories in the linky list at the (nearly) end of this post. :D
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Life ROWed a Wobbly at me…
…and it’s all looking Super!
Hasn’t this week flown past? I cannot believe that we are in week two and my goals are starting waiver just a wee bit -why you ask? Well, I gave the life around me more of my focus and this naturally impacted on my goals; but I will not quibble because I know I’ve still met a good part of my goals and slowly but surely I will get it all in perspective and will be flying through! Shall we do a quick-fire ticking off? *nods* I do too.
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