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Gabrielle Gweneth

Gabrielle Gweneth

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Three reasons to give yourself a mini writing project

Whether it’s writing a novel or your autobiography, big writing projects seem exciting in our minds but can be really hard to get started. What’s the first thing to do? Does it make sense to start if I’m not sure I can even finish? Thoughts like these and all of life’s other responsibilities get in the way, so the big projects collect dust in our imaginations. Instead of tackling that big project, how about giving yourself something smaller to finish instead? It could be a few essays on a particular time in your life, a poem on the whirlwind of 2020, or your reflections on Covid. A mini writing project can be just as exciting as a big one, with the added bonus of seeming more doable. Here are three more reasons a mini writing project is worth pursuing:

1. You’ll develop a writing habit

Getting into the habit of writing is the first thing you’ll need to put you on the path to getting any project done. How often are you writing today? Is it whenever you feel inspired, or are you too busy to write at all? If the writing itself is stopping you, the first place to start is building your writing muscles. Trying to arbitrarily start a habit might be daunting, if you’re nervous you’ll never have anything to say. Giving yourself a particular subject to write about will help generate ideas when you show up to your set writing times. Once you’re in the habit of writing, you’re miles further down the road to making your big project come to life. 

2. You’ll build your confidence

As you keep writing you’ll find yourself more comfortable sitting with your thoughts and putting them onto the page. As you see the project slowly take shape, you’ll feel proud of yourself for making it happen. And if you can do that with something small, surely you can replicate the process and do that for something big! The confidence boost from your mini project will help you feel more capable of tackling anything that comes afterward.

3. You’ll get something finished

How amazing will you feel when you get to the end of your project? How will you treat yourself once it’s all done? Getting to that finish line will be like giving a gift to yourself. Not only will you have the creative result, you’ll have built greater trust in yourself along the way. You set out to do something, and you did! This is somewhat related to building your confidence, but having your finished project to point to and share with other people, or just look back on for yourself, will prove that you can do hard things. With that knowledge, you’ll be ready to take things up a notch.

How to structure your project

To recap, giving yourself a mini writing project will help you develop a writing habit, build your confidence in your writing ability, and give you tangible evidence proving that you can trust yourself and do hard things. So, what should your project be? Anything you like! We’ve been talking about documenting your story, so you could write about Covid or some other major event that happened in your family or community. Another idea is to collect family stories and give them as a gift to your family at the holidays.

To help keep your project small and manageable, give yourself a specific time limit to get it done. Since we’re looking at the end of the year, a Jan 2021 or December 25th deadline are natural ending points. You’ll amaze yourself at how much you can do in just two months! Take this a step further and decide ahead of time which days, and/or for how long you’ll work on your project each week. These boundaries will give you clarity beyond what you want to write and help you create realistic expectations for getting your project completed.

Even with all these details sorted, you might feel like completing your project is out of reach. That’s where I’d like to offer my help! As your writing coach I’ll hold you accountable to your goals and help you overcome the mindset hurdles you’ll face along the way. If you’d like to work together, shoot me a message and we can talk through the details.

What’s your project gonna be? Tell me in the comments, or if that seems too public for you, send me a message via the contact page. I’m happy to cheer you on at the starting line! 

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Heya!

I’m Gabrielle, and you know how they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day? I like mine with a side of recipes. I can’t contain my enthusiasm in the kitchen, so this space is for me to share my adventures with you. Read More…

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Tuesday, 11:15pm. ⁣ ⁣ Thanks to Glasgow I’ve Tuesday, 11:15pm. ⁣
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Thanks to Glasgow I’ve discovered the unique pleasure of a light-but-late-night walk. 🌙☺️
These beautiful pink flowers sprung up in my neigh These beautiful pink flowers sprung up in my neighbours’ front garden recently. They’re right on the sidewalk, facing the main road, so I see them whenever I’m outside. Since they’re on the corner, I also see them when I look out my living room window!⁣⁣
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They’re *delightful* aren’t they?! They weren’t here last year so I’m really thankful to  whoever planted, or scattered, these seeds. I think they’re poppies but I’m not sure, so tell me if you know!⁣⁣
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Yay for…⁣⁣
🌸 summertime⁣⁣
🌸 people with green thumbs⁣⁣
🌸 small things yielding big joy⁣⁣
🌸 feeling loved by the stranger who made this joy possible for me 😊
One thing I’ve noticed travelling solo is how ea One thing I’ve noticed travelling solo is how easy it is to meet people. ⁣
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When you’re on your own locals and other solo travellers are far more likely to come up to you, or strike up a conversation, than when you’re in a group. I’ve made friends with so many more strangers being alone versus being with even one other person. ⁣
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Living in Glasgow, now that we’re getting out of lockdown, doesn’t seem to be that different! The people here are really friendly, and twice now, standing at this spot (one of my favourites) during my afternoon walk, I’ve had great conversations with strangers. ⁣
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The first one challenged me to a skipping contest (I accepted. And won 😉. ) The second, on Monday, just wanted to talk. ⁣
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Our conversation ended up being pretty long, which surprised me since on the surface we had nothing in common. But when I think about it, I realise we connected on the level of our stories: immigrants alone in a new country. ⁣
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We skipped the small talk about the weather and went straight to our homelands. I learned more about Lebanon in that afternoon than in my entire life, including the fact that they serve 7 appetisers before a meal! 🤩⁣
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It’s amazing how sharing stories helps you feel connected to people, even ones you’ve just met. ⁣
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Now I’m curious: when was the last time you had a great conversation with a stranger? Do you have a fun story about meeting someone new?
When you’re building a business it’s easy, too When you’re building a business it’s easy, too easy, to skip over the foundational work that sets you up for focused, long term growth. You need money 𝘯𝘰𝘸, so you prioritise doing all the things that will bring it in the door. And that makes sense! ⁣
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But avoiding the foundational work, or doing it in a haphazard manner, will bite you in the butt. ⁣
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You need to know, for yourself and for your clients:⁣
🪄𝘩𝘰𝘸 your background and skills are unique, and create a powerful connection between you and your people⁣
🪄 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 differentiates the way you deliver your service or product from everyone else⁣
🪄  𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 you’re taking your business in the long run: what’s the number one value that guides your work?⁣
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Even if you started your business out of necessity - like the pandemic yanked away your job stability - these questions are at play in the work you’re doing every day.⁣
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They’re shaping the future success of your business whether you’ve got a handle on them or not.⁣
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So you should probably have a handle on them right? ⁣
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What if I told you that I could help you sort all this out in just a few conversations - and that it could be fun! That we could lay the foundation for a multiple six figure business…. with stories? 🔥⁣
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I’ve worked with clients who do everything from creating handmade, bespoke tea blends to providing leadership coaching. ⁣
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Regardless of industry, if you’re in business and want a framework 100% aligned with your unique stories that maps out your positioning for years to come, I can help. I’d 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 to help. ⁣
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I’ve got 4 spots available to work with me this month. Ready to feel powerful and inspired by your OWN bad self? Let’s talk! Send me a DM or go straight to my calendar and book a call. 😉
Scotland is 𝐬𝐨 beautiful y’all. I went out Scotland is 𝐬𝐨 beautiful y’all. I went out of town for the weekend, to the northeast coast, and I felt - finally - like I was in all the instagram pictures I’ve been swooning over since I moved here.⁣
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Thanks to @emmaseabuckthorn I went cycling and on long walks to cliffs and a castle. I also tried a bunch more Scottish dishes - like Cullen skink! It’s the bomb.com! - and overall felt a lot more grounded to life 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. Not inside my computer or across the ocean, where most of my family and friends are. I get lots of comments from y’all about how amazing my life looks, but don’t let the ‘gram fool ya! It’s not all rainbows and I’ve felt painfully lonely at times over the last year and a half here. ⁣
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Anyway, on Monday I spent the day in Edinburgh with a dear friend from high school, who I hadn’t seen in ages, and that was wonderful. We saw the Queen! Like for real for real. We were having a picnic lunch outside her palace and not long after she drove right past us. ⁣
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It feels like summer! And I’m so glad. 😊 How’d you spend your weekend?
Flashback to around this same time in 2017! ⁣
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I was in the studio recording the narration for my story, Rushin to Bacchanal: When Caribbean Festivals Collide, for podcast Afropop Worldwide. ⁣
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This was the culmination of months of interviewing and script writing, a project that built on research I did for my master’s degree on Junkanoo and The Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival. ⁣
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Such fun times! I lived my best life talking to people about their experiences and opinions, and then wrote a story about it! Similar to what I’m doing today. 😊⁣
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What were you up to 4 years ago this month? #fbf
What’re your hobbies? Reading’s one of mine! I What’re your hobbies? Reading’s one of mine! I wasn’t always sure that it actually counted as a hobby, since I’m not physically doing anything, but then I realised - Lots of people find other ways to fill the time that I spend reading! Like, there are other options! 🤭 😄⁣⁣
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Around high school I became uncomfortably aware of the lack of books with characters, settings or contexts like mine. ⁣⁣
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Where were the stories of people from the Caribbean? Little girls who grew up anticipating mangos and scarlet plums, afraid of stingray encounters and taking Emancipation Day (our Juneteenth) for granted? ⁣⁣
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Representation matters, and we can’t rely on people that aren’t us to do all the representing for us. It’s not even that they’re all being wilfully malicious or exclusionary…. they’re just living their own version of normal. ⁣⁣
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So how are you representing yourself in your business? Connecting who you are and the work you’ve done to the bedrock of your marketing and positioning? ⁣⁣
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The meaningful, memorable way you can do all that is through stories. ⁣⁣
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If you need help, we should talk. Book a free, 20 minute call with me and we’ll find one story you can start sharing today! The link’s in my profile. 🙂⁣
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P.S. I literally had a library card before I had a place to live in Glasgow. 😅
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