Do you like coffee? (Or tea or hot cocoa?)

By now you know I love to journal. Other than reading or napping, personal journaling is my favorite way to quietly spend time alone.

When I'm home and have no where else to go for the day, I sometimes relax by enjoying coffee or hot chocolate.

And you know, coffee does something to the brain. I'm actually quite sensitive to caffeine, but timed correctly I can use the stimulant to my advantage.

Caffeine morphs my creative levels into overdrive. I can get jittery, but if I keep busy I don't even notice.

Now, that's for coffee. Sometimes I have decaf when I don't want to be anxious or jittery. But unfortunately decaf does the opposite: it makes me sleepy.

It's great for before bedtime, though. ;)

I'd often use my same two old mugs for drinking either beverage, or hot chocolate. I've used them for a few years, and one of them is definitely getting a bit worn.

I could get new mugs... but I want mugs I designed because I know exactly what I like. I like comforting things. Encouraging things. And purple. (Because. Purple.)

So I'll get to the point.

I've got 2 mugs on sale, designed by yours truly. And for you my readers, I've got a couple of discounts waiting for you. This is NOT available to everyone else or in other stores-- you are the first and the only people to know about it.

I sell them at GearBubble. If you don't have a GearBubble account, it's fast and completely free to create one.

I've got a $2 discount for the black mug version of my "Curl Up with a Journal and Write" coffee mugs.

I also have a $3 discount for the white with purple text version of this mug. And you don't even need them to drink; you can use it to store your favorite pens or pencils.

Maybe you could keep writing-related quotes in a mug with this design.

Or you might know a friend who'd like this mug... especially an introverted friend. She or he can use the extra comfort, a gentle reminder that they can sit with their journal and write in it.

Either way, I'm so excited to give you the first discounts on my mugs up for sale. There are 11oz and 15oz available for both of them.

Get the black and white one here.

Get the purple text one here.

But hurry. These discount links are good for only 2 days. Get your discount while you can!

Sara

P.S.: I like coffee and I want new mugs, so I'm making my own. I have two different versions, a black and white mug and a white one with purple text that say "Curl Up with Your Journal and Write." You can get them at GearBubble with a discount good for 2 days only.

Author S.J. Scott Writes on Building a Daily Personal Journaling Habit

One of my favorite nonfiction/self-help authors S.J. Scott (also known as Steve Scott) has posted a cool article on his website Develop Good Habits.com. S.J. Scott wrote and co-wrote various books about building positive habits such as setting goals, increasing productivity and staying organized. In my top favorites now is CONFIDENT YOU: An Introvert's Guide to Success in Life and Business, which Steve co-wrote with fellow author Rebecca Livermore.

And guess why I'm sharing this (I gave you a clue :D )? The article Steve posted is about journal writing! I've been writing in journals for a long time but this article was so fun to read! :) I nodded in agreement quite a few times.

Some topics discussed are: The benefits of journaling; setting aside the time to write; what to write about; how to write in the journal; appropriate environments to journal (though it should be whatever works best for YOU). That's not all, though... there's still more! If you want to check this out now, click here.

As a quick tutorial, it's a great getting-started guide for building a daily journaling habit. However, it will depend on how you want your journal to help you. For example, some days I write paragraphs or pages in a big college-ruled notebook. Other days, the only journaling I've done is write a few lines in my pocket notebook. And that's okay; it's small but it's till also a journal of my thoughts, ideas and reminders. But sometimes those few lines... or even a few words... might mean the difference between a good idea and a great idea!

I go into more detail about personal journaling in my eBook Easy Journal Writing. For now, to get a strong introduction on personal journaling today, grab a few minutes to read Steve Scott's post on the daily personal journaling habit. You can find his article here.

If you also want to learn more about his habit books, check out this page on Develop Good Habits.com.

Re-reading a favorite book

About a year ago I came across a book that I had the chance to get as a free eBook.

By then I've read plenty of self-help books (or started reading them), but none have made an impact on my life as huge as this one. It's an essential read for today's young writers, authors, artists, coaches, any entrepreneurs of all ages. Even high school students will find it very useful.

It's Peter Voogd's book 6 Months to 6 Figures.

Before then, I read the book The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. It focuses on discipline to make smarter choices for a better and healthier future. I enjoyed reading that, but there was something missing.

Then an author whose newsletter I subscribed to recommended 6 Months to 6 Figures to her readers because it changed her life.

At first I was skeptical about the title. I had a bad attitude about money or even wanting more  money. But the truth is, everyone wants to be successful...

And there's nothing wrong with wanting to make more money to do that.

One of the biggest things I learned reading 6 Months to 6 Figures:

Stop doing what you don't want to do. If it doesn't give you any value, if it doesn't allow you to help others the way you do best, then don't do it anymore.

For some of you, it may be easy, and for more, it's harder than others to leave a job you don't like.

But that's the thing. Not everyone is a good fit for a conventional job. If it would do more harm than good to have a "real" job, you should be doing something meaningful.

And I mean something meaningful to YOU.

For me, that's writing and creating. I write better than I speak, so if writing is what I do best, I'm sticking with that. I can help more people this way. And I have to do it in my own element: a quiet room, alone. I am easily overstimulated and easily get distracted, so working at a store or office would visibly deteriorate my health.

I have to think about what's best for me, before I can properly help others.

Now, Peter Voogd's book 6 Months to 6 Figures is a #1 bestseller, and it's a bestseller for a reason. Times have changed. The old rules about work that have been around for decades don't apply anymore.

I'm re-reading this book, not only because it requires more than one reading, but because I find comfort knowing I don't have to "fit in" to be successful.

Unfortunately the eBook isn't free now. But Peter Voogd does have a FREE 4-part video training series coming up soon. It's called 30 Days to Your First $1k. Peter will teach you how to to generate your first $1,000 in just 30 days. And you'll get the gist of what his book is about, and more.

Click here to grab your spot. Or you can click on the image below to learn more.

This free video series will be available only for a very limited time, so don't wait! I hope Peter's video series convinces you to see things differently.

Happy viewing! :)

Happy New Year! And Something New...

Hello, and Happy New Year! It’s been a while.

I am excited about a new project I am finishing up and it should be ready either late January or early February.

Remember I mentioned in November that a second project besides NaNoWriMo was keeping me busy?

Stay tuned... I will reveal more details about this soon. ;)

My YouTube Channel is up: A New Author with New Beginnings

So, I'm up on YouTube now! Both nervous AND excited about this. :)

My Reason for Writing "Easy Journal Writing": Reason #1

I wanted to write and publish Easy Journal Writing because I didn’t see any books about journal writing that catered to those pressed for time. And even if you weren’t pressed for time, but had trouble making and keeping a journal routine, this book would still help you.

I have some books in my bookshelf that have writing prompts and journal writing prompts. But they call for writing more than one or two sentences. That’s fine with me, except that it’s not fine for everyone. What if you don’t want to be overwhelmed with a question that demands a whole page of writing if you don’t have the patience?

Many journal writing prompts are philosophical or thought-provoking. If you want to start a journal with those kinds of prompts, it will become too much. So I thought I could be helpful and provide something different out there—something not so intimidating. Something I can publish to get my message out there.

Journal writing doesn’t have to be so hard. You need to make it easy for yourself.

Some things that might not work for me might work for others, including you. So I also share my experience, knowledge and suggestions before the light prompts.

Easy Journal Writing is the first book I wrote to spread my message. I plan to write more. I still have more insights to share—so this is only a beginning!

Hello There and Welcome!

Hello fellow writers and readers!

Welcome to my author notebook. I am Sara A. Watts, the author of Easy Journal Writing: Jump-start Your Journaling Routine with Expert Tips and Light Prompts.

This is something of a starter blog until I’m able to make a better website. But for now, you can learn more about me and my book's topics here.

I will also be writing my thoughts and experiences as both a writer and an introvert. The purpose of this blog is to continue sharing those experiences after my book has been published. But I will share them so that you may relate. 

I want to make it known there are many positive aspects about being an introvert writer. I am constantly learning about my new life and continue to journal. And since I'm an advocate of journal writing, you will benefit from what I share.

I enjoy personal journaling, which is one of those positive qualities as an introvert. It allows me to write more when I'm not at my computer. And, journal writing really is stress relief. I say this in my book too. At the end of the day my head is filled with thoughts and ideas that need somewhere to go. So I write them down in a notebook. 

It's very therapeutic. :)

As of today I'm in my final preparations to publish the book for the Amazon Kindle, so I'm very excited about it!

Glad you found me. Happy reading!