I find comfort, I find hope, at the animal shelter. In these furry faces:
Lovable Zima...
Rico's odd, adorable little lean...
Brielle's pretty blue eyes...
Chester's deceivingly grumpy face...
Playful Tipper and his love of tennis balls...
And, as always, my own sweet Riley.
Out of curiosity, how do you fellow Wordless Wednesday-ers find your inspiration? I've been having some trouble finding the motivation to write as of late and could use any suggestions you've got. Thank you in advance :) (Side note: all of these animals - except of course Riley - are up for adoption at the HSNI!)
xoxochelsea
Ooooh they are all so cute! And that look on Riley's face is priceless :)
ReplyDeleteAs for inspiration, I'm sorry that you are feeling that way. I've been there too, so I understand. What I've found that helps me is to write about things that are personal to me - like the cerebellar hypoplasia series I'm doing now. Maybe doing some sort of series on your Riley would help - obviously you are passionate about and love him lots! It could be anything - play time with Riley, or Riley's diet, or funny habits Riley has. I realized that I always had an idea for a great post at a time that I wasn't at my computer or at a time that was inconvenient, so I would always forget it later. I went out and bought a planner - just a simple, inexpensive one that has a calendar for every month, and then a notes section in the back. Whenever I have an idea for a post, I write it in the notes section. Then later I go to the calendar pages and plan out days for all of the post ideas I have, and I try to stick to that schedule. I added pet related holidays to my post calendar as well - like "National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day" and "International Hug A Cat Day." You can plan a post for those holidays that is focused around whatever holiday it is. I've found that to be helpful when I am lacking in ideas of my own. It gives you a chance to come up with something cute for a topic you didn't have to come up with, and it's relevant to the day too. This may have been way more info that you were looking for… haha. I'm sorry for the long rambling post. Hope it's helpful!
Wow, thank you so much, Emiliy! These are all very helpful suggestions - I never thought of looking for pet-related holidays, but that would be a huge help. Also, I LOVE your cerebellar hypoplasia series. Sophie is going to make an excellent therapy cat :)
DeleteSometimes I have to broaden my topics a bit to keep my interest going. I've added some flowers, some places I've visited. Less focused, but its kept me writing.
ReplyDeleteGreat point. I love writing about animal rescue, but it can be rather limiting. It would be nice to broaden my scope a bit. I loved your most recent historical tour post, especially the fairy garden, I adore those :) Thank you for reading!
DeleteFor me it's the photos that inspire. I see my Sadie playing with something interesting or sitting in a weird pose or sleeping all cute and cozy and I take lots of pictures. Then when I go back and look at the pictures it gives me ideas of things to talk about. Also blog hops help sometimes. At the beginning of a week I ask myself if Sadie got into any mischief I can talk about for mischief Monday, or any new treats or food incidents I can talk about on tasty Tuesday, or did we do any exercising to talk about on fitdog Friday. So that's basically my writing process, if it helps. Hope you find your inspiration once again.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary, for your suggestions. I participate in two blog hops right now, and they definitely help! I have TONS of photos of Riley as well; he tends to only work one facial expression though so they are pretty repetitive (sad eyes, craaazy underbite). Thank you for reading!
DeleteAww to the photos :)
ReplyDeleteFor the inspiration part-I feel ya! I feel a bit overwhelmed to try to keep up with everyone else's blogs sufficiently while creating my own content, so my blogging is lagging a lot. I'm developing an editorial calendar and re-focusing my blogging so hopefully it should come easier to me. Good luck to you and I hope you find your inspiration from and with the animals!
It is overwhelming, you're right! I love reading and commenting on other blogs, but it really does take up a LOT of time! The editorial calendar is a great idea. Good luck to you as well, and thank you for your advice!
DeleteThose are some beautiful animals. I hope they can all find their forever homes soon. Both of my kitties are rescues :)
ReplyDeleteI hope so too! They are all super sweet, and they deserve good homes. And that is awesome - aren't rescue pets the best? :) Thanks for reading!
DeleteI attend a lot of rescue events - it gives me inspiration to write and an opportunity to showcase some adoptable animals.
ReplyDeleteThat must be one of the perks of living near a big city? :) I live in rural Iowa, so the rescue events are few and far between. I am about 3 hours away from Minneapolis, so I can sometimes make it up there, though. It is a great idea - I wish we had more nearby. Thanks for reading!
DeleteAlso, I LOVE your blog - dogs and DIY are two of my very favorite things, so I am glad I came across it :)
I know what you mean w/regard to finding inspiration. I think the key is to write even when you think you having nothing particularly interesting to write about. Just start talking. I think others are interested even in the mundane, everyday type of things that we might think aren't worthy of print, but are just the thing others might want to see. :-)
ReplyDeleteI am a new follower of your blog. Enjoyed it! I have also nominated you for a Liebster Award. Please stop by and pick it up when you get a chance so we can learn more about you! http://wp.me/p4uoXw-2F
Good point; often, the blog posts that get the most views are the ones I didn't even prepare/plan for at all! Thank you for your advice and the follow, and WOW! I have never received a blog award before :) Thank you so much!!
DeleteAlso, your dogs are GORGEOUS! I love Corsos!
DeleteHow can anyone resist those faces?!
ReplyDeleteRIGHT?!?!?! I have no idea why they are still at the shelter. They're all sweet as can be. Thanks for reading :)
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