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Lindsay Elizabeth

Fantasy/Romance Fiction & Creative Living

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I’m Lindsay, an author and creative living blogger. I'm sharing advice on writing, tackling creative blocks, and building a life around what you love.

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𝙲𝚄𝚁𝚁𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙻𝚈 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle⁣
𝙲𝚄𝚁𝚁𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙻𝚈 𝚆𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶: The second draft of Project Coastline (urban fantasy)⁣
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When I zoom out, it gets overwhelming to think about how many steps there are left between now and publishing. ⁣
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I’m constantly reminding myself that I have control over where my attention goes. Just because a thought comes up doesn’t mean I have to stay with it and follow where it’s leading me. It’s important to be mindful of what you need at any given moment to serve where you want to go.⁣
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When you’re driving, you’re not just staring at the map the entire time. If you were, you’d get into a car accident. You have to pay attention to the road directly in front of you and only glance at the map when you need it for guidance.⁣
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(Same with looking at your rearview mirror. Stare at that thing too long and you’re going to end up in a ditch.)⁣
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There’s no sense in worrying about the road that’s ten miles ahead or fifty miles ahead because 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘵. The conditions could change by the time you get there.⁣
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Those future conditions don’t exist yet. Hell, you may take a fun detour you didn’t expect, or end up changing the destination altogether.⁣
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Don’t think about the scenes you have left to write, focus on the one you’re working on now.⁣
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Don’t think about whether the book is going to be a bestseller or not. You’re not there yet. Neither your “success” or “failure” have happened yet. It’s irrelevant to the stage of the writing process you’re in 𝘯𝘰𝘸.⁣
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And you won’t ever get THERE unless you give your all to where you’re at NOW. The Future You is waiting on the Present You to do the work you need to do. To keep your hands on the wheel. To keep driving.⁣
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This place where you’re at 𝘯𝘰𝘸 is full of possibility, where you’re creating and crafting and playing. Focus on the road directly in front of you. Enjoy the music on the radio, the scenery you’re passing, the breeze blowing through your hair.⁣
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And when it gets frustrating, remember—⁣
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You won’t be here forever. You have plenty of road to look forward to up ahead.

𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐎

𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 👇🏻⁣
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We don’t judge other artists on their first drafts, so why are you judging yours?⁠⁣
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When we fall in love with another writer’s work, it's with the final draft of many. One they've put countless hours into crafting and fixing and tweaking and polishing.⁠⁣
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This doesn’t make it any less incredible or impressive. So why do we think having to work at ours makes us lesser artists because our first (and second and third) drafts aren’t perfect?⁠⁣
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Have a great week, friend — go have fun being imperfect.

Two kings of magic. 💁🏻‍♀️⁠⁣ ⁠⁣

Two kings of magic. 💁🏻‍♀️⁠⁣
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I've been meaning to jump into the #meetmybookcommunity challenge and I'm a bit late to the party but happy to be here nonetheless!⁠⁣
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Today's challenge (what inspires me) really made me think.⁠⁣
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𝙸'𝙼 𝙸𝙽𝚂𝙿𝙸𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝙱𝚈...⁠⁣
× Music⁠⁣
× The human spirit⁠⁣
× Courage⁠⁣
× Life's inherent mystery⁠⁣
× Magic (the real and made-up kind)⁠⁣
× Nature (the earthly and cosmic kind)⁠⁣
× Love⁠⁣
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𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖?

I’ve finally found momentum again with the secon

I’ve finally found momentum again with the second draft of Project Coastline. I was trying to work on it chronologically and was struggling to gain any traction. But then, I thought of my first draft method of writing out of order and *boom* — everything started clicking again.⁣
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Focusing on the major scenes toward the end of act 2 and into act 3 have helped me really get in touch with what I want this second draft to be. What I’ve discovered in them so far is already affecting how I’m going to approach editing the earlier ones.⁣
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If you needed a reminder to think outside the box and listen to your creative intuition, I hope this helps!⁣
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Also… I *finally* figured out the title for this first book in the Project Coastline series. (!!!!) I won’t be sharing it publicly for a while, but I’m so excited that it finally came to me.⁣
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𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚?

For the past few months, I’ve taken a semi-break

For the past few months, I’ve taken a semi-break from Project Coastline’s second draft, working on it only when I felt called to.⁣
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I wanted to change the way some things were playing out, things I thought were good but could be better, so I made a list of the things I wanted to work on and then gave it some space to let it breathe. I tweaked the outline as answers flowed to me.⁣
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This past week, the last bits shook loose and I was able to finish revising the outline. Now, I’m back to drafting/rewriting/editing the manuscript to reflect those changes. Since I’m ready to go “beast mode” again, I’ve set a deadline (which I’m not going to share publicly but I’ve got some accountability partners to help apply some healthy pressure) and I’m hoping I can hammer this out and ride the momentum.⁣
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I also wrote in Starbucks this month for the first time since the plague! It used to be a weekly thing for me, so it felt good to experience that again. I love what the energy of being around others can bring to a writing session.⁣
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𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑾𝑰𝑷 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕?

⁠Hi friends 👋🏻 @ariellejanvier tagged me t

⁠Hi friends 👋🏻 @ariellejanvier tagged me to re-introduce myself, so here we go!⁠⁣
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I'm Lindsay, a writer from Florida. 🌴 I'm a virtual assistant (copywriting + content creation) and also run my own blog + online shop for fiction lovers, writers, and creatives (links in bio).⁠⁣
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I'm currently working on my first novels: an urban fantasy series and a series of connected contemporary romances.⁠ They're in different stages of the writing process, so juggling multiple projects has been a little less crazy than it sounds. 😅⁣
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𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙴𝙴 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙳𝙾𝙼 𝙵𝙰𝙲𝚃𝚂 𝙰𝙱𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙼𝙴...⁣
× I'm a Disney adult. I love escaping reality in the parks, drinking Starbucks on the Hub lawn, and riding the ✨wildest ride in the wilderness✨ (and the People Mover). And of course, singing along to Disney songs in the car at ear drum-busting volume because ✨joy✨.⁣
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× Three things I love to watch to help me relax: science documentries (especially on cosmology), runway shows, and luxury home tours.⁣
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× I love books, but I also love film in equal measure. My biggest career dream is to have my fiction adapted and potentially develop some original stories specifically for film/tv. 🎬⁠⁣
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Tell me about a passion project you're working on! I'd love to hear about it.👇🏻⁣
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(And if you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged by me to do your own introduction post 🖤)

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬...?⁠⁣
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One of the most important questions you should ask yourself when approaching goals is: how do I want to *feel*?⁠⁣
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I always ask myself this when I’m setting a new goal or feeling unmotivated about the ones I’ve already committed to.⁣
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For example: say your goal is to finally organize your workspace but you keep putting it off. Maybe the act of organizing isn’t something you particularly enjoy but right now, the chaos of its disorganized state is causing you unnecessary stress and distraction.⁠⁣
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Imagine getting rid of those negative feelings and replacing them with ones of lightness, peace of mind, and creative flow.⁠⁣
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Now, the goal isn’t just to have an “organized space.” The goal is relaxation and creativity. Those targets are *much* more inspiring and easier to stay motivated to put in effort for, right? ⁠⁣
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𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝚃𝙸𝙿𝚂 𝙾𝙽 𝙶𝙾𝙰𝙻 𝚂𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶⁠⁣
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⇢ Always think about the positive feelings associated with an outcome. You can also reverse engineer this when trying to decide what goals to set — think about how you want to feel, then determine what will create those feelings and set goals that will make it happen.⁠⁣
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⇢ Always stay close to your “why.” Why are you writing your book (and more specifically, THIS book)? Because the act of writing fulfills you, makes you feel alive? Because the story excites you? How will you feel when you finish it?⁠⁣
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⇢ Whenever we desire something, we desire it because of how we think it will make us feel. If a goal isn’t feeling good to you, check in on why you’re going after it in the first place. Is it for the right reasons? Is it because you think you *should* want it, maybe because it will satisfy someone else? Are you no longer actually aligned with it?⁠⁣
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My printable planner inserts are designed with these things in mind with spaces to keep track of your why, rewards for milestones, vision board, and more. You can download the Writing Goals Bundle & Goal Planner Bundle instantly in my shop via the link in my bio ✨

Who feels me? 🙋🏻‍♀️ Share your fiction

Who feels me? 🙋🏻‍♀️ Share your fictional crushes in the comments!

I’ve always been afraid of making mistakes. A tr

I’ve always been afraid of making mistakes. A true perfectionist, thinking I could protect myself from criticism and judgment if I just work hard enough at something.⁣
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But there is no such thing as “perfect” and it’s impossible to avoid criticism, no matter how good you are (especially since “good” is entirely subjective in art), so perfectionism is a lie.⁣
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There’s a difference between putting your best effort into something and torturing yourself about not being “good enough.”⁣
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When I used to try drafting novels, I’d never finish them. I was so caught up in trying to make the first draft as “perfect” as possible that it sucked all the fun out of the process and made me end up resenting them to the point of shelving them.⁣
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Now, first drafts are the biggest exercises in allowing myself the freedom to make mistakes. To write scenes the wrong way, to put down the wrong dialogue, to write crappy prose. Because it’s within that freedom that I find the permission to play and tap into the real magic of the story.⁣
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You don’t have to get it all right the first time, or the second time, or even the third time. You have as many drafts as you need. There are no rules about how your creative process needs to look, and how quickly you get to a satisfactory end result doesn’t determine how “good” you are. ⁣
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The journey takes as long as it takes. Why are we in such a rush to get to the end of it, anyway?⁣
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We have to release the limitations and rules that we put on our creativity and worthiness. Mistakes don’t define us. They’re just little pieces of the puzzle we’re moving around on the board, trying to find the right spot for.⁣
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Trust the process. And remember to have fun — because that’s what we’re really doing this for, right? 🖤

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