Ben Reynolds

2,000 Thank You’s

By

Ben

I just noticed I passed 2,000 likes today, exactly three months after starting this nonsense. Thank you so much to everyone who reads. There are far more of you than I ever imagined. Roughly half are in America too, which was utterly unexpected, and means I occasionally get to wake up to a lovely comment or two which absolutely makes my day.

As I write when I reached 1,000, ‘likes’ don’t pay bills, or mean anything really, apart from being tiny, vital prods of encouragement to keep going, and that’s all any of us need as writers really isn’t it? Apart from cold, hard cash of course, but since that’s out of the question right now – ‘likes’ are lovely 🙂

I was wondering today what people use as prompts to get them writing. I have tried using some of the many photo-prompt blogs that are around on WordPress, but it’s strange, I find it impossible to write to a photo. There is too much information there that I can’t get away from. I find it restricting, not just for me, but for my imagined reader, who will bring their own reading to the photo before they’ve even read my piece. I think that’s just a failing and mental block on my part, but I did think it was interesting.

Instead, I find just a couple of words or phrases will get me going, whether it’s someone using an odd turn of phrase or an incongruous image, such as poor old ex-banker Keith up a ladder cleaning windows. When I dry up, it’s usually because I haven’t been reading for a few days. Reading is the best source of inspiration I find.

I’m still having a great deal of angst over the poetry I have to submit for the MA. I need to be more bold with it, but it’s difficult when I don’t have the confidence in it as I do prose. I sometimes think some of the 50-word stories I’ve written blur the boundary between poetry and prose, but again, I’m not confident enough to explore that in terms of submission for the course.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Have a great weekend all.

P.S. If you clicked on I Want A War, Give Me A War and found it wasn’t there, I took it down, for the simple reason that 30 minutes after publishing it, it didn’t feel right. I wasn’t happy with it, not for any political or social reasons, I just didn’t like how I’d written it. It wasn’t to a standard I was happy with, so it’s back in the drafts folder.

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28 responses to “2,000 Thank You’s”

  1. Ocean Bream

    The only thing that prompts me into writing is a creative mindset. The only way to get into a creative mindset is to listen to a creative mind, or an intelligent thought. Sometimes even to read it. Good luck with your poetry submission! It can be hard to dredge up that confidence, but if you like what you write, then fully go for it 🙂 Also – congratulations on 2000 likes. That is a colossal number, in the scheme of things.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Ben

      Thank you! Yeah, my default setting is to sit down to write, even if I have only five minutes while I wait for the kids to get ready, but knowing what I’m going to write about that day isn’t always easy to find. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Ocean Bream

        No, it can be daunting!

        Liked by 1 person

  2. desertcurmudgeon

    Congrats! Luckily, when my friend and I started our blog in November, we decided not to give it any set theme. Therefore, since my handful of readers don’t expect a parenting blog or a politics blog or a recipe blog, inspiration comes to me quite easily because anything goes. So for instance, I may be sitting around remembering how awful it was to have lived in Florida for a decade of my life. Then I think about why I feel that way, remember that in retrospect those formerly annoying things are now funny, and there’s a post: Florida Sucks. Well…I actually haven’t tackled that subject yet, but now I probably will. See? Another post in the can before I even started it. That said, I’m sure you earned every one of those 2,000 likes and I’m just as sure they were all genuine, because your writing is fantastic.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. Ben

      Yeah, I think my process is often similar to yours in deciding what to write about; sometimes my biggest challenge is working out how to fictionalise something, or at least what treatment to give an idea I’ve had…

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
      1. desertcurmudgeon

        You’ve allowed yourself a bigger challenge than I did. Historically, I’ve written a lot of fiction, but I tend to deliberate over it forever, editing and re-editing, but for some reason, I’m not that way with the essay/rant format. So thus far, I think I’ve only posted 2 pieces of fiction, though I intend to do more.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Ben

        I’m envious of your collaboration though. I’d love to work with someone on something

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Ben

      Oh, and thank you for those very kind words! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  3. wittygingergoesaround

    Congratulations Ben!! keep it up 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Ben

      Thank you 🙂

      Like

      Reply
  4. David K

    Well done, Ben. You’ve got a great style. Love the pictures too, do you do those yourself?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Ben

      Thanks David. Yeah I do the pics, but there’s no great talent required there! I just find or take a photo and run it through a couple of apps to put a filter on it and add the words. I’ve always enjoyed designing the visual style of various blogs that I’ve had – it’s just much easier these days 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. David K

        I disagree. It takes an eye for design. I love the way they tie everything together, it adds another dimension to your words. Great stuff! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Ben

        Thanks David 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  5. orchidslantern

    Congratulations on meeting a milestone, and also on managing to post something every day! Its not an easy thing to do.

    Reading is my biggest prompt, whenever I’m feeling stuck I find ‘refilling the creative well’ with other people’s insights quickly does the trick.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Ben

      Yes, especially either reading something amazing, in which case I get depressed at not having written it and then try to learn from it, or something really bad or dull, which makes me think I can do so much better 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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  6. jessicarachow

    Congrats on the 2000 likes! I don’t do well with prompts. I have used a few, but I’m never quite satisfied with the results. Maybe that’s the “non-planner” in me, because I rarely know what I am going to write when I sit down to write. Anyway, good luck with the poetry and keep doing what you do, because it’s great! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Ben

      Thank you so much Jessica and likewise, certainly with flash fiction, I sit in the non-planner camp and often find the meaning as I go.

      Liked by 1 person

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  7. daveyone1

    Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Anne J.

    Congratulations on the 2000 likes. That’s a great achievement after only 3 months. Writing isn’t an ‘easy’ profession that’s why some of us who like to be called writers are accountants. The numbers pay the bills and we hope the number of likes can do the same. 😄

    You write awesome flash fiction. There is a weekly challenge at Cracked Flash Fiction (www.crackedflash.blogspot.com, I think). They give a prompt to be used as the first sentence (can be modified slightly) and sometimes an image accompanies the sentence. We have about 24 hours to write and submit. You’ll be taking home the win! 😊 The genre is mostly fantasy, which I struggle with, but I suppose one can write under any genre. I hope you’ll try it out, if you haven’t yet. I’ve tried a couple of times recently.

    All the best!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Ben

      Thank you Anne! I will have a look at that and have a go for sure. Thanks again 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Anne J.

        My pleasure. Looking forward to reading your stories there. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  9. sakshi~the escapist

    Congratulations Ben! You’re an amazing writer and a great person. I still remember when I was a newbie, your advice to me worked like a charm. Keep writing✌✌

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Ben

      Thank you sakshi, such lovely words. Big smiles from over here 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  10. Mandie Hines

    Congratulations on the likes, Ben! I’m clearly behind on my blog reading. I’ll catch up though.
    On the matter of photo prompts, I’ve only been inspired enough by a couple of photos to participate in writing a flash fiction piece for them. I think the photos catered more to a fantasy genre, but were easily turned into horror stories.
    I am learning how to make prompts more accessible to me though. Some people work well with restrictions. It’s one way people get out of writer’s block. For me, I work better with a word prompt, but in all prompts, I try not to let the prompt limit me but rather inspire me. I’ve seen many writers take one small aspect of a photo, sometimes something in the background to inspire a story. I’d say if you want to dabble in photo prompt challenges, let something in the photo inspire you, regardless of how loosely related it is to the photo. After all, a prompt is merely intended to get you to write.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Ben

      Thanks Mandie, I like the idea of just taking a detail out of the photo

      Liked by 1 person

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  11. T.W.

    May I just add I find it wonderfully inspiring that you write something everyday without fail. My grandmother used to have a magnet that said “Variety may be the spice of life but monotony brings home the bacon.” Often in life I get caught up chasing “shinies” or waiting for the perfect moment, and forget to just go through the regular practice of doing.

    I am not a fan of poetry, but someone once suggested thinking of it like songs for the deaf, where you must communicate the same rhythm and flow just without music. Since good songs feel a lot easier to me I tend to pick out a song in my head and fit poems to it, or imagine singing my words out. Still doesn’t make me enjoy reading poems over listening to my favorite album. But it helped me get through mandatory poetry assignments in school.

    Keep up the good work!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Ben

      Thank you so much for that. I might be sitting in a black cab on the way home after a good friend’s leaving do, but it means so much reading your comment. I have to write every day, because frankly, what else do I have? Knowing others appreciate it means the world though.

      That’s a great idea with regards to poetry too. I will apply that theory tomorrow and see where it takes me. Thanks again 🙂

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