Change coming to Inspiration Monday

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Dear, dear, dear Rewriters,


First of all, don’t panic. It’s only a small change, and I think it’ll hurt me more than it hurts you. In fact, I’ve been arguing with myself over it for the past two weeks.

Time constraints dictate that, for future Inspiration Mondays, I can only promise to read the first ten unique submissions (“unique” meaning from different people). This doesn’t mean I won’t read your submission if it happens to be number eleven. It just means I might not read it. I will also continue to link to ALL submissions (so keep linking back!).

This is in no way a guilt trip or a veiled request for less participation. The whole point of InMon is to write more! I hope that more people will continue to be regularly involved, and if any of you even thinks of apologizing for participating “too much,” I will hire a private investigator to find out where you live so I can go smack you upside the head.

Really, this was bound to happen sooner or later. If I want this thing to grow, I can’t limit it to what just one person can keep up with. But even now, as my cursor hovers over the “Publish” button, I am hesitating. I don’t want you to think I don’t care, or that reading your work is even a chore – it’s not! This is like giving up chocolate or something. All week long, I was reading submissions, thinking – what if she writes something this fantastic next week and I don’t even read it? What if he tops himself again next week and I miss it? Plus, you’ve all been so kind and supportive. So even though this is torturing me, I wanted to be up front with you guys about the what, the why and whatever else.
First Tuesday posts, now InMon reading, are you slowly inching away?
No! I’m simply instituting practical guidelines for myself so I can keep this good thing going. There’s so much I want to do with this blog! But I only started blogging seriously last February, so I’m still gauging how much I can handle.
Will there be any other changes to InMon in the future?
If the submissions keep building, I may have to limit links. For instance, if we get up to 40 or 50 per week, I may only link to the first 25. But for now, I’ll continue linking to all submissions.
The only other changes I can foresee might be how I select the 10 to read or the 25 to link – I may start choosing randomly, or focusing on new faces. Also, there may be some “break” weeks for holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Super Secret Project.

 
What is the Super Secret Project???
I can’t tell you yet! But I’m about 25% of the way into preparations.

And another thing…
I don’t want you to look at me as some kind of faceless, inaccessible “expert.” First, I’m not really an expert. I’m still learning, too. Second, this is a community; we should help each other. So talk to me! Ask me questions! If I can possibly help, I will.

A question to leave you with:

What do you guys think about maybe, possibly, sometime in the future self-publishing a collection of the “best of InMon” in a book? All the Rewriters would pick the best of their submissions, and we’d put them all together in a book through Lulu.com or something like that. Nothing fancy—it would only be marketed to our small community—but I think it would be cool. I’ve created a poll (click through if you are reading through email/RSS), and feel free to elaborate on your thoughts in the comments.

EDIT: Okay, I can’t figure out how to get the poll up. Just let me know what you think in the comments.

About Stephanie Orges

Stephanie is an award-winning copywriter, aspiring novelist, and barely passable ukulele player. Here, she offers writing prompts, tips, and moderate-to-deep philosophical discussions. You can also find her on and Pinterest.
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32 Comments

  1. Girl, when it hit the numbers it did last week I sort of wondered how you were going to keep up and still do your own projects, handle whatever job you might have, take care of your family and still have time for all of us.

    You have been so super terrific, and so have your prompts, and I for one am sort of glad you have decided to “be kind to yourself” by not trying to overload…I will just have to work harder to make sure I am in that first twenty five!

    I am sorry I only did one this week, but I am involved with trying to create some things to sell on my personal website to try to get some extra money coming in. I posted some of the things that I am creating (the cards and calendars and little mini-posters) on one of my last posts, (here is the link, in case you would like to check it out. the directions for getting the gifts is on the page. http://1wordywoman.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/some-gifts-for-all-of-my-friends-here-on-wordpress/ feel free to download as many as you would like.) Eventually the calendars will all be in a single pdf file when I post them on my personal site (which, heavy sigh, I still have to go in and revamp!)

    Wishing you many blessings and sending you a huge cyber hug for luck and happiness.

    AND THE BOOK IS A SUPER WICKEDLY KICK-*** AWESOME IDEA!

    MARANTHA

  2. The book idea would rock. =)

  3. Ah, Dr. Frankenstein, you have created a monster! Of that I think you can be proud. The way in which InMon has grown has been a testament to the hunger and need for such a space. What has come out strongest in my mind is the sense of community found here.

    I believe just about all of the contributors to InMon can relate to your dilemma. So much to read, so little time. And so each of us does what they can. And that is fine. Sometimes we read a lot and get well read, other times not. We all have busy lives outside of the blogosphere. I’m sure we all understand what is possible and what it not.

    In other words, I find your post most understandable. I have no smart suggestions, and agree entirely with your sentiment and choice of action. I feel priveleged to participate here as often as I can and would continue to use your prompts whether that meant my scribbles were being read or not. And I’d continue to read others’ responses to the prompts as I am able.

    I would like to thank you for providing this platform on which to stage my fantasies and must congratulate you for your phenomenal success in making it what it is. Whatever turn InMon takes, I will continue to support you and the other participants here.

    • That means a lot, Scribbla; thanks! It has been surprisingly successful; I think partially because the prompts are fairly vague and unrestricted – the the writers can really do what they want with them, and the results are genius!

  4. It’s alive …. It’s alive!!!!!

    BeKind … everything that you have written is totally understandable and understood. InMon has become an inspiration to many – which is all due to your wonderful hard work. It was bound to grow and will keep growing – and after last week’s awesome jump in submissions, I too wondered how you would keep up. Your decision is the right one.

    As for a book – TOTALLY!!! I love the idea … That would be brilliant … And maybe we could vote for our favourite submissions by other people … ones we have read that have really hit home.

    I’m in your corner!

    Drew

    • I do hope it will keep growing. Of course, despite this reading limit, you know I’ll listen to any InMon songs you produce, right? I wonder if we could even include the recording(s) in the ebook version of the InMon book??? (If there is an ebook version.) Hmmm…

      • Lol … 🙂 Of course I know you’ll listen … and I definitely think we can include the recordings in the eBook version of InMon – I’m more than happy for that to happen … was thinking I might release an InMon CD if I get enough tracks together on iTunes too! … of course, all InMon-ers would be able to download them from me for free! LOLOL 😉

  5. I have enjoyed reading other people’s InMon entries, and although I haven’t submitted anything of my own yet it is on my to-do list…. rest assured that the fact that you might not get round to personally reading my stuff won’t put me off. I’m definitely looking forward to having a go in the next week or so. Thanks for starting InMon and please keep the inspirations coming!

  6. I agree with your decision. I’ve been having trouble keeping up with everyone’s submissions, but don’t want to miss anything! This is great fun, and I appreciate being able to see the many directions the Rewriters take, and the amazing talent that is out there. The book sounds great, guess I’m going to have to get serious about writing.

    • I know!!! I’m amazed that so much talent can be so thickly concentrated in one place…although I guess technically the Rewriters are all over the world…just thanks to the miracle of the Internet, I guess.

  7. fredibakercoaches

    Congratulations!! for creating Inspiration Mondays, and Congratulations!! for having InMon take off like it has, and major Congratulations!! for setting some boundaries so you can keep on creating. We will be here writing and sharing our work. And, we can play amongst ourselves if we are not in the 10 or so you comment on. You ARE creating community, and we appreciate and value who you are. Funny thing, today I wrote a coaching post about burnout, boundaries and balance called “Don’t Get Burned.” Here is the link if you are interested:
    http://fredibakercoaches.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/dont-get-burned/

    What you are doing is inspiring and motivating! Can’t wait to hear about the Super Secret project and the book and whatever else your creative mind dreams up…

    • Thanks Fredi!!! Great post, and perfect timing!
      I’m ploughing through Super Secret Project preparations, aiming for August (give or take six months. Ha!). I figure the book can wait ’till the end of the year, and be a “Best of InMon 2011.”

  8. Totally support your decision – no point becoming a victim of your own success! I love the idea of a self-published book…keep us posted on your thoughts.

    Looking forward to whatever comes next.

    • Cool! Yeah, there’ll be quite a few details to work out for the book. Probably some time after the Super Secret Project, I’ll write up a blog post on my ideas for the book, and then we can all collaborate and see where it goes. Thanks for your support!

  9. To be honest, I didn’t even know you were making a point to read every submission. I don’t see how you could! I am still making my way through last week’s, trying to offer good feedback to everyone but it is impossible. Sometimes I’m just not in the right mindset to comment but I do try to read them all.

    There are so many people involved now that if we all make an effort to read and comment, everyone will be read. Half of the fun is reading how others interpreted the prompt. It must be time consuming enough to come up with the prompts and then link to all the submissions. I’m sure if you have a busy week and that’s all you can do, no one would complain. (Even though we all love your feedback!)

    The book idea is great. Voting would be fun. 🙂

    • It’s true that I never said I would read them all – but it’s so hard not to! I so agree with you about seeing how everyone interprets the prompt. I’m always excited to see what everyone will do with my favorite prompts.

      Huzzah! Another vote for the book!

  10. the book is a great idea!! don’t worry about not reading all the submissions. it’s totally understandable.. 🙂 can’t we like get a badge or something for all the rewriters to put up on their blogs? like we have for post a week and post a day? and for the poll.. put up the text widget on your sidebar and paste the ‘share/embed’ link on your poll in the widget 🙂 hope that helps!!

    • Aha! It worked! Thank you!!! And a badge is a great idea. I was actually going to create one for the Super Secret Project anyway. I’ll put it on hold and do an InMon one first.

  11. All makes a lot of sense.
    You need to congratulate yourself on the great success that InMon has become. The prompts have done a great job in getting the creative juices flowing and I know that I’ve enjoyed reading other peoples take on the weekly prompts.
    I think the book is a great idea.
    Finally, a big thanks, your weekly prompts have helped me write more & try new things. Long may they continue.

    • You’re welcome! Thanks backatcha for sharing your amazing work. I think the reason the prompts work so well, is they’re short, and you guys have the freedom to do what you want with them – and the results are brilliant.

  12. The book is a really great idea. Also, as mentioned above, one of the things I love about Mondays is reading everyone’s work and leaving feedback as well seeing the feedback from others. It’s the sense of community here that I really enjoy. I didn’t know that you read everyone’s pieces individually.. and then compiled them all together for the weekly post! That’s a lot of work!

    Props to you for stepping back and realizing you are being stretched thin. We all appreciate the hard work you do and honestly, I sort of attribute my reinvention of my love for writing to your prompts and the individuals who have encouraged me via your blog.

    Since this is a growing community, perhaps there’s a way to get the community involved in helping with the upkeep. Or set up forums or something. Or a spot where the blogs of those who regularly participate are all together to eliminate the need for. Let me know if there are any ways that I can be of help to you. I work at home and have a lot of free time so I’d be willing to help in whatever way I can. Particularly if it helps this grow because this weekly thing is very important to me and I’d love to see a community such as this grow.

    • Hmmm. Good idea. Is there some wordpress feature that allows blogs to group together? Or maybe I can just create a special blogroll of Rewriters. Rashmi suggested creating a badge, which I’m going to do. I don’t really want to open a forum, because I think this can grow more when it lives on our blogs. But hey, Jenna, keep writing and reading as much as you can! I’d definitely love your help encouraging our community!

  13. Ahhh, Stephanie, you got me writing again after a lifetime of dryness. That is saying so much. You are not invincible and you are not a superpower. But…you are a very inspiring individual and have motivated many of us to either write again, or continue writing. That says much about you and your Inspiration Monday prompts. Thank you for that.
    A book sounds like a wonderful idea…of course, it must be dedicated to YOU.
    Words cannot express how I feel, truly. Suffice it to say thank you from my full inspired heart!

    • Oh, Char. That means so, so much. The blessing of being able to write is so deeply important to me, the fact that I have in any way helped to give that to someone else is HUGE. I think we’re kindred spirits!

  14. Uh, you know that little certificate thing-a-hoochie you were talking about? Would you like me to see if I can come up with something? I have skadoodles of frames and tiles that I have created, some of which were used on that certificate (hint, in case you didn’t get yours, here is the link, it will take you directly to the “award” I custom created for all of the great folks here on WordPress. All you have to do is save it to your computer and then simply upload it onto a blog to show folks that someone thinks you are great, which, of course, you are! Ta-daaaaaaaa…the link….http://1wordywoman.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/radically-awesome-blogger-award-2.jpg).

    I tell you what, I will play around and see what I can come up with for some badges for you. I need to “downtime” from this other and just have fun for a little while any way.

    Ah-ha, the new writing prompts just popped up, so you must be online right now even as I am typing this.

    Try not to work too hard, okay hun?

    cyber hugs and loads of prayers coming your way.

    marantha

    • The badge? Sure, give it a go! Thanks!

      Not working too hard – catching up on my YouTube subscriptions (I’m a YouTube junkie – lots of talent there, too). Thanks for your hugs and especially prayers!

      • One thing, if you could give me some idea of what you want the badge or badges to say, it would give me an idea of how to form them. I look forward to hopefully hearing back tonight (yup, it is eleven thirty two and I am still hyper awake. Dang I hate being manic!) As a matter of fact, I am currently working on my prompt response. I should be posting it soon.

        marantha

        by the way, did you get your “certificate of award” for being a great blogger that I made for all of you? And did you like the set up of it. That is similar to what I am thinking of doing for the badges.

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