Rambles – Kelly Jensen

By the Tropes: Friends to Lovers

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021Leave a comment

When perusing my backlist, I’m always a little surprised by the number of books. I’ve written a lot over the past seven years, and with seeming variety. But when I looked at the tropes, my discoveries weren’t at all shocking. I tend to write certain kinds of stories and I write them a lot.

Because I like sorting things and charting things, I decided to break it down. Check out which tropes I like writing and how often. Because Notion is my new favourite thing, I started there, listing tropes I thought might fit at least one of my books.

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Things That Make Me Happy

August 13, 2021Leave a comment

I’m tempted to start with the word thing because it’s just so darn versatile. Things are awesome and the word itself can be tacked onto the end of dozens of others to form some of my most beloved crutch words. The word thing obviously makes me happy—except when I’m digging my way out of a snowstorm of edits.

What else makes me happy? A lot. I’m a happy person. I can get stuck in negative grooves, and there are thoughts and situations I have to actively shift my focus away from before I dig that groove any deeper. But in general? I’m happy. And the things that make me happiest all feel relatively simple—which is nice, because we’re living in a time where finding gratitude can be difficult.

So, here’s my list. Hopefully, it will lift your spirits as well.

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Writing Blocks

July 8, 2021July 10, 20211 Comment

Like most writers, I enjoy talking about my craft. Much of my process is patched together with tips from friends, writers’ blogs, workshops, and books. So, it’s my hope, when I post an article like this, that my tips will help someone else refine their process—or at least give them something new to try.

This post is about what I call Writing Blocks. When I first added the topic to my list, I tried to think of a clever way to tie my title into what is often considered a writer’s greatest nemesis, the dreaded block. Perhaps you’ve landed here thinking just that! If so, this post might help, because—for me—the easiest way to avoid a block is to make writing a habit or routine. Carving out a slot every day, morning, on your lunch break, during the kids’ soccer practice, or after everyone is in bed at night, and sticking to that time, makes writing a part of your schedule. Not everyone loves a schedule as much as I do, but there is something to be said for doing a thing at the same time every day.

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I Love Kale So Much I Could Write a Poem About It

May 28, 2021Leave a comment

A delish garnish,
A mean green…

Yeah, I’m going to stop trying to write poetry. Or I might come back to it at three a.m. when I’m suddenly inspired. (I probably won’t. I mean, who wants to get up at three to write about kale? Also, this post will be published by then.)

Anyway. This post? It’s about kale. No joke. You might even say it’s a kale appreciation post. This is not a post I thought I would ever write—which, honestly, means I kinda love that it’s happening. All it took was for me to say not once but twice, I love kale so much I could write a blog post about it.

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My Sim is Making More Money Than Me

May 4, 20212 Comments

One of my favourite ways to play The Sims is to create a character with no job and no fixed address to see if I can get by napping on park benches (or wherever I can lay my Sim’s head down for a bit), cadging food from public venues (someone is always grilling at the park), and fishing, picking public produce, and foraging for treasure to sell for simoleons.

A Sim does have to have an address, so mine is usually a lot empty of all but a mailbox. Over time, I’ll add stuff to the lot using funds derived from foraging. I take great pleasure in using the startup funds assigned to every Sim to buy the largest empty lot in the best neighborhood, decorating it with weeds, and letting it lie empty but for the objects I begin to collect. I’ll construct a sort of shed as the budget allows, and if my Sim is a Klepto, stock it with lots of fun stuff.

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