Marcus Lopés

LGTBQIA2S+ Author, Blogger, Runner

motivation

Social Media: A Love-Hate Relationship

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social media

Just over three months ago, I stepped back from social media. I’d left Twitter before that, but realized I needed a cleaner break. I didn’t just deactivate my active accounts. Where I could (Instagram and LinkedIn; I’ll get to Facebook), I deleted them. And when it came to Instagram, I was even more intentional. I deleted every post, removed every follower, and unfollowed everyone I’d been following. Because I knew I would eventually return to social media, but I didn’t want to just pick up where I left off. I wanted to start over with a new approach.

When it came to Facebook, I opted to deactivate my fan page. The problem with that was that it had to remain active if I still wanted to use Facebook Ads, which I did. My only option then was to go radio silent. [Read more…] about Social Media: A Love-Hate Relationship

Make Time to Create

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make time to create

I don’t remember the exact year, or the precise moment, when I knew I wanted to be a writer. It was, however, during university when I started spending more time on creative writing than my studies. Case in point: I signed up for a writing class at the local community college despite carrying a full course load. Although I didn’t know it then, it would set an important precedent for my life: make time to create. [Read more…] about Make Time to Create

No Ordinary Life: Living in the Discomfort Zone

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discomfort zone

It’s not a secret anymore. I’m registered for the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, which will take place on Sunday, 15 October 2023. Running the marathon wasn’t on this year’s goals list. The decision to participate in the race came after I realized I was willing to be ordinary—too scared to take a risk, too scared of failure. But I’ve never liked being ordinary or doing ordinary things. Always looking to grow, to challenge myself in some way, it was time to move back into my discomfort zone. [Read more…] about No Ordinary Life: Living in the Discomfort Zone

It Takes a Village

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village

On the surface, a writer’s life may look ‘lonely.’ Because we spend a lot of time alone writing our stories and bringing the characters to life. It is in those quiet times—late at night, early in the morning, or in the middle of the day—when we go into hiding. We have that special place, a room of our own, to create. And we do it until we’ve taken the manuscript as far as we can on our own, knowing then that it’s time for fresh eyes, and we ship it off to our editor. Yes, writing can be lonely, but writing and publishing a book takes a village. [Read more…] about It Takes a Village

Cultivate Commitment to Your Dreams

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commitment

I was in my late-teens/early-twenties when I realized I wanted to be a writer. I didn’t know, then, what it meant to be a writer. And when I thought about writing, and what a writing life looked like, I immediately thought about Stephen King, Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, and Iris Murdoch (among others). These writers defined writing for me because they were successful and had carved out a writing life for themselves. I was, however, still young and naïve, and I didn’t understand what had allowed them to reach the pinnacle of their careers: commitment. [Read more…] about Cultivate Commitment to Your Dreams