First of all, thank you to any returning readers who have faithfully stuck by me on my silent hiatus from this blog. Please accept my apologies and a resolution to write more on this blog. I can't promise a post everyday but at least once a week should be do-able. (Between my other writing responsibilities, therapeutic parenting, volunteer work with non-profits, and furthering my education, the plate gets pretty full! I'm not the only one who juggles life like this. Many more famous authors have done this and more.)
It's been QUITE a while since I posted anything on this blog since those real life events seemed to have upstaged the business end of my writing for a while. As life settles down and the new year unfolds, I have new motivation and more specific goals to get back on track. I found some inspiration today regarding writing. I suppose that a break was essential to bring me back to the love of it. I've always loved it but it seemed that my overloaded brain couldn't focus for a while. I guess that all writers and artists go through that on occasion. To commically misquote the Queen, "We are not immune."
Today, I watched a re-enacted biography of the life of Louisa May Alcott, one of my favorite authors. I relate so much to the characters in Little Women, her most well-known novel. My sisters and I used to write our own newspaper and act our plays in the living room just like her characters. That was before we read the book or watched the movie. I was most like Jo who went off on her own to write and was always trying to match mate people in my mind. I loved reading people. I just wasn't very good at keeping my nervousness from making me act silly when trying to connect with them. Of course, I didn't quite understand why people weren't enthused about me reading dictionaries in my spare time and sharing the words I discovered nor why they thought me a strange bird to borrow library records--yes, records--that featured opera like the HMS Pinnafore, foreign language lessons or radio theatre comedy from my dad's and grandparent's generations. I was an old soul for my age. (This is the inside scoop-Dr. Wordwielder and I have much in common).
I digress here. Sorry. The show about author L.M. Alcott brought out some interesting similarities between her and I and gave me a few ideas for writing that I would not have otherwise discovered. It also gave me encouragement that it is possible to do well in a writing career even with many life interruptions--if one only follows the dreams in his or her heart to write. This brings to my mind a quote I've heard my friend, JoJo, say, "I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers all written," or something like that.
Sometimes, we have dreams and even begin on our goals but something keeps us with blank pages. It's time either to throw it out and start fresh or get to work! I'm going to do a little of both with my works in progress.
I sent a few children's stories out the other day and intend to keep doing that and sending off articles and short stories while determining which of my larger works in progress to finish first. I plan to complete at least one of them by June this year. Giving myself a deadline will help tremendously. I'm good with deadlines when it comes to writing, not so good with open-ended-unless I have a strong, clear vision about something that must be shared with the world.
That being said, I hopped on over to Faithwriters to see what new designs they came up with for their webpage. I found it much easier to navigate and read a tutorial on making the most of my membership. I've participated in some of the challenges this past year and knew that it is possible to have other articles posted on the site but didn't use the site to it's fullest potential. I did receive offers from a publisher but hope to gain more exposure for my writing by contributing more to the various aspects of what they offer. There is a critique circle, discussion boards, writing lessons and all kinds of opportunities. They're still the same offerings but they seem more user-friendly on the new page. To look at them or browse the articles there, (You might see a couple of mine in the challenge entries), visit this link. http://www.faithwriters.com/index.php
Today, I watched a re-enacted biography of the life of Louisa May Alcott, one of my favorite authors. I relate so much to the characters in Little Women, her most well-known novel. My sisters and I used to write our own newspaper and act our plays in the living room just like her characters. That was before we read the book or watched the movie. I was most like Jo who went off on her own to write and was always trying to match mate people in my mind. I loved reading people. I just wasn't very good at keeping my nervousness from making me act silly when trying to connect with them. Of course, I didn't quite understand why people weren't enthused about me reading dictionaries in my spare time and sharing the words I discovered nor why they thought me a strange bird to borrow library records--yes, records--that featured opera like the HMS Pinnafore, foreign language lessons or radio theatre comedy from my dad's and grandparent's generations. I was an old soul for my age. (This is the inside scoop-Dr. Wordwielder and I have much in common).
I digress here. Sorry. The show about author L.M. Alcott brought out some interesting similarities between her and I and gave me a few ideas for writing that I would not have otherwise discovered. It also gave me encouragement that it is possible to do well in a writing career even with many life interruptions--if one only follows the dreams in his or her heart to write. This brings to my mind a quote I've heard my friend, JoJo, say, "I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers all written," or something like that.
Sometimes, we have dreams and even begin on our goals but something keeps us with blank pages. It's time either to throw it out and start fresh or get to work! I'm going to do a little of both with my works in progress.
I sent a few children's stories out the other day and intend to keep doing that and sending off articles and short stories while determining which of my larger works in progress to finish first. I plan to complete at least one of them by June this year. Giving myself a deadline will help tremendously. I'm good with deadlines when it comes to writing, not so good with open-ended-unless I have a strong, clear vision about something that must be shared with the world.
That being said, I hopped on over to Faithwriters to see what new designs they came up with for their webpage. I found it much easier to navigate and read a tutorial on making the most of my membership. I've participated in some of the challenges this past year and knew that it is possible to have other articles posted on the site but didn't use the site to it's fullest potential. I did receive offers from a publisher but hope to gain more exposure for my writing by contributing more to the various aspects of what they offer. There is a critique circle, discussion boards, writing lessons and all kinds of opportunities. They're still the same offerings but they seem more user-friendly on the new page. To look at them or browse the articles there, (You might see a couple of mine in the challenge entries), visit this link. http://www.faithwriters.com/index.php
I've posted the previous link before as a place where I receive encouragement to write. My resolution is to find more cheerleaders like this and to interact more with them, especially since the in person groups locally didn't seem to work out for my schedule.
What or who inspires you as a writer? What book, blogger, author, forum, critique circle or other resource helps you? Maybe we can share resources and cheer each other on to doing better in the business end of our writing. Feel free to leave your comments. I'd love to hear from you.
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1 comment:
I've been doing the opposite, keeping up with my blogs and other things I put myself up to this year but that didn't allow me any time to write much of anything else. That's my priority this year too. Deadlines are good.
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