I think deep down inside us we all have a little bit of being a writer inside. If you've ever day dreamed or made up stories and played them out as a kid, you are a writer of sorts. The only difference is you didn't write them down. Whereas those that call themselves writers do. I love being a writer. I never thought I'd be one. I remember when I would be reading a book thinking about how much fun it would be to write a story myself. I had absolutely no confidence that I'd be any good. I'm glad … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2013
Day 36: The Peculiar Art
As writers it does take a certain type of person who doesn't mind sitting by themselves diving deep into the recesses of their minds as they write or type out onto the page lines for their story. You can't be in an office work space surrounded by people who constantly interrupt you. Scenes can flow out of you fluidly which requires sitting down and getting it all out on paper. Writing is a peculiar art in that as writers we do like to be alone. Quite frankly I think many of us thrive on it. I … [Read more...]
Day 35: Eight Ways to Sabotage Yourself
Distraction. We can be so easily be distracted over some of the silliest things. Here is a list below from the book: "1. I have nothing original to write because everything interesting has already been written. "2. I don’t have enough time right now. I’ll start writing later. I’ll write someday. "3. What if someone reads what I’ve written? "4. What if nobody reads what I’ve written? "5. I have to mow the lawn, clean the closets, wash the car, run a load of laundry right now. "6. I have to … [Read more...]
Day 34: The Duck or the Pâté?
It's strange to think of pâté. Personally I have never tried the stuff and really don't want too. When I was growing up my mom let my sister have a pet duck. His name was Peepers. I always thought it strange to have a pet duck but we did. He was a cute little thing. When I think of pâté I think of him. It just couldn't think about doing it. Eating Peepers, uh, no. When I read what Ms. Abercrombie wrote it was more like she was comparing someone who proclaims to write but does everything else … [Read more...]
Day 33: Diving, Not Drowning
When I went to go read today except, this was the first line: "The fear of going back into your past — reliving trauma or grief — sometimes can block writing about the most important part of your story." This struck me to the core. I have so many things in my past, the good, the ugly and the tragic. All of which have shaped and molded me into the person I am today. The unfortunate part to all of this is there has been those very ugly things that no one ever wants to have happen to themselves or … [Read more...]
Day 32: Improvisation
When we think of the word improv, we typically think of actors and actresses in an acting class. All they may be given is a word or a phrase. From there the true magic behind acting comes forth. They get to play out whatever comes into their heads. Sometimes its funny. Sometimes sad. Sometimes it just makes you think. The bottom line is they have fun doing what they love to do most and that is to act. This should be the same for us as writers. To be able to tap into our own creative muses and … [Read more...]
Day 31: Dreaming Your Ship
I love this: "If you say your story is fiction, it’s fiction. Period. How much or what part of it is autobiographical is nobody’s business." That was quoted from the author of the book I'm using. As most of you know, I am very new to writing fiction, well writing at all for that matter. But in particularly fiction. It has never once crossed mind to accuse an author that the fiction story he or she has written is anything but fiction. I'm sure there are some people out in the world today who … [Read more...]
Day 30: Out of the Box
The age old saying goes, "Think outside the box." But first we must have a box to think outside of. Is our box more of a literal box we throw different things in for differing reasons? Or is it more of a mental box in the far corners of our brain? For some it might even be both. So what's in our box? For me, I have boxes for tax related stuff. Shoe boxes with shoes, sometimes. While others I use as a temporary storage facility for whatever is around at the time. Then I have them for my … [Read more...]
Day 29: First Things First
There's an old saying that goes like this: In order to start your journey we must first know where we are going. For example, in order for Keith and I to know the exact route we will take to get to Alaska when we start our journey, we must first know exactly where we are going. So in this case, first things first, we know we are going to Anchorage. From there we can plot our long course, making our stops along the way until we make our destination. I think there are many times in life where we … [Read more...]
Day 28: In the Company of Animals
Our pets are more than just animals. They are our family. We treat them as one of our kids. We worry for them if they become sick. We grieve for them if they die. For someone who might live by themselves, a dog or a cat or even both for that matter, can give them the peace of mind and comfort they seek. Looking back to the time right after Mari died, I knew I couldn't go and live back in the same house we had been living in. Keith didn't understand it. We'd only lived there for six months since … [Read more...]