The circus rider who stands on top of the horse as the horse gallops around the arena stays focused. He doesn’t allow those around him to distract him. If he did he might fall. This holds true in our writing. If we allow those around us to influence us to either change our writing to what others say it should be or those around us don’t support our writing then we won’t write or we change our voice which becomes lost in who we really are as a writer. We have to remember to always be true … [Read more...]
Day 117: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Writer
I love this. Here is what the author said about loneliness: “Writing can be a lonely business. But gradually your characters, or the scenes and people from your past, begin to rise up around you, and you find yourself writing your way out of loneliness, writing your own company. And you’ll find yourself at dinner some evening telling your family or friends, “Well, Natalie really made a mess of things today” or “I can’t believe what John said about Kathryn’s dog.” And everyone will look at you … [Read more...]
Day 116: Why Writers Get Scared
As writers we have to be willing to pour ourselves into our writing. It’s what makes a good story. I think the reason why my daughter’s hospital story has touched so many is because the words written came directly from my heart. I didn’t hold anything back. At the time I only thought of them as updates for friends and family. But over time they have become so much more. Some of the comments I’ve received have been such a blessing for me. (To read the comments others have left, click on “Her … [Read more...]
Day 115: Writing the Tree
In life we usually learn by either example or making a wrong decision. This is how we better ourselves. I love this because if I never learned from any of my mistakes what good would that be. My writing has benefited from this. If I had started to write and then didn't get any feedback/critiques on my writing, I wouldn’t have learned how to become better at writing. It has become stronger as a result of the time and effort I have put in. My hope is that those who have been helping me will be … [Read more...]
Day 114: The idea That Won’t Go Away
Have you ever had one of those moment when you're writing where your characters just won’t shut up. They continue to talk and talk and talk. They won’t quit until you write what they're telling you to write down. This has happened to me a few times with the fiction novel I’ve been writing to the point I have a major rewrite in the works that will need to be completed when we get more settled in Anchorage. If you aren’t a writer you may think that we have something mentally wrong with us if … [Read more...]
Day 113: Surrender
I love what the author said about surrendering. “Surrender to your own ego. Let yourself sound dumb, dull, or overly earnest, or whatever you fear most about your own writing. Surrender and then rewrite.” Think about that. For a long time I had it in my head that if I wrote something everyday on Mari’s site that I would start to sound redundant. I didn’t want to start to bore people so I only write when the mood struck me with something. In those times I just hammered out entries. Sometimes I … [Read more...]
Day 112: Getting to Denver by 4:00
The basic gist is this: Procrastination. How often do we say or think, “Oh, I can wait to do ________ until tomorrow (or whatever time you put). Fill in the blank with whatever it is you are putting off. For me, it has been so many different things. I think we can all say that about something that we needed to do but didn’t feel like it so we pushed it off until the last possible minute and then it’s crunch time. I admit that I have procrastinated a few times with my writing. I know it will … [Read more...]
Day 111: Authors on Pedestals
I really like this. As writers we have so much at our disposal to write about. Every life today is different from someone else’s life. Think about it. We all have our own unique way of looking at things. We can look at two people and think they are living the exact same life. However, if you were to step into the shoes of each one you’d find out that while there are some similarities their lives are different. Think about identical twins. When I was growing up my mom became friends with a … [Read more...]
End of Another Month
It's hard to believe that another month on my quest to write for 365 days has gone by. This month has been so different for me and my family this month. We have officially moved to Anchorage, Alaska, from Fort Knox, Kentucky. For those who don't know, my husband is currently serving in the Army. Last August my husband was offered a position at MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station). His order came in September and thus started the countdown until we moved. We started our cross-country … [Read more...]
Day 110: Reading in Russia
Have you ever read a book and loved it so much you contacted the author either by snail mail or email? I have. I read a book called The Wedding Kiss by the pen name Hannah Alexander. The names of the actual authors are a husband and wife writing team. There real names are Mel and Cheryl Horde. I loved this book so much I wanted to let them know so I sent an email to them to the email address listed in the book. Cheryl actually wrote me back. We ended up talking back and forth for several … [Read more...]
