I love this question. Why do I write? It's simple really. I do it because I've grown to love it and couldn't imagine my life without it now. I write when I'm sad. I write when I'm happy. I write when I have news to share. For me it has become an extension of who I am. I think, in a way, people who read what I write have a view into who I am as a person and have become happier as a result. I think back to the day I started my daughter's dedication site. I was so sad. Grief engulfed my body. … [Read more...]
The Journey with Emilie Hendryx
Please welcome this weeks guest Emilie Hendryx for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? In the Midst of the Journey I’ve always loved reading and writing. Ever since I was a little girl, I can remember dreaming up ideas, creating imaginary places, and compiling all of the elements of a good story into a play session with my stuffed animals. At that time, I didn’t know much about the fundamentals of writing or story telling, I just knew … [Read more...]
Day 60: Showing Up
I think this has been my exact problem these past several months. To be reliable to my own writing muse. Ever since last July when Mari's 5 year mark came and went, I've had a hard time trying to motivate myself to do any kind of writing. Whether it was writing something for Mari's website or this one, writing something for her book, or just writing for my fiction book, I just couldn't find the motivation. I kept being told by others that even if I only write a sentence a day I needed to … [Read more...]
Day 58: Retreating to Play
We can look at kids with all the energy we wish we still had and get tired by looking at them. Sometimes we joke and say, "Man, if I could bottle all that energy and sell it, I'd make millions." We all laugh and agree. I think sometimes we forget what it's like to play. I'm not saying to go out to the monkey bars or anything. I'm talking about taking time out to do some fun adult things like rock climbing, paintball or going to a dance club to just let loose. Kids are undeterred by what … [Read more...]
Day 40: Inspiration
I think inspiration can come from anywhere at anytime. It just hits us. I still remember being up in my bedroom when the story idea came to me and that very night I started my first attempt at writing fiction. To take a simple idea and then turn that into a 100,000 word book is mind-boggling. Not many people have the patience or stamina to do it. You really have to want to be a writer to do it. The amazing part about all of this is when you type out that first novel you'll find out what so … [Read more...]
Day 39: Keeping a Journal
I love keeping a journal. I typically go for long periods of time without writing in it but when I do it becomes a daily ritual. Right after Mari died I told Keith I had to get a journal. What I wrote in there were all my very raw and exposed emotions. Sometimes it felt like I wrote the same things over and over. It's one of the ways that helped me through my grief. And then one day I had tons of thoughts swirling around in my head. But I had a different feeling this time about writing … [Read more...]
Day 33: Diving, Not Drowning
When I went to go read today excerpt, 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 … [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're going. For example, in order for Keith and I to know the exact route we would take to get to Alaska when we started our journey, we first had to know exactly where we were going. So in this case, first things first, we knew we were going to Anchorage. From there we could plot our long course, making our stops along the way … [Read more...]
Day 26: The Trampoline as a Metaphor
Life sometimes can totally surprise us in the most unexpected ways. For instance, a big trampoline. How in the world is a trampoline possibly related to writing? Before I read today's except on the phrase above, I was stumped. Then I started to read how scared to death the woman was by "what looked like a big lake of black water." She said, "I’m here to tell you that it is impossible to be calm and dignified on a trampoline. It is also impossible to feel safe on one. I crawled onto [it] and … [Read more...]
Day 24: Writing While Drooled Upon
Really, this just means to not let anything get in the way of your writing. I know I could have what seems like a million and one things to keep me from writing. To be honest, I think I let many excuses get in the way of doing so. If I was more disciplined I think I could find the time I need. But, for whatever reason, I can't seem to find the motivation within myself to become disciplined. It's almost like it's a vicious cycle. I know right now it has a lot to do with the time of year. You … [Read more...]
