As writers, it takes 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 … [Read more...]
The Journey with Jo Walker
Please welcome this weeks guest Jo Walker for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? In Psalm 139, King David begins by telling us there is simply no place we can go that God isn’t already there. In verses 13-16, he points out the reality that God is even with us when we are being formed in our mother’s womb. He speaks to how wonderfully we are made, and goes on to tell us that every day of our life was recorded before one ever … [Read more...]
Day 34: The Duck or the Pâté?
OR It's strange to think of pâté. Personally, I've 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. I just couldn't think about doing it. Eating Peepers, uh, no. When I read what Ms. Abercrombie wrote it was more like she was … [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 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 … [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...]
The Journey with Janet Chester Bly
Please welcome this weeks guest Janet Chester Bly for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? CALLED TOGETHER, FORCED APART When my husband found God's ministry for him, after seminary and pastoring his first church, I wanted to find mine. What were my spiritual gifts to help the church fellowship and other believers? After a prayer journey and searching for several years, I attended my first writing conference. And got excited. So, in … [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 25: Failing Better
"Fail. Fail again. Fail better." This is a quote by Samuel Beckett. And here is another one by Thomas Edison: “I didn’t fail one thousand times. The lightbulb was an invention with one thousand steps.” I think we hear many times throughout our lifetime how it doesn't matter how many times we fail as long as we keep on trying. If we stop at the 999,999th time, it might have been that millionth time that could've been the one to work. For me, I've been constantly learning about writing both … [Read more...]
