I’m on deadline.
What that means is, writing is mandatory for me. I have a title for my manuscript. A word count. Most importantly, I have a due date. And yes, barring some unforseen catastrophe such as an alien invasion or Godzilla rampaging through Colorado Springs, I will meet my deadline. (I am not thinking about any real disasters that can happen to writers everywhere.)
But let me honest with you: there are days I don’t feel like writing.
I write anyway.
Read the RestIf you turn on the TV and listen for an hour, you might conclude that America has lost its freedom. With strong political views on both sides of the fence, it’s difficult to know who’s right. That’s why I try always to do two things: 1) Other than exercising my right to vote, I stay away from the political arena as much as possible. 2) I listen very intently to hear the heartbeat of America. I grew up in the south. We always sang patriotic songs. American the Beautiful, God Bless America and the Star Spangled Banner could always be heard on special occasions. Today, after having spent years on foreign soil, I understand how important those words are. Just to be able to stand in the shower and belt out […]
Read the RestYou know what I re-discovered after last month’s blog? Not only must we do the next thing to pursue the writing dream, sometimes that means jumping hurdles. Some large, some small.
My son Caleb is running track this year. Ask me about basketball and we can converse. Track? Not so much. Needless to say this Momma is learning a whole new sport. One of the races Caleb’s coach has him running hurdles is the 110m Hurdle race.
I was amazed to watch him jump the hurdles. The first miracle? That this chick has a son with legs long enough to run jump hurdles (I’m only 5’1″). He picked up speed and kept jumping them one after another. Some he sailed over, others he clipped.
It made me think about the writing journey. I want consistent victory–to sail effortless over every hurdle. Every. Time. But it doesn’t work that way. While parts of the writing journey, seem effortless. Others? It takes work and determination. For instance, editing was never my strong suit and it still isn’t. Those I tend to hit the hurdles on.
The important thing is to stay on track, focus and run your race. You probably won’t master every aspect of writing, especially if you’re like me, starting out. But you will eventually.
Here are three things to
I was recently sent a link to a blog post with a request to read through it. As I did, I felt eerily like I was reading someone else’s blog. It sounded suspiciously like the individual had taken on the persona of someone else in my community.
I don’t think this was a ploy to steal someone else’s work. Oh no. It was much more serious than that. This writer was actually being a literary impersonator. They were writing in another person’s voice, other than their own.
I pondered their reasoning for quite some time and the more I wondered about it, I couldn’t help but ask, “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” That’s the only viable explanation I could find for someone not using their own unique—and God given—literary voice.
I know there are many reasons why this happens. Most of those reasons are completely unfounded so I’d like to uproot them for you here, sort of my way of snatching your tongue back from Prissy the feline thief:
Read the Rest
