Poetry Not Included

I've been writing for years. I feel like writing is in my blood and is something I was meant to do. I love writing short stories and realized yesterday that my novel writing options have become quite robust. I have one novel complete that I am querying agents with right now. I have a first draft manuscript, and three other works in various phases of the writing process. If anything, my weakness is that all of them are more or less in the same genre.

I was shopping for a Christmas gift today for my sister-in-law. She likes to quote poetry in her Facebook postings, and I thought that a book of poetry around motherhood would be a unique gift idea (she is expecting her first child in February). As I browsed the shelves of poets at my local bookstore, I was surprised to find that I knew many of their names. Then I felt something building inside me that said this was an opportunity to expand my own horizons.

I was excited about the possibility of what this new perspective could offer for my writing. I found a book for my sister-in-law, and picked up a book of Emily Dickinson's poems for myself. It was actually a toss up between Dickinson and Frost, but I figured either way I couldn't go wrong.

Then as I was catching up on my tweets this evening, I found a blog post on why writers should try out other genres. I've been so hesitant to branch out with my writing because I wanted to be sure I could find my name and place in my genre. But my experiences today make me think that tipping my toes in other genre pools could be exciting and enlightening. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

No NaNoWriMo This Year

I want to start off by saying that I love National Novel Writing Month. There is nothing like letting your mind’s floodgates open for 30 days and writing like there is no tomorrow. You safely stash your internal editor away on an imaginary tropical island for 30 days (and hope he comes back rested and relaxed) and have the freedom to put down any idea that crosses your consciousness. It can be crazy, wacky, and out of this world, but that doesn’t matter because it is part of the fun. The only thing that matters is your word count, and 50,000 words is the Holy Grail.

I debated long and hard about whether or not to participate this year. I’ve done it twice. My first sprint to the finish line took me 22 days. In my second chaotic attempt, I managed to eek out my 50,000 words just under the wire on Day 30. I felt truly alive and present during those months, and had the “nothing can stop me now!” attitude that drove the deals home. But both of those attempts came at a time when I wasn’t truly focused on my writing life. Both experiences were the proverbial kick in the pants I needed to remember that I wanted to be seen as a writer too.

This year is quite different for me.

Since early August I have been revising my manuscript that was birthed during NaNoWrimo journey #2. I finished it, sent it out to beta readers, got some great feedback, and ultimately decided that I needed to change the story arc a bit and make it a whole lot darker. Then in October, I spun the Tiny Tales of Terror in honor of Halloween for my beta readers and their friends, because I found that by sharing my manuscript I have started to build a readership that was actively looking for new material (MY new material!) to read. I also have big plans to kick off a new podcast series that I’ve been working on since late September that was inspired by my attendance at the Writer’s Digest Conference.

My plate feels a bit…full. This year, I am writing more than ever before and doing more things with the business side of my writing as well. I still have the good ole day job and my family obligations. So for me, regretfully but respectfully, I gave myself a pass on NaNoWriMo this year.

I am cheering all of this year’s participants on, and living vicariously through their tweets, blogs, and posts. Good luck to all of you and may your 50,000 words come easily and in less than 30 days!

Inspiration

I've been spending a lot of time looking for new inspiration over the last few weeks for my Tiny Tales of Terror. My goal was to put up a story a day until Halloween (which I haven't quite done). I chose this as a stretch goal for myself because I knew it would be more of a challenge to find new subject matter everyday. But I was excited at the same time because I knew that at the end I'd have a ton of new material to chose from and expand into longer stories.

Inspiration hasn't been as difficult as I thought. I've purposely been watching scary movies (even the bad ones), freaky TV shows, reading mystery/thriller books, looking for unsettling images on the web just to spark my imagination. I've also been able to weave in some real details from my own life which has been fun. Often the stories are coming from just one phrase or image that I explore further in the story.

I've been getting some questions from friends wanting to know more of the back story, but the purpose of these stories are meant to be just scary snippets. I haven't been able to spend enough time with the characters to really know more than some initial impressions that I can share.

I think it is very cool how images can just strike a chord. Something like this:

I've been meaning to write a story about this lighthouse for years. I just haven't found the right story yet, but I know it is going to be scary and it probably will take place in the early part of the 19th century. But most of my stories come to me easily, and I love exploring where the journey takes me.

What inspires you in your writing?

Writing: The Business

I've spent several pleasant hours this afternoon reading all about indie publishing. I am a huge fan of April Hamilton's. I followed her on Twitter prior to seeing her in person at the Writer's Digest Conference, and her Publetariat site is a MUST for anyone thinking of going at publishing on your own.

Now I have two completed manuscripts- one is still in its rough first draft form, and the second is the one that I have been working on revising since early August. I am "close" to being at the point where I need to make a rather critical decision. Do I start down the path of traditional publishing, or do I look at indie publishing options?

One thing that never occurred to me, that I just read about tonight, was the idea of starting my own indie publishing house. Intriguing... I am a big DIY person, and all of this information really resonated with me. I like the idea of controlling my own destiny. I like the idea of being able to connect with readers sooner rather than later. I like the idea of setting up a structure that would not only allow me to publish my own work, but publish other deserving work as well.

Lots of options to consider. Lots of things to think about. And in the meantime, my writing continues with my Tiny Tales of Terror. This is truly a great time to be a writer!

Walk Before You Run

I've learned a few valuable lessons over the last week: time is not my friend, and I have to set reasonable expectations for myself.

I have a working manuscript that I like, however it isn't truly the genre that I always envisioned I'd write. I somehow ended up with a paranormal romance when I want to write horror. (This is the part where I mention for the tenth time that I have always wanted to be Stephen King.) Chris Baty talks about this in his book No Plot? No Problem! that is the basis for National Novel Writing Month. He recommends making lists of what you do and don't like in stories, because you may find yourself writing what you don't like if you aren't careful.

Now it's not that I don't like paranormal romance. I don't think writing romance is a strength of mine. I decided that I needed to go back and rework my manuscript and darken it up ALOT. I could keep the romance, but as a subplot. I needed to focus on the main character, and rewrite it so that it kept me up at night. If the writing isn't scaring me, then it won't work.

Deborah Riley-Magnus (@rileymagnus on Twitter) wrote a great blog post on deconstructing a novel right at the same time, which I took as an omen that I was on the right path.

Horror being my genre focus, I also saw an opportunity to leverage some inspiration with my favorite holiday right around the corner: Halloween. Wouldn't it be cool to launch to a podcast series based on another story that I'm working on in honor of Halloween? So I did some more research on podcasting and with my husband's studio set-up I thought "well this can't be THAT hard". I put together an insane writing schedule for the remainder of September and October with an end goal of 10 podcasts and 1 reworked manuscript by the end of October.

Are you laughing at me yet? Let's just say that I was a bit overly ambitious.

It didn't take me long to find out that one 25-minute podcast for me is running about 5000 words. 5000 words!! So 10 podcasts would be about 50,000 words. That's a NaNoWriMo novel, not including some serious editing. Hmmm- maybe I needed to think about that some more.

I should also mention that I do have a day job. You wouldn't think so with the schedule I put together.

After one week, I wasn't close my goal and I was okay with that. I did have some great accomplishments:

1) My podcast concept came from a 750 word story that I put together for the Your Story Writer's Digest contest. In 2 days I turned that 750 words into over 12,000 words. I've created an episode framework and writing prompts for each of the podcast episodes. I do need to finish the story before I can record it, so the earliest that would probably happen would be November- December.

2) I wrote a completely different opening scene to my manuscript. It turns the old one on its ear. I honestly don't know how much of the old manuscript I could use if I go that direction, and that would mean I'm really starting from scratch. (A new NanoWriMo novel from an old one perhaps?) I need to think about that some more.

3) To get my Halloween fix, I decided to go smaller, but still have fun and offer up something to my readers. So I am introducing my Tiny Tales of Terror blog series on my new author blog.

All in all, I've had a great week, learned a lot, and even gave myself permission to put my Halloween decorations up.

I've Got Plans

Do you know that feeling when you are eating a terrific meal, but realize that you are starting to feel full? Your eyes were bigger than your stomach, and if you only had a bit more time maybe you'd be able to finish everything? That's the way I felt after the last session of the Writer's Digest Conference this past weekend.

Don't get me wrong. It was a fantastic event and I'd pay the money in a heartbeat to attend again. But the sheer volume of information threw my brain into overdrive after the FIRST session. I found out about some amazing possibilities for moving forward in my writing career, and it is really just up to me to figure out how to make things happen. Jane Friedman posted a great recap of key takeaways here.

I've spent the last few days just processing the info and deciding what's next. I made a top 10 to-do list on the plane, but I already know that as I move through them the list will shift and change. I've also decided to go back to the drawing board with my manuscript and make some important changes that I feel will speak better to the intended audience for my work.

The conference was just the shot in the arm I needed! Oh yes I have plans, and I can't wait to see what happens!

I Heart My Beta Readers

I went out a select group of friends and colleagues two weeks ago and asked a very big favor. Would you read my manuscript for me? Oh, and can you possibly do that in the next two weeks and send me feedback before I go to my conference? Pretty please?

I was pleasantly surprised that I had 13 1/2 brave volunteers offer to help me out. (The 1/2 is my husband. The book that I wrote is completely outside his usual genre of interest. Being the supportive spouse that he is though, he did offer to read it and has read the first 5 chapters so far.)

I sent out the manuscript on September 1st with my specific request for feedback on:

* Gaping "plot"holes
* Places where there should more detail
* Places where the story moves too fast/too slow
* Under-developed characters
* Stiff/uninspired/boring dialogue
* Anything else they thought may be helpful to tighten up or expand the story to make it more interesting

I also told them to chuck being nice by the wayside and give it to me straight. The only way I was going to improve the story was by getting honest feedback. (And I'm a big girl and can take it.)

As of today, I have had 7 wonderful people finish the book, and 2 others who are well into the story offering feedback as they go along. Each one said that the plot had some good twists and that is was easy to read.

The great thing is that no one spotted anything major that I didn't already know needed to be fixed. (There were two subplots that got lost in the mad dash to the end of the story.) Questions about characters and story lines have been insightful and telling. It has been a great experience so far.

This has given me the extra boost of positivity and energy that I needed to finalize the manuscript and get it ready for prime time! Thank you beta readers!!

Conference Prep 101

I am in prep mode getting ready to attend the Writer's Digest Conference The Business of Getting Published in NYC next week. I decided earlier this summer that I was going to spring some hard earned dough (and frequent flyer miles) on ONE writing conference this year. Considering I'm looking to get published, and figure out how to successfully use all of these wonderful social media tools to promote my material, this conference seemed like the perfect fit.

Now I have the jitters. It's not like I have never been to conference before. I've attended many over the course of my professional life (both as a vendor and a participant). I know the importance of taking good notes, making sure you have lots of business cards, and networking with anyone and everyone you can strike up a conversation with (at appropriate times of course). I learned long ago that conferences and alcohol do not mix.

There are lots of different articles and blogs out there to help prep for a writer's conference. It shouldn't surprise anyone that after reading several, I started to see a contradiction or two. (One blogger says DO make sure you bring your manuscript, another says that is a big DON'T.)

One DON'T that surprised me was a blogger who said not to put "writer" or "author" on your business cards because that is viewed as pretentious. What?? These days it is all about your "author's platform" when you are talking about marketing yourself. If it is pretentious to even call yourself what you are then we have a problem. I've written two books, and while they remain unpublished (for the moment) I defend my right to claim my "Author" status!

One of the most interesting bits of info I found was a LinkedIn discussion thread. I liked the Q&A format there, and thought there was some good advice beyond the normal tips/tricks.

I plan on blogging and tweeting from the conference. I thought that would be a great way to keep up with what I'm learning and share relevant nuggets. I can't wait!

A Great Love Affair

After I wrote my last post, it got me thinking about how much writing a book mirrors a relationship. It will make it laugh. It will make you cry. You will feel frustrated, miserable, and unworthy. It will also make you feel like you are on Cloud 9. Once it begins you never know where it will take you, and it is a guarantee that you will have many surprises along the way. Ultimately, it should make you a better person by being part of it.

Starting a book feels a lot like the beginning of new relationship. You're a bit trepidatious the first time you sit down to write "the book" and you will probably have a few false starts before the words start to flow. You meet your characters for the first time, and it takes awhile to get in their heads and figure them out.

Soon, if things are going well, you feel that rush as you crank out the first several chapters. Your characters are moving around in their world, and you feel like you know just how the plot is going to play out. Things feel amazing and you are rushing to your keyboard everyday.

Inevitably, the better you get to know your characters, and the further you get into the midst of the plot, things are going to start feeling a bit confusing. You wonder if you are doing the right thing, and you begin to second guess yourself. (Would that character really do that? Does that scene even make sense? Where the hell did that guy come from?) You go back to read earlier chapters to try to rediscover that earlier passion because walking to the keyboard now feels more difficult. You feel the pressure of trying to keep everything together and things feel like they are unraveling in completely unexpected ways. You are completely out of control.

You see, no matter how well you thought you knew your book when you started, it will have some surprises for you. At that point you need to make a decision. Are these nuances you've found going to make you story better, or are they so havoc wrecking that you may have to consider starting over? Things just may not have lined up the way that you planned, and it would be easier to cut it off now before you get in too deep. You don't want to waste your time with something that isn't right, right?

If you can make it past the stormy middle, you will find that approaching the end brings the rush of excitement and passion that you remember from when you started. Now your characters and plot have evolved into something mature; something that can last. You've made a commitment and you want to follow through. You've put something of yourself in those pages that will be there forever.

I Think We Should Take a Break

Dearest manuscript,

I know that when we began this journey together so long ago (okay 4 weeks, but who's counting?), I pledged to be faithful and utterly committed to you. I told you I would put away all those other distractions, that I wouldn't read a single word in any other book, that I would give to you every lunch break, every evening, and do whatever it took to fulfill your wishes and make you complete.

It has been a wild ride. I found myself tossing and turning every night imagining what new experiences tomorrow would hold. I got upset when schedules shifted and we couldn't be together at lunch like I planned(stupid day job!!). You and I have been through some crazy plot lines and shaken out some woefully underdeveloped scenes. We created new characters and discovered some insightful things in our main characters. Together we bolted through the last 4000 words when we saw the finish line. It was exhilarating!

But this incredible thing we have must come to an end, at least for now. I have given you all that I have and I think it is time that we take a break. It would be good for both of us to see some other people and find out what's working in our relationship and what is horribly wrong. It can only make us stronger. Be a good little manuscript for my beta readers and show them all the love that you've shown me.

Don't despair! I promise when the time comes, I will be there to fix you.

I miss you already,
Christy

What Happened to the Reference Section?

Lately, the more I write the more I drown myself in doubt. Do I know what I'm doing? Is this story any good? Would anyone want to read it (other than me)? Should I change this character? Do I need more characters?

I fret, groan, and moan but keep plugging along.

Now that I am nearing the completion of revision round #1 of my manuscript, I am starting to doubt my writing technical expertise. I am a sucker for commas, and have yet to meet an adverb that I didn't like. I've known these two things for many years, so these are the "easy" edits that I make as I comb through pages. I decided that I needed some advice and guidance on fixing the not-so-obvious errors. It was time to repurchase a grammar book or two. A writer should always have one of those handy right?

I thought that I'd check out my options by visiting my local bookstore. (Okay- I admit that I look for ANY excuse to buy new books.) I used to spend hours pouring through hundreds of different books on all sorts of interesting writer topics. There were books to help you develop your characters, books to help you write realistic descriptions of places you'd never actually visited, books to help with voice and dialogue, and row after row after row on prompts and the technical "how-to's" to writing. It used to be a full aisle.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this wonderful section was now a half of one side of a rather short aisle. Of course there was a shelf for all the Writer's Market info, and the obligatory dictionary and thesaurus shelves. The popular books like Stephen King's On Writing, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, and Strunk & White's The Element's of Style were all faced out. (The only oldie by goodie missing was Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones) But all of the other fun references were gone. I didn't see one book on query letters or manuscript formatting! But with such a small section, I guess they had to be picky about what they had keep in stock, and it makes sense to stick with the home run hitters.

I will miss my bookstore reference section, but this is just another good reason to head to my local library.

Swearing Goes Mainstream

Perhaps I'm a bit of a prude. I can swear like a trucker when the mood strikes me (and it does often) but never at work, in front of children or people I don't know, or out in public where others can hear me.

So there I was watching the Project Runway debut last night, when a movie trailer came on advertising Quentin Tarantino (and Brad Pitt's) new movie, Inglourious Basterds. Now I realize that there were some liberties taken with the spelling of the second word, but it is pretty clear what they were aiming for there. My 8-year old is clever enough to figure that one out (Ohhh- that's a BAD word!).

I realized how how far we've come in the area of using stronger language in the media. Mainstream artists have "insert swear word" here lyrics, and the full version plays in all it's glory on satellite radio. I have become desensitized to all it to the point where it takes something as in your face as Taratino's new movie title to wake me up to "Hey- this is pretty crazy."

Right or wrong- swearing in mainstream media seems to have arrived. There are only a few words left waiting their turn in the spotlight, but I have no doubt that day will come in the not so distant future.

As a writer, I utilize swearing in scenes to increase the impact of the dialogue and also signal that the action in the scene is very different than before (Hey Ms. Reader- pay attention!!). But I am still uncomfortable weaving it in regular character conversation. (And I guess I haven't encountered a character yet who would be swearing on a regular basis.)

What do you think?

Twitter dee dee- The Power of Twitter

I've been meaning to post on my Twitter experience to date and a tweet by Anthony Bradley (@bradleyanthonyj) to his blog post on Why People Don't Get Twitter drove me to action.

My social media experience was limited to Facebook until this past June. Even now, I post a status update there maybe once every few weeks, and use it primarily to play Mafia Wars. (I still don't think my life is that interesting.) Then I attended a Writer's Digest webinar on "Identify and Pitch the Right Markets for Your Work" hosted by Robert Brewer (@robertleebrewer) and Alice Pope (@alicepope). This webinar completely opened my eyes to the power of social media networks like Twitter.

Robert and Alice invited the webinar participants to follow them on Twitter, and I finally had a reason to check out this strange microblogging thing I'd heard so much about. I realized that there were probably a lot of people in the writing industry using this tool to talk about their work, their successes, and sharing resources to help others. I didn't have to pay a dime for access to this invaluable information- the only thing I needed to do was figure out how to follow the right people!

I pulled out my latest Writer's Digest magazine and went to town. I searched for every editor, writer, and author mentioned. I was pleasantly surprised to find many of them in the Twitterverse. I pulled out another writing magazine and did the same thing. I started diving into all of these great tweets, and then paid attention to who the people I was following followed, and I added people from there. In addition, I started getting people following me as I braved the world of RT.

I have been incredibly selective about who I chose to follow, and it is paying off in dividends. I have pages upon pages of informative articles, blogs, and quotes at my fingertips everytime I login.

As I've moved my attention from the writing trade to the specific topic of leadership and leadership development, I created a new Twitter profile to follow those industry experts. (Again, it just takes paying attention to who is out there discussing the topics on their blogs- many tweet too.) Then it was just a matter of finding the right kind of tool (like TweetDeck) to help me manage my profiles.

I think Twitter is a powerful tool if you chose to use it strategically. Like anything else, it is what you make of it.

Not the Usual "Character"

I have been spending quite a bit of time recently reworking a manuscript that I wrote for National Novel Writing Month in 2005. That story took the full 30 days, and I wiped the sweat from my brow and claimed my 50,000 word prize the last day and didn't look back.

You see, I had run into a problem with the story. It was unfinished, mainly because I didn't know how to finish it. So I put it away to pick up after a period of time, hoping that time would give me perspective. Unfortunately the story was promptly forgotten, and only mentioned when I proudly told people "I've written a book-twice."

As I was dusting off these treasures last month (as mentioned in my last post), this story started begging for my attention. But even after a re-read (which I was surprisingly pleased with), I still found myself with the same problem. How did this story end?

I started doing some re-writing and added in a prologue that I thought helped frame up the beginning a bit better. I went through and added almost 5000 words to flesh out the introduction of my characters. But I was still scratching my head.

This past weekend I forced myself to sit down and address this issue. Either I was going to figure this story out, or I was going to have to go on to other projects. I really didn't want to do that because I can see the potential here. I did mind mapping and timelines, character descriptions, etc. and then I made myself write out in 25 words or less what my story was about.

Eureka. Part of my plot is that the main character has an otherwordly experience with a house. The house was a key part of my story, and was the major character that I had not addressed at all in my manuscript. Once I realized this, the ideas came fast and furious. I now knew the "why" behind certain things happening, and with that I was able to outline the ending in my head (which I am sure will change, but it's a start!). I added an additional 5000 words over the course of the rest of the weekend.

Then, just for fun, my family drove over to the neighborhood where my story takes place. It is a well-to-do area just outside of downtown Minneapolis. After passing dozens of different houses, my husband all of the sudden said "That is a spooky house". He had no idea what I was working on, other than a story set in this neighborhood. I promptly took a picture with my iPhone, and now have the picture saved as my desktop background. It is helping with my inspiration and keeping the creative juices flowing.

So from now on when my writing is becomes difficult, and the story just isn't hanging together, I'm going to be looking for those "characters" I may be missing.

Rediscovering Old Treasures

I had an epiphany last week. I have spent so much time over the last few months agonizing over writing a bunch of "new" stories that I completely overlooked something. A couple of things actually: the two novels I wrote for National Novel Writing Month. Here I have been bashing my head against a wall tearing apart a more recent 20,000 word manuscript, when all the while I had two hidden treasures hiding on a jump drive at the bottom of my purse.

I think I shied away from these two stories because they were (from what I remembered) awkward and clunky. I wrote them in a frenzy, just pounding out the required 1667 words a day word count. Anyone who has done NaNoWriMo knows you don't have time to go back and read passages in the midst of the chaos. In fact, I NEVER read my second novel start to finish once I reached 50,000 words. I saved it and fell over in exhaustion. The poor thing didn't even have an ending because I got stumped right as I crossed the 50,000 word finish line.

But in my "Eureka" moment, I decided I had been too hard on my poor little stories. I could take them out, dust them off, and see if there was something there. Maybe with a little spit and polish, I'd find a couple of gems. You know what I found? They actually weren't that bad. Even with some awkward transitions, holey plot twists, and undeveloped characters there was a foundation there that I can work with and build on. What a relief! I CAN do this novel writing thing, and with more practice I even think I can do it well.

The Fly on the Wall

I've spent the better part of the last 3 weeks or so immersing myself in learning about the tips, tricks, resources and networks out there for writers. There is so much that I am usually overwhelmed on a daily basis. My work-life balance is terribly out of whack, especially as it is supposed to be work (day job)-work (writing)- life balance that I am trying to achieve.

I have hunkered down you could say. I'm in student mode trying to feel out different paths that make sense. My Twitterverse is getting a little bit bigger everyday as I find new people to follow, and I've managed a small following of my own (51! Woot!). I inevitably feel like I need to say something clever if I'm posting an original tweet, so have found a level of comfort retweeting other things that I find interesting.

I joined She Writes because I thought the premise was cool, and I was looking to expand my network. (Most of the women tweet as well.) I love the idea of swapping ideas and tricks of the trade with other women. It feels very empowering.

I listened in on a radio interview with Windy Lynn Harris (@WindyLynnHarris on Twitter), an AZ based freelance writer, who gave some great advice on how to find different avenues to market your work. That lead me to start researching contests and other smaller venues which I had not thought to target.

So I'm digging the fly on the wall mentality for now, and soaking it all in. I am confident that soon I'm going to start making some sense of all of this wisdom, and that's when I'll really hit my stride.

Practice until you are done, and then Practice some more

We took the kids to see the Cirque de Soleil show Kooza today. This is my 4th Cirque show, and I enjoy myself every time. There are certain elements that I can always count on. There will be crazy clowns that ensure audience participation. There will be amazing acts of physical prowess and stamina. And unless I read the plot ahead of time, I will have no idea what is actually going on with the story.

That is a great thing about Cirque shows. The storyline is always present, and is deep and thoughtful, intended to evoke our emotional side. But the action within show keeps you entertained for 2 hours even when you have no idea what's going on. You can catch the occasional glimpse, and you can get the general gist of things. There is a beginning, middle, and end that doesn't require any guesswork.

What blows my mind when I sit in the audience is the physical and mental stamina of the performers. The contortionists, the jugglers, the trapeze artists all are flawless in the execution of their acts. As I watch them flip and flow about, I think about the hours of practice time they have put into their performance. They must absolutely love what they do, to do it over and over and over again, and then put it out on display for the world to see.

Sometimes, despite the best execution, you will see a slip or a miss. For all the practice and preparation, sometimes things just don't go along as planned. But the performers don't stop. They pick themselves up and the audience goes wild, because it seems as much as we love those amazing acts, we don't mind seeing that these performers are actually human after all. We all make mistakes right?

This near religious devotion required to be a performer for the great Cirque de Soleil organization is inpiring to me as a writer. A writer needs to practice their craft with the same level of motivation. Before something is ready for "showtime" it needs to be rewritten, edited, practiced. Even when it is ready, sometimes we still make mistakes. We are only human after all. But that should never stop us. We must continue to practice, because it is only through practice can we hope to achieve perfection.

Don't Take Yourself So Seriously

As I embark on a blog that has my REAL name attached to it (anxiously biting fingernails as we speak) this little bit of wisdom keeps going through my head. I need to chill out a bit and not take myself so seriously.

There is an inner joy and satisfaction that comes along with writing. That character in your head speaks to you, and you catch it all and put it down. Hopefully what he/she tells me assembles itself into some kind of coherent story, and with some editing and tweaking you are ready to share that story with others.

Where I get stuck is when I stop writing for me, and spend too much time thinking about what other people are going to think about it. Then the angst begins, and pretty soon I have procrastinated right out of writing anything at all. Writer's fear. I think anyone who writes has felt it. But what I have to keep reminding myself is that if I am writing for me, and other people happen to like it too- well that is a great bonus!

I notice when I start trying to write for others, my writing become stiff and lifeless. I get bored with it. There is nothing in it that makes me want to stay and read or write more. And if I don't want to read what I wrote, why would anyone else?

So I'm working on loosening up. Going with the flow. Finding the pleasure in writing and just hanging out with those mysterious characters flying around in my head. I hope that something magical happens, but if it doesn't, well at least I had fun creating it and I can be proud of it.