WRITING QUOTE - December 22, 2014

Striving to achieve a dream is never a waste of time.

- Félix J. Palma, The Map of Time  - 

I used to think that striving for a dream was a waste of time if it took too long. I don't believe that now, as long as I don't let the dream stop me from living my life to the fullest.  

I write. I live. And my life gives breath to my writing in some of the quirkiest ways.

WRITING QUOTE - December 19, 2014

Always do your best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstances, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

- Miguel Angel Ruiz - 

Enough said. Keep writing. No matter what. 

WRITING QUOTE - December 18, 2014

Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced.

- John Keats - 

The truth to becoming a writer is to write. And then to be known as a writer is to finish and submit, again and again.

I read an article where the author said something to this affect: there are a lot of great writers out there, but we never hear from them because they don't finish. 

For me, finishing is not just the writing and revision process. Finishing is taking the action to put the piece out there, in the world, where people might read it. Finishing was the part I faltered on, primarily because of fear, judgment, and condemnation (my own). 

It is important for me to follow the writing process all the way through, past the revision and polishing process, to querying and submitting, and then I know, for myself, that I've done it all, regardless of the outcome, regardless if another reads it or publishes it. I know I followed through for me. 

I'm not hiding my writing because of what I think, and really in all actuality, making decisions for other people by telling myself they wouldn't like my writing is me taking away their dignity--they can make their own choices. 

I need to only make my choice, which is to write and finish, and let them decide for themselves, whoever they may be, if they like what I've written or not. 

Either way, whether they like it or not, or publish it, I'm not going to stop writing. Not this girl. No way. 

WRITING QUOTE - December 16, 2014

A pen is to me as a beak is to a hen.

- J. R. R. Tolkien - 

Me too. I carry pen and paper with me wherever I go. On those rare moments when I don't have pen and paper, I've improvised.

WRITING QUOTE - December 15, 2014

To live for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.

- Robert M. Pirsig - 

I relate this to my writing, and a number of other things. Several years ago, writing was a means to an end, to attain the proverbial arrival at fame and fortune. Of course, my sights were set other than where they needed to be. I eventually changed my stance, decided to look around, and enjoy the action of writing, right now, as it is in this moment. 

I have since appreciated the adventure of writing more and become a better writer because of it. Imagine, moving my gaze from what can be to what is and working from there; progress is made and rather steadily.

The mountain's sides do give me what I need, and I seem to stumble way less.

WRITIG QUOTE - December 12, 2014

If the track is tough and the hill is rough, THINKING you can just ain't enough!

- Shel Silverstein - 

There is difficulty in showing up in the way I want to, but I've found it's all about what I do rather than what I think. I mean, I can think all I want and have a lot of enjoyment and enlightening moments come to town, but when I need to get something done, something that is challenging, something that is hard but so worth it, I have to do rather than think.

Writing is like that for me. I sat at my computer yesterday, trudging through a third revision of my book, and I acted like a small child being asked to eat their broccoli. I squirmed in my seat and groaned. I tried to come up with reasons why I shouldn't sit down and write, mostly hitting on the same reason each time, "I'm not feeling it."

I love writing. I love the way I feel when I'm done writing. I love the stories that evolve and the places I get to go when I write. But sometimes it's everything in me to sit long enough for me to write; hence, the action of writing.

I know I can write. This is a fact, but it doesn't always get me to write. So I write first and think about it later. That seems to work better for me. Yesterday, I revised two chapters. Hurray for me. Today my goal is the same, but I'll start with writing and thinking about how I can write later.

WRITING QUOTE - December 10, 2014

Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson - 

Writing used to be very serious business, as was my life, my relationships, my decisions, my thoughts, and so on. My seriousness fettered me in all those areas, limited me in my growth, in my possibility of becoming who I truly wanted to be and could be.

"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." Fabulous. This reminds me to not be so serious, to have fun, to enjoy whatever I'm doing, regardless of what it is. This is my life, my one and only life. 

Enjoy. Have fun. Create. Let go. Trust. Don't be so serious. Passion. Laughter. Let go some more. Live.

WRITING QUOTE - December 9, 2014

When you're reading, you're not where you are; you're in the book. By the same token, I can write anywhere.

- Diana Gabaldon - 

There have been times when I've thought, "I should stop writing. I'm no good at it." And I have stopped, or, at least, tried. I've set down my pen in all seriousness, but then, a little while later, sitting at a stoplight, a story begins to unravel in my mind and the urge to write, to create is there, tangible, undeniably powerful. I pull out napkin, envelope, whatever can be written on, and I write, laying down the words and images formulating in my brain, like a last dying wish.

It has become clear to me, whether I believe I'm any good at writing or not, which really depends on the day, is not the most important part of my writing. My writing is me. To deny my writing is to deny a large part of me. And, really, that doesn't seem like the most pleasant way to live, so I write. 

Hence, the quote above, primarily, "I can write anywhere." This is true for me. No matter where I'm at, whether I have pen (or computer) in hand or not, I can write and will, as if there's a glitch with the off-switch. Writing, story-making, whatever I want to call it, is part of me and with me for however long I live.

WRITING QUOTE - December 3, 2014

The world was hers for the reading.

- Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn -

I try to convey this to my children, who don't seem to have the same passion for reading as I did as a child, or still do. They are more concerned with the newest technology. As an avid reader, I'm flabbergasted, but then I consider that my children's world compared to the one I grew up in is quite different.

I was an only child and lived out of town. There was no internet. Cartoons on any day other than Saturday morning was a child's dream. There were definitely no tablets, personal computers, or video games. Televisions were big and bulky, and mostly black and white. My idea of a summer day was being outside with friends, playing in the dirt, riding my bicycle, or climbing trees. And when I wasn't doing all that and whatever else creative children can come up with, I was reading--all the time.

Now, there are fancy touch-screen phones (mini-computers, really), tablets (even when paying at the local coffee house), personal computers (portable ones too), video games (some with graphics that are mind blowing), computerized glasses (we're delving into sci-fi books I read as a kid), and more. 

Different worlds to say the least.

I can't change their world, but I can offer mine, if only at a discounted rate, because it doesn't seem to be worth that much to them. They see me read, and I read to them. I share my enthusiasm for going to the bookstore. I challenge them to read a book quicker than me (they're boys and love to beat anyone at anything). I ask them to read to me, tell me about the book they have to read for school, and what they'd like to read.

In the meantime, I limit their time on technology, not to deprive them of their world, but to not let their world devour them. That way they will know what to do when the power goes out and all they've got is a lit candle and a good book; they'll know it's okay to read it and it might even be enjoyable. Imagine.

WRITING QUOTE - December 2, 2014

Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.

- E.B. White - 

Writing for me is an act of faith. I have to sit down and pause long enough for whatever is hidden to reveal itself, like a whole other world exists in the back of my mind, and I have to remember where I put the key to open the story-chest's lid. This is faith; faith that I will find the key, the lid will open, and there will be something under the lid worth seeing, hearing, touching, feeling, and tasting. 

But then, after writing, there is the editing process--grammar and punctuation. And really the editing process is more about honing the written word so it may truly sing; to tell the whole story that is meant to be known; to see, hear, touch, feel, and taste what the words describe. 

Writing and editing reminds me of going into a dusty attic and rummaging through old chests filled with memorabilia: journals, pictures, keepsakes, and letters. I sort through the chest, whichever one I've found the key for, and I pull out everything I can get my hands on. The items are dusty and dull, in need of polishing. Once I pull it all out and assemble it in a way to tell the story then I begin to polish--remove the dust and shine it up; hence, the editing process.

For me, I find faith to begin, polish and shine, and then it takes more faith for me to put what I've written "out there" in the world for others to read.