Write a Book in a Month? Let the Writer's Block Begin!

NANOWRIMO The challenge of all challenges...at least for me. I'm horrible at staying focused, keeping the faith, and carrying my story on to completion. I'm a great idea person. Stories come to me all the time, but what I find the most challenging is remaining focused in the midst of the sea of life. Also, if I focus on critics rather than my story, my work is bound to stall.

What has been great is my decision to love the stories I have in me. If I don't put in the time to write them, develop the characters (love them and hate them), I find I don't care so much about praise but the story itself. As a creative being, I am chock full of emotions. I want people to enjoy what I have created, but as a creator my concern needs to center on my creation.

This is just a few random thoughts. Something to fill my blog, but hopefully will be food for thought for writers struggling to get to the end of their story as he or she maneuvers through the maze of the day to day.

Life Happens...Keep Writing

I'm tired. I need a sandwich but I still need to put in some time to write. Granted, I haven't been slacking, i.e. Facebook surfing, cruising the internet for Christmas swag, or just plain goofing. I have been working on my website and crafting a Christmas campaign to shine a light on my novel Minor Mischief. I had fun writing it. I'm in love with quite a few of my characters and my hope is that the contest will draw readers to pick it up.

Everything I'm doing is good, productive, but it's easy to pat myself on the back and call it a night. I have to write. It has to be everyday whether its a paragraph or several pages. I cannot not write. I've been dong that for a while which only dulls my craft and reinforces my insecurities as an artist.

I'm not much of a blogger. My goal is to do a bit more of it, as the new year creeps in. At least one to two new posts a month.

Back to writing.

If Opportunity Knocks Would it Find You With Your Pants Down

"One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes." - Benjamin Disraeli

I will confess. Opportunity has knocked several times and has found me very unprepared. As I attempt to branch out, I'm discovering there's still a lot about the industry that I just don't know. I'm doing my best to learn as much as possible as fast as I can.

This year, I made a decision to invest in my craft. I am spending as much of my meager wages as I can spare to promote my novel, network and actually take a class or five on the craft of writing. I'm trying new things. Stepping off the ledge as they say and going for it. I did my first Twitter interview today. I am grateful to Sezoni Whitfield for the opportunity and to Toya Nicole for setting it all up. I felt like a klutz but practice makes perfect. Try and fail. Get up. Try again until you get it right.

Organization. Getting one's act together. Being still while in a constant state of readiness. These things have been on my mind quite a bit. Being prepared is a lot of work. Opportunities come and go. Opportunities bear fruit when the person it visits is ready to receive it. It can be seen as a spiritual thing or a practical and/or logical fact. I, like most humans, feel awkward as I move through uncharted territory. Interviews online and on the phone. Being ready with an elevator speech. Finding time to write when there is no time. Being able to work when the world is chaos. Still working on this. 

Back in the Writing Field

It's been a while since I've really dug into my writing, let my imagination take the reigns and my hands transcribe the tale unraveling in my head. I miss it. I've been fighting against the typical insecurities: Can I write this? Can I finish this? Is it even worth reading? I'm not a grammar wiz. The list goes on.

What I've learned, which seems to be an old and repetitive lesson: Just write. Don't worry about the other stuff. Just write.

There are so many stories itching to be set free on a page. Will I grant them freedom or keep them imprisoned in my psyche?