Category Archives: Writing

I am a seasoned journalist learning new skills in the process of writing an inspirational book.

Old Dog, New Tricks

16 Tuesday Feb 2016

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Millenials think and write so differently than the classical writers whose stories fed my soul as a young reader. Music evolves and changes through the decades and so does writing style. I enjoy current trends, but love when things that entertain us run full circle as with Lady Gaga singing an old tune with Andy Williams. As I tackle my current writing projects I am looking for that perfect blend, perfect balance of what pleases my soul and what will appeal to a new generation of readers.

As a “well-seasoned” writer, the witty, sharp and sometimes irreverent work of emerging younger writers challenges me to consider my audience in new ways and to learn from the fresh voices that appeal to a broad audience of readers. My complex sentences need to be shortened, the language less flowery and more succinct, and the dialog more provocative and fast-paced. Whew…I have a lot of rewriting ahead of me as I explore these new principles of marketable writing.

The process sometimes overwhelms me. As others have shared, I HAVE to put my volumes of ideas into readable form. I have to. It is who I am. I am a woman of words. I have stories to tell. I have waited too long to do this. So, here goes.

 

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Whence Comes Inspiration

10 Wednesday Feb 2016

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A recent writer’s group meeting challenged my big picture view of the craft and processes of writing for publication. The presenters spoke about specific tools and techniques (text formatting and setting goals for completing projects), while  conversation around the topics rolled around those and more personal ideas (building platforms through blogs). I appreciate those whose personal efforts and advice reflect discipline and determination as they set and pursue goals. They have published books and articles (and received some rejection slips) to show for their hard work.

Rose-colored glasses have been set aside as I plunge in to do the hard work of putting thoughts down, following the outline, writing and revising. Progress seems slow… the end far, far away. Each month the adrenaline injection from meeting with other writers entrenched in their own processes energizes me and pushes me forward again. They have given me permission with their encouragement to follow a tangent, to write a related article as a break from the larger project. Part of creating credibility as a professional writer requires submitting writing for a broad audience. After all, what good is writing if not to be read?

Long ago the publisher of my high school yearbook for which I was a co-editor inspired us with pithy sayings. One has stuck in my head ever since: “If you want to be remembered, do something worth writing about or write something worth reading about.” I am aiming for the latter.

Honing my skills gives me courage to keep writing with an end in sight. As other writers have acknowledged, we never know it all. Humility comes naturally for those of us who in our later years are FINALLY doing what we said we would do in our prideful and starry-eyed youth. I have a book in process, articles scheduled and writing to be done. The time has come and now is…

 

Moving Forward

18 Wednesday Nov 2015

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Writing can be an isolating experience. As a very social being I find the discipline of my writing schedule sometimes difficult to maintain. Though I am committed to complete my manuscript by mid-spring, the challenge of sticking to my assignment and shutting out distractions sometimes give way to a desperate need for human contact. I am realizing how important it is to have a community of writers and friends who spur me on to complete the project. So, I am finding people and opportunities where my social needs and my writing inspiration intersect.

A recent Quills of Faith Christian writers meeting introduced us to the creative, fanciful, thought-provoking words and stories of people in the room who bravely read aloud from their own work. Some shared from already published material and some read fresh thoughts penned that day. The meeting included instructive advice from a much published writer.

Sharing aloud in a large group setting what has been written in the quiet of home gives life to the words that flow from head and heart to the computer screen. Hearing the response of others (in this setting it was all applause, no critique) really does inspire courage to press on. I do need cheerleaders. I do need to know that others care about not just the end result, but the process as well.

The presenter also added reality to the fluttering dreams of all writers… that any publisher would be a fool not to snap up what we have labored to lay down for the world to read. Layers of intention and purpose drive us on as writers. Of course we want to be published, but as one writer said, “This is my passion, I have to write.” So we write on, out of our own need to say  our words aloud or on paper (computer screens); we research, we learn, we dig deep and we write.  Then…

My cousin, Thonie Hevron, has proven to me that beyond the writing follows a whole other journey to become published. She continues to pursue “building her platform” and networking with other writers, editors and publishers, growing in her craft through attendance at writers conferences and with the sturdy support of her local writers’ group. Thonie has found her way and now helps others like me to discover how to press ahead through the process of writing, and then…

Realizing the need for community support has begun to create a hunger in me to move on…to write and be heard, to share what God has placed in my heart and drawn out in my life experience and from what I have gleaned from the lives and messages of others. I need the social contact, the “iron sharpening iron” as the Bible says, to accomplish the solitary task.

 

The Road Taken

20 Tuesday Oct 2015

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Decades of writing experience only define me as a writer, not an expert at writing. I have been blessed. Opportunities have come to me. I have not been a ravenous, desperate journalist needing to make my name and my way. Although very good college instructors and early experiences as a student writer and stringer for local news outlets allowed me to research, investigate, soar and plummet, I never developed that Geraldo Rivera passion to “get the dirt” or pursue the story behind the story.

A woman who came of age in the late ’60s and early ’70s, I confess I ran the sidelines of the big issues of the times. It was a good place for a reporter, not a popular place from the point of view of the radicals who loudly and passionately wanted everyone to jump onto their bandwagons, especially on college and university campuses.  My liberal upbringing, laced with good moral values, taught me to love people more than their causes. Hard-hitting investigative reporters can’t be too compassionate. I was…too compassionate, loving everyone, reluctant to press too hard, uneasy writing about the worst in our society.

I did get my degree with high grades in journalism from a state college fomenting with controversy in 1972, a hotbed of radical thought and actions. I had married a wonderful conservative man who must have been dazzled by my blond beauty. We were so very different, he in his three-piece suit traveling to the business district downtown while I put on my clogs and shawl for the bus trip uptown where we student journalists were being sent out to cover the challenging times in front of us.

My husband and I shared one great passion…hurting children. So, from suits and shawls to hiking boots and flannel shirts, we began a journey in which our educations became tools to rescue and help children in ways we never dreamed. That is a story for another time. Let this be the summation of my writer’s tale to date: I write passionately, but more from a place of victory than from defeat. I have contributed for many years to a magazine entitled “Enjoy!” It is all about the best of the region in the world where I live. It sums up the place I have come to as a writer.

There is much to celebrate in this world. I choose to pursue the best in people, write about solutions, not problems, explore the goodness of God, and try to bring a word of hope to the hopeless. I am still learning how to write so my words make a difference, not waves; how to say something that will being clarity and transformation to others’ lives in the midst of confusion and chaos, to choose a better road to travel.

Learning the Ropes…A Beginners Course in “How To Get Read”

06 Tuesday Oct 2015

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That’s just where I am. I’ve been harnessed in. Now I’m ready to tackle the course. I simply have to keep my eyes on the next handhold and step out on the narrow bridge to the next platform. I have two wonderful coaches helping me along the journey of writing and getting published. Thonie continues to do the hard work of publicizing herself as a writer with two books published and the third being refined. She is coaching me in the fine points of becoming a part of the writers’ community both locally and further afield. She gives me assignments to tackle in both the writing of my manuscript and in “building my platform.”

Jeremiah is my technology coach. He also gives me assignments. As he is dealing with a rank amateur, he has to speak gently giving bite-sized instruction so I don’t panic in these beginning stages. It’s all about “building my brand,” he says.

What about the great idea I have been nurturing and the inspirational thoughts I want to put on paper (or a screen) for others to read? That’s really all I wanted to do. Knock me over with a noodle! I have so much to learn. Writing my book is such a small part of becoming an author whose works bless the shelves of book stores and make the Best Sellers list on Amazon.com.

Today I began to study the tutorials Jeremiah recommended in order to improve and upgrade my internet presence. Oh my… Accidentally, I read an article by a very successful journalist who says she still has to work hard at keeping her branding relevant, unique and intriguing in a crowded field of writers trying to do the same.

The whole process can be suffocating. But the members of the peanut gallery who have encouraged me to continue, my steadfast friends and family and my coaching staff spur me on to take the next step, grab the next rope on the course…and swing out. Going back is not an option.

A Fitful, Fretful Journey

22 Tuesday Sep 2015

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It is time to write this book that keeps working its way to the surface of my thoughts. I don’t have any trouble writing my thoughts, but the discipline of organizing my ideas, researching, interviewing, then writing on a regular schedule and sticking to the plan…that is hard.

I am reading the works of other authors not for story content anymore, but for organization, for technique, for sentences and paragraphs that grab and keep my attention. I am reading to learn how to craft my story so you will all want to read it from beginning to end.

The book I am writing is non-fiction. So, I am reading non-fiction books to see what works for me as a reader. I am writing my book at the same time. My confidence waxes and wanes. I am reading a book now by an author who has done something I hope to do…paint a word picture as an analogy to illustrate his point of view. He then ties his train of thought together in a later chapter so the reader has that “AHA” moment, the moment when the questions raised by the author in the previous chapter, the point of view that challenges the reader to think about an old idea in a new way, makes so much sense that the reader wishes she had thought of it herself.

Another something I look for in a well-written book, another something I hope to incorporate in my writing, is conciseness without neglecting the descriptive phrasing that elicits an emotional response from the reader. Let’s face it, what we read needs to move us in some emotional way, or why read it? I don’t mean sobbing emotions, or soppy sentimentality. I mean emotions that lure us into the story or that inspire us to learn more. The book I am reading now does that. The author uses personal illustrations, speaks in the first person and speaks directly to me. I am reading carefully.

The process moves me along. Reading as a writer, taking a refresher course on “Building Great Sentences,” writing here for practice and having you all let me know what you think, this is helping me grow in my craft as a writer. All you readers give purpose to what we writers write. I want to move you, inspire you and to create a hunger in you to read more.

Let’s see what happens.

A Wonderful Legacy…WORDS

09 Wednesday Sep 2015

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My Dad and my Granddaughter...Passing on the legacy

My Dad and my Granddaughter…Passing on the legacy

Family time growing up with my dad always included interesting conversation. We memorized classical poetry while hiking in the Trinity Alps of northern California and listened by the warmth of winter fires to The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Dad stimulated our interest in politics, philosophy, religion, social issues, and current events. He asked us to share our ideas and opinions. He introduced us to interesting places on the globe and described exotic animals. We often entertained creative people. His own hunger for knowledge defined the culture of our home.

My brother Wallace has become the great philosopher of our family, a theologian and teacher who expounds from insatiable reading. He is an impassioned purveyor of knowledge. Aaron learned early the need for practicality and hard physical labor, yet he writes wilderness adventure tales from a sensitivity and respect for nature birthed in those early woodland jaunts and years as an avid outdoorsman. Both brothers, embracing opposing political and social views, enjoy a good and vigorous debate.

We three sisters have lived very different adult lives. Janice and I each have a passion to write, both have degrees that validate our skill and training, both speak from lives rich and full. She has lived as a world-travelling cosmopolitan while I have lived as a traditional country homemaker. Our youngest sister, Linnea, races at mach speed through life, a mover and shaker in the fitness world, training pageant contestants and conducting on-line workouts. She knows how to influence others with her encouraging words. All three of us enjoy lively debate, share enthusiastically from our own points of view, and love the challenge of keeping up with “the boys” in any conversation of substance.

“Invictus”, “Lord Randall”, “The Raggedy Man” and “The Highwayman” may be heard recited even by our progeny now at family gatherings, remnants of our childhood entertainment with our Dad. We all look forward to biennial family reunions with extended family. Pinochle games often end in enthusiastic (even sometimes flush-faced) conversation about current events or social responsibility.

My husband is a wise man born of a family with roots in common sense, careful planning and practicalities. I am born of a family rich in words, lofty dreams and spontaneity. I gained knowledge, he gained wisdom. As we’ve blended our lives these past 43 years, John speaks and writes more emotionally and I listen and speak more carefully. We both love words. He whistles and sings harmonies from his Baptist upbringing, I recite epic poetry. What a wonderful heritage has been passed from our forebears that we now pass on to our offspring.