Write, Right?

                                           
Writing can feel like this. As though there are cement blocks under the keys of the computer or you are pushing a dull pencil.
No matter. You need to do it. Push on the keys consistently and those blocks become sand and then are worn completely away. Then pushing is easy and the words appear on the page as if by magic.
That's a good day...
                                Then... this happens. And you are back to the cement blocks. You just need to write.
Write a poem. A story. An event. Seventeen 'e's or do nothing in your chair but sleep. Time is going to pass and you need to know what you want left at the end of the day. Words on the screen or excuses. And we can come up with some good ones.
My favorite is the one Calvin uses. Waiting for inspiration. Now, sometimes it seems as though we are inspired and sometimes not, but you have to WRITE. Inspiration or no, words need to come through. A free write is a good way to get into the habit of writing and sometimes among all those ugly pieces of cement and rocks there is a diamond you can polish. So, go chip some cement and polish those stones.

Make it Grow

 The four tools that writers can use to make their writing grow are:

                            READ                      
                             
                           Write

                           Observe

                          Experience

We touched on them all in the last post, and I thought we could dig deeper in following posts and so, today, it is READ.
When you read, you should read what you like. Now, not just the genre you like, but a book that when you pick it up and read a few pages speaks to you.
I have a problem reading non-fiction. It always is dull, to me. I have read some and enjoyed them and when I stopped to figure out why, I discovered that they were written like good fiction.
Books about writing fall in the non-fiction category, and I have read several. One that I love, and I know I am not alone in this, is Stephen King's "On Writing". Even if you don't like his subject matter in his books, he gets this right.
A good thing to do when reading these books on writing is to read other books, or at least one, by the same author to see how he puts his advice into action.
Someone I have followed, through her newsletters and blogs, is C. Hope Clark. She has just recently published four fiction books that I have enjoyed. Her web site is here: fundsforwriters.com. She gives good advice and information on funds for writers. Her site has been on Writer's Digest best 101 sites for Writers for the last 15 years.
A young man that has helped me with my writing is Jeff Goins. He started a daily challenge a year ago that has helped me with making sure I write often, daily, in fact. He has a blog goinswriter.com.Jeff has also written several books, the latest is The Art of Work. I have enjoyed it.It is about living the life you want, not the one everyone expects of you.
So, read about writing and read, read, read. Try one of the links here and see what is up with them.


                                                                                                          

Grow, dammit!

I saw that sign in a garden store the other day and thought how cool it was.
I feel like that after we plant our tomato plants. I love tomatoes.

 



 Especially the little ones you can just pick off the vine and pop them in your mouth. So, I really want my tomatoes to grow quickly.
This saying applies to our writing career as well. Most of us don't want to think of it as a career, but that is what it is. Whether you publish a bestseller or best of the cellar, or a blog that may only be for family and friends.
 It is a career and we want it to grow.
 We want to grow as writers, as people, as friends.
So, how do we do that?
Let's have a look at the steps we need to take to grow a plant and a writer.


 Well, when you want a plant, you plant a seed. You look for a good place for it to grow. A place where it will receive water and light. You choose good soil, and fertilize it to feed it.

Well you have to do the same when you become a writer. Let's look at some of the tools you can use to become a writer.    
 

 1. Read/Plant
Planting for a writer is reading. You need to read. About writing, the world, people and what interests you.

2. Write/Water
Writing is essential for a writer. Not just a sometime thing, but an all the time thing. You need to write while standing in line, waiting in a waiting room, or just sitting. It may not be the great American novel you write, but it may be the seed for the great American novel. Keep pad and pencil handy or what ever electronic baby you carry to do that with.

3.Observe/Soil
This can be done anywhere, anytime and for as long as you like, then write down some of those observations down in your handy dandy notebook for reference when you sit down to some serious writing time. Set aside time to write and guard it religiously, because if you don't, it won't happen.

4. Experience New Things/Fertilize
We all experience things everyday. We need to add new things, but we also need to add a new way to look at the old everyday things.

5.Publish/Light
You need to get your writing to light or it will just sit there and bear no fruit. A blog is a good place to start or even writing letters to the editor of your newspaper. To make you a better writer you need feedback.