Community

I belong to a writer's group, a small one through the local library, and have considered joining others.


But what I have learned so far, having been involved with this one for about a year, is how valuable it is to find yourself in a community of writers. 


Everyone I have met in my group is at different stages of the whole process.  We have an editor and published author leading the group and she gives great guidance and helps direct the focus of the group. We have short story writers, poetry writers, humorous essay writers and novel writers.  Everyone has their own style and their own place in the process. 


It helps to be surrounded by others with a similar passion.  A similar calling.  A similar need to write.


I find I often end up listening, more than contributing, but I always walk away having learned something and feeling a bit encouraged about the whole process. 


It's nice to know you're not alone.


It's also helpful to get other's perspective on what they've been through, what they like and what has or has not worked for them.


And as I write more and get my work to come together a bit more I will submit for critique.  It is scary, but it is helpful.  It's that first step towards letting it go out into the world and away from me.


If you are not already a part of a writer community, I would suggest that you look for one that is right for you. 


A note on my writing commitment - I have continued with my commitment to write every day.  I have been working on a short story I began writing.  I am not certain if it will ever really be publishable but it has been something from my heart, so I figure it can't hurt.  It's still great practice and keeps me to my promise of writing every day.


For my blog - I am still a bit overwhelmed by the process.  But I have gotten some good tips and may be making some more changes soon.  Stay tuned! 


Hope everyone has a great week!  :)

Technical difficulties will not conquer me!

Last week I shared the loss of my laptop to a lightsaber accident.  However, this initial assessment was not completely accurate.  I have not lost my laptop, only the monitor for my laptop.  My data is still intact!  Happy Dance!  All 52,806 words of my book are still there.  Happy happy happy dance. 

Thanks to my husband, brother and father, all of whom are more tech savvy than myself, I discovered how simple this really was to work around.  

At lunch today, my dad suggested just hooking up an auxiliary monitor to my laptop, to make sure it's just my monitor.  I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that this never would have occurred to me.  So home I went from my dad's house with a monitor and I am currently working on my laptop, but I am seeing it on the desktop monitor. 

It's awkward but it's working!  

Then my husband exported all my documents and my photos to a new external hard drive so I have another layer of protection for peace of mind.  

And my brother pointed out to me that apparently replacing the monitor should be fairly simple. 

Correction, for someone like my brother who is and never has been intimidated by technology, it's a total no-brainer.  For me it's a bit more of a challenge but is very possible. Yay!  

Prior to this revelation however, I've been very proud of my ability to tackle this obstacle and keep true to my goal to write every day. 

Up until today, I have been working on my Kindle so that I can stick to my DYSBWriting Challenge.  I did not miss a day!  

Because I did not have my laptop or my book easily accessible to work on, I began a short story. I had one day I was out for happy hour with my girlfriends so that was not the best writing day, but I did capture a synopsis of what I'd been thinking during the day which is how the short story began. Then I did free writing exercises for two of my writing days, further developing what I wanted to do with it. Then the last two nights I've begun writing the story.  

I am excited about the short story and I am fairly certain I wouldn't have started it had I been working still on my book, so tackling this obstacle has actually gotten me somewhere I wouldn't have imagined last week.  

I find Helen Keller's quote to be especially true for me this week.  I have found a certain joy in having tackled this obstacle.  

As a quick note, I again feel I may need to revise my blogging schedule because once a week does not feel sufficient.  I had so much to share about this week!  I may find 2-3 times a week works best, but I will keep the commitment in place to blog at least once a week on Sundays.

Hope everyone tackles their own obstacles this week and finds joy in the process.

  

Ah, the importance of backing up your work.

I am very sad to report the death of my laptop today.

One of my kids really needed a lightsaber and really did not see that retrieving said lightsaber would knock my laptop off the lovely window seat near my writing nook onto our concrete floor.  My monitor was broken - along with a bit of my heart.

Fortunately no one was injured (except my heart) and the majority of my work is backed up. However, not the last few days of work because I haven't backed up daily.  :(

This does make this challenge I have set for myself a bit more of a challenge however.  But I will not let this keep me from meeting my daily goal.  Or from blogging about it.

I am currently writing this blog post from my Kindle Fire.  Certainly not ideal, but it is workable.

Today I needed my imagined encouragement from Tom.  He would certainly say, Darling, you should be writing.  Not moping about.  Which I admit I did for awhile.  I am trying to decide how best to proceed with my writing project.  I may just use this handy dandy Kindle or kick it really old school and pick up pen and paper.  Imagine that, says my digital self.

Lesson learned - I will be more vigilant with my backing up process.  But the upside is that here has been an obstacle, but I will not use it as an excuse not to stick to my goal!

Day 8 - It's my Birthday - and let's tweak this plan a bit

Day 8

I've had a wonderful birthday with lots of love from friends and family. I feel very blessed.

I am actually about to dig into a new scene I started last night and am quite excited about it, however I wanted to post that I've decided to revise my current blogging strategy.

My initial idea was to write every day and blog about it every day.  However, I've decided that 365 days of blog posts may not be the most efficient use of my time (or my reader's time).  Instead I will concentrate on the goal of writing every day, whether it is on my book, starting a new short story, or developing blog post ideas.

I am committing to posting a new blog update once a week now and other special posts as I feel are needed.  The revised commitment however is that I'll post every Sunday.

I'm hoping this change will lend itself to more developed blog posts. As I've done more research I feel this is the best and will still keep me accountable.  I am getting lots of ideas and am full of optimism.

See you on Sunday!

CJS

Day 7 - A New Year

How lovely a New Year is - so full of hope and promise of a fresh start.

I am especially optimistic about 2014, because I've already started meeting new goals, including this challenge and this blog.  

I also have a few other goals I am working towards this year, particularly getting healthier. Why not have a Darling, you should be running/walking/hitting the gym/doing your yoga/eating something healthier challenge?  One could certainly do a challenge, and Tom Hiddleston can be used for inspiration for many things I would assume, but for me, I think him far too smart to wade into that dangerous territory.  Darling, you should be running.  So what you think I am fat?  Ehehe.  Yeah I think it best to stick to an artistic endeavor for his imagined encouragement.

Another challenge I've set for myself is to try new things. I joined Twitter this week for example.  

Confession time - I mainly joined Twitter because I wanted to get Tom's tweets instead of seeing random ones posted on Pinterest.  Yes, I have a sickness.

But I got onto Twitter and I love it!  I went through all the people Tom follows (yes, yes, I know I'm ridiculous!), and I added a whole host of people, including a bunch of fangirl tweeters.  

I have enjoyed myself thoroughly entering into this fandom on Twitter.  It's so much fun, and while I sometimes think, oh I am too ridiculous with this fangirling, I have resolved to let myself enjoy things more - even if I think it's ridiculous.  Based on interviews I've watched, I'm certain TWH would certainly approve.  Let's enjoy this life, right?  

I feel there are so many wonderful things ahead in 2014.  Here is a short list:

• I will finish this novel I've begun this year
• I will write at least one, possibly two (or more!) short stories this year
• I will be a part of at least one, but hopefully several writers groups again this year
• I will learn how to make this blog better and more successful

My word count for today was 853.  I added a short scene and have done some rethinking to the beginning of the book.  It feels great to be making progress. 

It's going to be a great year!

~CJS

Day 6 - late but hey it's NYE

Happy New Years 2014.

We had a really fun New Years with friends tonight.

But I am still getting my blog entry in because I had a great day earlier working on getting what I've written so far.  I spent about an hour taking an inventory on all the scenes I've written so far - with current page numbers and listing the POV for the scene.  I am getting a much clearer picture of what I need to work on, and frankly some of what I can cut, as I move forward with this project.

I am full of optimism for this upcoming year, not just because of my DYSB 365 challenge, but for all my goals for 2014.

My Best Wishes to you and yours for a happy, healthy and productive 2014.

~CJS

Day 5 - Multi-tasking

Today has been a busy day with all the crazy stuff in my life as a full time working mom of three boys. Work, getting the kids, dinner, and all those little things.

Basically I've had lots to do with no big open pockets of time that I have on the weekend to devote to this process.

However, because of my committment and because of Tom's unknowing encouragement, I managed to write a little and review a bit more.  I still plan to spend some time mapping out what I've done and creating a plan for where to go with filling in and tying it all together.  

I've have also spent time voting for Tom Hiddleston on the E Online Celebrity of 2013 race again though, but today is the last day thankfully.   One less distraction from my work!  But I feel good about it.  It looks like hopefully he'll get a much deserved win.  Hopefully he will feel the love we fangirls have for him.

I'm keeping this short and sweet tonight because I have writing to do!  I like the scene I am working on.
So I'll get back to it.  ~CJS