What have I published? Well, I've started a few projects but I haven't exactly ... um ... finished ... any. So why start a blog? And more importantly, why start a blog about writing if I haven't actually published anything?
I read an article over on the Writer's Digest site called "At What Point Can You Call Yourself a Writer?" by guest columnist Susan Henderson. She says:
... it’s not the published book that makes you a writer. You’re a writer because of the things you notice in the world ... you can imagine something in such detail that it comes to life ... because you’re weird in the ways you want to continue being weird.
Just ask this guy.
Picture courtesy of http://www.weirdal.com/07tour11.htm
I thought, that's it. If I want to be a writer then I'm going to call myself a writer and act like it! I get up every day, 5 days a week, 7 hours a day for my "day job", so I need to put that amount of effort into my passion: writing.I started diligently researching authors, reading blogs and countless articles - anything that would help me to hone my craft and get me on the right track. I read books by authors I love, books that I thought that I would hate, and books picked up randomly at the library.
One piece of advice kept resurfacing: Don't wait for inspiration - just write. I understand the premise but I have my own take on this. I've been doing something every day that involves my writing, and if not, at least reading. Reading something. Anything.
If I write a page, 10 pages, a character bio, describe a scene, or ask myself a series of questions to resolve a plot hole - then that's good. Great job, me! But if I sit down and I just don't have it? That's ok, too. I will research something for my novel/project, read a novel I have picked up, or a blog etc. As long as it has something to do with improving myself as a writer - then I'm good.
So this blog is going to be all about writing as a craft and my journey on becoming an accomplished author. Cocky? No. Committed? Yep.
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