Okay, I will be the first to admit that I have been slacking on my writing lately. Because I'll be moving in the beginning of October, I really started looking at the calendar, planning what I have coming up, etc.
It was only then that I realized that my plan was to have my story formatted for NaNoWriMo before we started clacking away at the keys in November. I decided to undertake a challenge this year where I am to write a 50,000 word novel in a month's time. Well, the idea has been sitting in my head for the last few months, and I have a good idea about how I am going to proceed, but I haven't given it the attention that I had planned to give it and, as happens more often than not in life, time got away from me.
Now, really, it seems like November is a pretty long way off. However, just a few short months ago, as the snow was still melting in the warm, spring sun, that football season seemed a long way off. I am now sitting with a fantasy football team who will be lucky to make the top half of the league. LOL.
I could use the excuse of moving into a new restaurant as management and helping the management team already in place to change the things that they have allowed to fall by the wayside for the last few years. I could use the excuse that I am currently working on a buiness plan for a new business we plan to start within the next few months. I could use the excuse that someone broke my right index finger and I have just been unable to type.
Point is...the broken finger thing never happened, and the rest of it - well, that is all true, but it's certainly no excuse to stop writing. I've just been slacking, and that's truly all there is to it. So, through the move, through the business plan writing, through finding a new job again, and through everything else that life could possibly throw at a person, I am now re-commiting myself to write. I will write every day. I belong to a few groups that give me great writing prompts on a daily basis. When I find one that I really like, I will surely share it here.
About the only writing I've been keeping up on regularly is by idea to blog at least once a week. That was my New Year's Resolution, and I've kept that up. I used to blog at another site, and it was really fun and interactive. However, in the last few months, I've been really dissappointed with how their site is working and the "fun" stuff that never seems to be activated or to work on their site. So, I am now switching my blogging to Blogger. I hosted a blog here back in the day, but got away from it. Not for any real reason other than some of my friends and family were using the "other guy," and it was just more fun. Well, now they will just have to follow me here! :-)
I think it was about that time that I realized that I don't necessarily blog for anyone else. I don't necessarily write for anyone else. I do this simply for myself and for my own enjoyment. I think it is really liberating once you realize that. In the big scheme of things, does it matter if anyone else likes what you write? Not really, I don't think. Of course, there are plenty of resources out there to help with grammar, spelling, sentence structure, point of view, and all of those technical aspects. Other writers are great for that, and I've connected to several people through another writing site whose opinions I really value. But, as far as content, I don't think you can please everyone all the time. There will always be people, if your writing is true to life, who like your writing because it reflects something in their lives or something in their characters.
I think writing, and enjoying written words, is a choice that is about as personal as voting. I might vote for a guy you hate, but you and I am still be friends. You may feel more comfortable writing a lot of descriptions with little dialogue for a few pages at a time. I don't like to read that kind of thing, but it does not mean that you idea is not good or that you have presented it in a way that no one will like. Again, it doesn't mean we can't be friends.
Now, I'm not writing this as a writer who feels as though I will ever attain the "author" moniker any more than I play keyboard and guitar in hopes of becoming a Rock Star. I realize that certain things sell and certain things don't. But, really, it's more about what you enjoy, I think. If you are constantly learning, honing your craft (I don't think I'll ever sell an afghan, but I'm sure my niece's baby will really enjoy his/hers next spring when he/she is born), and reading other writers. I say the same thing about my writing as I do about my management style. (I believe it is an Einstein quote, so hopefully I am giving proper credit here.) I enjoy the journey but hate to arrive. I hate to think that I have ever "arrived" in any aspect of my life...as a writer, manager, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, or any other title that I carry. I hope that I am always learning and always on the journey.
It's been quite a journey so far, and I'm looking forward to relaying the rest of it here, for anyone who cares to read it!
Enjoy the Journey!
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