What I do for love...

What I do for love…

What I do for the love of writing, that is.

It’s certainly not fame. Though, one day I do hope to be published. Not so much to be “famous” as to have others read my stories and live through my characters. One of my favorite questions to ask a stranger is: What is the best thing that could ever happen to you? The answer is so telling. Hands down, my response to my own question is to accidently stumble upon someone reading a book I’ve published on a plane or by the pool. Better yet, would be if they do NOT recognize I’m the author and we discuss the book. Even better, they like it.

So, what is that I do for the love of writing?

First, I’m in two writing critique circles. An online one with my former Houston Writers Club friends and a local one in Tallahassee, FL. The online group meets weekly via web conferencing and we email one another our ms at the beginning of each session.  While one individual is reading aloud their ms, the rest of us are critiquing it on the computer. Then, it is the next persons turn. The local group, and I use the term ‘local’ loosely since I travel two hours from Dothan, AL to attend, meets once a month.  In this group of five, the ms is emailed out the week before and at the meeting we discuss each person’s work.

Second, I read. Mainly, I read young adult novels and fantasy novels. And by reading, I should say studying because I underline, highlight, and take notes. Sometimes it seems to take me forever to get through a book because I’m so busy dissecting the way it was written. You might think that this takes away from my enjoyment of the novel….but you’d be wrong.

Third, I write and edit for about six hours every week day. It’s my job.

And maybe…. *I’m raising my diet coke to the air.* ….my dreams of being a published writer will come true. Maybe, even this year.

Stuck?

 Question: What happens when your storyline flows, but your prose doesn't?

Answer: I close my eyes and type.

If I get bogged down with word choice, it is easier to visualize the scene with my eyes closed. I picture my character and what he/she sees, put my fingers on the home keys, and type. This way the typos, word choice, and the way that the sentences look on the page do not get stop my train of thought. Or rather, my character's train of thought.

The world around us can distract us from our imagination, but our imagination will lead to better realization of the world around us.

In short, just write. None of it may be usuable in your manuscript, but then again, you may find yourself comparing the fostercare system to ungathered seed pods.