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.
