So now I'm writing for 3...

So now I'm writing for 3 purposes:

1. Personal growth, mental stability, etc
2. For my writing class
3. For Work-It

It feels good having more than one reason to write. It's also freaking me out all of a sudden. I must make sure that I keep writing, constantly. To this end I've been transcribing old stuff and studying. What an experience transcribing has been! I've discovered two things:

1. I am NOT a poet. My poetry is, or rather was painfully bad. I will never ever write "serious" or "deep" poetry again. I had to read some of the stuff and actually felt the kick in my gut. Man the stuff is vile! Reading aloud it will be good for the war effort in Iraq. How's this for an ultimatum "Stop bombing innocent civilians or we'll pump this stuff over loud speakers!"
2. I am good at short stories, I just didn't realize it. All my stories were 750 words or less, most averaging around 500 words. I'm definitely going to work on building my story base.
   

So, since I burned my poetry, I've been in a writing and transcribing groove. I think I've found a niche of time where I'm most productive and so far, I'm on a roll. I have transcribed 2 stories and will be submitting them for critique. I can't wait to hear what my group think of the stories.

I've also found time to study, which has been incredibly helpful. I'm moving, slowly but steadily, making progress with my writing work.

Now that I have been accepted a couple of times by the world that does not pay, I think I'm ready to introduce myself to the world that pays. From what I've discovered, I have several, several rejections ahead of me. I might as well get started on collecting them now.

Viva la Writing!

I've been accepted !... (again!)

I'm now a contributor to Work-It , a blog for working moms. I'm pretty excited about this, and proud because my writing was reviewed and judged by someone not in my family or that was paid to do so. I discovered the blog by chance while I was searching online for organizational tips from other working moms who wrote. I read the blog and found myself relating to the women and their stories. I immediately wanted to be a contributing writer so I could share my stories with the world and I also saw an opportunity for me develop as a writer. So I inquired and learned that I had to submit a short sample of writing, something that would fit in with the blog's style. Now, It's one thing to read a blog and relate, but to determine it's style?... I had to prepare!. I read archives, made notes and looked up a number of the contributors. It was great! I loved every minute of my "research". Taking the time to do what I did, I realized that a number of habits I have been working on are now part of my writer make-up. I'm pretty proud of myself. And yes, even if I was not selected to be a contributor, I'd still be proud of myself. I'd feel rejected, but proud. A little sad, but still proud.

So look for my posts. I will be contributing monthly and I truly can't wait to start!

New tactic - Transcribing

Cleaning out my basement last night, I found some old stories that I had written years ago. Like the lovable pack rat that I am, I had saved any and every notebook that I ever doodled in. So to keep myself in writing mode, I am transcribing all my old stories.

I stopped to read one and I was impressed. I wish I had a dog when I was younger, was my great title and I was fairly surprised to see just how well the title suit the piece.

It's nice to know that given time, I can impress my harshest critic - me.

A small step for novice writer...

Great big step (s) towards getting myself out there. This week was a very productive week for me as a writer. I finished my writing assignment, which was 2 pieces each totaling 350 words. I also had other people read them. I did not get the feedback I was expecting

Bravo! Bravo! What a great writer you are! You're a diamond in the rough!

But I got some insight into my writing patterns, had some typos discovered that I just apparently read over and I mailed them to my professor, all by Wednesday afternoon.

This week I also submitted a written submission to Workit - a blog dedicated to verbalizing the joys, plights and state of working motherhood. I won't be paid for making any submissions should I be accepted into the collective. However, I feel that writing for the blog will give me the chance to improve many skills I require for good writing (time management, focus, story-telling) and much more.

yeah and I also want to be part of this group.

Wish me luck!

I'm in a critique group!

I was accepted into a critique group last month and I must admit, it's pretty neat. In just reading other members submissions, I'm getting ideas for stories of my own. Isn't just amazing how you suddenly get inspired by a moment in a story? Every time I read a submission, I get an idea for a story that I want to tell, and I start writing the story to capture the idea, knowing that I will not finish it at that very second, and promising myself that I'll finish it up during my writing time. Of course, I'm still trying to find writing time in my daily schedule, so I have all these little snippets of stories sitting on my desktop waiting for me when I eventually do. Good times! Good times!

Right now I am struggling with finding good resources for research. Looking online for good encyclopedias and search engines. Google's a little too general for me lately. This week I checked out 8 different children's magazines for reading. I'm trying to get a story telling rhythm of my own.

Oh so much to do, so little time!