Blog Mention: A Writer’s Tales

I wanted to add another category of posts that will include mention of writer’s blogs that are also sharing their journey towards their writing goals.

Sometimes its a process, sometimes its a determined focus towards publication, but either way you get to your goals and express this in a blog is worthy of mention.

http://writerific.blogspot.com

“This blog will include, but not limited to, my adventures in being a stay at home mom, information about homeschooling, my writing career, movie reviews, book reviews and anything else I might find interesting. It will also be another avenue to practice my craft at writing. Feel free to tag along as I dive into this exciting excursion!”

Writer’s opinion of writers

I found this little gem of an article, The 50 Best Author vs. Author Putdowns of All Times, along my travels in the World Wide Web, and found the topic intriguing. Its amazing authors’ opinion of other authors.  This goes to show you that everyone has their opinion, and you can decide if they are ‘right’ or they are ‘wrong’.

But what makes a great work in regards to literature? I think the great works often touch upon the human element that questions what makes us who we are, where we’re going, and what we can be. How this is accomplished varies with tone and style, and some books simply lack in character or skill.

Some friends of mine will affirm that Stephanie Myer’s Twilight series is a set of brilliance, while I tried to read through her first book only to find it too light and fluffy for my tastes. It is, after all, a romance story with vampires, not a vampire story with a side of romance (which I prefer). Does it make it crap? Only the reader can decide for themselves. Obviously its based on opinion.

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Writing through your fears.

One of the causes of writer’s block pertains to the internal editor every writer carries within themselves. Its that voice of doubt and constant correction to write correctly, keep the story going, and questioning the quality of an author’s output.

The writer’s group I’ve started for critique and feedback doubles as a support group. I’m often surprised to find I’m not the only one who questions their writing, worries senselessly if I’ll ever make something of myself, and am I writing properly.

Shutting up that inner editor can be tough.

Try freewriting. This method insists you write, without stopping and ignoring all protocols to grammar and punctuation, by the use of a timer. Once the timer starts, you write without pause about anything that comes to mind.  Ten to fifteen minutes can do wonders by breaking through the barriers of self doubt, but also enabling the writer to ‘warm up’ their muse. A number of my group’s members voiced how freewriting improves their writing considerably.

Recognize that no matter how good you think your manuscript might be, writing requires editing. The first writing attempt is always the draft copy. That being said, let the creative process flow by simply writing out the story to get it to paper (or file). You’ll fix the problems later with re-writes.

Include affirmations in your rituals. Before starting to write, make statements that are positive and affirming of your goals. These can include meeting challenges of word counts or finishing a chapter. Telling your inner editor to shut up also helps.

I’ve discovered through my experiences of 2009 that fear is part of being human. You won’t get rid of it. You must be able to work through your fears. “Fear is not the lack of courage, but being afraid and facing those fears anyway”

Getting your work critiqued

Any writer will tell you the terrible sense of apprehension you feel when showing a piece of work to someone else. Its a glimpse into the creative soul of a writer, as well as putting one’s skill under the scrutiny of someone else. When feedback is bad, this rips through a writer’s soft underbelly, exposing their insecurities.

Here are a few tips to consider for critique and feedback:

Be picky as to who reads your stuff. Not all readers are good at offering a good critique. Some might say “I like it” or “This sucks” but they can’t explain with anything constructive as to why they liked or disliked it. I tend to avoid having family read my stuff because they look too deeply into the characters.

Pick a reader that enjoys the genre you write in. Someone who loves romance might not appreciate a story of horror, while someone who likes murder mysteries may not enjoy fantasy. Ask first, and see what authors they like before letting them see what you got.

Ask for honesty. You may need to brace yourself if you’re a sensative soul, but remember that constructive feedback can make you a better writer. Comments on my grammar pushed me to learn and improve that aspect of my writing.

With my writer’s group, members vary to their reactions before they get feedback but in the end they agree that its necessary and helpful along their journey towards publication.

How often to update a blog?

This will sound terribly hypocritical, but how often a blog should be updated is regularly. Whether this is once a week or daily, you want to keep the blog entries rolling. The higher the number of readers, the more frequently you should update. The main reason I advise this stems from readers’ interest, and to keep that interest.

You want readers to click on the RSS feed icon, to subscribe and even link to your words. You want readers to come back, over and over, reading the information with apt attention, and be so impressed they share your blog with their friends and family. Okay, well maybe I’m a bit enthusiastic at times with viral marketing, but that is how your blog gains readers.

I’m proud to say some readers feel my blog is a worthwhile read, enough to list me as such in their own blogs. Ok, not just proud- downright ego puffing. It ensures that someone out there views my words as being worthwhile to read, worthy to share even. High praise to a writer!

Blogs that get comments and more hits I will focus on. In fact, I deleted a blog this past week for the lack of readers. Only a pang of regret held back my clicking finger, but the deed was done, and I feel better for it. I knew I had to narrow down my list of obligations- or what I feel were obligations, and focus instead on things that provided me something in return. There’s no room for blogs that don’t get read.

I’m trying to post here more, to help the writers out there along their own journey, and to provide resources as I find them along mine.

Do you get support for your writing?

What I mean by support isn’t the monetary support but the emotional support friends and family provide. My writing group found it odd that my husband doesn’t read my work. I thought so too. You’d think just out of curiosity he’d occasional read something. If only to see what its about and what sort of thoughts rattle inside my head. He doesn’t.

My husband claims he reads my blogs from time to time, but never leaves a comment or makes a comment to me personally. I have no idea if he reads them or not; not even the ones about him.

My parents also have no idea the extent of my writing outside of emails and the occasional Instant Message. My mother read a few things I’ve done in the past, but never said much. My father, to my knowledge, hasn’t read anything. Two sisters read religiously to my personal blogs, while the other two could care less.

Some friends read my blogs, where one often copies the subject I write upon to add to her own. I’m not sure how to take that as a compliment to my creativity or her inability to come up with something of her own.

I can’t say the strongest support comes from the writer’s group, because I haven’t shared much with them. I’m too busy organizing, writing the newsletter, and maintaining the meetup site. Most stuff I have written isn’t ‘ready’ for sharing…yet. The group is also growing so sharing my stuff takes away from the time of another writer eager to glean feedback from the group.

I also recognize I don’t really need support to write. I write for myself, losing myself in my own little worlds, or empowering myself through blogs by rant or resolutions shared there. Ultimately, its the little comments and remarks left goad me to write more. I’d write anyway, but a comment begging for another chapter, or a subscriber that emails me to say how much they enjoyed what I’ve written can really make my day.

I don’t need the support, but it certainly nudges me a long my journey.

So thanks for all who leave comments. And who do you think offers support in your writing in the real world?