Getting Real

October 18, 2010 at 10:37 am

Since I became a member of ACFW, I have found myself engrossed from head to toe in nothing but information on perfecting the craft of writing. Some might find the information boring to read, but I find it enlightening, encouraging, and even a bit uplifting. Just last night I reading some thoughts about a writer’s life and the description of a writer. You know the dictionary says a writer is “a person who commits his or her thoughts, ideas, etc., to writing." I like the definition because it makes me feel like it is okay to say, “I’m a writer."

Do you know how scary that is? I used it for the first time today – on my brother. We were chatting on Facebook and he was informing me that I type way too fast. So I told him, “I’m a writer, it’s what I do. I’ve had years of practice. I can type with my eyes closed or not even looking at my computer screen.” He basically said, “Yeah” and moved on.

I think one of the biggest problems for a writer is the lack of understanding from family and friends. I can not count the times I’ve told someone I know that I’m working on a new story, poem, or project and been greeted with an “Oh“. Not really what I was looking for, but then again how can I expect them to understand unless they too are a writer? We all have our own desires, passions, and dreams. It’s difficult when we have trouble sharing them with those that are close to us.

However, I have learned there are others like me, who burn the mid-night oil, have voices of characters in their heads interrupting their sleep and showers. I am beginning to feel my writing come alive, beginning to feel it become real, and not like some little hobby that I only share with selected people once in a while. I believe until I’ve actually published a book (if that day comes) that I will always dread the, “So what have you written?”, question, but that does not change that I am indeed a writer.

I am thankful to have found a few places where I feel at home in the writing world. If you are a writer and you are looking for or longing for a place of acceptance for what you do, a place where sitting at your computer hours on end is okay then take a look at ACFW and MBT. So far I’ve found them both great places to be.

I’ve struggled with a specific scene in my current WIP and after spending several hours reading information from ACFW, MBT, and more – one thought came to me, “GET REAL“. Not as in, “Get real, you’ll never write a book, let alone get it published." My WIP has a lot of truth in it from my life experiences and because I’m flipping it and creating a fictional story; it proves to have its challenges. One thing I hear over and over is “just start writing." I’ve done that, but in my attempt to piece the puzzle of truth and fiction together, I forgot to be real.

Yes, my WIP is based on a few life experiences. Yes, I want it to be a fictional book; Christian romance to be precise. The thing is I already know the story in my heart, so what is it I need to do? I need to get real and just write. After that I can tweak it, flip it, dress it up, and whatever else I want to do to it.

First things first. It’s time to get real, dig down deep, and let it all out. I know that God will guide me through this and I feel thankful that he has led me to places where I feel accepted for what I do.

In Him,

~T~

P.S. Do you know how excited I was when I clicked proofread and it said, “No errors were found”.

Taking the Plunge

Taking the Plunge
October 15, 2010 at 9:24 pm

About a year ago I wanted to get a membership to ACFW. For some reason I did not.

I know it was about a year ago, because that was the first time I signed up for NANO. Nano is where authors of every kind and stage sign up for the crazy train. It departs November 1st with the goal of writing 1, 667 words a day and arrives November 30th with the completed goal of a 50,000 word novel. My crazy train didn’t make it past the first day, of course I started 2 days late.

This year I’ve decided to really give it all I’ve got and make that 50,000 word goal. I started fully preparing myself back in August. Re-reading books I own for inspiration, ideas, and direction. Then I started looking online for help and stumbled upon MBT. Then I some how joined the MBT Voices group on ning. I just realized I had done that the other day and so I began reading, commenting, and learning. I’m like a sponge just taking it all in.

You may ask; Why I want to join the crazy train? The answer to that is, I believe I can write a book. I’ve always wanted to. I’ve written since I was about 8 years old. I’ve written poetry, short stories, articles, little sermons, letters, and more. You name it, I probably tried it! I feel I have several stories within me to tell and I believe in them. Most importantly, I believe God gave them to me for a reason.

In grade school I won a few writing contests. In 1999, my senior year, I had a poem published in Heartland’s Young Poets Contest, for high merit. I still remember the thrill I felt that day. Followed by an immediate downer, I had to buy the book it was published in! I decided maybe being an author wasn’t my dream after all.

However, here I am…still writing. It’s an uncontrollable habit.

In September 2010, I had an article published in my home town newspaper; The Appleton City Journal. They ask readers to send photos of themselves with the paper while on vacation. My mother-in-law came to visit and we took her photo with the paper in front of Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the Eiffel Tower. I wrote a little article to go with the photos. I did not know if they would use it or not. Then my mother-in-law called to tell me the photo had been in the paper and that I made her cry. I had to ask what I’d done to make her cry; apparently my article was also in the paper.

I lived in Ohio two years ago, I served 3 years in a Women’s Ministry called Mom to Mom. It was there that I learned I had a heart for women and my writing began to take something of a more meaningful nature. I was always writing, dreaming, and always had ideas for stories. The problem was I did not know what direction to go with any of it.

I began to pray. I am an avid reader and so I began paying attention to the way things were done in the books I would read. That wasn’t enough; I sought out books about writing. I still look for those books, I find them fascinating! The more I can learn, the more equipped I will feel.

It took me a while to see what direction my writing should go. My time in Ohio was a big help with that. It was then that I knew the right way for me to write, was for God. I realized God needed to be first in this too. So I write for God first, my readers second, and myself last.

Today, writing has become such a part of my life that I would feel as if I’d lost a limb without it. I have not actively sought publication, but I am always writing; always trying to learn. I have more journals than any one woman needs. What I need is to learn a way to organize it all!

My current WIP (work in progress) has been in the works on and off for a year. It has no title. I tend to title things last, although a lot of my poems are simply numbered. It is my first attempt at actually writing a book. The story is a fictional spin-off of my life and a dream I had long ago that never became a reality, because God had other plans for me. It’s a story about one woman’s longing to be truly loved, accepted, and wanted. Something I believe all women battle with even to this day.

The heroine fears of being hurt, used, and rejected the way her mother had been. Resigning to never be treated that way she puts a wall around her heart, becomes as cold as she can be, and rarely (if ever) lets anyone in. What she hadn’t prepared herself for was the love and acceptance she would find through Christ Jesus, or the people he would put in her life to chip away the ice.

I’ve a long ways to go and a lot to learn. I battle with run-ons, grammatical errors, titles, and more. I know this is going to take prayer, hard work, and time. With having this story weigh on my heart for over a year, I feel I am finally ready to see this through, no matter the reason the Lord has laid it upon me.

So as I move forward into several new areas of my life, I thought I would share with you what I learn. Maybe you’re looking for a little direction too.

~T~

P.S. This is nearly 1,000 words – think I can write 50,000 in a month?