Writing Resolutions

Happy 2012, everyone!  I apologize for going MIA the last 2 weeks.  My husband and I traveled North to visit my family for Christmas, then we popped over to Louisiana to see his side of the family to celebrate the New Year.  A lot of family and a lot of traveling make for one tired Mo, so I don't have a post for this week's WoW, but I promise WoW will be back next week.

As a majority of people do in January, I have created a short list of resolutions for the new year with an emphasis on my writing.  Maybe not this year, but one day I want to say that I have started and completed a story that is all my own.  Yepp, you can lump me in with all the other author dreamers because I want to write a novel.

1.  Write for 30 minutes every day.  (not blog related)

2.  Blog at least twice a week.

3.  Learn Latin.  I took one semester in college and I have hauled the textbook around with me since I graduated (that would be through 3 moves), so I should finally put it to use!

4.  Write a handwritten note to someone (family or friend) once a month.  I recently watched the BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice (fantastic version), and was reminded of how beautiful the art of letter writing is.  My hope is that I'll enjoy doing this so much that I will end up sending more than one out each month by the time 2013 rolls around.

5.  Read one book a month for pleasure that is not related to school.

There it is.  A short list, but I'd rather not over commit and fall short.  Learning Latin will be a bit rough, but I'm hoping that semester will come flooding back to me once I begin.   (I tried to teach myself French in 2010, and that went nowhere.  If Latin in 2012 goes well, maybe I'll retry French in 2013!) 

Keep me honest, blog readers, and whenever you see me, ask how I'm doing with these.  I'll also write update posts to help keep myself on track.  Bring it on, 2012!

I'll be back later this week to show off my favorite Christmas gifts and gush about my extremely thoughtful husband.

Write It Now

Why have I been MIA for the past 2 weeks? Honestly, I froze. I hit a wall when it comes to my blog. I was hearing from a few family and friends that people were really enjoying it, but I still couldn't come up with anything. I'm a racing horse who has won a few Saratoga races, but refuses to leave the gate at The Derby. Crumble under pressure much?

I've been checking books out of the library on writing inspiration and writing styles in an attempt to get myself restarted. A few gave me some topics that I'd like to explore more in depth, but, up until today, I hadn't read anything that really got me going. While at the library, I try to look for books that aren't so much about technique or "rules", but more about inspiring the reader to flesh out the ideas in his/her brain. My latest batch of books has been especially helpful, and in the first lines of one I found what I needed to write (at least) this post. "The only way to begin is to begin, and begin right now...I have no doubt the day is coming when you will be wiser or better informed or more highly skilled than you are now, but you will never be more ready to begin writing than you are right this minute." (The Modern Library Writer's Workshop, Stephen Koch) Cliche attack - there is no better time than the present. Stop watching tv, intensely surfing Facebook, and get your hand out of that bag of chips. Start now. Whether it be writing or some other venture you've been thinking about for weeks, months, or years.

I am still embarrassed to tell people I hardly know that I write a blog, or even to drop the comment "I wrote about that recently in my blog" at a gathering of friends, but the whole reason I started this blog was to let myself go and write whatever I want, whenever I want. I'm here to refine my writing skills, and if people are entertained or bored, I want their feedback. There's no reason to hide out for weeks after getting negative or positive feedback, but to take that information and run with it. Tweak (thanks, Mom) something that's good to make it great, and fix something that's bad to make it work.

This has been a lot of "me" talk, but it applies to anyone who is struggling with their fear of actually putting words, thoughts, feelings onto paper and sharing it with the public. The only way you can get better is to get the information out of your head, and into the minds of others. No one can get better by keeping everything bottled up. You've got to share yourself with others at some point in order to improve.

The takeaway principle from the first few pages* of Koch's book, which is useful no matter what you're writing is simply this;

write it now

*I will admit that I have only gotten through the first few pages before realizing that I really should "write it now".

Also, I'm sorry there are no pictures in this post. I couldn't think of anything pertinent. Please, don't hate me. WAIT --

How can you stay mad at that face?

On the Hunt!

Finding motivation is a tricky, tricky hunt. I can sit at my desk claiming that I am going to start writing at that moment, but 4 hours later all I've done is browse the internet and watch shows on Netflix. I can check out 3 books about writing and inspiration from the library, thinking they're going to lead to some divine epiphany, and only open them the first day I have them. I'll start writing something, blog post, paragraph in a story, poem, then get distracted and forget where I was going with my idea when I come back. How people write whole novels in a short period is beyond me. 400 pages? That's baffling. I don't know if I have 400 pages of words in my brain.

Why am I rambling on about motivation? Because I finally found some today. I had been sitting in my home office since 9am wasting time on Gchat, Netflix, and any other sites (I visiting TFLN for the first time in weeks, it was that bad.) I could find when I decided to give my back deck area a try. It's been too hot down here to spend more than 30 seconds outside without hating life, but today is gorgeous. 90 degrees with a very nice breeze. Add overhead fans on full blast, and I'm shockingly comfortable on this Florida afternoon. My husband built a very nice picnic table a few weeks ago, so I've decided to test it out.

I've been out here for about 45 minutes and have written this post, created a cure for cancer, and realized one of our screens is broken. I stand proud with G.W. when I say "Mission Accomplished"! Motivation found, people! The fresh air and Vitamin D helped to release my words. Let's see how long this will last.

Smile, George. You're making me look bad.