Stories and How They Affect Us - Writers Reveal - July 2014

Today's Writers Reveal topic is "The story that changed my life" and was suggested by J.C. Wolfe.

The problem I have with this topic is that I can't think of any particular story that changed my life.  So instead, I thought I might write about stories in general and how they affect us.

Stories can be good for an escape from your day to day life. They can whisk you away to different places, different times and different worlds. They can introduce you to new people. Through stories, you can experience, love, tragedy, passion, adventure, mystery and danger, all vicariously from the safety of your own home.

Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone has experienced different things throughout their life and it is an amalgamation of those experiences and emotions, with a large dose of creativity and imagination,  that make up the variety of stories and characters we read about.

I am a wife. I am an American living in England. I am a mom to seven children. I have been morbidly obese and have lost over 145 pounds to reach a healthy weight. I was an outgoing, confident child who gradually became more insecure and more introverted as I aged until I reached a certain point in my life where my self-confidence and belief in myself slowly began to return. I am a cat owner and a dog owner. I am a writer. I blog. I run a yearly writing challenge. I always look for the good in people. All of these things, and the journey I have taken to get where I am, are a part of my personal story. Like any great story, the bits and parts that seem disconnected when looked at separately, are woven and intertwined so that they all come together to make a completed whole.

What's your story?

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Find the Writer's Reveal topic covered in other Writer's Reveal blog posts at these blogs:

• Melissa Writes
• The Wolf's Den
• A Parenting Life
• Ghostnapped
• You Learn Something New Every Day
• Have a Laugh on Me
• J.F. Gibson, writer

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When Life Gives You Lemons- Writer's Reveal June 2014

This month's Writers Reveal topic was provided by Melissa: When life gives you lemons... how do you keep on writing?

I try not to focus on the lemons that life gives me.

When my laptop crashed, I focused on the positive which was that my husband had a desktop computer and, although it required some changes in how I did things, I was able to move my work to his computer. I was fortunate in that my work was saved and I was fortunate in that we were able to purchase a new laptop for me within months.

When my son was ill and had to stay home from school, missing seven full school days in a row, it meant that I only had to take my kids to one school during that time, which significantly shortened the time I spent on the school runs. I saw it as gaining me an hour a day of writing time. My son eventually got over his mysterious fever and was back at school, and, in the meantime, I managed to get in a little bit of extra writing.

Currently, I am suffering with severe hayfever. It's too the point that my eyes are so watery, itchy and puffy that I can barely see out of them and I can't breathe at all through my nose. I am suffering from allergy-related migraines, and the allergy medicine makes me very sleepy. But it can't be all bad,because I have managed to sit down here and type up this post.

So I guess you could say that when life gives me lemons, I decide that I like lemons and then make the most of it. Yes, I'm a "make lemonade" kind of gal.

But if something happens which absolutely prevents me from writing and editing, here is what I do:

1. Try and be productive in other ways, if at all possible. Maybe that's cleaning house or organizing my files, or maybe it's just about spending more time with my kids.

2. Think about my stories and how they can be improved or what direction they will take next. Often taking a small break from writing helps to renew my creative juices.

3. Read some books and watch some television. I love to read; it helps keep my mind active, helps me learn new things and even helps generate new ideas. Watching television shows and movies can spark creativity too, but it doesn't take as much thought as reading so it's a great way to just rest and recharge my batteries.

4. Spend time with friends. Between raising my children and working on my books, I often find myself spending less and less time with my friends. It's healthy for me to spend some tie with my friends and renew those friendships that have been lax.

5. Volunteer to help someone else. When I am unable to write or edit my work, but I am able to talk and go out in public (i.e. I'm not sick), then I offer to help at my children's schools or to give a talk at the local library.

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This post is part of the Writer’s Reveal monthly blog challenge. To read some of the other posts, visit the blogs below:

• the Wolfe’s Den
• Imagine! Create! Write!
• A Parenting Life
• Author Ashley Howland
• You learn something new every day

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Integrity - Writer's Reveal - November 2013

For this November's Writer's Reveal Topic, I was given the topic of: "What does integrity mean to you as a writer?" My Writer's Reveal Topic was given to me by Emily Morgan.

Right now, my head is so full of my NaNoWriMo novel writing (which I am behind on) and creating the Jingle Bells anthology (which I'm nearly finished doing) that it is difficult for me to wrap my mind around another topic at the moment.

For a really quick covering of the topic:

- Writing integrity is about writing only what I feel the need to write when I write my fiction, not writing something that will work for the market, but writing something that calls to me and begs me to write it.

- Writing integrity is about being honest when writing reviews, even when I am friends with the author of the book I am reviewing.

- Writing integrity is about making my story the best I can make it, because I want the readers to love it, and I don't want to give them less than my best.

- Writing integrity is about spending time, long, sometimes tedious, TIME, sitting at the computer and WRITING - every day.

- Writing integrity is about meeting the deadlines I commit to.

- What would you add to this list?

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The the other writers in Writer's Reveal are:

• Emily Morgan Writes
• Em Hawker
• J.C. Wolfe
• Melissa Writes
• J.F. Gibson
• A Parenting Life
• Ghostnapped
• Have a Laugh on Me

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6 Things a Writer Should Not Do - Writer's Reveal

Today it's time for the Writer's Reveal post. This month's topic was sent to me from Melissa of Melissa Writes and the topic is, in her words, " Write a post about what not to do as a writer. Ideally at least 5 points."

A Writer should never....
1. Give up. If you have been writing for a while now and you feel like your not getting anywhere with it, try a different approach or take some new classes to help you hone your skills. Don't just throw in the towel. Very few people actually decide to become writers and then start writing. If you have managed to get that far, then you need to keep at it. There's a reason you decided to write. 

2. Stop improving and learning. Writing skills develop through use. Some people might be born with a natural talent for writing, but most of the writers you see with books that are top-sellers had to learn to write that well. It takes time and practice and, for some, classes and tutorials. You need to get people to critique your manuscripts and you will learn from those critiques so that you don't make the same mistakes with the next first draft you write.

3. Talk about writing more than you actually write. Nothing is going to get written if you don't sit your butt down in that chair and write. Talking about your story is great; it can help you flesh out your ideas when you talk about the story with someone else, but if you spend all of your time on your book discussing it or thinking about it and spend no time actually writing those ideas down, you are not ever going to get your book written.

4. Let Facebook, Twitter and other social media take over your computer time. Again, you have to actually spend time writing your story if you ever want to finish it. Facebook, Twitter and other avenues of social media have this magical way of making time fly by without you ever getting anything done. Don't let the pull of social media keep you from getting your writing done. Set aside time for social media and stick to that time. Also set aside time for writing when all the social media pages are closed down on your computer and your phone is turned off.

5. Isolate yourself. Social media has one thing going for it when it comes to a writer's life. Social media can connect you with other writers, agents and publishers. One thing about the writing world, writers are usually willing to help each other. Instead of seeing one another as competition for the book selling market, writers have been reaching out to one another for years - giving moral support, helping by critiquing each others' books, creating and joining writing challenges and groups, helping spread the word of new book releases, writing reviews, helping one another brainstorm ideas and more. As a writer, you really don't want to miss out on all of the support you can get from other writers.

6. Reply to a review you find on Amazon, Goodreads or elsewhere. Even if you make a positive statement, it can backfire. There was recently a lot of discussion and argument about what authors should and shouldn't do when it comes to reviewing, but the easiest way to stay out of trouble with the public is to not respond to reviews.

You might have noticed that I listed 6 things instead of 5. It could easily have been longer. 

Instead of the above list of things you should not do as a writer, I'd like to state the one thing that you absolutely HAVE to do. Believe in yourself!

 *****

The the other writers in Writer's Reveal are:

• Jodi Gibson
• JC Wolfe
• Melissa Gijsbers Khalinsky
• Josefa
• Rhianna
• Ashley Howard
• Zanni Louise

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