Sunday Stories, Writing my heart out Edition
I have been published a few times in different online places and also in actual magazines. When some might think that I have been lucky, I want to say no I have not. I work on my writing. I work on engaging in whatever the prompt is and I struggle.
This week ( ok honestly the last three weeks) I have been struggling with a poem and have sheets and sheets of paper to prove it. I love to still work out pieces on paper before typing them. It is way easier to erase on the computer than on a piece of paper.
With magazine writing, you write for summer winter and winter the summer. It takes some mindset to do this when it is 95 outside your window. I struggled, while sweating, to write about the romance of winter. I also experience no real winters in Georgia.
Writing is sometimes, ok all the time, work. Coming up with descriptions, coming up with a rhythm, all of this takes work. I can be found online under different companies, but I write to yes share my work, and also to allow myself to stretch out and see what I am capable of.
Writing should be a challenge. It should engage you in wordplay and struggles are part of that. You rack your brain for words to fit what you hear in your head. You try to think up adjectives and get stuck. You work and work and work. You have to push through all the sludge to get to the good stuff.
I started writing probably seriously within the last ten years. Before that, I had two kids at home. Now I write pieces on parenting and the struggles facing our youth today. I know ways to save money when you have a family of four. I know things that are free that can entertain children.
I have been married, divorced, and remarried. I have experiences to draw from, and yet I still struggle. I believe the struggle in writing, for a lot of us, is, how much of ourselves do we share? Is telling A too much or should I also tell B and C?
Writing should always come from your heart and you should accept that your first draft is possible 100% trash. Also, accept that in that trash is the core thought you need to expand on. The draft may not be good, but the story you are struggling to develop may be good.
Life is like a book. It starts slow like a baby, it advances as a toddler to your first draft, and then it starts running like your kindergartner. It builds momentum as you go. It may not always be perfect but you try with your children and your book and writing are your children too. Try to flush out the good idea, the core thought for your story. Push through the thoughts of failure, because we all fail. Let every idea, thought, and writing piece, become part of you. Be ok with it not being great, but keep going. You only get better when you do the work.
I believe in you!
Hope you have an amazing week and remember to keep writing!
Your friend, storyteller, poet
Debbie
xoxoxoxo
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