Sharing others

by Sharon O | Jun 19, 2012 | Uncategorized

On day ten of our writers challenge the word for us to think about is ‘share’.
He said ‘great writers share.’
They share their own writing and knowledge of different topics as well as the writings of others giving the the proper credit to them.
He said to share someone else’s story so that you are promoting them and making them ‘the hero’.
He said to do it quietly and in secret.
Not bringing attention to ourselves in the process.
He said to be generous and share with others.
I am not sure if he meant share a favorite blog of theirs or just share some of the teachings they have taught us and how we have grown by reading their writings.
Some of my favorite blogs and writers are below.

http://www.aholyexperience.com/
http://www.jumpingtandem.com/
http://www.laurabogges.com/
http://www.(In)courage.com/
http://www.cookingupfaith.com/
http://www.theromanticvineyard.com/
There are more who can I recommend.
More who I read daily.
Sharing others is easy.
Much easier than sharing myself.
Our writers challenge is to share.
So today share someone with someone else.
Let’s encourage each other in this journey.

Learn to connect

by Sharon O | Jun 16, 2012 | Uncategorized

On day nine of our writers challenge the word is connect.
He said ‘great writers connect with other writers’.
I am not totally comfortable with the ‘great’ concept but I understand what he is telling us to do.
When my blog began it was all new territory and I had no idea what I was doing.
There were blogs I enjoyed and after reading them I would place a comment because I knew each blog took  time and effort and even a small word to someone was better than none.
Sometimes the writers would comment back to me, sometimes they wouldn’t.
Some of them have become good friends of mine even though we have never met.
He said for us to find friends, then fans, then patrons.
Friends are those doing the same journey we are doing.
Fans are those who comment on your blog and give positive affirmation.
(don’t you just wonder why they comment or what keeps bringing them back to your blog?)
Patrons are those who are in the writing industry with you and who can give good feedback and help you grow. They go before you and challenge you in the journey.
Part of this assignment is learning to reach out and ask for what you need as a writer.
The assignment or challenge is to find a friend, fan and patron (one of each) and ask nothing of them but their time.
Make an invite for them to meet you for coffee or whatever and do it as soon as possible.
Then come back to the challenge and let others know how it went for you.
The whole process of writing is learning how to connect.

Begin to build

by Sharon O | Jun 15, 2012 | Uncategorized

On day eight of the writers challenge the word is build.
In dictionary.com it says: to establish, increase or strengthen.
to construct by joining parts or materials.
to increase or develop towards an intensity.
to prepare in stages.
Creating a blog is hard. 
It is taking thoughts and putting them into readable form then taking a risk when actually sharing those thoughts.
My original blog purpose was not to build a platform for readers.
It was personal shared only with a few who I trusted.
Yes I know having a blog requires one to build a reader list.
He said in his challenge today starting one is not the same as building one.
He said building your writing skill is hard.
It takes effort and work.
In the blogging world small bloggers are not as ‘noticed’ as large ones.
Being small is acceptable.
Staying small might not be depending on what the original purpose was when it was created.
The first thing he recommends is to make the effort.
The hard work of writing is just like anything else. 
It takes time and lot’s of practice to do a good job.
In other words, “get up and get to work”.
It is a job that requires your presence.
Create for yourself a day in and day out form of discipline.
Just like jogging is for the runner training for a marathon.
Writing every day is the beginning discipline for anyone who wants to go further in the process.
He said sometimes creativity doesn’t happen until one sits down and puts the thoughts into a form.
He also told us to take our writing seriously.
If we don’t no one else will. 
Our work deserves a start and finish timeline.
He challenged us to create something new then finish it.
Then he said to find a small hand full of faithful readers or friends who will be our core group.
Their purpose will be to give ideas on how to launch a book, a project, an article or series of articles.
They can stretch us in conversation over coffee or iced tea or even by email.
They need to challenge our weak places and strengthen our strong ones.
They need to be trusting enough that we can learn from them.
For instance I have posted a blog writing and then asked my husband later his opinion.
He will say “he liked it” or he will say “it wasn’t the best… you have done better”.
Having someone to help is critical to our development as a writer.
It is not enough to just write.
We need to begin to build our experience into something more than just a desire.
The question is how do we know when we are ready?

Start writing

by Sharon O | Jun 13, 2012 | Uncategorized

On day seven of our writers challenge the word is Start.
Basically what he is saying
most first attempts at writing are generally messy and not readable.
His challenge is for us to not be afraid of ugly writing.
He said before it can be beautiful it needs to be thrown together and chaotic.
Write the hard bad things first.
Beginning something is better than not beginning at all.
If you want to become a writer don’t just dream it.
Do it.
He said no painter paints a beautiful picture the first time.
No musician plays a symphony while learning the notes.
No author writes a book the first time.
When we first begin it is often ugly and hard to understand.
With a lot of practice and sharing with others the ‘ugly’ can be restored to something beautiful and powerful.
That is when we will learn to create and become skilled in the process of writing.
He said for us to share our beginning writing with someone
then be open to their thoughts and feedback.
He said we won’t grow until we begin.
The first thing for us to do is to Start writing.