by Sharon O | Jun 13, 2012 | Uncategorized
On day six of our writers challenge the word is to steal.
He said that often times our content comes from others,
“Your genius is hiding in someone else’s idea”.
We may read a story or hear a sermon or read a blog then we create it differently to become ours.
Then he quoted Picasso: “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.”
That means a good writer will listen or read something then recreate it for their own purposes.
To tell you the truth this is a hard concept for me.
My intention has never been to copy others.
Whenever I sit down to write a blog generally it takes two to six hours to formulate the thoughts then preview them at minimum five to eight times before I hit the publish button.
I read it out loud.
I study and listen to the word flow.
I search out the content and try very hard to make it simple and also deep or worthy of someones time and interest.
Stealing from another is easy and it feels wrong.
In trying to understand his concept I suppose that could look like when we are at church and the pastor is doing his sermon I take notes. Then later on when I am preparing for a new blog concept I will look at my notes and then recreate what he said to tell the story.
That could be considered stealing.
Using his content or idea to create a new ‘blog’ post for the week.
If someone wasn’t at our church it could look like my own thought or ‘idea’.
I would not purposely steal from anyone.
When it is a sermon often times I will add ‘pastor said’ then continue with the writing.
The challenge is to find a quote or form of inspiration and give credit to the original author
then recreate it for our purpose or intent.
He said to give it ‘your originality’ personality or flair.
He said a good writer curates.
The meaning from dictionary.com is to pull together, sift through, and select for presentation.
When a topic comes to me or a sermon is heard I am very careful to sift the content
and give credit to the original place it came from.
There is such a fine line for me in this topic.
It would be better for me to quit writing if stealing was the acceptable way to write.
He said professionals do it all the time. They embrace the concept.
Perhaps that is why I am not one.
by Sharon O | Jun 12, 2012 | Uncategorized
On day five of our writers challenge the word is prepare.
He said there is work to create and we must prepare in order to get it done.
In dictionary.com the definition is: to put in proper condition or readiness. to lead up to. to get ready. to make ready for a particular purpose.
In order to be a writer one has to prepare for it.
That might mean to create a quiet space just for writing in.
If the goal is writing a book make the effort to find out how to pursue that goal.
He said we are to push forward and do something.
He said: Some movement is better than none.
He also said often we procrastinate because we feel we need more experience or a more perfect writing style.
Telling ourselves we are not good enough defeats the purpose of our intention.
Real preparation is when we are moving in a steady momentum.
He tells us there is a difference between putting things off and preparing.
One is a negative one is not.
Procrastination will kill our deepest dreams and dull our true vision for ourselves.
Putting off today so we can do it tomorrow is never a good choice.
There will always be other things to do.
If our dream is to be a writer then we must sit down and do it.
The other part of the challenge is to tell someone when we do write something and then allow them to give us feedback with an honest critique.
He tells us to do this as often as we need until our confidence is stronger.
Inspiration comes from our ‘willingness’ to put our writings out there and encouragement comes from the readers who are reading it.
Prepare to be challenged.
Then move into a mindset to become the writer
God has prepared us to be.
by Sharon O | Jun 11, 2012 | Uncategorized
“We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy.
It is not hard to see why.
The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God…Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.” C. S. Lewis
Our home is not here… we wait with great anticipation.
Joining with Deidra on Sunday’s community.
photo by Rosie from Dundee, Oregon
by Sharon O | Jun 8, 2012 | Uncategorized
On day four the new word for our writers challenge is practice.
If you want to be good at something it takes practice.
The definition in dictionary.com is: repeated performance or systematic exercise
for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency.
He said it won’t make you perfect but it will create discipline.
To have discipline we have to show up.
It has to be a mindset to prioritize your writing.
It is easy to make excuses.
We all have homes that need attention.
We all need to walk, weed, dust or vacuum but even in saying all that to have a nice home it takes effort and energy to get it done.
Writing is the same.
He challenged us to sit down and do it.
In all honesty a year or so ago I did initiate contact with a few others and did guest posts for them and also did a small writing on 5 minutes for faith sharing my testimony.
It takes effort even if you don’t fully believe in yourself.
It was hard for me to reach out and be challenged to write only 500 words or less with a deadline for submitting the writing.
Then hoping and praying it will be good enough for at least one nice comment.
When an occasional good comment would come in my hope increased and my vision became more clear for the purpose of this blog.
He challenged us to submit an article for a magazine.
It is practicing what you desire to become.
If someone wants to become a good runner they do not sit on the couch and watch other runners on a dvd.
They purchase shoes and good running pants and they discipline themselves to go to the track or path and start running. They begin small and slowly stretch and they loosen up and then they are able to run with great abandon so long as they are trained properly first.
Writing is just like that.
If we want to accomplish our goal we have to be active and show up at the key board.
He challenged us to make the time to get it done.
He said we might fail in the effort but at least the effort was made and we learned something in the failed process.
If we don’t try we won’t know if it is good or not.
He says writing is an active process and we need an engaged mind to present our thoughts and feelings to the reader.
So learn to write when you are able to think clearly and form thoughts easier.
For some that might be early in the morning.
For others might be in the dark of the night.
Whenever it is let us be challenged to practice more and begin a new habit of writing.
by Sharon O | Jun 7, 2012 | Uncategorized
On day three of the writers challenge our word is initiate.
The definition in dictionary.com: to begin. to introduce into the knowledge of a subject. teach. instruct. indoctrinate. train.
He said our challenge is to ‘choose ourselves’.
Sharing the story of when we were in school and others were picking people for teams.
They would say “I pick you and you and you.”
Just as they were picking for their teams we must pick for our ‘team’ too.
He said to look in the mirror and say “you…I pick you.”
If you have favorite writers add your name to the list.
We need to build confidence and also build belief in ourselves.
Then he challenged us to place in a secret place the words
“I am a ____”.
That might mean for some of us an ‘author’ or a ‘novelist’ or a ‘storyteller’… whatever we think we want to become we are to write it down and keep it in a safe place to come back to later on in this writers challenge.
He said we are to continue to practice writing.
To make it a priority.
To make the time to do it and do it well.
Any writing is better than none.
He ended by saying “Give yourself grace, but also hold yourself accountable”.
Begin today the journey of who you are becoming.
No one gets where they want to be without practice and discipline.
Begin today.
