Get published

by Sharon O | Jun 21, 2012 | Uncategorized

On day thirteen of the writers challenge the word for us is publish.
He said great writers do well because of perseverance not necessarily because of talent.
He said they understand the concept that unless it is published and in print it is not as valued.
He said often times new writers are fearful of having new readers or even having their writings read for fear of rejection or other comments.
Get over it.
He said it is not enough to write a blog.
If someone wants to be bigger and go further they need to be able to write well enough to get it published. He said it might be for a magazine.
For a newspaper.
A book.
He said for us to pick the project we are most afraid of
then do it.
I always thought it would be interesting to write something for guidepost magazine or even readers digest.
It would take determination to try.
A willingness to stretch myself and a time commitment to write the post.
So are we up for this new ‘challenge’?

Ready to provoke

by Sharon O | Jun 21, 2012 | Uncategorized

On day twelve of the writers challenge the word for us is provoke.
Dictionary.com said it means: to stir up. to incite. to stimulate to action.
He said great writers should provoke us to think and perhaps even make us
uncomfortable when we read something they have written.
He challenged us to quit screwing around and get serious with our writing.
I don’t like that ‘word’ but I understand what is trying to say to us.
There is risk involved.
He said if we want to be a great writer we must be willing to break a few rules.
His challenge for us was:
Tell the ugly truth about something.
Pick a fight and challenge someone about what is wrong with our ‘world’.
Injustices are not fair stir the reader to think about why.
Don’t be afraid to take a risk.
Write something hard and dangerous.
(Something you have not written before).
He asked if we were ready.
He said in order for us to push ourselves into the real world of writing
we MUST be honest.
He said the world is full of lies.
Being honest sets others free to be honest too.
When we learn to write honestly and from our hearts we allow others to believe they can do the same.
So the question for us is:
Are we ready to provoke?

Learn to declutter

by Sharon O | Jun 20, 2012 | Uncategorized

On day eleven of the writers challenge the word for us is declutter.
He basically said to make our writing space clean and clutter free.
If the desk is messy we need to clean it up.
He also said good preparation requires calm and clear thinking.
If our work space is cluttered with a variety of other things it might be harder for us to focus on what we are trying to share with others.
The goal for us is to change the way we process and write.
His advise was to keep the word count to a minimum.
If we normally use 500 words to say something we are supposed to bring that count down to 200 and learn to say the same thing with shorter content.
I think if someone is reading this and not writing anything down they can still be a part of the declutter challenge.
In fact my sister and I have the saying:
“Do you like it or do you love it” our answer to that question determines the fate of the item we are dealing with.
Decluttering our homes can be very simple and very freeing.
Decluttering our writing skills can be that way too.
Let’s encourage each other to not only rid our homes of what we don’t want or need and also remove content in our writing that is not helpful to the whole piece we are trying to share.
The time to declutter is now.
Are we up for the challenge?  

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.