Finding your brand

by Sharon O | Jun 23, 2012 | Uncategorized

On day fourteen of the writers challenge the word for us is brand.
He said every writer needs a brand that is recognizable for others to notice.
He said it is an impression or mental picture of who we are as a writer.
A brand is the most important thing we can use.
It tells the reader who we are and what kind of writing they will experience when reading our work.
Anyone knows that to be true.
Some people are known for poetry.
Some are known for their mystery writing style.
Others are known for deep prayer type of writing.
Each writer has a style and brand of writing that represents who they are.
If I see a certain symbol or code I know which reader is behind that writing.
It is very important.
His challenge was to create a name then be consistent and use it always.
Then to create an image and be consistent with that too.
Then to create a voice as in how you communicate with others and how you sound.
This is interesting to me.
A few years ago when the idea came to me about writing anything 
I felt the Lord was telling me to create a symbol for my writing.
Then the idea for a picture to represent the blog.
Then a name came after much prayer.
Then a style of the kind of writing the blog would present.
I have to say the style has changed from the beginning to now.
Writing is always a learning process.
The same as any other ‘hobby or interest’.
We improve with time and practice.
Have you figured out your brand yet?
When my sister made a handmade quilt for our dad she had the quilter put his ‘brand’ from his farming days
throughout the finished work. 
It was his brand and symbol we all knew and loved.
It represented ‘him’ and added a lot of meaning to the quilt.
Our writing is not too different than that.
We all have a special symbol that represents us.
Are we ready for the challenge to figure it out?

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.

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?