Monday, May 23, 2011

Blog Chain - Silver Linings

We're back on the blog chain and this round's topic was chosen by Michelle H. who always manages to crack me up.

Be positive! Name some of the positive aspects of your writing --- be it a compliment from a mentor, friend or crit partner to anything special you learned concerning your writing skills.

She couldn't have chosen a better topic for this round.  Writing is difficult, published or not, and it's helpful to remember all the good things.

1.  Friends.  Last week, Margie sent me these AMAZING pastries that I gobbled my way through.  When our schedules sync we manage to Skype, she's always there to prop me up when I fall or listen to me complain.  I hope I'm even half the friend she is.  By my nature, I'm an introverted person.  I don't make friends easily, but through being published, I've met some of the most amazing people.  Margie, the chiefest among them.

2.  Immortality.  Sometimes people write to tell me how Deathday affected them.  A line they loved or a character they felt was particularly real.  Most people love Nana from the book.  And that makes me glow. She's loosely based on my own Nana and I think that in some small way, that means my grandma will live on forever.

3.  Confidence.  Growing up, I always thought I was one of those people who was good at many things and great at none.  I'm not a great writer yet but every day, I think I could be.  The last couple of years have given me the confidence to devote myself to something wholeheartedly.

4.  When I finish a book, no matter how bad it is, I get that rush of completion.  Everyone wants to write a book, few people actually finish one. Published or not, just finishing is amazing.

There are so many things that writing brings to my life.  It helps define who I am, yet it doesn't define me.  It's amazing, my friends are amazing.  I'm lucky to be able to do it.

Well, check out the awesome Michelle M. for yesterday's post and then tomorrow see where the stupendous Sarah finds her bliss.

5 comments:

  1. Ooh, pastries! I think I need to change my motto to "Will write for food." ;)

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  2. Your post made me positive, and hungry. I snack too much in front of the monitor already (she says after eating french vanilla ice cream). Great post!

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  3. Wow, what an amazing answer. You did so much better than me at this one. I'm envious of your "pastry source" though LOL. I also really like #2 and #3. Both of those are really good points, and they resonate with me deeply. Thanks for sharing this with us, Shaun.

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  4. Oooh, immortality. That is a great one. And how great to have a character based on someone you love and find that people really connect with that!

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  5. ROFL

    OK, I just misread No. 2. I thought it said immorality, and I couldn't figure out how Deathday fit into that particular category.

    Immortality, OK, that I can see. Gotcha. :-)

    Note to self: Read more carefully.

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Keep it clean, keep it classy, and jokes are always appreciated.