Finding Joy - IWSG December 2018

 

It's IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of Alex Cavanaugh, our brilliant ninja leader.  To find a list of contributors with links to their posts, click here. Co-Hosts for December:  J.H. Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker , Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey.

This month's optional IWSG Day question: What are five objects we'd find in your writing space?

You’d think this would an easy one to answer, but at the moment, my writing space is barren.  There’s a laptop, of course, and a printed manuscript, but that’s it. Call it enforced neatness, but my desk is a drop-leaf table in our living room, and well—we just hosted Thanksgiving. Numbers for the holiday have ranged from a low of 19 (this year) to as many as 33, and to seat the crew we line up tables through the dining room well into the living room. My desk becomes a casualty to the effort. 

And, yes, I know we’re almost two weeks beyond T-day, but Christmas follows and I’m married to St. Nick’s son. (Just kidding…though my father-in-law’s name was Nicholas.) Truly, my husband IS Mr. Christmas and my desk has been relocated to its annual spot away from the window to make space for one of three, yes three trees! We’ll end up hosting smaller numbers for Christmas Day dinner, easily fitting around the dining room table, but it seems appropriate to keep my desk neat for the season. 

As a result, my stack of notebooks, the printed drafts filled with edits from my writer’s group, my list of books to be read, the cup with my daughter’s initials on it filled with pens, pencils and a salt-crusted card with my Twitter password, all sit on a bench in my bedroom. Under the bench I’ve tucked the Himalayan sea salt lamp I “won” last Christmas in a Yankee Swap… which I discovered melts in the humidity (hence the salt-crusted card above). Supposedly, the negative salt ions released by heating the lamp boost blood flow, improve sleep and increase levels of serotonin. I don’t know whether it really works, but I’m game to receive any positive energy while I write—which is why I just retrieved a small rock etched with the word “JOY”from that pile in the bedroom.  It sits by my laptop year-round--a stone for all seasons if you will, but it fits in especially well now. The salt lamp may  remain tucked away for December, but the stone on my desk  tells the real story.

What's your writing space like?

Wishing you all a season filled with joy!

Reading and Writing - IWSG November 2018

It's IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of Alex Cavanaugh, our brilliant ninja leader. Co-hosts for November are:

Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Ann V. Friend, JQ Rose, and Elizabeth Seckman

To find a list of other contributors with links to their posts, click here.

Recently, I read a writer/blogger who said she never reads when she writes because she doesn’t want to feel daunted by another writer's talent. Truth be told, if the world was coming to an end I’d take a book along with me to the next stop, but the insecure me heard her message.

I’ve just finished reading Fredrik Backman’s My Grandmother asked me to Tell you I’m Sorry. It’s one of the most creative books I’ve read in a while, filled with fantasy, world-building, reality-based intrigue and yearning—all flowing seamlessly from the protagonist, a precocious seven-year-old. It’s one of those books for which I skipped chores so I could read before and after work. I read it while eating breakfast and even in front of the TV while our beloved Red Sox competed in the World Series. That said, at one point while reading My Grandmother, I put the book down as I experienced a crisis of faith. His book was so darn clever. Nothing I write is remotely close. 

Amidst that ugly little moment of “give-up-itis” I had to stop the negativity train and remind myself of something important. Writing is not a competition. We’ll always discover stories we wish we had the talent and creativity to write. As long as we mine our own imaginations, passions and patience to come up with the best stories we can, as long as we aspire to become better, what more we can ask of ourselves?

Still, I needed help getting over my self-doubt. Stephen King’s On Writing, always helps me when I feel low, so I Googled and found two appropriate quotes to pull me out of my funk.

If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.

The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor. 

The moral of the story is that books like Backman’s can entertain AND teach. I won’t give up on them, and I won’t give up on me. After all, how bad can it be if the “homework” necessary to become a good writer involves good reading, too? 

What are your thoughts on reading while writing?