So here I am after some much needed encouragement writing my 1st blog in a year. Yes I know I know….this is supposed to be a weekly event ….but ….no buts about it I really don’t have a good excuse. I could say I just haven’t had time….I could claim writers block….this has been on my to-do list for ….well a while now. Good news is I’m here now…that counts for something….right?
My only actual reason for not blogging is I had no clue what to blog about…I hadn’t found my niche’ or my place in the writing world. Even though my love of writing goes back as far as I can remember I just hadn’t found my true place.
As a child I would interview my granny pretending to be some big shot reporter after the next big story. Growing up I filled page after page in my journals. Somewhere along the way I decided I was a poet and began to enter every poetry contest that I could find. I actually did pretty good, a few honorable mentions, a few poetry award certificates and have a couple of my earlier poems published in anthologies. At one point somewhere in my teens I decided I was writing a book. I sat down and planned it all out, characters, setting, somewhat of a story line then grew bored with it and put it away…I actually ran across the folder containing all my notes, maybe one of these days I’ll dust it off and see what I can do with it. For some reason somewhere in my mid to late 20’s my love for writing got lost in the shuffle of life. I packed away all my notes, journals and works in progress and did whatever it was I thought was more important than writing…honestly I don’t know what it was.
Lucky for me I have the worlds greatest BFF who I’ve looked up to since….well let’s just say a while now. Over the years the distance had come between us….only miles….not our friendship. One weekend a couple of years ago when she was in town visiting family and friends we were doing what we do best…..talking. While chatting we discovered something about each other…we share the love of writing. Listening to her talk about things she was working on, pieces she had published in her college magazine sparked something in me. I felt something I hadn’t in a long time, I felt the need to pick up pencil and write.
With encouragement from my SS (soul sister as we like to call each other) I made the decision I was going to start writing again and it felt good. Nearly 3 years later here I am still writing. I’ve taken several writing classes, attended the DFW Writers Conference in Dallas with my best friend the past 2 years and already planning on attending next years conference it’s a WONDERFUL conference. I learned a lot and met a lot of great people in the writing world. I’ve also written several short stories to enter into miscellaneous contests.
Recently I’ve started writing for a local online magazine, something I had never thought of doing before. When the editor first asked I really wasn’t sure if it was something I could do or wanted to do. I was positive I was going to spend my days writing short stories and the occasional poem. I thought about it a while not wanting to make the wrong decision for the magazine or myself. I decided to give it a try, I wouldn’t know if I could or couldn’t do it without trying it first. So, the editor gave me my 1st assignment and I started to write and I realized…I liked it….a lot. It was soon clear that I had finally found my place. Now….enough blog ….I have articles to write. I promise to blog weekly….or I’ll be in trouble with my SS …again.
