The What, Why and How of My Writing

It’s kinda funny to write about writing, right?  I mean, I think so.

But Jennifer (and actually Angela too) pushed me into encouraged me to put it out there about how I write so here goes.  Let me know if your writing process is similar to mine.  Also let me know if it is not.

 

1. What am I working on?

I am always working on things in my head.  I even have a short story/novel idea that I have started but I’m not really sure where it’s going next so there it sits.  I also have a few posts in draft that I would like to submit to other places and I re-visit them occasionally but they just are not quite “done” yet.  I am working on a few other things and I have submitted things elsewhere but I have yet to hear about those.  Waiting is the hardest part.  Probably why I like my little blog here so much.  I can just hit PUBLISH!

For me, there are always ideas and inspiration swirling around…

Also, “working on” Listen To Your Mother, which takes quite a bit of time and brain power and sheer awesome-ness.  Show is THIS Sunday! EEK!

 

2. How does my writing differ from other’s of it’s genre?

I’m not really sure it does but I don’t really care either.   I hope not to be “just another blogger” but I also know that the internet is BIG and that my words probably do get lost within the crowd many times.  Maybe the photographs help me stand out some because not everyone does that too?  But then so many do.  However, MY words coupled with MY photos are always going to be different than anyone else’s in some way so, there is that.

I’m rambling.

All this to say I am probably not that different but I am ME and that is what counts, I think.

 

3. Why do I write what I do?

Because I have to get it out of my head.  Because I love to read it back.  Because I like to see how far I’ve come, in my writing and in life.  Documenting what is going on in my world (both in words and photos) is just something I am compelled to do.  I have kept journals and scrapbooks and written poetry and stories since a young age.  When I found blogging I was an avid scrapbooker and although I loved that medium (pretty paper makes me squee!) an online “journal” of sorts quickly became my way to keep all of these memories.  The writing has been an extra bonus and finding writing communities and inspiration online was never something I expected when I started the blog.  I also write because I hope my kids and other family can read this someday and have a legacy of our family and time on this earth.  I know, so DEEP, right?

 

4. How does my writing process work?

I sit down at my computer with an idea.  Or sometimes with a notebook and a pen (side note: wrote one of my favorite posts, sitting outside my hotel room at the last Blissdom conference in Texas a year ago…).   The idea has usually come on as I am waking in the morning or driving somewhere or as I am showering (TMI, I know).  I type it all out within minutes (if at computer) then I go back and fix mistakes, add or take out here or there.  I will admit, when writing for the blog, I do not sit there and analyze sentence structure or any of the technical stuff.  I JUST WRITE.  And I usually like the final product.

 

I am currently reading On Writing Well to hopefully improve my writing skills for my own personal reasons.  I want to feel like a good writer and I want others to think I am too.

Okay, so that’s my “process”.  Amazing, right?

And now, I ask my new friend Candy from Slightly Overcaffeinated (she’s in our LTYM cast) and Tonya from Letters for Lucas to play along and share their writing processes with me/us!