Last Saturday I participated in a phone-in writing class. It was an empowering experience and I have been typing like crazy ever since.
I have wanted to do an ABC book for Winnemucca and it is now reaching final stages. I needed a book about Alzheimer's loss of a loved one for younger children, one that exemplifies the tenderness and the extension of life after death. It's on the drawing board.
A teacher asked me about differentiated writing concepts and so I have typed until my fingertips burn. And then there are newspaper articles and ezine articles. Who can imagine what might come up next?
I am sharing this because I have caught the writing bug. The good news is it is contagious. With this touch of encouragement and your determination to set aside time, you too can tap out wonders.
To accomplish this there are a few rules. You must reserve time daily (20-30 minutes are best). You need to establish goals like a poem, a story about learning to drive, a heartfelt letter to a dear friend with one-a-day the minimum. No excuses accepted. If the computer goes down, use pen and paper. If the pens run dry, find a pencil. If the pencil breaks, I bet there are crayons.
Now if you struggled with the past paragraph thinking, "I don't have time; I don't have topics; I don't have a laptop," you understand why your own children may fight an assignment.
If, however, you model the easy flow of words, they in turn will catch the bug. Set the timer and during this time you will write. Five minutes for starters, adding a few more minutes each session. Before you know it - kapow! A book!
When the bell sounds, stretch and rest, then return to read aloud and/or edit the piece. Never edit while writing as a perfectionist attitude during the creation stage disrupts thinking and detours inspired minds into dead ends.
With time dedicated to writing and reading good writing, one day you will awaken and find yourself a fanatic. You will discover that you can sit at your desk or keyboard for hours and pound out the many ideas that are adrift in your mind. You will notice yourself reading great writing and inserting this new knowledge of sentence structure and message transmission into your own writing. You will read bits of really bad writing and wonder how on earth it was ever published.
As a writer, you will read the newspaper or your favorite magazine with red pen in hand to correct grammar errors, spelling misuse, headlines that do not match content, ideas that are isolated with no sense in them and you again will wonder how on earth this was ever published.
When each day is viewed as an opportunity to write and also a chance to share your enthusiasm for writing, you will know that the Writing Bug is firmly ingrained into your being. And as an infectious disease you will invent multiple methods to inject writing ideas and enthusiasm into others. Writing and reflecting on your writing permits self-analysis and self-discovery and these promote deeper and more reflective writing. Your talents will run wild.
Now I love writing, as perhaps you have discerned, but I also know anything parents are passionate about leads to passion within their children. When you are willing to share your own strengths as a writer and your areas of concern, your kids will recognize a role model who is committed to excellence and who is willing to improve and grow.
If you are still hesitant to launch your new hobby, there are a few things you should know. You are smart and capable. You know things and have seen things in a way that has happened to no one else. You have a responsibility to share your knowledge.
Still hesitant? Think of questions that people ask you every day - at work, at the gym, at home. How many times do you repeat, "When you want to delete several photos in a row press..."?
Now you can hand the directions over on a note card.
How about your favorite recipe everyone raves about but it has little tricks involved? Imagine if you had a copy written and all you had to do was attach and send rather than reiterate the lengthy details.
Writing is good for you and for your children. Envision the wondrous tales in store.[[In-content Ad]]
