This blog is about the writer’s passion, writing what you love and loving what you write—or it’s supposed to be. Writing should also be fun.

My passion is not to write about writing. I do enjoy it, but there are so many great blogs out there about writing—fiction, technique, freelance, style, non-fiction—the topics are endless.

After a lot of soul searching (and putting it off for years) I’ve finally decided to go with my passion—health and well-being. I’ve spent the last few weeks getting the site ready for launch. There will be some crossover between this blog and that one. How can you keep up with your passion for writing if the body, mind and spirit are not in alignment?

What does all of that have to do with the Law of Attraction? Well since I’ve decided to go with my niche passion, the comments I’ve been getting from my posts at BloggingTips and here as well, have mostly been from people who are in the same niche—something related to health, well-being or personal development.

I didn’t actively set out to start attracting these people—yet, but we do inadvertently attract those things that we desire. When The Law of Attraction is set in motion and on purpose—just imagine what it can do. I’ll probably have more on that in another post—at a later date.

Since this blog is about writing and passion, I want to hear from you. I invite you to write a guest post about your passion. Tell us why you write, what your favorite topic/niche is. You can write this as a story, or as a bio type post. Just share your love of writing with us.

You can read the guest guidelines at the Guest Blogging page. Don’t worry—they aren’t too strict.

Oh, I’ll announce my new blog soon—so check back in!

Image courtesy: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2133/2442969107_54f77a8f3c.jpg

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Do you listen to music while you write? Not everyone can. It’s only been recently that I started playing music while I write. Now I can’t start my work day without it. I have very specific music I listen to, which I will share later and the reasons for my choices.

I want to start by sharing a few quotes from the movie Eddie and the Cruisers. If you aren’t familiar with the movie—Eddie Wilson wants to be remembered for great music and songs that mean something. The band meets a college guy majoring in English and Literature—he becomes the lyricist for the band. Eddie calls him Wordman.

What I want is songs that echo. The stuff we’re doing now is like somebody’s bedsheets; spread ‘em out, soil ‘em, ship ‘em out to laundry, you know? But our songs…I want us to be able to fold ourselves up in them forever…understand? That’s the most you’ll ever get out of me Wordman. Ever.

Wordman, we need each other.
Words and music, man- they need each other.
Words and music.

As writers, we want our words to mean something and be remembered. Music can inspire this. My husband is a musician who is deeply passionate about music. He can play thousands of great songs, but he can’t recite any of the lyrics unless they were written by certain people—one of which is on the list I’ll share later. He’s more moved by the complexity of the music itself. I, on the other hand, am more moved by the lyrics—of course, I’m a writer. In fact, I’m just learning how to hear the music and ignore the vocals; it’s not an easy task.

One of my favorite pieces of writing is one I wrote about Bruce Springsteen. It’s not a great work of art or anything, but I was “in the moment” and it’s very close to my heart. I wanted to quote some of it here, but discovered I’d probably end up quoting the whole thing. If you want to read it in its entirety, you can find it at Growing Up With Bruce Springsteen: Baby We Were Born to Run.

I used phrases such as:

“Bruce reaches down into the depths of your soul and leaves you with your emotions pounding in your chest and your heart on your sleeve. Bruce Springsteen touches the darkest recesses of the listener’s soul, the side they never let anyone get a glimpse of. Yet Bruce has a way to reach past that empty space they feel within.”

“Bruce Springsteen is one of those few artists that touch on real life with vivid surrealism. No matter what you’re going through in your own inner hell, Bruce is there to serenade you through it, assuring you that others feel just as deeply as you do.”

“Music has been the chosen outlet for Bruce but had he chosen to showcase his work in the literary field, he would be one of the great writers. He is a word master who has the knack to bring those words to life through his music.”

One of Kevin’s favorite lyricists is Ronnie James Dio. If you listen to anything he’s written, you know he’s a storyteller as well. Another musician in that category is Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, who writes a lot of medieval type tales.

If I need to write vivid scenes I enjoy listening to the words and music these guys have put together. Poetic stories told with captivating music are not only inspiring but magical in many ways.

It’s not always easy to transition yourself to work with music playing in the background—but it’s definitely worth giving it a try a few times. Who knows, you may just write the next literary masterpiece.

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I recently did a post at Blogging Tips titled, “You Were Not Born a Writer.” One reader disagreed with me.  I’d like to use my own blog here at Writing 101 to discuss it further and explain why writers are not born but created.

We are not born writers.  Before we can become writers we must take a few steps to reach that destination.  It takes years to get there.  This process requires us to learn the alphabet, learn how to make our little fingers form these new frustrating shapes, then in a few years we begin to learn English (or language as it may be).

When my husband, Kevin, was 3 years old he picked up his first guitar and that’s when people decided he needed a guitar, because even though he didn’t “know” the mechanics of using this instrument he made nice audible sounds come from it.  The music was born in him. In fact he played music for years before he ever learned what the notes were or how to read music.  He plays by ear, but he’s also had the teaching to read from sheet music–although he rarely does this.

I’ve never seen a 3 year old pick up a pencil and write a story, or even have a story in them.

Let’s look at people in third world countries–or even the deep wood Aborigines.  These people are not subjected to school, television or anything that we are.  Yes, many of these people grow up to “tell” great stories verbally but that doesn’t make them a writer–especially since they don’t use a written language to the extent the rest of us do.

But even peoples of those cultures who know nothing of the modern world, can pick up sticks and stones (at a very young age) and make music with them.  So I feel music is something many people are just born with.  Writers have to master a whole skill set.  Musicians can make beautiful sounds just playing by ear and may not be able to tell you the first note they’ve played–they don’t have a clue if it’s G or C or E—they just hear it and can reproduce it.

I do believe that some people are born natural storytellers, while some of us have to really use our noggin’ to tell about a mishap in the kitchen.

Storytelling and writing do not always come together and not all great storytellers can write it down.  Not all storytellers are even literate.  I’ve known many old men who could tell you a story and hold you in the palm of their hand–their writing ability didn’t go any further than learning to sign their name.

Writers are not born, they have to be created. Unless you learn the skills to put stories into the written word, you are only a storyteller.

Any thoughts? We’d love to hear your opinion.

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I’m sure we have many reasons for being writers, but one of the best thing to me is:  I can do things simply because I want to.

• I can change jobs every day.
• I can have a new personality every day.
• I can be a man today.
• I can be a dog or cat today.
• I can be a little girl.
• I can be a god or goddess.
• I can fight fires, destroy and rebuild the world.
• I can fly, grow wings, or be a fish in the ocean.

All these things I can do in any given day and so much more.

What’s the best thing about being a writer to you?  Share the love with us!

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By guest blogger Milli Thornton

Milli Thornton, author of Fear of Writing

ALL TOO OFTEN as writers we’re focusing on what we see as our shortcomings. Over the years I’ve witnessed many writers dumbing themselves down, even in the same moment that I was reveling in their creativity.

I decided to make myself sit down and come up with ten things to celebrate—instead of another thing to verbally and carelessly denigrate myself for. I hope you’ll be inspired to make your own list. You might find it hard to stop at ten!

1. It’s fun to have an avocation/career that includes making up stories from my imagination.

2. I feel lucky to live in this age of technological wizardry, making it possible for authors like me to publish books on demand (thus saving trees) and also to publish instantly (blogging, e-books, my Website).

3. During my travels—on the Internet, as a workshop and writing circle leader, and because my husband and I have moved around a lot—I’ve met so many other WONDERFUL writers, and have made so many lasting friendships!

4. What other job can claim “pajamas” as the optional uniform?

5. Through my writing I’ve been able to inspire or entertain others.

6. Being a writer is powerful—I have the ability to impart information that can make a difference in people’s lives.

7. In my quest to evolve myself as a writer, I’ve learned countless new skills; everything from computer to people skills.

8. Writing lets me reinvent myself on a regular basis: blogger, newsletter editor, author, screenwriter, story scribbler, journaler, travel writer (whatever I wanna be that day). Published or unpublished, my inventions are mine!

9. When I’m out in public, every time I see the word “write” or “writer” my blood quickens. That’s a primal reaction that happens before I even have time to think.

10. Writing allows me to hide from the world when I need to and disappear into comforting solitude.

——

MILLI THORNTON is the author of Fear of Writing: for writers & closet writers and still misses Australia, where she lived for 25 years. A bit of a gypsy, she currently lives in Ohio with her husband. Milli blogs at the Fear of Writing blog and Screenwriting in the Boonies.

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So you’ve decided to become a writer.  Welcome to the hardest “easy” job on the planet.  Or you’ve written a book and you’re ready to start submitting your work of art to publishers.  Are you ready for rejection?  It’s a sad reality we all must face and in the beginning of your writing career it can be very heart breaking. But, you will get rejected.  Expect it.  According to some of the greatest and most well known authors on the planet, if you’re lucky, you’ll get hundreds of rejections.

Why would getting that many rejections be good?  Because it means you’re writing consistently and getting your manuscript or article in front of editors and publishers; it means you haven’t given up, you have passion.  You will need that passion and that excitement to stay the course.  If you don’t have it now, you might as well give up on being a writer or just hang out with your blog until you do get it.

Stephen King, one of the greatest writers of all time, and whether you like his work or not, you have to admit he is the master, received hundreds of rejections and was even told to give up writing.  Did he?  Well obviously not or he wouldn’t be so well known.  If you’ve never read his book, “On Writing“, you need to.  I was under the impression (once upon a time) that writers like Stephen never had a rejection in their life.  Turns out, the greats have  had more rejections than anyone because they kept writing and sending out submissions.

Do you have the passion it will take to get those rejections?  It’s not easy and it can hurt your ego, but if you’ve got the passion to ride it out and keep at it, great things can happen.  You will go through periods that you want to quit- it’s understandable, but you’ll never get published if you quit.  Find a support group if you need to, but don’t stop working on your dream and passion.

Even if you want to strictly write online as a freelancer, don’t give up.  Sometimes a hiatus is necessary, but you need to keep writing during your down time.

What’s your tips for staying focused and keeping the passion alive through rejection?

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Part of the writing process is editing. Most of us find this stage of writing to be the least favorite, but it is necessary to make sure we’ve done our best, find and correct mistakes, and polish up anything that’s out of place.

Today we’re going to cover a simple checklist you can use to make sure you’ve covered everything in the editing process. This checklist is by no means, set in stone, and you may have your own system.

Editing Checklist:

* Check your sentences for errors in grammar and usage.
* Are all words spelled correctly?
* Have you capitalized the correct words?
* Did you use proper punctuation?
* Are your paragraphs in order?
* Is point of view consistent?

Some writers check for all these mistakes at once, but that can still leave mistakes uncovered. It’s a good idea to check off each part seperately. Read through the material looking for grammar and usage mistakes. If a spelling error is obvious you’ll see those too and can correct them, but your focus at this point is on grammar and usage.

Read through it again and look for spelling errors that weren’t obvious while you were checking the grammar.

Read through the article several times to find each of these common mistakes. We don’t always catch obvious mistakes when we’ve written the material. I’ve had people proofread my work after I’ve done several edits and have them discover simple little errors that I missed, like using there for their. Spell check doesn’t catch those mistakes, human eyes do. But it’s very easy for our human eyes to miss these because in our mind the word we meant to use is implanted in the brain so we miss the obvious.

In a recent article at BloggingTips, Dot Your “I’s” and Cross Your “T’s”, Patricia suggested:

Print out what you’ve written for better proofreading. This may seem like something that just takes up extra time along with paper and ink, but you will be able to see your mistakes more clearly if you have a printout in front of you.

In light of today’s technology and the use of computers, this is still the best way to edit your work. Mistakes jump out at you from paper so much easier than they do from a computer screen.

Print your work out and use basic proofreading symbols to mark your mistakes.

I’m having trouble with the Image feature.  Just click the link below for a visual image of proofreading symbols

http://www.umw.edu/policies/style_guide/proofreading_guidelines/common_proofreading_symbol.php

 You may also want to double space for a print-out to make it easier to mark. You can always switch back to single spacing when all edits are complete.

Getting back to the basics of writing will make you feel better about your skills, impress your readers and show professionalism. We all make mistakes, we are human, and I’ve seen novels by top authors contain mistakes. The problem occurs when we consistently make mistakes or make the same mistakes over and over.

Always check your work!

Please share any suggestions or tips you use when proofreading and editing your work. We’d love to hear from you.

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I’ve been debating on which theme I wanted to use here.  I liked the simplicity of the Tarski theme, but it didn’t really fit how I wanted the place to look.

I’ve decided on Slickpress, which is the same theme I currently use at The Music Rocks! Blog.  I really love this theme, but haven’t quite got all the kinks worked out.  I’d like more content on the front page since the sidebars are full of information and makes the side of the page way too long for the main content.  But this will have to do until I can find a nice tutorial or something on the theme.

I’ve also created a new category, Writing 101: Basic Training.  This will contain information on basic writing and English skills.  I hope by using the category it will make navigation easier when you’re looking for those posts.

I hope everyone has a great Friday, and it is Friday!  Yay!  I have a full day of work ahead, but my work day doesn’t start until 9:00 am.  So now I’m off to fix my lovely bowl of oatmeal (old fashioned- NOT instant).

Write On!
Patti Stafford

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