State of the Writer - Writing 101 Day 42

 Hello, and what's this, an update that you didn't have to wait 6 months for? What has become of the world? Well it is true, I am here and writing, so I hope it is worth your time.

As many of you know, I am trying to grow as a writer. That is the point of the whole blog. The Writing 101 project was to get me writing more. This is a tough process, because I have a lot of mental blocks that keep me from writing. On the other hand, I find I am happier when I am writing and interacting with people that read my writing, and with other writers.

To encourage that, I recently signed up for a Writer's Workshop. It is being held by a group north of my town called The Gals Guide To The Galaxy I have attended a couple of classes, and I am really enjoying it. It provides me with a couple of things. First, every class we are encouraged to write. That keeps me writing, and provides outside motivation. Second, it is teaching me mechanics of writing. I can find these mechanics in books or in online videos or blogs, but I learn better in a group teaching environment. I am familiar with some of these basics, but you can never learn too much, and I am learning a lot. Thirdly, it provides me with an environment of people that are also writing and going through some of the same things that I am going through. If that was all it provided, it would be worth it. Writing feels a lot like putting messages in a bottle and throwing them out into the ocean. It is very common to have no idea if anyone reads anything, if you are reaching anyone, if it really matters. Writing is usually done alone, in a room, with no interaction with other people. It is a very solitary affair. To have other people that enjoy what I enjoy that I can interact with, live and in person, is a gift beyond compare.

Another nice feature is that many of these people know the local writing scene. This is really cool. They give updates of local writing events and writing opportunities. I have already submitted a new poem to a website for consideration. I am working on a story from last year that I am going to submit to a local writing journal/book. Hopefully it will get included and I will have a publication I can put in my byline. I am looking forward to hearing about more places to submit my work and getting it out there. I can't tell you how exciting this is for me.

Part of writing for me is knowing that what I write is being read. I am a performer that needs an audience, I need to know that I am part of something bigger, an experience that we are all sharing. As I said earlier, this can be very difficult to gauge. As part of my effort to grow my audience, I am working on a website. It will be more extensive than this blog, a place that I can keep my writing, continue this blog, and help promote other people's work. A one-stop shop where we can build that audience that I am talking about. As I get further along this road, I will provide you with updates. I am really excited about the possibilities this will present.

One last thing, if you have read this far, I do have another piece of writing out there. I wrote something for my friend Jack Wallen's blog. It is a Halloween piece and can be found at Empatheia. If you have already heard about it from one of my posts elsewhere, I am sorry to bring it up again. Self-promotion is something that writers have to do a lot of these days. Besides, I am pretty proud of that piece. (I am thinking I might do an upcoming post just about this story.) Check it out, and while you are there, check out some of the things the other writers have on his site. There is some good stuff there. 

One last promotion for the day. If you want to keep up with my latest, check out my Facebook page at:

Quillnib (https://www.facebook.com/Quillnib)

That's it for now. If everything goes well, I will have more updates shortly.

P.S. Please feel free to hit me up in the comments. That always makes my day.