Writing Tips, writing Comments (1)
Sometimes you get more irons in the fire than you can manage. OK, switch those two “you”s to “I.” Is it just me, or is it pretty doggone easy to say, “I am passionate about (fill in the blank),” and then let everything in the world get in the way of doing it?
Ostensibly, we are passionate about writing around here. After all, the wonderful world of writing is what The Write Crowd is all about. Yet, here my blog sits…unattended. I could blame it on many things. I could excuse myself by telling you that I work a day job, maintain a moonlighting ghost-and-copy writing business, and own three other websites. But you don’t want to hear that. You’re busy, too!
I have learned through the years that more often than not, writing is about 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. There are those rare times when the ratio is reversed. That’s when the words flow, a mighty torrent of epic, passionate, irresistible power. That’s when writing is easy, rewarding, and fun!!! Those times, at least for me, are less common. More often than not, I find myself somewhat inspired…and then obliged to toil and strain and bleed and sweat to turn that dab of inspiration into something worth reading.
About a year ago, I launched an online writing service through my personal website, writedaddy.com. It took six months to land my first job. When I did, others followed close on its heels, and pretty soon, I found myself inundated with requests. I was writing web content, sales letters, white papers, marketing emails, blog content and various other pieces for a growing - and diverse - clientele. I soon learned that writing is WORK! HARD work.
I owed it to my clients to deliver a quality product. They were paying for passion and wit and charm and poignancy and…I needed to deliver. Consequently, I found myself elbow deep in research. I was reading articles on a litany of subjects, watching videos, listening to audio, camping out at Wikipedia and Google. I always wanted to work as a writer…and be paid to do so. I just hadn’t figured it would really be work.
It is.
Lessons learned:
Sometimes, writing is murder. (He wrote.)
Write away. Write now.
D. Gene Strother @ April 22, 2008
Short Story, writing Comments (0)
Last year we buried my beloved grandmother. She was a beautiful woman, a devoted wife and mother, and a dedicated Christian whose light shined as brightly as any I have ever seen. Watching my aged grandfather, who suffers with dementia, deal with the loss of his life partner moved me to write a fictionalized account of the event.
Please note that this is a work of fiction rooted in truth. It is this author’s attempt to see the world through the eyes of a man whose mind betrays him. I hope you are as moved by reading it as I was when writing it. Just click on the image below to be directed to a full-blown readable version.
All the best to you and yours.
Write away. Write now.
~Gene
D. Gene Strother @ March 12, 2008