Reading to Write

My Path to Becoming an Author

Lenten Commitment Phase 2

I need to get back to writing.  I truly think that God gave me a talent for putting words together on “paper” even if it is the electronic version.  Since my faith requires me to use His gifts, I am compelled to renew that part of my life plan.  Although I feel a strong Need to write, I have put it on hold while taking care of my great grandchildren.  The two I have full time are now old enough to play alone with minimal supervision and the others are only here for a few hours once or twice a week, so it’s time to get back to my personal life plan.  

It’s been so long since I had to come up with an idea and turn it into prose that I find the pump seems dry.  As a way of priming it, I am making writing part of my Lenten commitment.  I’m starting slow.  I have two personal blogs: this one which is about my writing journey and Mamaw’s Homeplace which I’ve repurposed from a family sharing site to a personal blog space.  I expect it to cover a wide range of topics from religion to fitness as a record of my personal journeys.

I also am supposed to be sharing two others with my youngest brother, Jim.  One of them is our Web Design business location, the other is one we started to record our Roadtrips and showcase some of our photos from those trips.  Note, I said “supposed to be sharing.”  Lately, the only thing we’ve shared is a lack of motivation or follow through.  I hope, eventually, to change that.  First I need to get my own space under control.

So, today, I chose two books on writing that have been gathering dust for the past 4 years while I played with the greats.  One is a paper book, rather thin so it shouldn’t take long to finish, titled Write Your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell.  My middle daughter pulled it from my wish list a couple of Christmases ago and it’s been laying on my desk ever since.  The other is a Kindle book called Let’s Write a Short Story by Joe Bunting that I’ve had in my electronic library since August of 2015.  

I have been reading three fiction books at once for the past few months.  One paper one stays downstairs, while another is on my nightstand and I also have a Kindle book going for when paper books are inconvenient.  I am presently between paper books.  The current fiction Kindle book will be a side item for when my brain is too tired to study.  

I expect to finish the Bell book in a week or so.  It’s only 52 pages divided into 9 chapters.  Even if it includes writing exercises, it shouldn’t take longer than two weeks.  Then I’ll begin Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing by David Morrell.  It is a more substantial text and I expect it to keep me occupied for the remainder of Lent.  I have several other books on writing in both types of libraries, if necessary, and I hope to find inspiration along the way to begin putting my own words down once more.

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