I wanted to share my response because I think it might be beneficial to those of you out there feeling, thinking the same thing.

You know, the need to pursue writing often comes before one even KNOWS if he or she has talent. It comes from a desire, a need to express something. The fact that you’re pulled to write is BIG. For me, writing was always a NEED. Started writing when I was 10, and it was all about looking at the world and writing what interest me, then what I didn’t understand, then what I hated, then what I wanted to be made right, and on and on.

That pull to write is important because it will warm your heart when you’re rejected, it will urge you on when you receive criticism, and it will move you to want to learn so that you can better your craft.

First and foremost, I think you need to KEEP the pull. Recognize it. Communicate with it. Nurture it.

Allow the pull to keep you writing.

As you write, think about what you seem “called” to write about. This calling isn’t set in stone, but it’s a great place to begin to think about who you are as a writer and what you hope to convey in your writing.

As you write, READ. Read works you deem “good,” and be able to illustrate to yourself why they are good and what you can glean from these findings for your own writing.

As you write, READ. Read works you deem “bad,” and be able to illustrate to yourself why they might be bad and what you can glean from these findings for your own writing.

As you write, READ. Read works about writing, especially those books that delve into the issues you find you make consistently in your work. You want as many tools in your writer’s toolbox as possible.

Connect with other writers, especially those willing to read and critique your work. It’s important to know what you want to get out of a critique group and what you can bring to that group; you do not just want to jump into a group and wallow within it. And be open to constructive criticism.

And almost as important as your writing these days is your platform – who you are, what you stand for, how your writing reflects this, who you connect with, network with, how you BRAND yourself.

But ultimately, I think it is about the PULL. If you don’t feel moved to write, who will be compelled to read WHAT you write?

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Here’s the premiere podcast for The Write Life for You series, What’s Your Writing Addiction?

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Many thanks to you for all you do to help those of us aspiring to higher aspirations! I was ready to rename my manuscript “SO MUCH FOR TRYING”, lol, and put it on the shelf until I found the APOOO site through Jewell Parker Rhodes’ Facebook page and the Black Writers Conference. I like how easy your flow is to follow and understand, as well as how you break everything down into “Bacon Bit” sized pieces. Again thank you, Shonell. My dream is not put on hold.

Sometimes, all you need is ONE PERSON to tell you that what you say, what you think matters to them.

I am blessed.

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Becoming a Lifelong Learner of the Craft of Writing
By author, editor, educator Shon Bacon aka ChickLitGurrl™

The Write Life for You is a series of articles on the writing craft. Past articles have focused on building character, developing a solid plot, and harnessing a writing style. In the first article of the new year, I look at CAMPING VS. MARCHING IN STORIES.

Camping vs. Marching

This month, I’m talking about camping vs. marching. Before I pursued my MFA degree, I knew nothing about this “concept”.

Many writers, for fear of losing readers, will explain everything in their story, not realizing that they will definitely lose their readers this way. So, how do writers tell us everything? They might tell us everything a character has on, explain every piece of furniture that’s in a room, detail an entire conversation from beginning to end, relay every minute feeling that comes through the narrator’s mind, and bring us into every sight, smell, taste, sound, touch that occurs within a story – all in the name of making the story feel real to the reader. In the end, this may make the reader so full off “stuff” that’s unimportant to the actual story that he/she may close the book and find a less tedious (or as I like to say “less chewy”) book to read.

Want to learn MORE about camping vs. marching and how to know when to do both?

Then head to APOOOBOOKS.COM to read my latest article in The Write Life for You series!

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Just received my NaNoWriMo mug in the mail today.  And though this surely means I will be making some coffee to try out my new baby, it also means that it’s time to do some WRITING again.

I wrote a little bit yesterday, but it’s time to get back into SERIOUS WRITER MODE.  I hope to have a finished rough draft of THE FIXER by Christmas.

That’s all I’m saying about that – weekly updates will air starting Monday – let’s hope my word meter (on the right hand side) goes up by then!

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Building Character

If you’ve been around since the inception of TWL4U, then you have thought about your story’s genre and description, you’ve considered your writing style, and you’ve examined the plot of your story.

Let’s move on to the most important component of your story: CHARACTER.

Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/character], there are over twenty definitions of “character”. Here is one that is particularly important to us writers: “the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing.”

Throughout the course of a story, your character [main character(s)] will undergo change(s), and it is through his/her features and traits (the things that make up the character) and his/her actions and speech that will illustrate the change(s) for the reader.

Want to learn MORE about character, to include how to differentiate between main and minor characters and how to develop them both?

Then head to APOOOBOOKS.COM to read my latest article in The Write Life for You series!

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How Solid is Your Plot?

Every story should have a main plot; most stories have several sub-plots within the main plot.

What is a plot?

Plot refers to the pattern of events within a narrative or drama; these events culminate into the story’s resolution. The development of the events and how the main character(s) react to these events often give a story its meaning.

Most books that you read about plot will tell you that to have a solid plot, your story should have five components:

• Conflict
• Complications
• Rising Action
• Climax
• Falling Action

Want to learn MORE about plot…and see how I tie the movie FATAL ATTRACTION to the five components?

Then head to APOOOBOOKS.COM to read my latest TWL4U article!

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