Tuesday night I attended the Words for the Journey writers group. The speaker was Donita K. Paul – a great lady who writes Christian Fantasy novels. Sitting in the cookbook section of Barnes & Nobel, listening to other writers share the words of the summer brought joy and a lightness to my heart. We haven’t met since the end of June and there is so much to share.

I have been working on my speaking more than my writing. The two endeavors march hand in hand. I can sell more of my writing by speaking and find speaking engagements by writing.

I have been watching the Olympics, as I’m sure many of you have. I see and hear stories about the athletes’ dedication to reach this pointing their lives and it reminds me of the commitment all of us should have to the work God has given us to do. I know writing is not an Olympic sport, but I noticed some similarities. I wish I could unequivocally say yes to all of these questions. NOTE: These questions are designed using a stereotype of an Olympian, which combined the common things discussed.

Olympians practice their sport several hours every day.

A few days ago, my daughter, talked to a man whose creative son was having trouble finding help and a place on the web to publish some of his writing.

In my writing kids blog this week I invited him to send some of his work to this website. I am so driven to help young writers prepare for the world in which all of us struggle to get our work published. We know that we will not continue to live forever and that we will not be able to write everything in the world there is to write. At conferences and as individuals we help each other learn and improve our writing.

I have a story for you tonight. My adult daughter attended the Colorado Rockies baseball game tonight. Before the game, a man commented on the book she was reading. During the conversation following the comment, this man said his son was a creative writer, but is having trouble finding places where he can get help with his stories and post them on the web. She gave the man this website and I hope I will be seeing the young man's stories soon.

This site is for all of you who like to write. After I review the stories, they will be posted on this site.

If your goal is to improve your writing, one thing you must do is write something every day. It doesn’t have to be part of a book or an article or anything for someone else. Writing in a personal journal has many excellent features. It helps the writer to remember important memories, which can slip away if they’re not recorded. Journal entries can be prayers, short stories, or lists of things, which happen each day.

How many of you know the most important thing to do if you want to become a very good writer?

Write, write, write, every day.

The sermon I heard yesterday (Sunday) about commitment reminded me of the importance of being a Christian writer.

Here is a fun exercise for making your characters more real. Try it our and see what you think. Use the following statement and questions to create a paragraph about the woman.

The old woman walked across the street with her cane.

Did she stand tall and proud? Did her cane tap in time with her steps? Was she hunched and curled over the cane? Were her feet shuffling. How much of her weight was being held by the cane? Did she walk slow or fast? Was she friendly and open or cold and haughty?

This morning I spoke at my Toastmasters meeting. I practiced speaking to 5th and 6th graders about making their characters real. One of my evaluations said this was good information for adults as well as the youth I will be teaching. Here are a couple of the things I said.

The old woman walked across the street with her cane. What other information could you give your readers? Did she stand tall and proud? Did her cane tap in time with her steps? Was she hunched and curled over the cane? Were her feet shuffling. How much of her weight was being held by the cane? Did she walk slow or fast?

Hi, Kids,

Have you been thinking about places or things that give you ideas for stories? When I try to decide where the best place to find stories, I keep thinking of more and more places. Abandoned buildings, forests, thickets, under a bed, inside a hole in my desk, and in the cracks in cement.

Here’s a fun exercise if you want to try it. Find a crack in a sidewalk and draw a small circle including a piece of the crack. Then make-up a story about what is happening in the tiny town inside the circle. Have fun.