My Fellow Writers,

Every writer, even the most experienced can always learn something new. That is one reason writers should attend every conference they can to hone their skills. No writer, however, can attend them all.

Conferences have a wide price range and the costs of transportation and housing has to be added. They also can be several days. Sometimes we don’t have the time or the money to go to a full program. Does this mean we should give up our plans of attending? No way. Check around your community and neighboring towns. Look for writers’ groups you can join for minimal cost.

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.

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.

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

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?

I am somewhat nervous starting this blog, but the Lord has blessed me with encouragement from my writing friends—especially my friends in Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild. Every writer needs support through the frustrations of writing exactly what the reader is looking for. WFTJ is my cheering squad, my shoulder to cry on, and “someones” to celebrate with. To meet these wonderful friends and writers, check out their blog at www.wftj.blogspot.com.

One special friend in WFTJ is Jan Parrish.

Hi. How you doin’? Come on in.

I’m looking forward to sharing an adventure with all of you. It is a trip through the land of creativity inside our minds. Creativity explains our world, changes it and builds new worlds within it. This morning, a beautiful day in Colorado and I look out my window through green leaves at patches of bright blue sky, creating different pictures in the gentle breeze. I see butterflies calling me to follow them; sparkling eyes of children playing hide-and-seek; and a room full of fans making their own wind.