One of my most cherished Twitter Tutor/Writer/Friend is Lisa Rivero, and her Blog post today mentioned an announcement by writer Michelle Johnson’s journey toward opening a book store!
First and foremost, congratulations Michelle! What a wonderful business venture, and I wish you great success! Your plans sound wonderful--I only wish I lived near Virginia Beach! Many days I could use a cozy corner writing respite -- away from normal distractions, to really let the muse chat me up.
I've only been writing (officially) since April, so I haven't even read 10 books on writing to suggest to you...but I'm currently reading Elizabeth Berg's "Escaping into the Open" and just started The Passionate Writer chapter--which I can tell is going to be a tremendous help to me. Ms. Berg was the keynote for a writer's workshop sponsored by the Hub City Writer's Project in Spartanburg, SC that I recently attended. While her writing style is very different from mine, I am truly enjoying "Escaping into the Open."
In my first WIP Whirlwind Love, a friend shared with me that she felt left behind in the love scenes. I admit that I take the reader there--and then walk away. Feels a lot like peeking into someone's window for me...lol. I'm hoping that the exercises in this chapter might help me move past that issue.
I also wanted to mention that it's because of music that I'm writing. So perhaps music is something to add as a secondary goal--it can be very inspirational to a writer. At the aforementioned conference, Jeremy L. C. Jones presented a session on Music and Writing--I could've sat in that session for the entire day, it was so fascinating. I thought about the ability to be introduced to music for inspiration based on other people's recommendations would be amazing. For instance, writing a scene of hard-hitting action--what music would inspire you? A love scene? I might choose the same music, but having a recommendation from another author on what inspires them could make an entirely different scene. Just a thought.
Looking forward to hearing more about your venture!
Digital Photography and Art by DiDi Hendley. Now...Words.
Thank you for the generous mention, DiDi! Your kindness shines through everything you write. Did you know that?
ReplyDeleteI'm really intrigued by the music and writing idea, and by the music you are composing. A young, prolific friend of mine always writes with music in the background, very specific music chosen for each particular writing project, and he also composes music.
I chuckled about taking the reader into the love scenes, and then walking away. Maybe a little Bolero would help. ;)
I'll take that Bolero under advisement! lol I truly am inspired by writers like you...I am beginning to reorganize my life to make more time for writing. It's taken me a long time to decide what makes me happy--and writing makes me happier beyond belief. I just hate the business side- which was true with photography, too. I've pretty much decided to close the photog business at the end of this year. Way too much effort and almost no reward-doesn't take a genius to figure out it's time to call it quits and do something that makes me happy. I still have faith that there may be some reward with that (God willing!)
ReplyDeleteI can't really say I have an interest in composing, but my WIP is about a singer/songwriter, and the WIP-sequel has even more singers/songwriters. I breezed through the WIP with "he sang a beautiful song" and had a response that the reader felt cheated--"what beautiful song?" so...revisions must include at least SOME lyrics. Makes sense.
As always, thanks so much for the comments and for all you do! I'm a fan!