Sanguine Tenacious Tidings

Writing is a Craft

It's often said that writers need to write every day to become better at it...do you think that's true? Have you ever taken a significant amount of time off from your writing pursuits? What was your experience like in getting back into a habit or pattern of writing more consistently? And if you've yet to experience this sort of vacation from writing, please do tell us how you plan on picking up exactly where you left off, as if you never stopped *Smirk*.

In every type of activity some people are more able than others. Some types of activities are learned, others are natural.
Writing can become better with practice. But, some people take to it like fish in water. It is about how to present characters or stories. I have a small reminder hanging on my desk called "Ten guidelines for Writing the News" I was surprised to find some of them as rules in my writing class from "New Horizons Academy."

I took two months off of the 30-Day-Challenge so far this year, so I could focus on a longer story I am writing. It really did not help . It really is more a case of putting one thing on hold in order to do another.

I have someone who interferes with my computer. The latest thing that came up missing is a notebook where I was keeping Mindfulness notes. Some were pages I printed from a free website so I can replace it easily Now I keep hard copies of everything I write except My blog on WDC. And sometimes I think I should keep hard copies of that as well.

In the last two years I have read books and web comments about how to continue your writing. All of it is good advice. The best thing I know how to do is just "do it."

I don't write consistently I write sporadically. Write something, clean house for a few days, write something, garden, write something, go for long walks with the dog. Write for a day, do other things for a week. Yes. I can pick up wherever I left off. Even if I'm gone from writing for a month. If it is news or nonfiction it may not wait. But, with fiction your character is always there waiting. Your setting is invented and will only change if you change it.

When I'm doing things other than writing I think about the manuscript I left lay for awhile. Once I figured out three different ways I could point one story. Then, I had to choose which one to use. That was disgusting. I have a story started that features a sociopath. I had to stop long enough to research a character, which entailed reading two books about the characteristics of a sociopath. I learned a lot about the subject.

When I first started writing It was always by hand. Then I managed to get a typewriter for my home. Now, it is computers. I type faster than I write and I like the constant help with spelling and punctuation that is given as you go along on the computer. If I sit down to just write I make a lot of progress at one time. I hope I write better now than when I was writing for the bird club on line. I've spent time and money extending my knowledge about the craft of writing.