Charity Marie Blogs!

Writing.com is Home

When I think of writing.com and the idea of home, it's clear to me that for almost 10 years, WDC has been my writing home. My recent return is partly due to a nostalgia for that feeling. A feeling of belonging and acceptance and positiveness. Almost ten years ago my daughter was an infant when I first signed on to the site. I remember sitting on a couch with my laptop, browsing and reviewing until the wee hours of the morning. I was young (27), inexperienced, and had been writing as a hobby for about 10 years by that point but hadn't really grown as a writer. I quickly found my home here, among the Rising Stars, Simply Positive, and other groups.

I created many short stories, poems, contest entries, blog posts, articles, and more. It was my testing ground. I explored, I played, I learned, I shared, and most importantly, I grew as a writer. My work began to be professionally published. One of my stories, Alone, was published in a professional magazine. One of my short stories written on this site was published in an anthology with the venerable science fiction writer George Clayton Johnson (Twilight) under my former pen name Michelle D. Keyes. He sadly passed away in 2015.

I returned to school in real life to improve my writing and as my daughter grew, my distance from the site grew with it. Life became very busy. Now, almost a decade later, I'm a professional independent writer, and CEO of an independent publishing company. I'm working on multiple independent projects in various genres. But this site, this writing home, was instrumental in launching my writing career - the people here guided me, gave me courage, and helped me to start down the path of professional writing. I've since been published in a wide range of mainstream media and written for big companies like Coldwell Banker and iPhone magazine. My children's book won an award in 2013. But it all started here, in this online home for writers.

I'm not sure yet what my role here on WDC will be. Mentor? Guide? Resource? Will I play once again? My time is so limited compared to ten years ago. I steal moments here and there. I'm in an interesting place in my writing and it feels like I'm once again evolving. I thought I needed to get back to basics, but now I'm realizing I've got the basics and it times to challenge myself. I'm working to accept myself as a professional writer, to find the confidence to fully believe in myself, to walk forward despite some fear (that never goes away, regardless of success or experience - it's a writer's curse).

Now, ten years later, my spouse is a writer and working to lift me more fully toward my potential as a writer. He's my biggest cheerleader. When the voice in my head tells me I'm not good enough, he's there to say "Yes you are." I don't know the future will look like, but I know where it started. Right here. This is home and I am so very grateful to all the hard work that has gone into making this site the incredible place it has been for 17 years. I hope it can continue for many more years to be home for fledgling and experienced writers alike. And I hope it will always be here to welcome writers home if they venture out into the world and then return as I have done. I think I participate now if for no other reason to help that to continue.