Tag: My writing journey
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Saying Yes…
I’ve been practicing saying yes to things. I don’t always feel adequate or prepared, but in every case, the outcome is beyond my expectation. Saying Yes pushes fear aside and makes room for joy. The Joy of Djembe Drumming ensemble recently played at the Children’s Museum Houston in honor of Black History Month. When our…
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The Learning Years…
What time in your life you would declare the learning years? Personally, this present moment is deeply rooted in gaining new skills. Granted, without formal schooling and real lessons, these years would be muddled confusion. Decades of formal classes, managing life in general and reading shelves of books that educated, entertained and inspired, have prepared…
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Big Girl Pants…
I hate these baggy, grown-up Big Girl Pants. I’d rather be lounging in my jammies. Wrapped in well-worn flannel can make me feel like the status quo is where it’s at, where I want to be. But then why the heck have I been writing and rewriting a novel for years? Jammie pants will not…
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And the Winner is…
Raise your hand if you have written a novel. Put it down if it has been published. Congratulations, you have done the work of writing, rewriting, editing, revising, pitching, promoting, suffering rejections (or worse, crickets) and/or followed the steps to self-publishing. Those of you with your hand still in the air, raise it higher if…
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Happy Fun Time…
I’m finally realizing that schedules per se, don’t work for me. Nor do goals that line out how many chapters or scenes or pages or even words I need to write each day to get where I want to go. What is working, though, is honoring my inner child, my creative self, my deepest desire,…
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The Piddly Diddlies…
I recently flipped my schedule upside down to honor writing time. My previous modus operandi was to clear the endless slate of daily chores first. Did you catch the word endless? Those piddly diddlies never go away, so writing time never came. Now, I follow a practice taught by author Ellen Sussman (book review here). Writing…
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More on Yes and No…
This week I received another rejection (the worst kind, a form letter). Someone in a position of power, or a keeper of the gate, deemed my work to be unworthy. But that’s not true. It is worthy. Worth my time and passion and focus. Worthy of sharing with the wide world, adding beauty or humor…
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My Writing Closet…
All this talk of flamingos is not to suggest that us writers are special or flashy or beautiful or tall and graceful but to illustrate how we feel out of place at times. I hope you belong to a group of like-minded writers who also enjoy the creative act of filling their digital files with…
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Embrace Your Flamingo
Writing is a lonely business. Sure, inspiration comes from the world around you, but it can only become your unique combination and cadence of sounds from the confines of your tiny, cozy writing closet. Writers agree: the act of writing is a solo enterprise. The odd worldview, the passion, and the drive, can make one…
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Pushing and Pulling
This Wednesday I am pushing against some self-imposed deadlines, while being pulled toward new and exciting goals. I have recently participated in a constructive pitching roundtable (during which I felt both woefully unprepared and unexpectedly encouraged) while continuing online classes with the Kauai Writers Conference. Pushing to refine and refine and refine novel pitches, loglines…
Patty Mayeux Blog 