Make Your Journey A Good One

A few weeks ago I was driving down one of the main streets in my town and the marquee outside one of the carpet stores donned the quote “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one”. Considering New Year’s had just come in, I knew those words were meant to remind those who were wiping their slates clean to moving cautiously forward with their resolutions, having 365-days to do so.

Pic Courtesy of M. Kinnel

After a week of driving past this same sign, I really thought how as writers, we basically live by a similar code each time we sit down to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Granted, we don’t all write books. Sometimes it’s a poem, short story, a blog post, a non-fiction piece—well, you get the drift.

In essence, when a writer sets out to start a project, they are starting with a blank page, a fresh start. And it’s so invigorating when the creative words spill upon that blank page that it can make one giddy. To be able to bring our inner voices to life on paper is almost like some sort of validation our characters and their worlds are real. They are not just some imaginary friends we talk to on a daily basis.

Now, not everything that spills upon that page will be seen by the eyes of the world. I know personally I have a dozen or more pieces secreted away that will never see the light of day because they are just not that great. But I have to admit that those not-so-great pieces needed to be written in order for me, as a writer, to move on. Almost like a brain-purge. They are part of my writing journey.

Think about it, a basketball player may spend hours in her backyard practicing her jump shot on her homemade hoop. Chances are, no one will ever see her hitting or missing those shots but none of that matters. The efforts matter and are part of that player’s passage to becoming the best player she can become.

So, yes, every time writers pull up a blank page to begin a project, we are doing so with the intentions of writing the best whatever we can write and bringing those stories to life. And even if no one ever sees them, you can chalk it up as part of the path you are taking to become a better writer; whatever that means to you, just make sure your journey is a good one.

“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.” ~ Brad Paisley

What’s Your Genre Calling?

What made you choose the genre you write or vice versa? Did you fall in love with romance novels as a teenager? Did you see the latest sci-fi flick when you were a kid and get hooked? Perhaps Judy Blume‘s Forever steered you to pen YA novels? Or maybe you always had a hankering for solving mysteries and decided writing a crime thriller was better than becoming an actual private detective or working homicide? Better yet, maybe you like dealing in factual events and decided to lean towards non-fiction?

In this great big thing that we call the internet, I’ve connected with writers from all genre callings. I seem to always run into YA, fantasy and horror writers a lot. Not that that’s a bad thing in the least. I think we have a common bond as writers no matter what we write. We all go through hell or high-water with our writing and that makes us comrades in arms in my book.

Even though I like reading all types of genres, I, myself, find enjoyment in writing women’s contemporary fiction. Sometimes I’ll write about a sultry love story and sometimes my story ideas bend toward the opposite end of the spectrum, dealing with more serious matters that don’t have a thing to do with sensuality.

Then there’s a little part of me that delves into the darkness now and then. Not horror but stories that have little dark twists. I get excited when the reader thinks they have it all figured it out only to find out that nothing is as it seems. I’ve always gravitated toward stories like that. Oooo, I just got goosebumps! Sorry, I had a moment there! I’m thinking about pursuing publication of these stories under a pen name.

Ok, enough of me.

What’s your genre(s) calling? What pulled you in that writing direction? Has it changed since starting your writing journey? Do you ever dabble in a genre that you don’t normally write?