Gold Coast, Australia
Welcome back!
A lot has happened in the world with COVID-19, and in my own personal life since I posted on January 31 2020. My goodness is it really two months ago! My sincere apologies if you have been waiting for further posts.
My life has been busy with moving and all the challenges that come along with that. I am now back on the Gold Coast after being away for three years, meeting new people, doing research for my next book and also learning to paint with water colours for my future projects. The painting is going to take some time to perfect. Just like writing, it takes practice and it takes time. I have never been one to let a challenge go by.
So here I am back on the Gold Coast, settling back to my writing projects and adjusting to life with the COVID-19 restrictions. I love art work, so my paintings are in position on the floor ready to hang. That’s my job this weekend. The veggie patch has been turned and sown with broad bean seeds, and tomato seedlings, with rocket and peas to follow in the next couple of days. I am grateful for the sunny position of my garden beds that promote photo-synthesis for healthy plant growth. Let’s hope I get a bumper crop so that I can share with my neighbours.
So back to writing and regular posts from now on to encourage you to write and express yourself in the way that you want to. I want to re-cap on my last post. How did you go with the exercises? Please leave any comments below. I really want to hear from you what problems you may be having with your writing. I am here to help.
Do you like words, and are you up to speed with your grammar? Have you found a good book that will help you in this area. A good place to start is “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk Jr. and E.B White. This is a small book containing an index that is really helpful for finding what you are looking for quickly. For all of you who love working with online technology you might like to try Grammarly. You can have this app turned on while you are working or you can post text into the program to check for any grammatical errors. Please be aware that you don’t have to follow all the ‘rules’. Sometimes it comes down to your personal writing style and any art you want to put into your writing. More about that in future posts. Let’s not get too hung up on grammar at this stage. Let’s get the project written before you start revising your writing and developing your style. Take a few minutes a day to study a point in grammar to fine-tune your skills.
How many books have you read in the two months since I posted? Have you begun reading every day? What are you reading? I am reading “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself” by Dr. Joe Dispenza. This book has some interesting information about how our brain works. I read in all genres: fiction and nonfiction. Reading helps you understand other writers’ styles and help you to develop your own.
How is your writing practice coming along? Are you managing to find at least ten minutes every day? I hope you are finding those ten minutes are extending into half-hours and then into hours as you get in the zone. New habits can form from regular practice over twenty-eight days. Is writing a regular practice for you now?
You may be a writer who likes to revise as you go. While I don’t encourage revising until the first draft of your project is done, I have heard some writers like to revise as they go. Having tried both ways, I have found it is more beneficial for me to complete the project before I go back to revise. Revising during the first draft slows me down considerably and I lose the momentum of the writing. Some writers revise the work they did the previous day before they start the present day’s work. They say reviewing helps to get them in the zone more quickly. The first few months or years of your writing career is to find what works for you, so try different ways and work with what comes naturally for you, and be open to change as you become more experienced.
I encourage you to keep writing, even though it can be slow going sometimes. Perseverance is the name of the game. Until next week, happy writing!