I wasn’t sure exactly how I would approach building my platform (my presence, visibility) but after careful debate and consideration, this is what I came up with. Did you have any problems opening this page? Did it take too long to open in your browser? Your feedback is important to me so that I can improve my platform and make it easier for your viewing pleasure.
My sight is not nearly complete – I am adding and deleting as I go.
I’m new at this so please feel free to offer insights, ideas and suggestions. You are welcome to email me at marcies1960@aol.com.
I have always loved to write. As
far back as I can remember writing has always come easy for me, in any form or
fashion. I’d like to think I was born that way. Even if it wasn’t, writing
always came naturally for me. From day one when I first started writing, I was
honing my craft with every piece I’d written. It was about three and a half
years into my writing career before I received an acceptance letter. Every
rejection letter I received was a learning experience to some degree. “It’s
none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were
born that way.– Ernest Hemingway.’
Sometimes, finding something to
write about or something that moves me is tough, making the process of writing
hard. Writers, both experienced and otherwise, go through dry periods and have
trouble creating. A writer suffering from writers block is as real as a child
with the chicken pox. Some writers are able to shake it a lot sooner than
others.
When I am faced with finding
something to write about or simply being stuck, search for quotes on my
favorite subject, browse headlines in various magazines or read something
interesting from the newspaper and turn it into a poem or short story.
Sometimes I cheat by searching creative writing prompts online. It doesn’t
matter as long s you are writing. I choose an interesting writing prompt and
turn it into an article, short story or poem.
You were born to write – it is your
calling. No one said you have to know how or know the rules. That is something
you have to learn yourself. An infant doesn’t stay an infant very long.
Toddlers no longer toddle at age six. They were born to learn and grow and
that’s what they do.
So writers, let make use of our
God-given talent that we were born with – nurture it, teach it and let it grow
and write, write, write!
When I was a little girl, I loved
to write poems and short stories. I had a collection of my poems in a folder
and during the summer months, I’d spend endless hours writing about the people
around me. Reading
was also a big part of my life. I spent endless hours during the summer months reading
romance/suspense stories, which were my favourite. Occasionally, I’d try
writing my own but they didn’t seem as exciting as the ones I read. I never
dreamed I was paving my way to becoming a writer. Somewhere along the way, I
dropped out of high school and started raising a family. Money was scarce and I
put off any plans for the future that included writing..
Several years ago, after a nasty
divorce and an attempt to obtain my freedom, I gave writing another try. Since
it was something I was already good at, and the talent was still embedded in my
heart, there was no reason why I shouldn’t take it up again. It made sense to
me to nurture the craving that already existed and do something with the
God-given talent that lay dormant all my adult years.
Many rejections later, I wandered
if I had made the right choice. But in my heart, I knew it was the right
decision.
Writing was a precious gift that
needed to be trained and brought forth so I enrolled in a creative writing
class. By the end of that class, I had already published one small essay. A
couple of years later, I was working for the local newspaper writing front-page
news and feature stories. Not without a price though. By the time the editor
got through with my work, it looked more like hers than mine. Some of the stuff
in those articles never came from this brain.
Since then, I have written for many
newspapers, newsletters and small press publications and have managed to get
published in hundreds of them. My work, with minor changes that the editor
asked me to make, was my own work and my byline sure looked nice after each
story or poem published.
Becoming a writer was easy but it
was because the desire was already there – I tried writing stories when I was
five or six and no one seemed to care – they’d never help me spell words and
make sentences. But by the time I was in third grade, you can bet I was writing
anything and everything humanly possible. I was amazed with books and magazines
and read eagerly. It was a part of my life, my being. Little did I know that
all this was a bridge to my writing future?
Don’t ever be fooled into thinking
that writing isn’t hard work – it is, and it requires patience and time.
Revision and editing is essential in the success of every story, article or
poem you write. I have spent endless hours rewriting a story and it still didn’t
get accepted.
Writers have to realize too that
everything they write isn’t a masterpiece no matter how good one thinks it is.
I started writing a book several months ago and several people thought it would
be the next bestseller. Harlequin Romances requested to see a full manuscript –
but you know what – it still hasn’t landed a home yet. My romance/suspense book
is still unpublished. It may have been a masterpiece in some people’s eyes but
thus far, it continues to be rejected. But I’m not giving up without a fight. I
have a good story line and the talent to get it published but it won’t happen
overnight. The original title I had for this particular book was SHORT OF A
MIRACLE but I changed it to one that fit it better. You know, it’ll take
anything short of a miracle to get it published from the looks of things.
Whatever the reason you want to
become a writer, let that desire become a reality. Train it, nurture it and
give it room to breathe and grow. Stand back and let your talent take root and
see where it leads you. Don’t let rejection stop you from being the writer you
know that you are. Keep on trying until someone reaches out and accepts your
work not once but many times. Keep on writing no matter how hard the road seems
to get. Keep those creative juices flowing…