I looked ahead to my blog post date with a sense of dread. I wondered...what in the world should I even say? Where do I begin?
To be honest, my heart is not really in writing these days. Over the weekend, I battled between staring at social media posts and trying to keep up with what is going on while thinking about my own writing. I did eventually work on a short story and even submitted it to a few places. But it took work.
If you are feeling like I do, and battling between wanting to watch, wanting to do something and help, wanting to learn, while also wanting to escape, I encourage you to give yourself a moment to pause and take a breath. And be sure to listen. Ask people how they are doing. Hey, even ask people you don't know all that well how they are doing.
On Wednesday, I wrote a little bit of a reflection on my own personal blog about what type of writer do I want to be? What type of stories do I want to tell? As things evolve in the world around us, I'm thinking about this question more and more. And I can tell you that the answer changes frequently.
One of my favorite writing prompts lately has been asking myself about values. What are they? Where did they come from? In fact, jotting down thoughts about this is probably what led me to work on my own short story this weekend (which is greatly inspired by one of my own values: do to others what you would have them do to you).
So I encourage you to think about two things this week - what type of writer do you want to be? And what are your values?
Nicole Pyles is a freelance writer and blogger. You can check out her writing blog The World of My Imagination and her most recent project, her work-life blog LadyUnemployed.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeingTheWriter or semi-occasionally rarely updated Instagram account, @BeingTheWriter.
To be honest, my heart is not really in writing these days. Over the weekend, I battled between staring at social media posts and trying to keep up with what is going on while thinking about my own writing. I did eventually work on a short story and even submitted it to a few places. But it took work.
If you are feeling like I do, and battling between wanting to watch, wanting to do something and help, wanting to learn, while also wanting to escape, I encourage you to give yourself a moment to pause and take a breath. And be sure to listen. Ask people how they are doing. Hey, even ask people you don't know all that well how they are doing.
On Wednesday, I wrote a little bit of a reflection on my own personal blog about what type of writer do I want to be? What type of stories do I want to tell? As things evolve in the world around us, I'm thinking about this question more and more. And I can tell you that the answer changes frequently.
One of my favorite writing prompts lately has been asking myself about values. What are they? Where did they come from? In fact, jotting down thoughts about this is probably what led me to work on my own short story this weekend (which is greatly inspired by one of my own values: do to others what you would have them do to you).
So I encourage you to think about two things this week - what type of writer do you want to be? And what are your values?
Nicole Pyles is a freelance writer and blogger. You can check out her writing blog The World of My Imagination and her most recent project, her work-life blog LadyUnemployed.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeingTheWriter or semi-occasionally rarely updated Instagram account, @BeingTheWriter.
3 comments:
Excellent advice. This is along the lines of the discussion last night in critique group. Everyone is having troubles focusing.
--SueBE
@Sue - I can sure relate to that!
Nicole--I want to be a writer who doesn't shut up. I want to be a writer who is not silent. I want to be a writer who writes to sort out what is going on.
Thanks for this post. I'm sad that in the year 2020, we have not made more gains. I'm horrified that some people's lives are considered so worthless.
Last night my critique group met (via Zoom) and one of the writers had written a powerful piece about George Floyd and what's going on with the police. She had written it to vent. We urged her to make some changes and submit it. I reminded her "White people need to speak up."
I've been taking a breath too long. Now I need to DO something.
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