Doing the WORK....

I have gotten comments that my blog has been silent lately.  Yes it has.  I thought about apologizing for that- but I can't.  You see, I have been doing the work.  I have been writing and rewriting.

After two years immersed in my story, I have a clear goal. 

I want to finish my first book in the next three months. 

I have 75,000 words and a few hundred pages which is a great start, but at the Ragged Edge something was bothering me about my story.  All of it was written in first person (I, me) and it really needed to be in third (she, her,Afton)  so the manuscript needed to be changed...

All of it. 

There is nothing creative, or awesome or mind blowing about re writing and inserting "she" and "her" where I had had "I" and "me".  It's just plain work.  Hours of pouring over the story and changing the voice of the story without losing Afton's voice.

What began to happen was that I saw how other people's Point of View (POV) are going to be easier to insert into the story.  In chapter 1 I was able to tell the events from Maggie's perspective which will add more depth to the story. 

I already have a huge start on this first book and I am confident that before Christmas I will be finished.  Then I will go back and edit it and maybe have a couple of people read it.  And then I will submit it to the Creative Trust- the place that we learned at the Ragged Edge that we could submit our manuscripts to and see what this group of people thought of it. 

And that scares me to death! 

But that is my goal.  Finish the first book.  Edit.  Submit. 

So you see why my blogs and even Facebook posts have been few and far between.  I am working.

Stephen King says it like this:

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”

Yep. 

Hard Work.

I'm signing off to get back to it.....

See you on the other side!

 

The Ripple Effect of Gloria

I've had many people visit my blog this last week to read my story of Gloria.  I have been deeply touched and humbled by their blog comments and Face Book posts.  What I hadn't counted on was the emotional chord I seemed to have touched. 

I had one reader tell me that she had not read anything for a long time that made her cry; that Gloria's story touched her.  This last week I have had people I know come and share with me their own Gloria stories.  Maybe it was a brother or sister that died, or a friend- the point is that the fact that I took a risk and shared something very personal to me opened up a dialogue for others to share.

One person told me that they had not thought about a little girl that had died when she was young, in a very long time.  Another shared very emotional details that dealt with her completely shutting down after a loved one died. 

I know that for me, Gloria's story is very personal and I put my heart and emotions on the page knowing that some people might be able to connect to it.  What I didn't realize was how the words on the page would open the past up for others.

I am honored to have been able to "bleed on the page" and share Gloria's story. 

I encourage you to share your "Gloria Story" with others.  One person said, "I can't write like you,"  I simply answered that they could talk- and that is a good place to start.  Also just jotting down feelings and thoughts in a journal or writing something down that is just for you. 

Again- I have been so moved by the responses to my blog and I treasure that dialogue. 

Thank you for sharing with me!