Authors, Writers, Publishers, and Book Readers

Acquiring the Discipline to be a Writer.

I truly believe that all of us are given a variety of gifts by God that he wants us to use for his purpose as well as our benefit. I have been told that I have a good voice by the members of the church my family attends. I do like to sing and I serve as a Cantor at our church.

I also enjoy writing. Sometimes ideas pop into my head about story lines, I'll even get a full paragraph sort of like an introduction to a magazine article or story. Fleshing out the idea and giving it depth and detail without wandering off on some tangent is where the work is for me.

Making time to regularly write, to add to what I have already written is also a struggle. Just as with all my endeavors I need to make the time to actually write.

I recently retired from my job so I have time to write and do all the projects around the house and spend time with family. I just need to get better at breaking out time for each activity. This is where developing the discipline comes in and is something I need to work at.

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Comment by Dennis P McGeehan on August 15, 2011 at 9:47pm: After a busy weekend, Monday dawned dark and rainy, a perfect day to sleep. I managed to write a few words today and spent some time researching opportunities. Funny thing about research, you never know what you will find. You look for one thing and failing to find it get disappointed. Then you spot something you were not looking for that opens other possibilities. Sometimes the words flow easily and at other times it's like slogging through mud. There's still time to write today, who knows ...

Comment by Dennis P McGeehan on August 30, 2011 at 12:49am: Well today was fairly productive. I applied for freelance positions on two different websites and have a third one to complete tomorrow. last Friday I submitted an article to a magazine, after getting the go ahead from the editor. Now I wait patiently for their decision, do they like the article or not.

I picked up two magazines speciffically for writer's. One is Writer's Digest, the other is Writer's Journal. I found the freelance websites from Writer's Journal so that was a worthwhile investment.

I'm trying to get into a rhythm. I've heard best selling authors say when asked, "Any advice for aspiring writers ?", their reply , "Write ! " So I need to make sure I split time between research and writing. I work better when I keep myself on a schedule.

Comment by Dennis P McGeehan on September 16, 2011 at 9:29pm: Today was a good day. I added over 1000 words to my novel. I also spent some time printing out documents from The Writer's Edge. To those unfamiliar with this service it is a service designed to connect authors and publishers. For a nominal fee you send a portion of your manuscript to the site. They critique it and if in their opinion it is worthy of being published it is then placed on their website where publishers can view it.

If you check out Writer's Market, many publishing houses use the Writer's Edge or Christian Manuscript Submission. I intend to use both sites, I just need to ready my novel which is what i am working on.

Yesterday I registered for a writer's seminar in October as well. Two days with authors, agents and a publisher to help me come up the learning curve.

I also have worked up some ideas for magazine articles, still waiting to hear about the one I submitted.