I’m not going to be updating this blog for the next few weeks. Work is keeping me very busy and I have a new computer to setup. The computer is used but new to me and much better than my old antique I currently use. I’m trying to get everything off this computer and put it on the new one. It’s a long process since I have to use floppy disks to transfer the material, ugh! Then I’m going to clean this computer up and give it to a friend who knows nothing about computers. It will be a good starter computer for her.

For anyone who happens by - Happy Holidays! See you in the New Year.

I came across a site offering free blog space to writers/authors, Blog for Writers, created by e-Writer’s Place, a site offering email workshops, articles, and allows users to submit information on their ebooks.

The free blog space might be useful for writers who have no desire to learn HTML and web design. The blogs are fixed (one style) and comes in three different colors. It appears that the only choice a user has is the color of their blog. This service would be far too limiting for me but I can see where many would like the zero setup. All they have to do is start blogging.

I’m not sure about the e-Writers Place. It could be a good resource for many. I haven’t explored the site fully but it appears to be focused on writing software. Now, I’m not a fan of writing software, maybe for some of the same reasons I don’t like doing an outline. It just turns me off and I don’t believe it can deliver what it promises. Having never used writing software I can’t really critique its value one way or the other.

While briefly viewing the site a thought came to me - it might be useful to write up a critique of writing sites. The only problem would be the time it would take to explore the site and then write an opinion on what is found. Humm, something more for me to ponder.

Again from Crawford Kilian’s blog on writing fiction I found this information, Constructing a Scene. Kilian is as much a teacher as he is an author. I have read many books on writing, all offering valuable information on plot and character development. Most new writers tell their readers about their characters (editorializing) rather than show the “character” of their characters (dramatizing). The show verses tell scenario can be effectively done through scene building. Kilian gives excellent examples of scene building.

Here is Kilian’s information on Show or Tell? Again Kilian offers great examples. I have to admit that I had a hard time understanding the show verses tell rule (not sure it’s a rule but some experts seem to think so), even after reading a lot of information on when to show rather than tell and having my own writing critiqued by professionals. But I promise that it will all make sense eventually. I may write up my own informational piece on show verses tell someday.

I recommend printing out Kilian’s information and referring to it often.

Since angel didn’t leave the URL for her writing blog in the comment she left to my post below, I thought I’d offer it here for those who might wander by. I recommend reading her posts entitled, Giving It Up, posted on Saturday, Dec. 6th. It’s well written and inspirational if you can embrace the truth seeping from the words.

Everything comes down to choice, whether it be an active or passive choice, it’s still a choice. We may not like the choices we are presented with, even though they are usually determined by our previous choices, so we pretend we are a victim to circumstances that are beyond our control. And everyone knows that victims are not responsible for their victimization, right?

I love playing a victim to my procrastination. I can pretend that I have no control over its power and continue to procrastinate. I know I’m making a choice to not write and that choice was made because I am/was afraid that I really have nothing to say, nothing to write about, and no real skills as a writer. Oh, I have explored my fears. I’ve written many pages in my journals that dripped in fear. I know the why’s, what-for’s, and how-to’s frontward and backwards but nothing has changed the fear.

I’ve decided to let it go; not the fear but the need to change it. Fear is an essential part of this human experience and it’s hear to stay. But I can make a choice to no let it control my life. There’s a book by Susan Jeffers, Ph.D., Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, that I read many moons ago. I thought I understood the principles laid out in the book but I think I either forgot them or chose to ignore them. I think I will revisit that book.

Now, I don’t want anyone who might happen to read this to think I’m being too hard on myself. I am a firm believer in all things are as they need to be. I have learned many things since I stopped writing, things I would have never explored had I continued writing. This blog would not exist had I continued with the writing. I would not have the technological know-how I’ve gained over the past few years, nor would I have met the people who have added to my quest for knowledge had I continued writing. There have been many positive things that have come about because of my extreme resistance to writing. In truth, I never really left the writing behind. It has been with me all along the way and gently nudging me to remember the dream. The nudge is getting harder to ignore these days and the more I explore other writers sites, the more the desire burns inside.

I just have one more thing to accomplish before the writing takes over my life and that one thing requires a tremendous amount of writing to take place, though not the kind of writing I desire to do. My mind tells me that writing non-fiction is not as creative as fiction but something else in me questions that perception. Yes, I will have to present the facts but I can put my own spin on how those facts are presented. Anyway, it should be an interesting experience.

For any aspiring writer who is struggling with doing an outline for their novel, or have found that doing an outline is harder than doing the writing, maybe this post, Writing Without an Outline, will help. It gives a look at an author’s (Crawford Kilian) journey of allowing the story to unfold while doing the writing instead of following an outline. Learning by example is so much better than learning by instruction in my opinion.

I wrote and posted a piece on this subject, How Do You Learn?, back in September. I may revise/add to it someday.