I have been so excited to share with you today. My hope is that my journey will encourage you in your writing journey. Writing can be a lonely job. But when we gather together, there is camaraderie, encouragement, hope, lasting friendships.
My writing journey seems to have taken a back seat to other pressing life events. It didn’t happen overnight. It didn’t happen all at once. I didn’t even realize it had happened. One day, I just realized I hadn’t been writing. Have you been there? Floating along and then all of a sudden realize you’re not doing everything you need to be doing? That’s where I was. Work, home, church, family, projects, everything was taking over my life, and my writing was taking a back burner. So what did I do? I’m so glad you asked!
I discovered I had gotten discouraged. Not having an office to write in and a set place to write, not being able to block off 3 hours of time to write every day, not being able to consistently write 1,000 words a day had taken the joy out of my writing. But you know what? We have the best job ever. We can work wherever, whenever. All we need is our imagination and pen/paper or a computer.
If writing is your calling, you can do it! Pick up that pen and start writing. Turn on that computer and start typing. Make your dreams come true starting now. Everyone is different. Everyone has different writing styles. Some write every day; some write on weekends, or only a few minutes a day. Some already have a contract; others are writing in anticipation of getting a contract. Get your imagination flowing, keep pen and paper with you at all times. Stuck in line at the grocery store? Pull out that piece of paper or your phone and plot out the next scene in your story, nail down the descriptions, goals, motivation, and conflict for your characters. Watching a movie? What do you do during the commercials? (Unless you skip them!) Plot out the next chapter in your story. Work on your synopsis. Can’t figure out how to get your characters from point A to point B? Use the commercials to jot down scenarios, and by The End, you just might have figured it out.
There are as many different ways to write as there are snowflakes. (Do you love snow? I love snow!) Your office might be your dining room table, or the arm of your chair, or a nice shady spot on your back porch. You may be able to write 500 words a day or more, or you may be able to write a few words at a time. But those words add up over time. The key is consistency. If you write 20 words a day, that’s 20 words you didn’t have before. Each one’s habits are different, but they are your own. What works for you may not work for someone else. What someone else does, may not work for you. Find you and do it well! No one else can be you. No one else can write what you write. Someone needs to read your words, but that will never happen if you don’t write them. Your mission for today: Go write!
Sally Shupe lives in southwest Virginia with her husband, two grown kids-a daughter still at home and a son nearby, and a whole bunch of pets: five dogs, three cats, a rabbit, and birds at the birdfeeder (and the mandatory snowman when the snow cooperates). She writes contemporary Christian romance, with two completed manuscripts and three more in progress. They are part of a series located in small town Virginia.
When Sally’s not writing or working full-time, she is a freelance editor for several authors who write fiction and nonfiction; students working on dissertation papers; a copy editor for Desert Breeze; a content editor for Prism (became part of Pelican); performs beta reading for various authors; publishes book reviews on her blog and with Valley Business FRONT’s monthly magazine; is a member of ACFW and a PRO member of RWA; loves genealogy, running, and crocheting.
Sally uses her love of words to write about God’s amazing love.
Connect with Sally:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SallyShupe1
Blog: http://sallyshupe.blogspot.com/
Email: sallyshupe1@gmail.com
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sallyshupe1/
Website: http://sallyshupeseditingservice.weebly.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-schreiner-shupe-8217a639?trk=hp-identity-name
