Thursday, December 3, 2020

Friends and Family by Sally Shupe

Who do you call on when you need something? Who understands you and supports you, who can you rely on? Who can tell by the look on your face what kind of day you’re having? Friends and family, right? It’s the same for our writing journey, or if we’re going through a rough patch, or trying to accomplish something that seems to be harder than we imagined or thought we could deal with. Friends and family are our backbone, our support system, our encouragers. It would be a very lonely journey without them, wouldn’t it?

There is a saying, there is safety in numbers. This is so true. When you have something to celebrate, it’s so much more exciting when you can share that with someone. If something happens that’s hard to handle, a disappointment, a let-down, a set-back, it’s easier to walk through if we can share that struggle with someone. For instance, if you receive harsh feedback from a writing contest judge, it’s easier to handle when you can talk about it with people who know your writing. If you’re trying to clean out your closet or organize your craft room or finish writing your first novel, you’ll be kept on track if you share your goals with someone. Then, if you struggle through the process or hit roadblocks, you have someone to commiserate with, someone to keep you accountable. But then when you do finish? You have someone ready to celebrate with you! The more the merrier.

Find a tribe of people. Reach out to people who write in the same genre as you do. Connect with people who like the same hobbies or who have the same interests. And keep in touch. You never know what someone may be going through, and your contact may be just what they need.

Is there someone who’s always been there for you? Has someone, or a group of someones, been in your corner and you didn’t know it till you looked up and saw them there? Give them a shout out below. For my writing journey, I have two people who call themselves my number one fans. My best friend Sandy and my son. Without them, I wouldn’t have continued writing once I started. I would have given up before I reached out and found writing friends and groups and special contacts (writing sisters!). Without them, I wouldn’t have completed stories, or continued learning the craft of writing to improve those stories, or continued writing new stories. Sandy and Cory, here’s to you. Thanks for your support, your prayers, being my first-readers, and most of all for your honest feedback.

When I heard the news that Seriously Write was ending, this was the first thing I thought of. Friends and family. I have so enjoyed my time here. But this isn’t the end. We are friends and family! We may not be able to keep socializing here, but we can connect in other ways. If you need encouragement, someone to cheer with you, someone to pray with you, reach out to me. We’re here for each other on this journey! I would enjoy hearing from you! 

 

When I heard the news that Seriously Write was ending, this was the first thing I thought of. Friends and family. I have so enjoyed my time here. But this isn’t the end. We are friends and family!



Sally Shupe lives in southwest Virginia with her husband, has two grown kids-a daughter still at home and a son not-so nearby, and a whole bunch of pets: four dogs, three cats, a rabbit, and birds at the birdfeeder (and the mandatory snowman when the snow cooperates). She is an aspiring Christian author of small town contemporary inspirational romance, with two completed manuscripts and several more in progress.

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/content editor for several e-book publishing companies; performs beta reading for various authors; publishes book reviews; is a member of ACFW; and loves genealogy, running, and crocheting.

Sally publishes weekly blog posts that can be found through her website: https://sallyshupe.weebly.com/, and she posts on the first Thursday of the month at https://seriouslywrite.blogspot.com