Why Writers Are Always So Well-Dressed

by Ceejay Writer

Here's a funny thing about writing. Nothing brings out the procrastinator in us as much as facing down a half-written manuscript. How many times have you cleaned your entire house or done all the laundry right after saying "I'll write 1,500 words today!"

On the other hand, the moment a manuscript actually gets finished, we're far too eager to run right back to the beginning and start revising it immediately - and that's the time we should be letting procrastination help us out. Most successful writers would advise letting some time pass before starting your second draft, so you can have a bit of distance and objectivity.

Maybe we should immediately crack open a fresh document and announce firmly that we're going to start the sequel. That should kick in the procrastination urges, and really, don't you need to clean out your basement anyway?

As much as I encourage others towards good writing habits, I'm the first to slack off myself. I freely admit it! But there's no need to beat one's self up about it. Just plant your butt firmly in that chair, open up your manuscript - and five minutes later you'll be sorting out the colors from the whites and rummaging for your detergent.

Of all the hobbies/pastimes/occupations we could have chosen - why did we choose writing?  It's not easy. It's damn frustrating much of the time. You're not likely to get rich. You'll be starved for comments and feedback. It's a solitary task. So... why?

The cliche answer also happens to be the correct answer, for so many of us.  Here is one version of that truth:

I write for the same reason I breathe - because if I didn't, I would die.

     ~ Isaac Asimov 

The Office Is Open For Business!

Or closed?  Or ... falling apart and cobwebbed and ...

And yet, in its current state, it bears faint and distant traces of long-passed-on habitation.  And those traces may be seen on the backs of its envelopes.  And if you pick through the bones of the old building, be mindful of the plants which are beginning to grow through the chinks of its floor.  Plants can grow anywhere if the conditions are right.  And these plants are none too picky.

Muses Unleashed ...

Ladies and Gentle-beasts, I call you all, one and many, to a gathering of wit, wisdom and womanhood!

What started as a discussion between two women just a scant two weeks ago has grown into a blog that includes not one ... not two ... not even three ... but four (checks fingers) women writers!  Look to the sidebar, be amazed, leave comments, and join in on the wonder of writing!

Each woman is very different in the stories that they tell ... but something that they share is a desire to be heard.  Listen, please?  And ladies, you might do us all a favor by posting your own blog and work updates here so that passersby can get the scoop on your work as it happens ... straight from your Muse's mouth!

Commitment

Hello! Welcome to my first blog post at this wonderful little outpost. For the purposes of this blog, I go by Magda Kamenev.

In some ways, I'm already a writer. I've maintained and contributed to blogs. I've submitted non-fiction to a contest and won honorable mention. I have written peer-reviewed articles in professional literature, my thesis is on file at the library of my graduate school, and I contributed a book chapter to a professional anthology.

However, I'm considering launching myself into a new realm - writing fiction. Not just because it's a school assignment, but because I want to get something down on paper, I want to share it with friends, I have a story I want to share with the wider world.

Thus far, I've written a couple of poems, some very short fanfic, a very short story that could be part of a larger original work. Little of it has been seen beyond a small group of friends who have been encouraging. I'm willing to continue.

But the question looms - should I commit to my writing? And if so, how?

I am not prepared to give up my day job. For one, I need it; secondly, I like it; third, I have no idea if I really want to be a "professional" writer. I have no reason to think that I'll be the next Stephen King or Nora Roberts ... or even your successful midlist author of any particular genre who's able to get by.

However, I would like to continue writing, I'd like to be published, I'd even like to get paid for it. I want to tell stories and have those stories bespell and light a fire under others. Whether I have a talent for it, I'm still assessing, but I'm encouraged by the remarks of others. No, the real question is do I have the discipline for it.

Can I organize my house to give me space to write? Right now, there is little to none. I do a lot of my writing while I'm out, on my smart devices. This is being typed on my tablet while I'm out of town, for instance.

Am I willing to reorganize my schedule to devote more time to writing? This would require pulling back, to some extent, from Second Life, which has become an emotional home for me these past few years.

What resources am I willing to acquire and consume to help me become the writer I want to be? And how do I find the ones that will motivate and incite me most effectively?

This post was inspired by that last set of questions. Visiting a dear friend, one who writes and wants to write more, but is likely at the pre-published stage, he told me about a particular resource he's found useful.

Duotrope is a website for writers. Among the wonderful things it does is that it tracks the submissions process and calendar for all sorts of publications - fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Wonderful. And it comes with a free trail - of 7 days. Then, it's $5 a month, or $50 a year to continue.

It's easy to say, "It's just $5, try it out for a month." And let it go for another month. And another. The fear is committing before I'm really ready. Wasting money and effort before ... well, before what?

Actually, the real fear is that I'm just fooling myself and that I'm actually too lazy to become a writer. That if I were really up to going down this path, I would have done it long now.

$5 a month or go home? Commit to the year or GTFrellO? Is it literally time to put my money where my mouth is, and then make my pen follow?

I wonder if, in A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf talks about the resolve and will one needs to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard/screen). I feel a bit nakedly exposed here ... letting my ambition show without the surety that I have what it takes to achieve my (somewhat) modest goals.

In writing this - I realize I want to go forward. Step out on faith, as my church aunties used to say. I'm not ready to go home. What my version of a writerly life is, I don't know - but now is the time to start building it. I'm committing.

Ladies, Pick Up Your Pens!

Welcome to the Society of Literate Ladies ... and the muses that move them.

What is it that we wish to accomplish with this blog?  Quite simply, we wish nothing more or less than to support our friends as we all seek to write and put our words and voices out into the world.  As we do this, we hope to share resources amongst one another and the world. 

Visitors will find our separate blogs and websites listed to the right, along with short introductions to our contributors and the muses they have chosen (or who have chosen them!) to watch over their work.  Guests may also find a list of resources on writing.  Comments on our work are appreciated, but please keep any remarks to this or our sister sites constructive and respectful.  We are ladies, after all!

Thank you for visiting, and may the day be yours!