End of the year...

"Along your pathway of life you will observe that you are not the only traveler. There are others who need your help. There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save." - Thomas S. Monson

~

Well, I skipped November. I mean, I was here, but I didn't blog a single word because I was writing my novel. My final word count was just over 7,000 words--43,000 short of my goal. It was an interesting experiment and showed me what I can actually accomplish in terms of finding time in my schedule to write. Most days I wrote between 200 and 400 words, in 5-10 minute spurts. Not ideal, but that's what I realistically have right now.

~

I've been attending a writing group twice a month with women from my church. We share favorite writing, critique each others' writing, and get writing tips and exercises from the group leader who was a professional editor until recently. The exercises have been interesting and the camaraderie has been enjoyable. In some ways it has been frustrating and in some ways is has been encouraging, but overall it has been worthwhile.

~

Lately, I have been trying to decide what my writing purpose is. There are many forums and forms with which to share my writing with others via the Internet, that bypass the traditional "query/submission/rejection or acceptance" routine and I am struggling to determine what I want to do. A few summers ago I put lots of my poetry online at http://www.fictionpress.com/ and really liked making connections and having others read and enjoy (or critique) my work. Having done that though, much of that is now not likely to be accepted and printed by traditional publishers.

~

Should I go for the quick fix of sharing randomly with any of the masses I can find? Or spend years submitting and hoping for professional recognition, while the thoughts and images I wanted to share languish in a word doc in my computerized "Poetry" file? I write to connect with others, not just for myself . . . there are few (if any) of my poems that are not meant to be read by someone else.

~

Would I like to be famous? Well, yes. Am I willing to imprison my poetry for decades in hopes that I'll get noticed and it will happen? I'm just not sure. Votes?