Recently I was contacted by Anne, from over at Nearly Irish, wondering if I would be interested in participating in the #mywritingprocess blog tour.First off, who's Anne? She is an expat like myself, but instead of being an American living in The Netherlands, she's French and living in Ireland. And she does a brilliant job of blogging in English even though it's not her native language (big pat on the back, I wouldn't dare blog in Dutch, ha-ha)! Also like myself, her blog isn't just about being an expat, it's about being integrated into a foreign country due to the extent of time abroad. Be sure to pop over and give her blog a read.
Second, what is the #mywritingprocess blog tour? It's a way for bloggers to explain just how they come up with the great material they pump out on a weekly basis. And it can even go beyond blogging, because I'm sure a lot of bloggers are just writers in general, so there are possible manuscripts, poems, articles, etc. going on in the background. And of course it's a way to spread the word about your blog as well as learning about other interesting blogs.
So here goes, 4 simple questions :
1) What am I working on?
I write nearly every day, sometimes it's blog posts and sometimes it's a story. When it comes to blogging I write about events/topics as they happen or refer to the drafts I generally I keep on the back burner for the weeks when I have little content. When it comes to my stories (manuscripts - yet most of them are short and not finished) I have weeks when I am working on the same one and then times when I skip around between drafts, depends mostly on my creative flow.
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
The best part of my blog is that you (and I) never know what I'll blog about next. I feel this is what makes my blog different. One day I could be posting about clothing and the next crime. And I also have a love for photography, so I like to incorporate my own photos into the blog. As far as my stories, well, I'm not sure what makes me different because I've never dared try to publish any of my work. All I know is that the stories keep coming to my head and it's been like this my entire life. Somewhere inside I have a natural gift of creating characters and story lines, I now just need to find a way to hone in on that and turn it into something I can share with others. (But to be honest, I'm also happy just writing for myself.)
3) Why do I write what I do?
Blogging helps me get out all of the the nagging thoughts that I want to share with people. Sometimes I want people to understand you can live a normal life abroad, that it's possible to be integrated and a foreigner at the same time. I also blog because I love spreading the word (good or bad), so if there is a product, company, movie, store, etc I (dis)like, I want to let everyone know. I'm always looking for tips, so why not share my knowledge. My stories (books) are different, I tend to write action romance. I'm a sucker for a good romance, but not the boring ones. (Think of Die Hard mixing with The Notebook, ha-ha, I wish!) And in order to keep my creative side interested I hop all over the place time period wise, from medieval times to the future.
4) How does my writing process work?
Unfortunately the process is my downfall. My blog explains it all, random, random, random. I wish I could tell you I sit down and write out a good outline before I get started. If I could just get myself to do this I might actually be a published author by now. Whether it's my blog or my stories, I write what comes to mind at that moment. Sure I make notes here and there, but that's mostly because I don't have the time to write just then or maybe I have a goal and don't want to forget it. (When you write like I do, you get side tracked easily... in general I get side tracked easily, it's a personality thing.) The problem with being creative is you never know when it will hit you; being a stay-at-home mom I don't have the time to write whenever, so generally I stick to mornings when my kid is at school for my blog, and evenings for my stories (keeping in mind my husband also deserves some of my time. Oh yeah, and the dog & house, ha-ha!) The time I allot also varies, blog posts can take 15-30 minutes, and my stories, well, before my daughter came along I was writing roughly 20-40 hrs a week, and now in 30 min spurts here and there!
As mentioned, it's a tour, so of course the torch has to be passed on. I follow lots of different blogs, so I figured I would pick two completely different bloggers to keep this tour alive on July 21st.
- When looking for a fun blog with lots of blog parties, one blogger stuck out, Paula from Sincerely Paula. She maintains a lifestyle blog, but to be honest I love visiting for the blog hops. It's a guaranteed place to meet other bloggers as well as exposing my own material. She's also known for her Pinterest addiction, ha-ha (we've all been there, right?)
- When looking for posts that will get my brain churning, another blogger stood out, Karen from My Own Mind. She often talks about homeschooling and/or being Atheist, and now her blog has shifted a little since her return to The States from Australia. I enjoy the way she can get people riled up and talking, it never hurts to challenge someones point of view and open a discussion.
Please do yourself a favor and check all of the mentioned blogs, and if you're interested in the #mywritingprocess blog tour but haven't been asked to participate, send me an email!
Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!
:) Danica
On the writing process, here are two quotes from Stephen King (there was a third, but I can't find it now):
ReplyDelete“Outlines are the last resource of bad fiction writers who wish to God they were writing masters' theses.”
“There’s no outline, nothing like that. That freezes it, it takes what should be a liquid, plastic, malleable thing to me and turns it into something else. Hey, to me it’s the difference between going to a canvas and painting a picture and going out and buying a Craftsmaster paint-by-the-numbers kit.”
The third describes a story as being something buried in the ground which you, the writer, have to dig out. At first you can just see the tip sticking out, then you start writing/digging and you can see more and more, untill it's all revealed.
I think any serious writer should read his book, On Writing. It's the best book about the craft that I've ever read.
*until (no edit button, sorry)
DeleteWow, love this, thanks!!!
DeleteI'll be sure to add his book to my must reads.
:) Danica
It's always fun reading about people's processes, whether it be for writing or creating. We are all so different and it's fun to see how other people work :)
ReplyDeleteIt's at least the 5th writing process post I read over the last few weeks, and it's amazing how we are all so different when it comes to writing. I really like when you say "Somewhere inside I have a natural gift of creating characters and story lines, I now just need to find a way to hone in on that and turn it into something I can share with others." Just that makes me want to read one of your books! I hope one day you'll get the courage to submit some of your writing!
ReplyDelete