On Blogging

 A Blog Post for Wednesday

As I craft this post, it is Tuesday. Tuesday evening. My blog post comes out on Wednesday.

Assuming I have it written by then. 

I know there are a few people out there who craft a post EVERY DAY. Not me. I often struggle with what to write each Wednesday and frequently wait until the last minute to capture my thoughts on paper. 

Why? My once-a -week blog isn’t the focus of my life…or even my writing.

Blogging is a tool. For me, it is a pathway to both discipline and discovery as a writer. It is also a social presence to bring potential readers into my world as an author.

Being an author is only one facet of who I am. I am so much more.

·      I am my mother’s daughter. 

·      I am Mike’s wife. His partner in life.

·      I am both a mother and mother-in-law.

·      I am a grandmother. 

·      I am a child of God.

But yes…I am a writer. And an author. The difference? 

Writers Write. Authors Publish.

Recent short story in
February's Peddler's Post

When I started on this journey, I looked for ways to connect with other writers as well as readers. I looked for opportunities and tools to hone my writing skills. Blogging offers that and more on a consistent basis. 

Writing. Revising. Editing. You get the idea.

 

Writing to publish takes hard work and self-discipline. 

The weekly discipline of crafting a blog post is part of that ongoing work. 

It is more than pouring words out on paper. More than a diary with an audience of one. 

Every time I write and hopefully publish a book, story, or blog post, I am honing my skills. I am searching for “word illustrations."

 

When I began the blogging journey, I had no clue what a blog was, much less how to start writing one. I read information on the internet by Jeff Goins about blogging. I learned I needed a theme.

 

Since my goal was to write and publish a novel, I called my blog “A Novel Creation.” Those first few posts were accounts of what I was learning about crafting a novel and the world of publication.

Over time, the blog morphed into a more personal view of what I was learning about writing. Then after my husband, Tom, died in a bicycle accident in 2014, I merely muddled through the motions of writing. I kept the blog going as I shared my heart.

 

 I moved to Kosovo in 2017 to teach fourth graders in an American School. My blog served as a way to share my new life with my friends and family in the United States.

 Through those posts, I came to realize I am A Novel Creation. I am.

I am created in the image of God. 

Now I write articles, short stories, novels, and…every Wednesday…a blog post. 

How about you? What are you writing?