During the preparation for one of these write-ins, a group e-mail was circulated with ideas and suggestions for meeting places. One of our very own writers, Colleen, wrote that we should consider having one of our gatherings take place at Panera Bread. Colleen wrote, “I’ve been working there most Monday evenings.” This piqued my interest! I love Panera and wrote back to tell Colleen this.
Here is my confession: it took me an embarrassing amount of correspondence before I realized that Colleen was not working as a barista, a cashier or a “sandwich artist.” Nope. In fact, Colleen – who is a marvelous and gifted storyteller, I might add – was “working” on writing!
This is not the type of “work” in the sense that I believe most of us think of. You know, spending 40+ hours per week residing in Cubicle 107F, Soulless Mega Company, USA. This is work that is done out of passion, as a choice, not out of obligation or necessity to pay the electric bill. This is taking your writing seriously, realizing that it is “work” and should be honored and respected as such. It is realizing that in order to go from writer to published author, you must dedicate yourself and a portion of your time to this endeavor – in other words, work!
So I wonder, what type of work do you intend to do on your journey to publication?
PLEASE BE SURE TO JOIN US FOR COSTOWRIMO
OUR FIRST WRITE IN WILL BE ON
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012
FROM 11:30 TO 2:30
231 S. PLUM STREET, MARYSVILLE, OHIO 43040
And please come visit me at: bethnbijoux
Thanks Beth!!! I was wondering if you thought I worked at Panera...too tempting for me. For now I'll just enjoy writing there!
ReplyDeleteI keep having this vision of me as the financial controller by day, hard-working writer by night. But quite honestly, I'm so exhausted after a full day of putting bread on the table and trying to be the supportive and helpful father and husband during the busy evenings, that I'm simply too exhausted by 9:30 at night to even think about trying to write anything. Now I'm just frustrated and angry that the thing I want to do the most (write my stories) is being pushed to the side by everything else that must get done in a day. I'm not much fun to be around right now.
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ReplyDeleteWell said Beth! I always told my students when they complained that a subject or assignment was too hard that it would never change unless they practiced. Was XYZ famous person born with their special skills? No! They worked at it. They were passionate about it and practiced. Alot. That goes for anything. You are never perfect the first time and each successive attempt (in theory) will get better and easier. That's not to say one day you'll sit down and before you finish your coffee have the next best seller. But, with hard work, you will get better at your craft.
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