The Joy of Blogging ... One Month In

Many years ago, when my ES was little, I started a writer's group at my church. The first night only three people showed up and I worried that perhaps no one was interested (though several had indicated they would be). We kept plugging away and eventually our numbers reached closer to ten.

What wonderful writers I had a chance to meet with. Our youth pastor, Kyle, left his post to pursue his writing more. He is an incredible poet and has a great gift for drawing a picture of one thing and then making the reader realize he is really talking about something with far greater depth and insight. You can read his essays on Wisconsin at his blog http://www.kylelwhite.blogspot.com.

Our pastor's wife, JoHannah, wrote essays and romance novels and did some ghost-writing. We all chuckled when her first book, Cover Girl, Uncovered, was published (she ghost-wrote this autobiography for... you guessed it ... a supermodel). Anne was a poet who had already sold quite a number of her poems in frames with her husband's accompanying artwork. Julie wrote memoir pieces that made us all laugh. Now she is writing things for Christianity Today. Michelle came to me one day and said she wanted to join our group, but didn't know if she could manage the time for it. She had a book on body image to write and write it she did. It is called Wanting to Be Her and you can buy it in bookstores now.

Marylynn wrote wimsical little stories for her grandchildren and always used props (bringing the prop which inspired the story she would read that night) Laurie was working on a difficult, but fascinating book about their journey with adoption. Jane wrote essays and encouraged us with her knowledge of books. We were a really bonded group. Several of us attended a writer's conference together and shared much laughter and encouragement in the commute there and back each day.

As I watched others in the group achieve outstanding success, I always felt a little sad because I wasn't getting published (I have been published, but in a very minor way, twenty years ago - a small article in the British War Cry). I began to believe that my primary role in the group was to encourage others to write. I enjoyed hearing what they were working on. I enjoyed sharing the things I wrote. I worked on my young adult novels, I wrote a children's book, and I sent off a minimal number of things.

But in the last month of blogging, I have had more fun with my writing than ever before. I was glad to see that Lucy at http://www.lifeisaspasmwhoflow.blogspot.com likes my blog name. I have to chuckle when I remember the first night when I bit the bullet and started this blog. After I wrote up the first post, my ES looked over my shoulder and asked what I was doing. Then he read it and said, "That's a really stupid thing to blog about." I said "thanks" and went on without his words of encouragement (although I did later blog about his prowess on Guitar Hero, which was his suggestion instead of soap).

Now, I write for the joy of writing and I am having more fun than when I felt I was "pursuing" my writing. Moreover, I am probably spending more time writing than I did when I worked on novels and books and marketing and queries. What freedom to look at a page and say, "What do I feel like writing about today?"

My writer's group back in IL has recently reconvened. I miss it immensely. I found myself wishing I could drive back for their monthly meetings or send something to be read and critiqued from afar. But, for now, I will devote myself to blogging. So, if you are reading and feel encouraged by something I write, let me know. If you have words of critique, share those as well (I no longer have the group, you know). If you disagree with my take on a book, tell me why. I welcome your comments. Feedback always helps a writer grow. But even if you don't comment, keep coming back, cause I intend to keep on bloggin'.