I am S. L. Carlson, a proud and grateful BWL Publishing Inc. author. My books can be viewed and purchased by visiting https://www.bookswelove.net/carlson-s-l
WHEN I DON'T WRITE AND WHEN I DO by S. L. Carlson
I am an author. I have been telling
stories since I was a kid, with captive audiences wherever I could find them –
siblings, cousins, friends, gullible adults. I have been writing down my
stories for decades. I love writing. I love observing. My husband once bought
me a T-shirt which read, “Be Careful! You may end up in my Novel.” <Raising my
eyebrows about the truth in this.>
One time I was in Mississippi
helping with hurricane relief. While our crew was taking a break, one man came
up to me leaning against the tree shade to ask what I was scribbling: writing
gobs of notes on things I saw, heard, and felt. It was all for potential future
stories. He seemed relieved, as he thought I was some sort of spy keeping an
eye on the group. Not quite sure if he was kidding or not. Not quite sure he
was wrong, either.
One neighbor used to greet me from across the street with a dog howl. It wasn’t until after said neighbor returned from a long trip, that I told him I missed his howling greeting. He looked so hurt. “It wasn’t a howl,” he informed me. “It was a train whistle.” <Raised eyebrows again.> Yes, that one actually got rewritten into a book.
I write when I get an earworm – an
idea, a conversation, an entire scene unfolding, etc. That used to happen at
night until my husband complained of the clicking of the pen. When I switched
to a pencil, he complained of the bed jiggling when I scritch-scratched on the
paper on the nightstand. I then used to wake and type on the computer, but
these days I mostly just sleep.
I love the pathways of outside adventures and
experiences.
Subbing something (up to 3,000 words) once a month to my critique group keeps me writing during my darkest or most hurting times. We’ve been together a long time, and I’d hate to disappoint.
Three on-line writing groups I’ve been
involved with are NaNoWriMo, the Goodreads 750 Group, and a now defunct BIW. That
doesn’t count the several online critique groups I’ve been in for periods of
time. I’ve done six rough drafts of novels during National Novel Writing Month,
trying to keep up with the 1,667 words per day.
In Goodreads, all writers who sub less than 750 words to topic, then
vote on the best story of the month. I won 1st place several months
in a row, so that it got boring and I stopped; but I will probably do that exercise
again. I loved the personal encouragement of Book In a Week. You set a goal of
so many pages to write, and then the first week of the month, tried to reach
that goal.
I find it quite difficult to write
while on vacation, or the holidays, or playing with the grandkids, or when
there are major house or yard projects going on, or a tornado, or when there’s a pandemic (and
moving in the midst of that), or when I get injured. These past 3 years have
been difficult on the writing side of life.
Yes, there are several reasons why
not to write, and I’m sure other writers can continue that list. But there are many
more, very pleasant reasons why I do write. Now…off to revise chapter 16, which
I sent to my critique group last week. Will our hero be able to save his
village against all odds?
S. L. Carlson Blog & Website: https://authorslcarlson.wordpress.com
BWL Inc. Publisher Author Page: https://www.bookswelove.net/carlson-s-l
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