What a Day for a Daydream by Diane Bator

 

I used to be an avid reader and a prolific daydreamer. I’m not sure which made me a better writer, but the two did conspire to actually make me a writer. Daydreaming was the way I originally created stories. As a kid, I would go off into the hayfields and pick strawberries on sunny afternoons. It was during those lazy summer days with my fingers and tongue stained red that I would daydream about appearances on the Oprah Winfrey show, starring roles in plays and musicals, and being an author.

By the time I got home, I was ready to pencil those fun, meandering stories onto loose-leaf paper. Sometimes, I’d share them with my friends or my mom. Most of the time, however, I’d tuck them away and keep them to myself. Little treasures that lived in my own mind and in a shoe box under my bed.

As I grew up and went off to college, the daydreams matured and took on longer lives of their own. I longed to be an author, but it was one of those things that people only did for fun. I was actually told that “writing isn’t a career” and to get a real job.

Sadly, I believed it and stopped daydreaming.

I got married and had kids. Then a funny thing happened.

The daydreams came back. I have to say daydreaming with kids can be a lot of fun, especially stomping through the woods on a hike--which became a quest with sticks in place of swords. Or camping in a tent while the rain fell around us. I wrote stories about kids being turned into mice, little blue hippos in the wild, and even stories about bullies in schools. The stories we wrote were just for fun. I’d never even thought to publish them. Those stories and poems were created just for my kids.

One day, I dusted off some of those old stories I’d written in college. I still wasn’t ready to share them. They went back into a drawer. Instead, I went for long walks and discovered new daydreams. More vivid and detailed with more twists and turns. Daydreams that led to stories, which then became books.

This time, I chose to follow my heart – and my daydreams.

And I became a published author. Many times over with no end in sight.

All because of a daydream I had as a kid that one day I’d write books.

I still haven’t been on the Oprah show, though.

Find many of my daydreams at:  

http://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

http://penspaintsandpaper.com

http://dbator.blogspot.ca/

The Who, What, Where, Why and WHEN of Writing - Part 5 by Diane Bator

 

By Diane Bator

Today we’re at the end of my original list of the five Ws of writing. We’ve already gone through:

Who – as in Who are YOU as a writer?

What – for What do you want to write?

Where – location, location, location.

Why – what drives you?

This blog post is brought to you by When. When can mean a couple of things, the best time of day to write or the best time of your life to start writing. Let’s start with the time of day, shall we?

Some writers swear they are the most creative early in the morning. In order to be at their best, they start the day by doing Morning Pages as per Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way. Julia describes Morning Pages as “three pages of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness.” (The Artists Way, page 10.) A lot of writers I know use this time to clear the noisy thoughts from their minds so they can focus on the task ahead. Their creative writing. Some writers even find ideas come from this flow of consciousness, sometimes while they sip their morning coffee or tea.

For me personally, I used to get up before I awoke my kids for school when they were younger and was happy even when I only had time to write a page or two out on my back porch. Now, I’m able to carve out time in the morning before my full-time job since my kids are much older. At least a couple days per week, I will use my half hour lunch break to write as well and like to keep a couple evenings open to create as well.

Recently someone on social media asked how old you have to be to become a writer. That created a whole new conversation and received a lot of answers. Some not so nice as people are bound to be online. It did prompt me to do a little digging.

I’ve been a storyteller and writer since I was young and still have handwritten stories and poems from when I was a teenager when my first two poems were published. I was about 15 years old.

There are no real age limits to writing or even being published. The youngest person I discovered online was Dorothy Straight who wrote her books at age 4 and was published her book “How the World Began” at age 6 in 1964. The oldest was Jim Downing who published “The Other Side of Infamy” in 2016 at the age of 102!

A few of the more famous authors published at various ages are:

·       Age 21 – Victor Hugo and Mary Shelley (Frankenstein)

·       Age 22 – Margaret Atwood and Ray Bradbury

·       Age 24 – Ernest Hemingway and Jack London

·       Age 28 – Jack Kerouac

·       Age 30 – Agatha Christie and Mark Twain. It is also interesting to note Stephen King had published Carrie, Salem’s Lot, and The Shining all before the age of 30.

·       Age 41 – Maya Angelou

·       Age 50 – Bram Stoker (Dracula)

·       Age 57 – Anna Sewell (Black Beauty)

·       Age 66 – Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes)

I belong to a writing group and love that our ages range from 25 to mid-eighties. Some are published, some have been working on the same books for many years, and some just attend to write and learn. We all have that one common love though: Writing. It has no age limit, education, or socio-economic limits.

All you need is a pen and paper to get started…

DianeBator

Author of Wild Blue Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries and Glitter Bay Mysteries

Mom of 3 boys and 2 cats and a mouse who is too smart for mousetraps...

The Who, What, Where, Why and WHEN of Writing - Part 5 by Diane Bator

Visit Diane Bator's BWL Author page for information and purchase options


When should you start to write?

Today we’re at the end of my original list of the five Ws of writing. We’ve already gone through:

         Who – as in Who are YOU as a writer?

What – for What do you want to write?

Where – location, location, location.

Why – what drives you?

This blog post is brought to you by When. When can mean a couple of things, the best time of day to write or the best time of your life to start writing. Let’s start with the time of day, shall we?

Some writers swear they are the most creative early in the morning. In order to be at  their best, they start the day by doing Morning Pages as per Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way. Julia describes Morning Pages as “three pages of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness.” (The Artists Way, page 10.) A lot of writers I know use this time to clear the noisy thoughts from their minds so they can focus on the task ahead. Their creative writing. Some writers even find ideas come from this flow of consciousness, sometimes while they sip their morning coffee or tea.

For me personally, I used to get up before I awoke my kids for school when they were younger and was happy even when I only had time to write a page or two out on my back porch. Now, I’m able to carve out time in the morning before my full-time job since my kids are much older. At least a couple days per week, I will use my half hour lunch break to write as well and like to keep a couple evenings open to create as well.

Recently someone on social media asked how old you have to be to become a writer. That created a whole new conversation and received a lot of answers. Some not so nice as people are bound to be online. It did prompt me to do a little digging.

I’ve been a storyteller and writer since I was young and still have handwritten stories and poems from when I was a teenager when my first two poems were published. I was about 15 years old.

There are no real age limits to writing or even being published. The youngest person I discovered online was Dorothy Straight who wrote her books at age 4 and was published her book “How the World Began” at age 6 in 1964. The oldest was Jim Downing who published “The Other Side of Infamy” in 2016 at the age of 102!

A few of the more famous authors published at various ages are:

·       Age 21 – Victor Hugo and Mary Shelley (Frankenstein)

·       Age 22 – Margaret Atwood and Ray Bradbury

·       Age 24 – Ernest Hemingway and Jack London

·       Age 28 – Jack Kerouac

·       Age 30 – Agatha Christie and Mark Twain. It is also interesting to note Stephen King had published Carrie, Salem’s Lot, and The Shining all before the age of 30.

·       Age 41 – Maya Angelou

·       Age 50 – Bram Stoker (Dracula)

·       Age 57 – Anna Sewell (Black Beauty)

·       Age 66 – Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes)

I belong to a writing group and love that our ages range from 25 to mid-eighties. Some are published, some have been working on the same books for many years, and some just attend to write and learn. We all have that one common love though: Writing. It has no age limit, education, or socio-economic limits.

All you need is a pen and paper to get started…

Diane Bator

Author of Wild Blue Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries and Glitter Bay Mysteries

Mom of 3 boys and 2 cats and a mouse who is too smart for mousetraps...

Find me at:  http://bookswelove.net/authors/bator-diane-mystery/

 

The Who, What, WHERE, Why and When of Writing - Part 3

June 3 2019

When I started this series of blogs, my first thought for Where was:  Where’s the best place to write?

That question has as many answers as there are writers.

Some people are more comfortable in their same chair at their same desk at the same time every day from the hours of 9am to 5pm. I’m not that dedicated to routine since I have a full time job, three kids, and my life tends to be a bit chaotic at times. I’ve written in many places:

• At work on lunch breaks.
• In waiting rooms at the doctor, the dentist, the hospital, the massage therapist, before and interview, while waiting to have lab work done, and so on.
• While cooking dinner for three hungry kids.
• Out in the park.
• While camping.
• Out at the lake.
• At coffee shops.
• In writing meetings.
• In my backyard.
• With a kid or cat on my lap.
• In a car (not while driving!!)
• While waiting for kids who were in karate classes or music lessons.
• Pretty much any place, anytime, anywhere.

Where isn’t so much a restriction as just doing it. As long as you have something to write with, pen and paper or a laptop, you can write just about anywhere!

My second where I thought of while walking the other day. Where do you want to go with your writing?

Many people write for the sheer pleasure of putting pen to paper and creating worlds that have never existed. Some writers look to Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Dan Brown, E.L. James and so on and see dollar signs. Yes, it is possible to earn a living at writing. So I heard. I’m not there.

Yet.

As a single parent I’ve had to work full-time to get my kids through school and be content with writing part-time to slowly build my career. Now that I have eight books out, I can build a better social media presence and work with my publisher (Books We Love!) to get more and more name recognition.

Marketing is key!

For anyone who thinks they can write a book, upload it to the Internet, then sit back and wait for the money and accolades to roll in – surprise! It’s a full-time job to sell your books. Books signings, conferences, and the like are all great for boosting your career. Word of mouth helps, but writers want to create a fan base.

Those people who are excited to see when you’ve written something new. But how do you do that? We’ll discuss that later….

Diane Bator

Author of Wild Blue Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries and Glitter Bay Mysteries

Mom of 3 boys and 2 cats and a mouse we still can't find...

     You can order my books through BWL by clicking here!