Nothin' so far

Red Wheelbarrow Writers had an amazing weekend looking at how to write a non-fiction book proposal and how to build platform. I LOVE non-fiction, but there's this novel sitting in my computer - going nowhere.

Today my life is pretty packed. When am I going to sit down and spend one hour working on "Nampula?" I'm writing to complain that these characters won't leave me alone until I write them!

I will write you, Gini and Gracinha. I promise!

Writer, Write Thyself

So, I've been working online with a couple of really amazing women. Both of these women - one from the East coast and one from the West - read my book, Second Wind, and reached out to me to join an online class I was teaching. The topic: Catching Your Own Second Wind (another book I'm working on). My two students are strong, goal-driven gals who hardly need me to tell them how to live authentic, inspired lives, but I've been a therapist for twelve years, and I've helped countless women sort through the questions of Who am I? and What should I do with my life? so I've sought to do my best by them.

Imagine my surprise when, in the midst of preparing this week's materials, I stumbled upon my own failure to follow my carefully crafted advice! I always encourage people to start blogs as a way of tracking their goals, developing supportive community, and noticing when things are going right so they can celebrate thier victories. As an example of what to do with feelings of failure, I was writing about how I've been working on the same novel for over a decade. And it dawned on me: I'm not tracking. I'm not blogging about this!

So I'm starting this blog: "Write That Book or Die Trying" to give myself a measuring stick. Hopefully members of the online writing community will come out of the woodwork and I'll make connections that will hold my feet to the fire. Thanks to my "Catching" women for inadvertently inspiring me to follow my own advice.

P.S., Today I didn't write a single word on my novel, but I did write about writing it.... ;}