IWSG

It is the first Wednesday, of the month and time for another installment of IWSG also known as
  Insecure Writer’s Support Group!

Alex Cavanaugh invites us to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. You can join us, go visit Alex and sign up here. We post the first Wednesday of every month.  Alex asks us to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. You never know who you may encourage or who will encourage you!


I want to share a book I found yesterday.  I decided to put my house on a diet, lol.  I'm going through clothing, books, etc. I found this tiny gem wedged in the back of my closet, pinned between a shoe tree thingy and a yoga mat."  I want to share with you a bit from this book, "Escaping Into The Open: The Art Of Writing True" by Elizabeth Berg.

 There is homework at the end of each chapter. I'm sharing an assignment:  Write two stories about how you came by an object that had a great deal of meaning to you. "Make one nonfiction and one fiction...give the stories to at least three people and do not tell which is which... Ask them to tell you which story is true."

 Okay, I'm not going to write a story..but I am going to write two paragraphs. Testing the waters...and than you tell me which one is true.  :D 

 For my 13th birthday, I received the best gift of my life, a camera.  It gave me insight into a new world.  I found a way to visually capture moments in nature and see things through different eyes. I could capture a mood, a feeling, freeze time and catch summer memories for a winter's day. I loved seeing how one could paint with light and shadows. It was another way, I could record my life, who and what I treasured most.

 For my 13th birthday, I received the best gift of my life, a leather journal. I had seen it in the 'Red Pencil' window, one of my favorite shops.  Every day I would walk past it, going to and from school. The beveled glass would allow the light to brush it, just so. It almost glowed. I so hoped one day, it would be mine.  Mom knew I would love it.  It was a beautiful caramel color and fit just right in my hands.  A home to capture my thoughts n' feelings or sketch ideas.  My own tiny nook where I could keep words, poems, quotes that spoke only to me.  It was like having a secret garden of my very own.


I asked my daughter one of the questions in the book..."if you had only a dollar and wanted to buy a gift for someone special, what would you get?"


 My daughter said, "Mom I would buy you a pen, so you could collect n' capture all your thoughts." That's my girl!   A pen...yes, that would make me happy!   I'm always writing lists and trying to catch words!  So, which paragraph is true and which one isn't... The author reminds us when we are authentic the writing isn't so difficult. The author wants us to share our truth, this makes the writing real. Our emotions, our senses take us there and we can relay them. This author reminds us, we all commit "howlers"-the things that make you, reading, cringe.
I'm sorry if I have made you cringe!

She said our job as writers is to seduce you, to want to read more. And our job is to touch hearts by means of putting words to paper.    This reminds me of  one of my favorite quotes:

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”
― William Wordsworth

Do you fill your paper with your heart?  Is there a thread of truth in your stories?   I bet there is...

I wanted to mention Seth Apter is having an auction to raise $ for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Go HERE to find out more...