work in progress

Love Will Always Take Work

Drafts do not just fall out of the sky–they are the product of love, talent and time. The fuel to this process, will always take work. There is no shortcuts to the development of a draft, but the sustaining energy of any work of any draft is the love you have for it!

Let me explain a little more.

There is a fire that should be created in you when you begin a Work in Progress. You should want to see the end of the work as you create it. Bear in mind the words of Toni Morrison, “If there is a book you want you read, you must write it.”

You must write it!

From brainstorming, to freewriting, to the completion of a draft, you must be willing to follow the process of the completing of a draft must be powered by passion and work! There is a part of you which must love what you are creating in order to complete it. Love is the source by which powers the work.

Find the source.

Finish what you have started.

Hiding In Plain Sight

Writing as someone else is fun! I won’t lie to you (I love writing as my alter ego, Janelle!). You get to see your work in two forms: inception and reception. You get to step outside your comfort zone.

You get to explore, experiment and watch the reactions of the unsuspecting.

The gift of pen names is being able to–in the theory of imagination–is to be in two places at once. Which is intoxicating!

The one thing that I have to emphasize is that you don’t have to disclose who you write as. That’s one of those secrets that only you or your publisher need to know. But, it is a unique way to expand what you want to write, and even the persona you want to write as!

I want you to again consider hiding in plain sight. I want you to consider what it would mean for your to really explore all that your talent has to offer the world. How it will impact everything else you desire to create?

Don’t cut yourself off at the knees, beloved. Sometimes the best thing way to tell the truth, is behind a lie. Or in a voice stronger, or softer than your own.