Where's the White Space?

I got a check this weekend for a newsletter I do the layout, design and composition on (Friends of Corona Public Library Quarterly Reader). They put out a web and print version. Getting the check made  me think about my old career as a typesetter and (untrained) graphic artist. Looking at my blog, I realize I violate a very important rule: always provide plenty of white space.

First, I apologize. Apparently, I've gone widget crazy. Every available space is jammed with some kind of blogger widget.

Second, I have an excuse. I'm fairly new to blogging and I had no idea there were so many gadgets available. Every time I see one I have to add it to my blog because it seems so perfect to share. I'm outta control. I haven't had this much fun since show and tell in grade school.

Don't worry. I'll settle down and start deleting things, eventually.

Until then please hang in there. Like everything, it's a work in progress.

Write On!

Writing was definitely easier today.

I wrote before going to work this morning and was almost late. Had to tear myself away. Wrote in my head on the way to work but most of it is gone now.

I need a voice recorder to use in the car. A lot of my best "writing" is done during my commute to and from work. Takes my mind off the parking lot they call the 91 Freeway.

Favorite Lines:
When the motorcycle crested the hill he was silhouetted for a moment against the late afternoon sun. Though nearly sunset, heat still radiated off the asphalt creating shimmering waves of energy that made him look like a mirage—a black shadow hurtling out of another dimension, another world.

Writing vs Publishing

This essay changed my life. Too many inspiring passages to quote. If you want to be a writer and think getting published is the ultimate goal, read this:


Jenny Crusie's essay: A Writer Without A Publisher Is Like A Fish Without a Bicycle: Writer’s Liberation and You

Basically, she made me realize that my goal isn't to be a published author; it's to be a writer. And I already am. Because I write. I've been told that before, but until I read this essay, it didn't really click. All the struggling I've been through trying to write well enough to be published has gone. I feel free now just to write to please myself.

What does that mean? Yes, I still want to be published. Yes, I'm still going to try to get published.

The difference is in how I approach writing. Instead of worrying while I write if it's good enough to be published, I'm only concerned about how it pleases me. I know, it's a subtle difference but it made a meaningful shift in me.

Don't know if the end result will be better or worse. I'll let you know.