Friday, July 27, 2012

Stay True To You





Do you remember the days as a teenager when you struggled to figure out just who you were going to be when you grew up?  For years I thought I was going to be a veternarian or have a horse ranch where I could commune with nature and live among the animals. 






But staying true to my internal compass was hard at times.  Here I was trying to please others...to be what others wanted me to be...to act in a manner which did not remain true to the person I was inside and in the end I paid a heavy cost.  I lost a piece of myself and spent more years than I'd like to admit in search of myself.





But I'm happy to report this past year and a half has been a wonderful journey of self discovery.  A time of putting the pieces of my life back together and reconnecting with my true compass.  It wasn't easy.  I  had to become stronger than I ever thought possible and take a long, hard look not only at the values I hold dear, but also the connections and relationships of  those closest to me.

Would you like you if YOU met you?  Did you become the person who stayed true to yourself?  I thought about this last night when a friend and I were discussing the possibility of my entering the upcoming Highlights contest for fiction.  We talked about where we both felt our careers as writers of children's books should go and for both of us the magazine route isn't in our future.  I'm not saying there is anything wrong with pursuing publication in magazines, but for me, its just not staying true to my own visions.

There will be many avenues to tempt new writers...self publishing, print on demand, traditional publishing houses, online ezines, magazines...the list is almost endless and we can get caught up in the sole pursuit of becoming a published author while forgetting to remain true to our integrity as a writer.

For myself, my inner compass is in the permanent upward position and I will follow wherever it may lead...






10 comments:

  1. You are much more disciplined than I am, and seem to be able to direct your work to where you want it to go. I'd love to be able to do that, but I don't even know how! Sometimes I start writing things and they just seem right for a magazine. I'll take an acceptance from the side of a telephone pole or the bottom of the garbage pail. A yes is a yes. I love yes.

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    1. I'm with YOU! I took a heavily disguised "yes" in high school. I wrote a short story for English class. The teacher gave me an A+ and wrote a note that said, " Is this your own story? Or did you copy this from someone else?"
      Yay me for the compliment? I took it as one anyway.

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    2. Janet, I've read your stories as well. I would definitely take that teacher's comment as a compliment and not an insult.

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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    3. Genevieve, I'm not sure my writing comes from a greater level of discipline than yours as much as possibly a greater level of ignorance...lol...

      You have been writing professionally longer than I have so it's quite possible you inherently write for the correct genres you are focused on. I, on the other hand, write down the day dreams and THEN look to see what genre they fit into.

      And again, for ME, it wouldn't help me to just accept any old "yes" that came along because my concern is that the "wrong" yes might lead down a path I don't want to go and I simply don't have the time to waste...but that's just me...;-)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  2. I have read some of your non fiction articles and think they should be published. Are you going to wait until you have a book's worth before it is submitted for publication?
    Patience may be a virtue, but she's no friend of mine!

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    1. Janet, writing non fiction for pleasure is vastly different than writing non fiction for publication...different set of rules and expectations. Children's fiction calls to me now but if I am ever able to have the time to pursue non fiction, it will probably be along the lines of "fictonalized non fiction"...;-)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  3. Replies
    1. Hi JP! Lol...I'm confused...why spooky?

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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    2. It's like you read my mind, these very thoughts have been uppermost in my mind recently.

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    3. Ahhh. Not so spooky then. We are on the same journey and stepped onto the path of growth as a writer at the same time. Why then WOULDN'T we have the same thought process? I said before you and I are kindred spirits so I'm not surprised our thoughts when it comes to what kind of writer we want to be are along the same lines...;-)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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