Once I got on the site, I noticed her “On Writing” link so I clicked on it.

I enjoyed reading her advice to a fellow writer who told Judy she had read over 70 books on writiung but still felt she couldn’t write. Judy advised her to read those books she really enjoyed and that would give her more inspiration for her writing. For this writer to write the best she could.

While on this page, I noticed she had more links:

My Trusty Notebook – Judy writes down story ideas, characters, backgrounds, and dialogue in a notebook before she starts writing.

This is very interesting to me because I am about to begin writing a children book series and have not decided the best way for me to start. Perhaps this will work for me too but maybe not.

Writing from the inside – On this page, Judy discusses about being a writer because you have to not just because you want to write. She adds becoming emotionally involved. If you don’t care about your characters, your readers won’t either.

I write because I want to and have kept it “hidden” for too long. There is a lot joy for me when I write. And I do understand what she is talking about being invested in your characters. For my first book, I have chosen to make it loosely based upon a true story.

Write Your Own Style – She writes about there not being a perfect formula for writing. Find your own style of writing.

Immediately this gives me comfort. The fear of not being a perfect writer is what was stopping me from starting to write my first novel. Once I let go of this fear, I wrote 23,000 words in 30 days…WHOOHOO! I am so excited for this accomplishment. And you can do it too.

Rewriting – Here she shares that for her the rewriting process is the most creative part for her. She also recommends to read the draft out loud so you, the writer, can hear the flow of the story.

To tell you the truth, the rewriting process scares me a little bit because I am afraid by trying to rewrite the draft, I will get off track and then it may mess up my progress. I am aware that it will take three or four more rewrites until I get to the final draft.  I realize if I don’t move forward, I don’t go anywhere. So I will do the rewriting. I guess it is how you look at it. Look at as a way to make things better for the reader. There you go.

Love the idea of reading the draft out loud too. Will do Judy!

Rejection – Confesses for the first two years she received nothing but rejections. Also, get used to rejection because no writer has come through it without getting rejected at least once and most of time several times. Keep moving forward! Determination and hard work are just as important as a writer as the talent you possess.  Keep writing.

Noone enjoys getting rejected however, just like finding a mate, not everyone works for everyone else. You have to be a good fit for the other person and vice versa. Your book has to be a good match and the publisher has to be a good fit for your book. It is part of the process.  I will try and remember this upon receiving those rejections.

Teachers – Judy didn’t have the support as a young person to write however, she states writing came easy to her.  She encourages young writers to find support by teachers and other adults around their writing.

I believe this is one place where the internet helps writers because there is many places to receive encouragement, support and inspiration for writing.

Thanks Judy for having such great stuff on your site!

P.S. You can read her blog too. I recommend her latest post about losing her purse.

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I am excited today because I have sent my first rough draft of my novel (I know there are many re-edits, rewrites and and drafts to go) to a few objective fellow writers and friends of mine.

Ok, well here are the picks for the Fab Five Friday:

1) Thanks to @dallaswoodburn for this tweet about Judy Blume’s website and the page for kids. I clicked on the writing a report link at the bottom of the page. A page comes up to reveal a page offering writing advice to kids along with Judy’s bio and info on Judy for kids doing a report about her.

2) Next thank you goes to @martinvarlow for sharing a tweet about Motown Writers Network, Michigan’s largest literary network for readers and writers. The post introducing Pam Perry (an Oprah guest) who shares publicity tips.

3) A new twitter friend of mine @wordywoman shared a post from the New York Times online about how Target is helping unknown authors become bestsellers through their new BookMarked Club. The post states “for each book selected as a Bookmarked Club Pick, the publisher produces a special edition, and the author writes a letter addressed to Target readers.” Sounds like a more expansion for authors into the main frame.

4) Another new twitter friend of mine @pwheeler_agent offered a tweet about Slate writer Farhad Manjoo writing about Amazon action of deleting ebooks from Kindle. Amazon stated that the titles were deleted because they were bootlegged copies of the famous books and it was only trying to protect author’s intellectual property. And for these Kindle customers’ who purchased these “bad” copies, they did get their money refunded. Farhad brings up a good point. When you go into a bookstore and purchase a book, the bookstore does not make you sign a contract stating you will have to give the book back if they say you can not read it. It is about the power Amazon has over Kindle customers and as such customers you don’t own the property even when you purchase the copy of the books or music you download. Thought provoking post!

5) Rounding out this Fab 5 Friday is @megandimarie with her tweet on her post from the Examiner listing some great Twitter chats for writers, authors and readers.

I wish you a wonderful day and weekend!

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Only 10 minutes went by before I had several books in my hands to include, The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop by Stephen Koch; Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss; Fiction Writer’s Handbook by Hallie and Whit Burnett; and Releasing the Creative Spirit by Dan Walkefield.

As I was just about to turn off the computer for the night and I looked down to notice the bag of library books on the floor next to my desk.

I picked up the Fiction Writer’s Handbook and flipped to the first chapter.  On the first page, the writer talks about some of the great writers such as Robert Frost (one of my all time favorites).  She tells a story of a student of Frost’s asking him why anyone should write in the first place and Frost answered adamantly:

“I don’t know why you should write, but I know why I do. I don’t get the same satisfaction out of doing anything else.”

Now, I really like that statement.

She goes on to talk about another story where JP Morgan was asked the cost of his yacht. JP replied, “if you have to ask the cost you can’t afford it.”

So I read this as if you know the cost of something if you take the time to learn and find out about those things you want.

Don’t be waiting for approval from others to begin to be a writer because then it will probably not happen. You will find many excuses not to write.

Believe me, I know this feeling all to well.

I have been wanting to write my first novel for quite some time. At the end of last year and beginning of 2009, I was telling other people, “I am going to start writing my first novel this month”. And then because of one “reason” of another, I didn’t start. Day, weeks and months went by and I had not started.

Then I really got stuck with my writing because I became obsessed with the notion my writing had to be perfect before I could write anything.  I thought there would not be a good reason to write a word if I didn’t have the right elements in place first. So I didn’t write.

Finally, I invited a friend of mine, Leah Dallaire to lunch about a month ago. She told me, “Just write Teresa. Don’t worry about all of that stuff. Just start writing. The other stuff will take care of itself.”

Thank goodness for Leah! I have been writing almost everyday since our lunch and I am about a third of the way done with my book.

When I write I get lost in the world of words and I love it. I makes me feel happy to write.

As Frost stated , if  nothing else gives me the satisfaction that writing does then…I am a writer.

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Intrigued, I searched for the book on Google. I found the book website, Writing Down the Soul.
Once on the site, I went to the “about the book” page and read more about the book and immediately connected with Janet Conner on her goal with the book. I wrote to Janet telling her how I found out about her book and how I would love to talk with her sometime.

She wrote me back and asked if I would be interested in signing up for her ezine and sent me her free ebook. Once I received the ebook in my email, I opened it.

In this ebook, she writes about her experiences she had when she started on her writing career. She struggled with what to tell people when they asked her “What do you do?”.

There seems to be difficulty for writers to share their passion and declaration as writers. Especially when you are new at the craft or if you do it when you aren’t working a full time job. I guess there is a stigma attached to it that doesn’t really reveal itself until you are about ready to declare, “I am a writer”. Before the words come out of your mouth, something instinctively seems to decrease your volume to a hush only in your head and you can’t seem to speak them out loud.

Why is this? In her ebook, Janet speaks about when she declared out loud to other people, “I am a writer!” the liberation she felt. So I say to all my fellow writers out there. If you are a writer, then don’t be afraid to declare this acclamation to others who ask you what you do.

If you have a full time job, you can say, “To pay the bills, I work at ___________. However, I am a writer and that is what I love.”

I have to tell you, once I said, “I am a writer!” to people in conversation, the more empowered I felt as a writer. I didn’t feel like I was hiding a big secret like a kid. Also, you may be surprised to find that once you allow others to know your passion and determination about your writing, the support for your writing by others.

Don’t be afraid to make your declaration of being a writer. I hope you will do it today.

Once you make your declaration out loud, please come back and share your experience here.

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