Friday, September 18, 2015

So Excited!

     I'm so excited! I'm heading out today to attend the Central Coast Writer's Conference. It is held annually at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, CA. I don't go every year because of schedule conflicts but I love to go when I can. It is a weekend of workshops and inspiration.
     I have been writing since I was in 5th grade. My teacher that year, Mrs. Hanabury, gave us a journal book and told us that we have to spend 15 minutes a day writing in the journal. It could be anything we wanted to write about: school, home life, pets, happenings, news, philosophical issues,(yes, even 5th graders wonder about stuff) etc... I remember my journal book. I wrote every day, sometimes, (let's get real here, all the time) more than 15 minutes. I decorated  my book inside and out with cartoons and drawings (heavy on the cartoons as I wasn't then, and am still not, a very good artist.) I loved my book and even on the weekends, I would write.
     In high school, with normal teenage angst, I wrote poetry. I remember sitting on the hill at the park, with the wind in my long hair, writing in a notebook of pink paper. It was all very cosmic and organic and what can I say? It was in the 60's and early 70's and I was living in the East Bay by San Francisco. The hippie movement was inspiring.
     Then for the longest time, I didn't write at all. Until I had my kids. I lost my mom the year my oldest was born and it occurred to me that there was a lot of things I didn't know about her. All the things one doesn't think to ask when you're a kid. Favorite color. What she wanted to be when she was young. So I wrote them letters. I told them about my life as a child and what my favorite color was and what I dreamed about and how I hoped I would always be there for them, even when they became adults.
     Now, for the past 4 years, I have been writing this blog and last year I started another blog about teaching and teenagers. But I have a stash of personal essays I would like to publish and I am working on a novel and a children's book.
     Every time I go to the conference I am inspired. Sometime to persevere with a story line I have and sometimes to try something new. And it's not all about writing. There's agents and publishers and promoting your work and collaborating with and learning from other writers and putting your ideas out into the universe for someone else to listen to and comment on.  Sharing. A lot of information. I've got a new notebook and a new pen! I can't wait!
    

No comments:

Post a Comment