Blogetary (Weblog + Commentary = Blogetary)

No, you’re not in the wrong place, I just couldn’t find an easy blog template that matched my easy webpage template, so this is what you get.

So, I’m not too sure how this particular blog tool works. I’m learning as I go along. It’s not like the other “point and shoot” set ups that I’ve had on Tribe.net or MySpace.com so bare with me as I learn how to use it. For now, it may look a little barren. Haven’t figured out how to get the pictures to load, for example.

Pictures, however, are not the emphasis of this particular blog. No, the gist of this blog will be to track my journey on the way to becoming, eventually, hopefully, trepidatiously (is that a word?) published some how or some way in several different genres (I guess I dream big).

I suppose I should let you know what I’m working on. Right now, I’m between stories. I have two or three short stories (fantasy) I’m revising, a couple of short stories (fantasy and science fiction) on hold since they seem to be growing into novel length, and about three new short stories (also fantasy) I’m working on. There are novels (fantasy and chicklit) in the works but they seem to be permanently stalled in my head, so I’m working on the short stories instead to see if I can improve my craft while waiting for the novels to decide to get back to work.

I also belong to the California Writer’s Club, the Mid-Wilshire Chapter (though we’re not officially a chapter yet). We meet monthly and discuss the business of writing and sometimes discuss our own writing. But the club is more of a support group to help writers with getting published than a critique group or a workshop. I find it interesting. January’s meeting focused on three topics: 1) how to create a web presence and use it in your writing and publishing (hence my setting up this blog, which I’ve been meaning to do for a long time), 2) etiquette and the need for attending writing workshops and conferences, and 3) how to do a SWOT analysis on yourself as a writer/author.

For those of you not familiar with the term, a SWOT analysis is a tool that examines a business’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to see where they are doing well and where they need to improve. Artists and writers rarely think of themselves as businesses, but in a sense we are entrepreneurs. We want to create our art, our magic, and then we want others to see it, be moved by it, and maybe even buy it. So, it’s important then to be objective and honestly look yourself and see where you need to work on your writing or what opportunities you need to take advantage of to improve or get published. I was the person to present on the SWOT analysis, so maybe, when I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll blog my presentation so you can see what mean.

February’s meeting of the CWC will be about character development and maybe copyrights. I’m going to do a little research on copyrights for the writers and how it may work. If you know of any good resources, I’d love to hear about them.

By the way, if you’re in the Los Angeles area and are interested in trying out our writer’s club (there’s both a Mid-Wilshire branch and a Venice branch), then let me know. We want more members. We aren’t chartered yet, so it’s free (for now). If you are a fellow writer then you’re probably as introverted as the rest of us and need the outside stimulation anyway. So, let me know! If you want to check out the club’s website, then go to www.calwriters.org. (Yeah, I don’t know how to do that fancy thing with the links yet, either).

A few of us from the writers club formed a critique group specializing in paranormal writing that limps along meeting occasionally to read and comment on one anothers work, either online or in person. It’s fairly interesting. Always good to read what other people are working on. Again, if you’re interested in joining us, let me know. Other than that, I suppose I’m due for a workshop or conference, but I think my bank account needs to recover first.

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll write more later.