Happy Thursday to all of you! If it’s Thursday, and it is, then it must be time for Artistry With Words, so let’s get a move on and toss out a few ideas.
Today’s topic is…..drum roll please…..working at your craft.
Check out the quote below and then we’ll chat.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The most important thing is to read as much as you can, like I did. It will give you an understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your vocabulary.”
J. K. Rowling
There are some lessons we could learn about perseverance from Rowling, but today let’s concentrate on her words in that quote. “Read as much as you can….”
I read a fascinating blog yesterday, recommended to me by my good friend Lizzy, and in that blog the writer talked about his success in blogging coming from the fact that he was smarter than most other bloggers. Now before you start screaming, hear him out. The point he was making was that good writers, and good bloggers, are inherently interesting people, and they are interesting because they know a great deal about many subjects, and that makes them informative and yes, fascinating, so that you can’t wait to read what they have to say.
He went on to say that he spends hours reading newspapers and online stories and watching documentaries and such, and his research into life in general far surpasses the amount of time he spends writing. You can find his blog here.
Anyway, the point is that the more we prepare and gain knowledge, the better writers we will become.
Another friend of mine, Sha, reads, I swear, every single “how to” article about writing, trying to pick up bits and pieces of information that will help her improve.
The bottom line is this: writing is work. Few of us are so damn gifted that we don’t have to work at it; most of us have to constantly try to improve our skills, and along with that we need to increase our knowledge.
TIP OF THE DAY
I’ll keep this short and sweet: read a minimum of one hour per day. When I was a teacher this was my number one piece of advice to parents who wanted their children to improve in writing….have them read.
CONTEST OF THE DAY
Cutthroat Poetry and Short Story Contests are taking submissions right now with a deadline of October 15th. Entry fee of $17 and first prize money of $1250. You can read the guidelines here.
CONGRATULATIONS OF THE DAY
To my friend Ruchira who just published her first book called “Choices.” Great accomplishment Ruchira!
PICTURE PROMPT OF THE DAY
You know what to do….write 300 words about this picture. Who knows, maybe there is a short story in it and you can enter the Cutthroat competition.
WRITING PROMPT OF THE DAY
Finish this sentence with 300 words of free-form writing……..”The day began like any other day until…….”
MORE ON TUESDAY
It’s time to get to work so I’ll wish you all a great day of writing AND reading. I greatly appreciate each and every one of you, and I hope you all know that.
Join me Monday, Wednesday and Friday on my other blog, “A Moment With Bill.” You can find it here.
Bill
“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”
Billybuc
Artistry With Words 