Owning It!

It finally 'dawned' on me (ok, bad pun and the girls will give me hell about it), but owning "it", whatever "it" might be, really works.

I can still remember the feeling when I stood up in church (I went with a friend and the ceiling is still intact) and said "yes, I'm an artist" and the difference it made to how I approached and looked at my own art.  Not only that, but how I stepped up my encouragement of others and their art.

Today, while sipping coffee (waiting for Savvy's pants to finish washing so I could throw them in the dryer for her for an event later this morning), this post came up on my bloglovin feed.  Point one really caught and held my attention - Because That's What You Are - Own It!

I feel like I have always 'written', bits and pieces everywhere.  Last year I participated in NaNoWriMo and won.  The first time in the several years I have tried and succeeded.  My number of blog posts are up.  I have two really great ideas for this year's NaNoWriMo circling in my head and I can't wait to really start working on both of them.  And I feel it's coming together for me, primarily for that reason - I am owning it!

My friends and co-workers back in North Carolina were supportive in a 'I'm not really sure what you are doing, but as long as you don't land in jail I'm behind you' kind of way.  There was really no one that I found I could talk about writing with and not have glazed eyes in about 30 seconds.  I don't mean them any disrespect, they would give me the shirt off their backs, but they weren't a writing community.

I tried a couple of writing groups before the move to Montana.  One was more local boys getting together and talking about what they have written and not really giving any feedback on what anyone else was doing. Great community boosters though.  The other group was filled with the first 30 minutes of the latest illnesses and drama in their lives - mainly by just one person.  I had enough of my own illness and drama to include someone else's in my life.  So I stopped going because I didn't see any forward progress.

This past week proves to me I am in the right place now.  I was openly discussing a story idea with a complete stranger because a co-worker mentioned I was going to do NaNoWriMo this year.  No glazed eyes, but a real understanding and appreciation of what I was doing.  I can openly tell someone I have these 'ideas' and don't know which one to go with.  I can talk about being a 'planner' for NaNoWriMo (and writing in general - except for school papers) rather than a 'pantser'.  

The community I am in now fulfills points 2, 3 and 5 of the article.  I have understanding, support and they don't think I am crazy - at least about the writing part.  My followers on my blog have increased from 1 or 2 to about 2 dozen.  And if you don't think that's much, be the only one who reads what you write!  Two dozen is a HUGE amount.

So I am now owning my writing, talking about it, writing about it, just writing in general.  I have understanding and support from people who don't live under my roof.  I hope that with the people coming to NaNoWriMo this November I can form a permanent writing group, one that 'works' for me.  And doubly hopefully, this time next year I will have my cookbook and a novel out as e-books.

Off to write!