Last weekend, I participated in a workshop by Patrick Gale and Suchen Christine Lim.

Both of them were quite adamant about the use of pen and paper. Pen and paper, they said, would not let you edit as you draft, which is very important for first drafts.

Also, it slows down your thinking and writing, which, apparently, is a good thing. They even said something about writing by hand being an organic process as opposed to typing, closer to our hands and hearts.

This brought to mind my writing teacher and friend, who does not allow laptops in her creative writing classes for beginners. An year ago, I could not imagine putting pen to paper, it seemed an alien skill after years of typing.

But when I started off, I realised that with pen and paper I could access the creative side of my brain much easier. Thus far I had typed out all my articles, official letters, reports and so on. So, for me, the pen and paper became the starting point for all my first drafts, after which I typed them on to a document.

While typing I started editing automatically, my first draft virtually became my second draft. I printed this out, and started scribbling on it, adding in and deleting parts, then typing them in again.

This has become my de-facto drafting process for all my short stories. I have not managed a novel yet, so I don’t know what drafting an entire novel by hand would be like. As others have said, it could have its disadvantages.

Patrick Gale does all his first drafts in long hand on notebooks. As writers we have all have different processes, and I’m curious to know how other writers create their drafts. So how do you draft your work?

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I was ready to pull out my hair and throw my notebook out the window. But reality set in, told me I was being to dramatic. I took a deep breath and took a moment to look at the messages coming in on the BB (it had been beeping for the past 45 minutes but I was trying to ignore it to get in a creative zone), only to stumble across an email from a young follower of mine. It really touched me. As writers, it is easy to get ladled down in the hustle and bustle of creating. Crafting words, editing, linking thoughts together, wordplay, sweating over deadlines and striving to “one up” our writing styles that in the haze of trying to say something…we forget that we already say it. Our words become the insight or encouragement to other individuals that graze our blogs, books, essays and tweets…and I only became aware of this after I read the email. For me, I write to remove the cluster of images that clog the mind. Its not about being deep or attempting to claim the title of master griot; I write to later sort out who I could potentially become. Who knew, that while searching for the words to embody ones true essence, that I would have the words that someone else was in need of. Wow, it feels really good to help someone with my craft. Aiding someone with my words was always something I hoped would happen down the line in my writing career but it came sooner than expected. It is truly eye-opening. Any other writers have a similar experience? Please feel free to share!

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I recently decided to make the most insane decision ever.

I gave up Twitter and Facebook for Lent.

*taking a deep breath and wiping sweat from my brow*

When I told my husband he had an interesting reaction. He said, “Aren’t you just going to be hurting your platform by doing that instead of helping?”

To which I said, “I don’t think so. I’ll still be blogging.”

Bu then I sat back and thought about all the tweeting I do with agents and other authors and began to wonder, am I hurting myself more than helping?

Well regardless the choice has been made and I intend to stick with it.

Do you think taking a break from social networking would hinder your career as a writer? Would you be able to give it up for a full 40 days and 40 nights?

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Marybeth is an aspiring novelist currently working on her second novel. For more information visit her website www.marybethsmith.com. She also has a blog Desperately Searching for my Inner Mary Poppins where you can keep up on her moments as mother, wife and writer..

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Sunday is Valentine’s Day, and we want your love. Share with us your best love scene, or how you met your sweetheart.

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Sarah is writer looking for an agent. She is currently working on novel # 4, editing novels 2 and 3, and querying novel # 1. For more insight to her work, visit: http://legendoftheprotectors.wordpress.com/ or http://legendoftheprotectors.blogspot.com/

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I’d like to thank Cher Green at Tarot Guidance for presenting us with this award. We hope to bring a little Sunshine to others. We’d also like to share this award with those who bring Sunshine to us. Here are those we’ve extended this award to as well.
Michael Broadway – Cornell DeVille

Elana Johnson – Navigating the Publishing World with a Splash of Real Life

Querytracker

Steena Holmes – Chocolate Reality

Dawn Braun – Life’s Little Pages

Christine Fonseca – Opening the Door to New Worlds

Roni Griffin – Fiction Groupie

Jaleta Clegg – The Far Edge of Normal

Liza Carens Salerno – Middle Passages

K. M. Weiland – Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors

Allison Pang – Borrowing Heaven, Subletting Hell

Stephen Tremp – VBT – Writers On The Move

Rules to Accept the Award:

◦Put the logo on your blog in your post.
◦Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.
◦Link the nominees within your post.
◦Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blogs.
◦Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

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