tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31121848.post8976795669146208291..comments2024-02-19T15:11:41.227-06:00Comments on Catholic Writer Chick at Large!: The “Q” Word, part 3Jannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06725527285837338560noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31121848.post-53754734928771208572008-11-14T22:07:00.000-06:002008-11-14T22:07:00.000-06:00Me, too!I say "Huzzah!" A big, loud, rip-roarin' s...Me, too!<BR/><BR/>I say "Huzzah!" A big, loud, rip-roarin' shout for the courage to step forward from all that muck and be <I>you!</I><BR/><BR/>Oh, so many thoughts, Janny...<BR/><BR/><BR/>I struggled with these thoughts when I was an art major and also, when I wrote poetry. The poetry that comes from my soul is joyous, light, and sometimes frothy. Frothy doesn't sit too well with the highbrows, if you catch my drift. They're all about angst and suffering or railing against the indignities of society. Whatever. I'm not a mope and I can't write mopey poems.<BR/><BR/>I write for myself. My art (which expresses itself through my digital scrapbooking) is my own and must first, please me. If I can't get excited about it, than how could I expect anyone else to do so? Of course, I'm not trying to sell anything. (Yet, at least.) So, I have that luxury.<BR/><BR/>But isn't that a luxury that we as artists should give ourselves? Of course we need to eat and have a roof over our heads, but my goodness - how I've loathed the gatekeepers. And, not surprisingly, how I've celebrated the freedom of the Internet.<BR/><BR/>My husband and I are into self-publishing, which is most likely the route I will go when I finally do finish my book. As much as publishing houses appeal to the traditionalist in me, I have become a passionate supporter of the "new media." I like having more control, even if it does mean a more limited readership. Plus (and actually, more importantly), I'm impatient. After wrestling with ideas for months, I truly don't want to wait years before seeing it published. Pfft. I'm going to be a radical. <BR/><BR/>Regarding your Catholic Christian identity - I never thought a writer had to create little "mini-me's" in their character development in order to be true to their beliefs. I believe that your values will be reflected when it benefits the story. Otherwise, the story becomes constrained and as you've expressed, inauthentic to your vision.<BR/><BR/>Seriously, you've already fascinated me! Please write what is in your heart - no more, no less. God gave you a beautiful voice to bend to <I>His</I> Spirit, and no one else's. :-)Mary Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04107504165449607702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31121848.post-63828790124810549442008-11-12T11:47:00.000-06:002008-11-12T11:47:00.000-06:00yes, Yes, YES! This is where you belong. Just Tell...yes, Yes, YES! This is where you belong. Just Tell the STORY! You are a horking good storyteller and always have been. Just because you stubbornly refuse to visualize Lachlan in a Speedo...<BR/><BR/>You shouldn't have to visualize yourself, or your writing, in anything else than what and who YOU are. After all, that's what we love you for.<BR/><BR/>If your work doesn't fit in the market as it's perceived today, it doesn't make YOU any less valid or your stories any less good. Heck, tomorrow the market could decide it doesn't want MY stuff...or Brandilyn Collins's, or Colleen Coble's. You can never tell which way this cat will jump, and in the long haul, we just want you to remain YOU.<BR/><BR/>I suggest you bend every effort to forget and bind everything you've ever been told, and write the next story YOU want to write. Here's one non-mackerel-snapper reader who will want to read it.Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13100565897627429788noreply@blogger.com