Writing Project: Open Heart - Insert Foot

When I was a Senior at Fresno High School, my Advanced Composition teacher, Mr. Carey, loved Yeats and Byron. When he described my writing style as something similar to a sports reporter's, I understood he was not complimenting me. Only recently have I felt successful communicating with written or typed words. Of course, I have often opened my mouth and inserted a foot or two. Now I am doing it while writing.

Last month, while writing two complicated articles, I lost my new-found writing confidence. I was confused, and I was confusing my readers. I wondered if I would ever be understood again.

I also wondered how "real writers" confront these issues. Do real writers worry about being understood? Do they struggle with confidence? And as someone who is more verbal and visual, I wonder if other people like me wonder about being misunderstood. As I asked these questions, I realized that I didn't just have writer's block. I had a new project.

I decided to collect different writers and ask them about their writing process. So, for March, I will ask writers (some professional; some amateur), three different questions about their writing process. The questions are below. 

1. Why do you write?

2. What motivates or inspires you?

3 How do you get past writer's block?

Ideally, this project will also demonstrate how to create dynamic on-line communities. I will post links, photos and bios for each person, when possible. Please comment (until recently, I had the comment function turned off.) If you have any suggestions, or if you would like to participate, please contact me. I am looking for diverse respondents, so almost anything could work.

A quick note: I am not completely sure how the idea formed... partly from frustration, partly from visiting friends who write, and partly from preparing a workshop presentation on visual storytelling. However, the final push was a blog post from Grover at Photoshelter. He suggests linking to other bloggers. I figured I could create an entire project linking to other people's websites.

Finally, As I post replies, I will also edit this page and post Dates, Names, and Links, creating more links and more information.

March 1: Grover Sanschagrin, Founder of Photoshelter and Sportsshooter. Photoshelter's Blog

March 2: Lisa Boylan, Senior Editor, Epilepsy Foundation of America

March 3, Deborah Szajngarten, Marketing Communications Director, Vimeo, Writer

March 4, Dave LaBelle, Photographer, Educator, Author, The Great Picture Hunt

March 5, Robert Warren Cromey, Retired Episcopal Priest, Author

March 6, Nels Henderson, Marketing Project Manager, GoToMyPC, NelsHenderson.com

March 7, Katrina Simeck, Master Scrapper & Blogger,  Autumn Harp Lip Balm Queen

March 8, Chris Guillebeau, Writer, World Traveler, Business Person, Art of Non-conformity

March 9, Stephanie Wong, Write, Technology Consultant and Nutritionist, EatLifeWhole.com

March 10 Stephanie Riedel, Photographer, Stephanie Riedel Photography

March 11 Bradley Wilson, Writer, Coordinator Student Media NC State, Editor of JEA Publications

March 12 Jim McNay, Visual Journalism Educator, Writer, Senior Editor

March 13 Anne Howard, Executive Director, The Beatitudes Society, Author

March 14 Aaron Manfull, Teacher, Chair of Digital Media Committee for JEA

March 15 Bare Feet, Message to a Mentor

March 16 Steven Kalas, Columnist, Therapist and Author, Human Matters

March 17 Arlene Stepputat, Director of Programs, Alzeimers Assoc. Central Coast, Author

March 18 Wayne Brasler, Journalism Instructor. Writer, Editor, National Teacher of the Year

March 19 Henry Rome, Journalist, 2009 Brasler Prize Winner for National Story of the Year

March 20 Mark Michael Lewis, Business Conultant and Author

March 21 Lambert Kuang, High School Senior. Future Technology Guru

March 22 Reza Garajedaghi, Mr. Gaucho 

March 23 Michele Dunaway, Best selling Novelist, Teacher

March 24 Nancy Davis Kho, writer

March 25 Jill Chittum, Photojournalist and Teacher

March 26 Ina Herlihy, High School Student Journalist, Photographer

March 27 Alysse Mengason, Journalist, Person with Epilepsy

March 29 Janet Emma Garbe and Wil Gravatt, Songwriters, Musicians

March 30, Martha Tessmer, Mother of Angels

Comments

[Steph Riedel]

I'm not a "real writer" by any stretch of the imagination. I still feel the need to leave a comment ! I do love to blog and love to get all my feelings out on paper......I worry sometimes that I'm being to "out there" emotionally and that people will think that. I let myself become vulnerable and for the most part people are always welcoming and connect with my words.

I thought it was interesting that when blogging for almost 4 years (http://momtoadiva.blogspot.com/) I used mostly words and photos to express myself and keep friends and family in our loop. Then once I got serious about my photography (http://riedelphotography.blogspot.com/)and started a photo blog I mostly stopped writing. I thought the photos I was posting spoke more than I could say for a while.

Now I'm doing the photography and also started a new project that's 100% for myself only. http://stephsixmonths.blogspot.com It's all about my journey to find myself again and get healthy. I'm writing more and so far people have been e-mailing me and saying how much they can relate. I have never written professionally but If I can connect with even one person and we can share a feeling or common experience then it's worth it.

Love this idea that your working on !!!!!!

[bryan farley]

Thanks for commenting Steph; glad we connected in Dixon. Will catch up next month... actually in a few minutes. Have just been reading your healthy project blog. very motivating.

thank you

bf

[Steffoush]

Thanks for letting me be part of this project Bryan !!! I never really knew I was a writer !!! ;)

[Ana June]

Cool project! I'm a writer, currently struggling BIG time with a project, and would love to participate. My blog:
http://noncomposmentismama.wordpress.com
Off to read more. :)

[bryan farley]

Ana,

Thank you for stopping by. After you read some of the other responses, would you write about some of the answers that motivated you?

How did you identify with other people who write? Even those people who don't see themselves as writers?

thanks again

bf

[bryan farley]

Stephanie,

I have often remembered a quote,

"We teach best what we most need to learn."

I forgot who said or wrote it until I searched for it today. Richard Bach, the author of the best selling book Jonathan Livingston Seagull is given credit for the quote, (http://www.inner-growth.info/private/richard_bach_quotes.htm) from his book illusions, although maybe Emmerson or Aristotle actually said it first.

I never thought of myself as a Writer (with a Big W), but I write... often with three dots instead of double dashes. And sometimes I start senstences with conjunctions even though I know it is wrong. Plain wrong.

Does it really matter?

Thank you for your participation. Now a couple questions:

How could we make this project better? How could it be more helpful?