ARE YOU JOURNALING

"The life which is unexplained is not worth living." (Plato)

Tonight, I want to encourage you to keep a journal. You should always carry a small notebook or index cards with you--this can be the core of your journaling. I carry one or the other, then transfer them to a larger journal, my computer, or use my notes to create new fiction, essays, articles or poetry.

Do I write something substantial every day? No. As you all know, I certainly don't write in this blog everyday. But the simplier question is: do I write everyday. And the answer is yes.

A great deal of "activities" can be called writing. I have recently published my third book (Pink Poodle Pie (Other Tales of Getting Even) which is available on Amazon. com. Any author knows that publication is only the beginning of the process. I've been writing and sending out press releases, mailing postcards, writing copy for book signing lectures, and all those emails to friends and family to tell them all about my newly born "baby."

And, of course, there are all those other writing projects I have in progress: another quilt story collection, a romantic suspense, and a nonfiction book of my husband's WW II experiences. I need to research publishers for a completed novella (Trusting Strangers is a romantic suspense also), do the final (for the second or third time) edits/rewrites, write a synopsis, and come up with a cover letter that really hooks a publisher. More writing.

I write every day. Whether published, famous or not, writing every day allows me to honestly call myself a writer. Even if it's only in my journal.