To all writers who like to laugh,

Check out www.robbieiobst.blogspot.com. Robbie is a writer who believes in laughter and finds ways to share her humor with friends. I hope you enjoy listening to her.

Chris

Hi, Kids,

Today my writing group, Words For The Journey, started meeting again after taking a summer break. It was wonderful to talk about writing with other writers. Do you have a friend who writes? Do you have someone to share your writing with?

My Fellow Writers,

Every writer, even the most experienced can always learn something new. That is one reason writers should attend every conference they can to hone their skills. No writer, however, can attend them all.

Conferences have a wide price range and the costs of transportation and housing has to be added. They also can be several days. Sometimes we don’t have the time or the money to go to a full program. Does this mean we should give up our plans of attending? No way. Check around your community and neighboring towns. Look for writers’ groups you can join for minimal cost.

Have you ever thought about words and phrases adults say that are the same—over and over? Do you like books with the same phrases? Most people don’t because it makes the story boring.

What new phrases can you come up with? How can you say the same thing in a new way? My eight-year-old grandson loves to tell stories and has started writing them down. One day when he was visiting, he surprised me by saying, “The people left to the farm.” We have all heard left from, but not left to.

How many things do you like to say that are different from most adults?

Tuesday night I attended the Words for the Journey writers group. The speaker was Donita K. Paul – a great lady who writes Christian Fantasy novels. Sitting in the cookbook section of Barnes & Nobel, listening to other writers share the words of the summer brought joy and a lightness to my heart. We haven’t met since the end of June and there is so much to share.

I have been working on my speaking more than my writing. The two endeavors march hand in hand. I can sell more of my writing by speaking and find speaking engagements by writing.

I have been watching the Olympics, as I’m sure many of you have. I see and hear stories about the athletes’ dedication to reach this pointing their lives and it reminds me of the commitment all of us should have to the work God has given us to do. I know writing is not an Olympic sport, but I noticed some similarities. I wish I could unequivocally say yes to all of these questions. NOTE: These questions are designed using a stereotype of an Olympian, which combined the common things discussed.

Olympians practice their sport several hours every day.

A few days ago, my daughter, talked to a man whose creative son was having trouble finding help and a place on the web to publish some of his writing.

In my writing kids blog this week I invited him to send some of his work to this website. I am so driven to help young writers prepare for the world in which all of us struggle to get our work published. We know that we will not continue to live forever and that we will not be able to write everything in the world there is to write. At conferences and as individuals we help each other learn and improve our writing.

I have a story for you tonight. My adult daughter attended the Colorado Rockies baseball game tonight. Before the game, a man commented on the book she was reading. During the conversation following the comment, this man said his son was a creative writer, but is having trouble finding places where he can get help with his stories and post them on the web. She gave the man this website and I hope I will be seeing the young man's stories soon.

This site is for all of you who like to write. After I review the stories, they will be posted on this site.

If your goal is to improve your writing, one thing you must do is write something every day. It doesn’t have to be part of a book or an article or anything for someone else. Writing in a personal journal has many excellent features. It helps the writer to remember important memories, which can slip away if they’re not recorded. Journal entries can be prayers, short stories, or lists of things, which happen each day.

How many of you know the most important thing to do if you want to become a very good writer?

Write, write, write, every day.