How it Happens

So you want to write? 

Step to it. Learn by doing. Learn from others.

Make good things happen with these five steps:  

1. Take Your inspiration from a Nike ad and Just Do It. Move from a writer-wannabe to actually being a writer. Stop wishing. Start doing. Everyday. 
2. Take classes and workshops. Know how painful it is to be critiqued and have your feet held to the fire. If you can handle the critique and learn from it--then write, rewrite, rewrite--your craft will improve.
3. Take time. Steal time to write because the clock won't stop for you. The husband or wife and kids (and probably the dog) will need your attention. The phone will ring. Emails will interrupt. Time will slip away unless you set it aside and honor it. Writing is hard work. So show up. At midnight when everyone's asleep? On Sunday when the children hang out with grandma and grandpa? Or on your lunch hour? Do the math: 4 lunch hours a week X 52 weeks a year = 208 hours of writing. 
4. Take yourself out the door & Schmooze. A writer's life is solitary and isolated when you're actually writing. When not writing, network, interact, schmooze. (Swap social media for real-life socializing.) Ideas are everywhere and so are connections. You'll bump into them accidentally. 
5. Take a big, scary step. Take your writing to a place it's never been. Sign on to this really cool workshop: Write & Sketch in Spain. May 9-10, 2014. Save your place in an international group of 10 writers in Spain's stunning Andalucia region. Make things happen. 

_________________________

This week's POV thanks to #Stephen King:

Writing is magic, 

as much the water of life as any other creative art. 

The water is free. So drink. 

We Forgot To Mention...

We should have said... Sign up to Write & Sketch in Spain and fly into Picasso's hometown and museum in Malaga. Or fly into Gibraltar airport, an easy skip across the sea from London. Malaga and Gibraltar are only a short distance to the workshop site in Spain's stunning Andalucia region. 

The seaside setting is private. It's remote... so perfect for tapping into your creativity and picking up tools and techniques to take your writing to a place it's never been. 

What do you call this workshop? 

• Call it an experience
• Call it an adventure
• Call it inspiring and educational 
• Call it something you deserve to do  

Click on over to writeinspain.info and see what's crammed into a unique two-day workshop. 

Take Your Writing To A Whole New Place

Releasing your creativity when you write is like opening Pandora’s Box--all kinds of horribleness jumps out... but hope jumps out, too. 

In one session at the Write & Sketch in Spain work-shop, you’ll write non-stop and be surprised, amazed and dazzled at what leaps onto the page.

And there’s no need to fret if you see a little horribleness. You’ll fix it with writing tools & techniques you learn at the workshop. 

Begin a long-lasting, productive relationship at the Write & Sketch in Spain workshop. It'll be the stuff that stories are made of. 

Get the scoop at WriteinSpain.info. Save your seat in an international community of 10 writers and take your writing to a place it's never been. 

Just Bragging!

There are a couple of guys in my closet today. They're Google guys installing seriously hi-speed Google Fiber for internet and HDTV. We're the first city (Kansas City) to get this service--and we're bragging. 

But here's the real reason for this post. Excitement is building for our Write & Sketch in Spain workshop, coming up in six months (May 9-10, 2014). Join an international community of ten writers in the stunning Andalucia region of Spain. Call it an experience. Call it an adventure. Call it inspiring and educational. Call it crazy fun. Call it something you deserve to do. 

Here's a small sample of what's crammed into a two-day workshop:
Early on Day I, you'll Unlock the Door to Your Story, then move on to this: 

Who's That Knocking On The Door? 

Meet the people who populate your story. Characters--the angelic to the eccentric (and their rich or rowdy friends)--will clamor to get in and be part of the drama, action and romance. Be forewarned: creating a major character is major work. Who are your characters? Will they be complex, exotic, unconventional or troublesome enough to move your story forward? Yes, they will! You’ll make them so. Or out they go.

Get details at WriteInSpain.info.

Then send us your questions and we'll save your seat: ahplause@gmail.com 

How It Happens

So you want to write? 

Step to it. Make good things happen with these five steps:  

1. Take your inspiration from a Nike ad and Just Do It. Move from a writer- wannabe to actually being a writer. Stop wishing. Start working. 
2. Take classes and workshops. Know what it's like to be critiqued and have your feet held to the fire. If you can take the critique and learn from it--then rewrite, rewrite, rewrite--your craft will improve.
3. Take time. Steal time to write because the clock won’t stop for you. The husband or wife and kids (and probably the dog) will need your attention. The phone will ring. Emails will interrupt. Time will slip away unless you set it aside and honor it. Writing is work. So show up. At midnight when everyone’s asleep? Or Sunday when the children hang out with grandma and grandpa? Or on your lunch hour? Do the math: 4 lunch hours a week x 52 weeks a year = 208 hours of writing.
4. Take yourself out the door & Schmooze. A writer’s life is solitary and isolated when you’re actually writing. When not writing, network, interact, schmooze. (Swap social media for real-life socializing.) Ideas are everywhere and so are connections. You’ll bump into them accidentally.
5. Take a big, scary step. Take your writing to a place it's never been.WriteInSpain! Save your place in an international community of ten in Spain's stunning Andalucia region. Make things happen. (Scroll down, way down, for Stephen King's POV)

This happened yesterday: 

I went to an art fair (fabulous music, food and, oh, yeah. Art). When I admired the work of artist Doug Bennett, he told me he’s developing a new concept. He was looking for someone to write the stories and scenes he paints...someone to capture the soul of his work in words. That’s me! I said. I’m all about soul. Next week, we'll flesh out the concept and make it happen.

And then...

A very pleasant woman strolled by. She struck up a conversation and, it turns out, she was an out-of-towner taking in the art fair. We walked, talked, meandered and Voila! She had great stories to tell. We stood on a corner in a fresh September breeze and "shot the breeze" in an impromptu idea exchange--about women entrepreneurs, balanced lifestyles, careers that translate to happiness. And how to make it happen. (OK, since we're women, we also talked about men. You should've heard that conversation!) 

Want to meet her, Caroline? You can. Decorator's Resource.

Want to meet other writers and bright idea people? You can. Good things will happen. Write & Sketch in Spain  

_________________________

This week's POV thanks to Stephen King:

Writing is magic, 

as much the water of life as any other creative art. 

The water is free. So drink. 

 _________________________

Counting the months 'till Spain

This Week's POV:

He took everything that made him weird as a kid... and got people to pay money for it as an adult. 

That's been said about a guy named Tim Miles--and what he does (for love and money) is WRITE. We know that you (or the weird kid in you) wants to write, too. That's why you're invited to join our international community of 10 writers on the Southern Tip of Spain (May 9-10, 2014). It's only 8 months 'till then. 

We can't promise people will pay you for what you write--some writers make buckets of money... some make a little... some none at all. But we promise that writing is rewarding in more ways than one. (It's a lot like working out at the gym. Hard to do, but it feels great). 

On his website, The Daily Blur, Tim Miles blogs every morning before breakfast. He starts the day by sharing bright ideas, philosophy and insights. He says what he appreciates most are long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. Relationships that work. 

We do, too. So we'll save a seat for you at our Write & Sketch in Spain workshop. Let's begin our long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship. It'll be the stuff that stories are made of.