Tag Archives: Motivation

You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story

Writer Inspiration, , , , , ,

You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story. Stories give shape and form to life. Stories lend wholeness to your imperfect vision of your experience. Telling your writer’s life story will do all of that for you. The tale of your emotional writing journey deserves to be told – first to yourself.

Begin Your Writer’s Life Story. Get started now. Open a new document. Title it “My Writer’ s Life Story.” Write the first sentence. The rest will follow. We are each of us butterflies with a single wing until we become whole by embracing ourselves – and our stories.

A Powerful Story Begins with a Character We Care About. The character we care about in your writer’s life story is You. This is your personal writer’s narrative. Whatever your challenges may have been – in your writing life and beyond – you are the major reason you are still here and still creating today.

You Struggled to Hang On to Your Creativity. You battled to overcome your challenges. Sometimes you needed help. We all do. Sometimes you got the help you required. But mostly your champion was You. What does that mean? It means You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story.

Joy Write. What is the toughest challenge you ever faced as a writer? What was the worst part of it? When and where? Who was involved? What happened? How did it make you feel? Write it back to life in your writer’s journal. Emotions may arise. Keep on writing. Straight from your heart.

You May Not Think of Yourself as a Hero. You must change your mind about that. Upgrade your attitude. Tell your writer’s life story. The story with you at its center as your main character. You are the prime mover of your creative destiny.

You May Not Think of Yourself as Luminous. But you are the person in your life – especially your writer’s life – who kindled the spark that set your imagination on fire. That fire blazes still because You did not allow it to die. You are definitely your hero. And this is your heroic writer’s journey.

What Does It Mean to Say You Are Heroic? It means you persevere. Despite the difficulties of your writer’s life – and we all have them – you try your best to shield your creative spark from the storm. Those storms may overwhelm you at times. We all experience that.

What is Your Writer’s Struggle and Triumph Truth? You struggle to beat back the tempest. Sometimes you succeed. Sometimes not. But you keep on trying. You keep on feeding the flame. That is your triumph. Share snippets of your hero’s tale on social media. Use the hashtag #MyWritersStory.

You are a Human Hero Not a Superhero. You would just as soon let the struggles pass on by. But something must be done or your precious writer’s life could be lost. Your creative blaze could be extinguished. So – you respond to the challenge you face. You step up. You act. You employ as much strength as you can muster.

You Do the Best You Can in Your Circumstances. You defend your dream. There is emotional power in that. There is emotional power in writer’s stories. Whatever your outcome may be – You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story. Say it out loud and proud. Mean it with all your heart.

My Writer’s Life Story is Sometimes a Screwball Comedy. I am the screwball hero. Take for example the time I turned down one of the best literary agents in New York City. She offered to represent me and my entire psyche spun into panic mode. I longed to run away.

Even the Imagined Proximity of Success Terrified Me. “I’m not ready!” I told Ms. Super Agent this at a fancy lunch in a fancy midtown Manhattan restaurant. My sushi went warm while I floundered through a writing identity crisis. Too long later I realized what a fool I was. I had even paid for the lunch.

Yet – I am Still a Writer. Which often bewilders me. The only explanation I can come up with is the grace of God. I staggered from midtown that day to our stoop on West 50th Street and hunkered down there in defeat. Then – Suddenly…. Any anecdote worth telling must have a Suddenly moment.

Suddenly Something Wonderful Happened. He sprinkled grace over me and somehow it turned to resilience. The next morning I got up and continued writing. This is a writer’s redemption story. That next morning – after ignominious defeat – I became the hero of my writer’s life story.

Joy Write. Ignominious means deserving of or causing shame. Have you ever cringed through an embarrassing incident in your writer’s life? Share your story in the Comments section of this post or contact me at aliceorrbooks@gmail.com. Do not forget to include how this episode proves that You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story

You are the Prime Subject of Your Creative History. Virginia Woolf agrees. “Every secret of a writer’s mind, every experience of her life, every quality of her being, is written large in her heart.” Every experience of our storytelling life is written in your heart and mine and the heart of every writer.

Immortalize Those Scenes on the Page. Make them vivid. The secrets of your adventure in creativity are ready to be revealed. Stop seeing yourself as “just a writer.” You are the main character of an epic adventure. Write with that in mind. You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story.

Tell Your Writer’s Life Story is a Four-Part Series. This post is Part I – You Are the Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story. Part II – Explode Into Your Writer’s Life Story. Part III – Cast Your Writer’s Life Story. Part IV – Structure Your Writer’s Life Story. Stay Tuned.

FYI – More Joy Write Prompts for You as Hero of Your Writer’s Life Story.

  • Imagine you are being awarded a commendation for reaching this heroic moment of your writer’s life. Write the speech the presenter will give. Make clear that you deserve this award. Describe specifically how you earned it. Consider writing a short story that dramatizes this event. Feel free to fictionalize if you are inspired to do so.
  • The first Joy Write prompt in the above article was about the toughest challenge you have encountered in your writer’s life story. You persevered beyond that challenge. Tell your writer’s journal what you gained from that perseverance.
  • Recall a time when you turned a dark moment to light in your writer’s life. What was the nature of the darkness? How, specifically, did you bring light to the situation? Write an article that tells this inspiring story. Submit the article to an online writer’s publication or your local writer’s group newsletter. Your writer colleagues need to read such hopeful tales.
  • How does it feel to think of yourself as a hero in your writer’s life? Share those feelings with me in an email to aliceorrbooks@gmail.com. I would love to know about your emotional experience with adopting this empowered point of view. I look forward to hearing from you.
  • Share this post with a writer friend. Encourage her to think of herself as the hero of her writer’s life story. Document your conversation as an audio or video recording. Share that recording with your critique partners or another writers’ group.
  • What wisdom have you gained by recognizing yourself as the hero of your writer’s life story? Brainstorm ways to share that wisdom with other writers and creative people. Which option most appeals to you. Act on it. Email aliceorrbooks@gmail.com. Tell me what happens.

Keep on Writing whatever may occur. Alice Orr. https://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Joy Write with Alice. https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Follow Alice on Substack — https://aliceorr.substack.com/.

Read Alice’s Novel. A Time of Fear & Loving. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Available HERE.

A Time of Fear & Loving

Praise for A Time of Fear & Loving. “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.” “Budding romance sizzles in the background until it ignites with passion.” “The best one yet!”

Experience Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love and death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About your writer experience. About telling your stories. Ask your question as a comment following this post.

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Start Your Writer’s Day Right – Joy Writing

Writers Life, , ,

Start Your Writer’s Day Right – Joy Writing. “I simply got out of bed each morning, walked to my desk and put down any word or series of words that happened along in my head.” This is what Ray Bradbury says in his Introduction to Dandelion Wine.

How I Learned to Follow Ray Bradbury’s Example. My husband Jonathan and I had returned the night before from our camp in the New Jersey Skylands. Ordinarily those Mondays began with a long list of city life things to do and stress barreling back big time. This particular Monday was different.

My Post-Weekend List Loomed Over Me as Usual. Each item was about keeping our weekday world on a smooth track rather than a bumpy one. In other words – crucial to the max. I had better get busy pronto. That was what I typically told myself anyway – until that day.

That Day I Ignored my To-Do List. I got out of bed and went to my desk. I took out my writing notebook. I put down the words that happened along in my imagination where they had actually happened to be for some time. Just like the words in your writer’s imagination right now.

How to Put Your Writer Psyche on Your Side - www.aliceorrbooks.com

That Day I Started a Book. Not an adaptation like my previous two books had been. The first – a novel that was orphaned when I decided to leave my agent. The second – a re-imagined story from a previous publishing period. This book was neither of those and nothing like them. Amazing things happen when you set yourself free. Start Your Writer’s Day Right – Joy Writing.

This Book was a Brand-New Story. Fresh from my tiny gray cells it grew. Word after word into scene after scene. Appearing like a miracle on the page in front of me. It was magic and I was in its thrall. I had never experienced a day like that in my entire writing career. But by Monday evening I had convinced myself it was too good to be true.

Until Tuesday Morning when the Same Thing Happened Again. I was enthralled once more. Caught up in the world of my story. Following its fascinating trail. Idea by idea and image by image. Alive in a reality as real to me as my day-to-day down-to-earth one had ever been.

And Here is Something Else Equally Enthralling. After each of those writing sessions an aura of the magic remained. My mind felt less fettered. My worries pressed less heavily upon me and around me. The To-Do lists that dictated my days had lost a huge measure of their tyranny.

Life Changes When You Start Your Day Writing. I have to relearn this regularly. A lesson that actually is crucial to the max. Just like Ray Bradbury said. Bed. Desk. Notebook. Voila. Alice becomes Alice in Wonderland. Curiouser and curiouser. Try it. Start Your Writer’s Day Right – Joy Writing.

You possess storytelling magic. Keep on writing whatever may occur.  Alice Orr.  https://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Visit Alice’s Joy Writing Blog. Whether you consider yourself a writer or not you have storytelling magic in you. Learn to shine in the light of that magic and make it your own at https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Follow Alice on Substack — https://aliceorr.substack.com/

Alice’s novel. A Time of Fear & Loving. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Experience the joy of reading. Available HERE.

A Time of Fear & Loving

Praise for A Time of Fear & Loving. “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.” “Budding romance sizzles in the background until it ignites with passion.” “The best one yet!”

Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love and death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About your writer experience. About telling your stories. Ask your question as a comment following this post.

http://facebook.com/aliceorrwriter/
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
http://pinterest.com/aliceorrwriter/

 

Oh No I’m a Caregiver – Our Dementia Story Begins

Dementia Story, ,

Oh No I’m a Caregiver – Our Dementia Story Begins. I have long written and taught and talked about how others can discover the best stories they have to tell. Stories from the center of their beating hearts. Now I have such a story myself. This is a cautionary tale. I will tell it here.

I Cannot Recall the Moment of my First Inkling that Something Terrible was Happening. I know it was long before the day my husband Jonathan walked blithely out the door to what should have been a pivotal medical appointment. I also now know I should have questioned his insistence on going alone. I should have been more cautious. I should have gone with him.

 I had Felt the Terrible Thing Looming for as Long as a Year Before that Day. A quirk in the corner of my awareness. Something off. A ping of the antenna that usually urges me to pay attention to details. Unfortunately my entirely full attention would not become engaged until later – when the quirk in the corner turned into an alert and the alert status intensified toward bright red.

 I Cannot Tell You What Exactly to Look as the Onset of Dementia. A small signal. Then another. Then another. My signals emerged from the experience of fifty-plus years with my husband. Our life together had not been an easy passage. I have never broadcast that before. I have portrayed us – Jonathan and me and our marriage – as very easy indeed.

“Couple Number One.” Somebody declared us that once as we swept into some social event or other. Dolled up and delightful as was our habit in those days. Scripted to present precisely the intended image. An old friend recently told me this. “The two of you embody the kind of relationship that I would have liked to have.” Neither description actually applies.

The Intention of This Story is to be Authentic. What use is it to you otherwise? Our story is about a real dilemma confronting real human beings with real human problems. Most dementia stories reveal the details of the disease but not the details of the flawed lives the disease most often interrupts. Our lives and our story are as flawed as we are ourselves.

Back to My First inklings. Moments of confusion I brushed aside. Contemporary life can be confusing to anyone after all. Sometimes I find it difficult to discern what is up from what is down myself. Jonathan’s memory lapses caught my notice first. Their increasing occurrence set my alarm pinging too insistently to ignore. Oh No I’m a Caregiver – Our Dementia Story Begins

“Let’s Find Out about This.” I repeated that plea several times. The response was always the same. A sneer. A scoff. A burst of outrage. I backed off then. I had veered too close to Jonathan’s anxiety triggers before and was not about to risk the result again. Not yet anyway.

 I Have My Own Temper – Fierce and Angry – then Gone. Jonathan’s temper is different. Usually repressed. More rage than anger when let loose. Building from the floor of him in a rush to explosion force with shrapnel flying everywhere. Better not to be in that blast zone. Best not to trigger an explosion in the first place.

 But I Had to Do Something. His annual primary care physician checkup was pending. I made my plea more specific. “Talk about your memory problems. Get a referral to a neurologist.” Jon agreed. I should have remembered he does that when he wants to shut me up.

 I Wish I could Recall the Details of Jon’s Return from his Doctor Visit. Where I stood. The quality of light in our apartment that afternoon. A vivid image to record in my journal. A picture peg on which to hang the statement that signaled the first battle of the war to come. The battle I would have to wage.

“I Told Her My Wife Thinks I Forget Things.” Jonathan smirked as he said that to me. I imagined his cute smile as he said it to her. Jon can be a charmer when it suits his purpose. His young physician did not take me seriously. That closed the door to further testing at our conveniently local medical facility. And plunged me into a chasm of conflict with the medical system. Oh No I’m a Caregiver – Our Dementia Story Begins.

LESSONS LEARNED – FEEL FREE TO BENEFIT FROM THEM YOURSELF

Never Underestimate the Power of Denial – Nobody wants dementia. Not for yourself. Not for someone you love. It is a truth you do not wish to admit. Now or ever. Not to anyone. Do not tell yourself the warning signs are nothing to worry about.

Never Underestimate the Power of Self-Deception. You may truly be blind to dementia’s presence and believe your blindness to be light. Do not overlook the warning signs. Do not tell yourself they are something other than what they could actually be.

Never Underestimate the Absolutely Crucial Advantage of Early Detection. This is the real reason to see and recognize and admit the possibility of Dementia where you wish/hope/pray it is not. The quality of your future life depends on it. Do not lose the advantage of early diagnosis and treatment.

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You possess storytelling magic. Keep on writing whatever may occur. AliceOrr  https://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr is a number of things. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. She also blogs for writers and readers at https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Alice’s Memoir is titled Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. At the beating heart of this moving story a woman fights her own disease disaster. All her life she has taken care of herself. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. An inspiring read available HERE.

Praise for Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness: “I was lifted. I highly recommend this book as a can’t-put-down roadmap for anyone.” “Outstanding read. Very, very well written. Alice Orr is an amazing author.” “Honest, funny, and consoling.” “Ms. Orr is a fine, sensitive author and woman. I have read other books by her and am glad I haven’t missed this one.” “Couldn’t put it down.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Storytelling Questions. What are you most eager to know about how to discover the strongest stories you have in you? Ask your questions in the Comments section at the end of this post. Alice will answer.

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