Research

I have been visiting blogs and web sites about writing and editing. This has opened another new world for me. It is amazing how much time goes by when you are doing research. The last class on writing I took was in 1994. You would think that writing your own life story would be easy. It is easy in the sense that you know the story. You just have to take the time or make the time to start writing. You need to know how to use words in a way for the reader to clearly understand your message. You need to know how to use proper sentence structure, tenses, commas, quotations, etc.  One of the things I am learning is that if I had started writing my memoir into editing software I would be more organized in my writing. I have decided to attempt to use Scrivener. It was recommended on some of the sites I researched.  It will mean I have to almost start over but I think it will be worth it. I plan on using it step by step so I can learn how to use this software. Since my book is technically done I will just have to use my current draft as part of my research on the book.  Since I am planning on writing more books after I finish this one it is going to be important that I know how to use editing software.  I am finding this process exciting. I am fortunate I had a publisher that was willing to look at my book. She said what I knew which is that it needs a lot of editing. She was happy that I understood the memoir is no where near a finished product.                         

It is also going to be important for me to network with people who write professionally. From what I can tell there are a lot of people that seem willing to help a new writer succeed. I know that for some it is a marketing tool for new business. For others it is for the love of words and the English language. Being in the digital age there are a ton of blogs on self-publishing, especially e-publishing. This scares me for sure I can admit when I am in over my head.

I need to do research on web sites and blogs on motivational speaking as well. This will give me some ideas on how to go about marketing myself. It is especially important for me to attend some workshops on motivational speaking and writing to help me to gain more knowledge and skills. I will be sharing this process with the reader as well. Surviving trauma has been tough at times. Making the decision to share my trauma experiences  and growth from these experiences has me very motivated to make this book the best book ever. I love this blog and appreciate the people who are stopping by and reading it. Please don't forget that I really would like feedback good or bad as to how I am doing. Am I interesting enough? Are my topics important ones to share? Are there other trauma topics I need to cover? I like learning and growing and learned many years ago that constructive criticism is a tool to help me grow. It is not what we say but how we say it. I live that every day at my job I don't always succeed because I am human. I have had to learn the saying that you catch more bees with honey. Life lessons gotta love them. Have a blessed night, Rosie