A question
I had a question posed to me today.
A somewhat disturbing question.
A question which, if taken literally, is very confronting.
If nobody is reading this blog – do I really exist?
Yes, it’s a question that has been posed in various guises over the years, but I’ve never really had it personalised in such a way.
I just hope I can sleep tonight.
Rose’s travel jottings
The last few weeks have been very busy. Our daughter Rose, a teacher in one of our rural high schools, has taken up a teaching position in a school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the rest of this year. My wife and I have been busy helping her to get ready for this big adventure as well as tidying her house and garden ready for a house sitter while she is away. It’s been an exhausting few weeks but now she is safely in her new environment and quickly adapting to life in a strange culture.
Good writing skills run in the family as she has reactivated her blog to help family and friends share in her adventure. Her site is called Rose’s Travel Jottings (click to access). I’d recommend a visit every few days, especially as she adds photos. And later in the year we are planning to visit her and then the three of us will travel several other countries together. Stayed tuned for our adventure too.
Good reading – and good writing.
Rose Hampel
Wendy Noble: reviewer, writer and speaker
I’ve been meaning to do this for a little while now.
Introducing Wendy Noble: reviewer, writer and speaker
I knew of Wendy through a mutual friend before I met her. The first time I did meet her was in a seminar while doing my Master of Arts course several years ago. She had almost finished her MA degree. I took an instant liking to her; warm, friendly and with a delightful sense of humour sharply honed by a few knocks in the School of Life. Her engaging personality lit up the room, and her perceptive comments about my writing, and that of my fellow students, was deply appreciated.
Wendy has recently entered the world of blogging. Her site (click here) is a delightful read about books, writing and general observations about people and life, It is an insightful commentary worth reading – even if all you want is a good laugh.
Links:
Distractions from writing
There are many things which can distract writers from their writing. Some example:
- Illness
- Holidays
- Television
- Family
- Full time jobs
- Hobbies
- Lack of motivation
- Lack of ideas
- The internet
- _________________ (inset your own prime distraction).
Successful writers keep writing despite the distractions. They find ways around the distractions and keep writing.
It has been quite a few days since my last entry here on this blog about writing. I’ve still been writing – just not here. Instead I’ve been busy posting blog articles on my other two blogs. These numerous articles will appear on those blogs over the coming three weeks while I take an interstate holiday. I’ll be playing with my 19 month old grandson. That’s very important to me. While I’m away the blog posts will keep on appearing, both here and on the other blogs.
Why not take a look at those other blogs? I’d love you to leave some comments too.
- Trevor’s Birding – about my love of Australian birds – complete with stunning photos of our beautiful bird life here in Australia.
- Trevor’s Travels – about my adventures here in Australia and in Thailand and Nepal. Complete with lovely photos of some beautiful places I’ve been.
Updating my blogs
Over Easter I’m having a short break from writing my novel. This weekend I’ve concentrating on writing numerous posts for my various blogs (see the links on the sidebar). I’m writing these now and dating them to appear on a daily basis for the next few weeks. I often do this as it helps me with my writing.
Once Easter is over I will be very busy on two other projects: finishing the final draft of my novel and preparing to present four sessions at our church camp. I won’t have much time for blogging so I like to get the posts written and have them appearing regularly without having to bother about them. I often do this when I know I’m going to be away for a length of time, especially those times when I might only have limited internet access, for example, when travelling.
There is another benefit. Writing a dozen or more blog posts in one day builds momentum, and before I know it I’ve written five or ten or more. You get in the groove and get very productive. I like that. You can do the same with writing a novel, editing some stories or doing that horrible administrative stuff that writers have to attend to from time to time – like submitting work to publishers.
Must get back to blogging.
Good writing.