Something from the past...

I like haiku, but it's a lot harder then it looks.  One of the classes I took in college was Creative Writing and one of the assignments was to write two poems.  This is one that I wrote in the form of multiple haiku.  This is one of those writings from my past that made me feel like a writer.

The Life in a Year: in haiku

            -- Nancy Paoletti © 2011

Bright, white cold morning

Fresh powered snow on the ground
A new year is born

Small emerald buds
Gardens brim with bouquets bright
The year fruitful grows

Laughing children play
The sun bathed planet so warm
The year in mid life

Crisp cool breezes blow

Down fall the changing colors
The year gently sighs

Harsh cold steely winds
Sorrow abounds, shivering
The year gives up, dies

Getting to the task at hand - writing

I created this blog to practice my writing and that's what I need to start doing.  Each day I will take a prompt from a book, a web page, something I've heard or saw, or something in the news that I feel I must express my opinion on and write on that subject.

A time for writing

While fear is my biggest obstacle, the other is making a habit of writing.  This is why, I created the blog, to have a place to come to and write.  Daily.

I've read that many writers set a specific time for writing.  I have the luxury at the moment of not having a day job so I could potentially spend hours just writing.  The problem is that I don't.  Finding that specific time isn't always as easy as it sounds especially when those around you don't have a set schedule. 

Thus, I sit almost immediately down at the keyboard and ponder what to write today.  These first few posts are about writing because I'm forming a habit.  Eventually, I hope to throw out creative writings of short stories, poetry, essays and opinion pieces.

Feeling good about my writing

Call me a late bloomer.  I started writing poetry way back in high school (that was the 70s).  Some was pretty good, but most wasn't.  Because working was more important, I didn't really hone my skills for writing, though in the 80s and 90s I was much better at keeping journals.  In the late 90s I picked up poetry again, some of which I'm very proud of; others are far to cheesy.  In time, I will post those poems. 

In the early part of this century, I started writing short stories.  I wasn't looking to get published; I just enjoyed writing things.  I had a decent job at the time and was starting a new life with a new man and things were good.

When we relocated for my husband's career, I struggled to find work.  A small sparsely populated county didn't help matters.  I also discovered that winters in Pennsylvania could be beyond treacherous and the thought of driving to Pittsburgh (better than 40 minutes from where we lived) terrified me.

Dave had been working for Penn State for about two years and that's when I decided I would go to school.  I was pushing 50, but I finally got my chance to do the one thing I've always wanted to do.

While at Penn State (the Beaver County campus), I majored in communication with a strong lean toward journalism.  Since it was a very small campus, English was not something I could finish so I took one of the five or six majors offered that could be completed there. 

I loved it.  I was rather good at it.  I wrote for the campus paper, took a course in creative writing, wrote many an essay and research papers; most of which I got an A for.  A lot of which I was very proud of, especially some of my news articles and editorial/opinion pieces.  I may post some of those here as well.

Writing is hard

Writing is hard.  OK, it really isn't that hard.  Putting the words onto paper is hard.  It's hard to look at things that I have written when I wonder if it is any good.  I start writing a paragraph and then... BOOM... I start to cringe and think, "this is awful."

This is what I have to overcome.  I had a fortune cookie once that read, "Your dreams must be bigger than your fears."  I get that.  I have to get over my fear to reach my dreams.  It's mantra of sorts.

Be that as it may, I've been putting off putting "pen to paper," as it were, because writing scares me.  Why?  I have no idea because there have been times I've done a really good job at writing.