Monday, March 2, 2015

To Boldly Go....


If you popped in here because of the Star Trek reference, I apologize--this blog piece is not about Star Trek, nor is it about Leonard Nimoy (rest in peace, buddy).

However, this post is about trying something new. About getting out there with your writing; getting out of your comfort zone and to boldly go to a place you haven't been before.

I took a chance last week by uploading one of my books to Wattpad. If you haven't heard of Wattpad yet, it's a place where people can read other people's work for free.

What will you find there? Lots of poorly written fanfiction about One Direction. Okay, I'm only partially kidding...sorta. The good news is you can find many lovely treasures on Wattpad from hard working and focused authors. In addition this, Margaret Atwood and Paulo Coelho are two well-known authors who like to upload their short stories to Wattpad. Why? They can provide links to where readers can buy their books. So, really, it can be a handy promotional tool, as well.

Here's the back story of my book, Just Between You and Me: I came up with the idea late one night while I was feeding my 3 month old son. My son is now 12 years old. Yep, this book has been languishing on my computer for 12 years. Oh, and I have other books written, too, but never have shown them to anyone. Some are older than Just Between You and Me.

Anyway, I had been writing for so long and not really doing anything with my stuff, that I started to wonder what the hell I was doing with my life. I needed to get one story out there...at the very least. I had to let other people read it, and get a feel for what it was like for others to read and comment on my work.

I'm not sure why I chose Wattpad. Maybe it was just an easy platform to bounce off of. I had been hiding behind a computer for a very long time.

So, have you been hiding behind your computer for too long? Is it time to test the waters and see what happens? Once you step outside of your comfort zone, it begins to feel a little bit more comfortable. Trying something new is all part of the expansion and growth of creating something we love.



Keep writing! Keep being bold! 

P.S. You can read Just Between You and Me (for free!) here

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