A Look Back: My 2-Year MMW Anniversary

2 years ago I started a crazy and wonderful journey. I was a budding, fledgling writer without many credits to my name- well, okay, I still am. :-)

I felt completely out of my league with all of the incredible accomplished ladies who graced the pages of Mormon Mommy Writers (well, okay, so I still do). I felt starry-eyed with anticipation, more than a little overwhelmed (and nervous) that I had been selected to fill a slot here, but so excited for the possibilities that lay before me.

It’s been two years, and the journey is still just beginning for me. But I thought it might be helpful- for me and for those of you may now be where I was then- to take a look back and see how far I’ve come. Here’s what’s happened since I wrote my first post at MMW:

1. I had several stories accepted for publication into the Friend magazine and one actually published (Patrick and the Priesthood- October 2012).

2. I submitted my children’s poetry book to Deseret Book for publication!

3. I received a rejection letter from Deseret Book for my poetry book. *sigh*

4. I attended a writing workshop with author Jason F. Wright, and a class/critique group with author (and MMW) Lana Krumwiede. I have become friendly enough with both of those authors that they return my e-mails and will go out of their way to say hello to me if they see me somewhere (thanks, guys). :-)

5. I got hired for a couple paid gigs writing articles and this past summer I was invited to join the staff of a local magazine (Reaching New Heights) as a writer- I now do two articles a month for them.

6. I wrote a pageant for my stake’s youth conference and saw it produced. It was amazing!

7. I had a short story selected for publication in an LDS anthology called “Circle of Sisters” which came out earlier this year.

8. I was called as the Media Relations Director (assistant to the Public Relations Director) for my stake, which means that I write the press releases and articles for all our local newspapers and other news media.

9. I attended my first writing conference hosted by James River Writers. What an amazing experience!

10. I wrote a book. A whole, 71,062-word book, which has been my dream ever since I was little. Still a lot of work to be done on it, but still. A book!

I can honestly say that I would not have accomplished all of this without the inspiring motivation I have found within the MMW community. Knowing I would have to come on here every week (or every other week now) and give some kind of inspiration or insight about this passion we all enjoy has forced me to stay focused on it. Reading the posts of my fellow MMWs has taught me and inspired me and introduced me to even more talented and remarkable women who are succeeding in writing.

I still have a long way to go, but seeing how far I’ve come in just the first 2 years of my writing career, I am excited for more good things to come. I know there is still a lot of hard work ahead for me, but there is nothing else I’d rather be doing, and no other group of people I’d rather be doing it with.

So if you’re just a starry-eyed rookie writer with a dream like me, I am here to tell you to just keep writing. The more we write, the better we get, the more confidence we gain, and the more doors of opportunity will open for us. This is a long road we travel, and so much of it is just about the journey.

Write, write, write, and together we’ll reach our dreams, one goal at a time!

Where are you in your writing journey? Take the time to go back and see what you’ve accomplished since you began- you might realize you’ve come farther than you think.