Getting Yourself Out There

By Lacey Gunter

Shout out to all the moms with a mountainous pile of laundry. I feel your pain! This past month my writing soul has been wonderfully enriched, but it has not come without a cost. Visitors beware, my house is a disaster zone and I am more than a wee bit sleep deprived. My only hope is that my hubby and kids are feeling an extra dose of Valentines love and will forgive me of my shortcomings.

Amidst all this progressing mess and chaos, I am happy.  I recently signed up for my first writer's conference and I am very excited! It will be in the summer and I welcome all your advice. I have also had the chance to participate in several new writing and critique activities that have buoyed my writing resolve and helped me to meet people who have encouraged me and helped me grow. I feel very blessed.

So here is what I have learned this month. A lot of writing advice talks about getting your work out there, participating in critique groups, doing lots of submissions and getting lots of feedback. This is sound advice, for sure.  But it is also really beneficial to get yourself out there, and I don't mean just digitally.

Getting out and meeting other writers and sharing your experiences with each other helps you to feel
more connected and can give you the strength to weather through the difficult aspects of trying to get published. With all our busy schedules, this takes time, I know.  But if you are really serious about writing, it is worth the time. And you may be surprised at how friendly and kind the people you meet are. I know I have been.

Rejection letters, difficult to swallow critiques and a sea of internet literature emphasizing how unlikely it is you'll get published, can make this industry feel like everyone is against you. But as I have met and talked to people personally, all I can seem to find are down to earth people who are happy to be a friend.

So, get yourself out there. Your laundry and house cleaning may suffer. But all that means is you'll just have to meet up at your second favorite place, the library. =)

Making New Friends

I got this from a fun little handout about friends and friendships for my kids. You can print it up and have it for Family Home Evening, think about all your friends in your life and see where they fit. OR, (I like this) you can have this as a checklist for a your main characters as you write. You choose! Here it goes!

Wheeeee!

Here are a few helpful hints to making new friends:

1. Listen when someone is talking to you.
2. Ask questions to find out more about the person.
3. Give sincere compliments to others.
4. Don't be afraid to speak in front of a group. This is a good way to share with lots of people at once.
5. Share your ideas with others. Don't be afraid to speak up.

Are Your Friends Cool or Cruel?

Cool kids: ................................... Cruel kids:

*Keep secrets.........................Share your secret with others
*Keep promises...........................Don't listen to you
*Really listen to you.................... Talk behind your back
*Stand up for you........................Leave you out
*Include you in a group...........Are jealous when you do well
*Are happy when you do well........Complain about others
*Are fun to be with..................Are not aware of your feelings
*Think of your feelings ............... Want to get you into trouble
*Care about what......................... Make fun of you
happens to you
*Are nice to you.......................... Are stingy
*Are generous

I honestly feel that these traits apply to adults as well. I hope this has been helpful and fun as well! :)

The Writing Sisterhood

Here it is, two nights and two days later Sunday at the Sweetwater Lift Lodge in Park City

and it has been a writer's haven of heaven. I am so very grateful for Karen Hoover's generosity

and love by inviting me along with our most treasured writing group of awesome sisters to come

over so we can reinforce our already strong bonds of friendships by doing what we love best:

WRITING!

My heart is very full as I express my gratitude for my wonderful critique group because we are

so much more than that--we are sisters in Zion who love one another and who build one another

up and who cheer each other on. Talk about major support group. I have to be forthright and

honest, but I wouldn't be where I am right now without them (and I am not referring to Park

City). :) There is a sisterhood here with Mormon Mommy Writers as well, and for that, I am

also grateful--especially with our followers!

Finding that it's a writer's blood life to connect with other writers, how are the dynamics like

with your writing friends and groups?

Friends for Life

Many of you know that Kasie (one of the other contributors) is my best friend. We were friends before either of us knew that the other was writing, so when we discovered that we were both in the middle of novels it just added another dimension to our friendship. We also happen to look alike. We get asked all the time if we're sisters (even though Kasie recently became a brunette). Here's a recent picture of us together. I think you'll see why we get mistaken for each other.
Another thing we share in common is a crazy sense of humor. It get's us in to trouble sometimes. Like the year we went to girl's camp together as leaders and were shushed by the other, older leaders. Or the time we were sitting in Sunday school together and couldn't stop giggling.

More recently we were invited to an "80's" party and decided to do our own version of the 80's. Yes, we dressed up as 80-year-old women, and no, we have no self-respect when it comes to getting a good laugh (who's going to go along with my hair-brained ideas when I move to Ohio in a week?). For your viewing enjoyment I thought I'd post a glimpse into the future of our friendship. If you really want a good laugh, blow up the group picture and check out our expressions. It makes me laugh every time!!