[I wrote this post as a member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group where we share our worries and also offer support and encouragement to each other on the first Wednesday of every month. If you’re a writer like me and you’re looking for a bit of support, you can click the link and sign up here]

This month’s awesome hosts are: Tyrean Martinson, The Cynical Sailor, Megan Morgan, Rachna Chhabria, and Jennifer Lane.

And thank you to founder Alex J. Cavaugh 🙂

***

I’d really like to be like Gandalf.

If my grey hair could be as wise and ‘wizardful’ as Gandalf’s, I’d be …

… what would you be?

On the first of January, I looked into the mirror in my bathroom and I noticed a newer brighter patch of grey hair. I have small dark eyes and they most definitely opened wider, staring into that mirror as I preened through my patch of sad patchy greys.

I won’t lie. Grey hair is not my favorite thing about getting older.

Strange as my mind might be, I immediately thought of one my favorite book series and all time favorite characters. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Then I pictured Gandalf’s amazing sparkly eyes and the smooth roll of his pointed words.

Maybe grey is a path of wisdom. Gandalf certainly made a lofty step into his power as he embraced the grey and metamorphosed into Gandalf the White.

This post was a wildly strange tangent off the following IWSG question for January, “What steps have you taken to put a schedule in place for your writing and publishing?”

Last year I set some lofty writing goals. I met some of them. I imagine the energy I put forth in accomplishing them gave me several of the strands of grey hair I now see.

This year, I plan to take the goals from the past, learn from the grey and finesse into the white. Why not? What else do I have to lose?

So what else did I do to hone my writing and publishing?

·      I bought Scrivener. OH WOW. It turned my writing world around. My mother always tells me I may have a creative organization disability. Is she right? Maybe. But now I can see everything in Scrivener. I can plot my scenes, switch back and forth with a single click. I don’t lose my place. My scenes flow and tie together so much clearer. YAY!

·      I’ve got a goal to complete my first draft in a YA Sci-Fi by March 1. I’m really nervous. I’ve never written Sci-Fi before. 42,000 word done!

·      Next, I have an editor waiting for it. Thank you Becky. Bless you for saving me and being as excited to read this new idea as much as I am.

·      Lastly, while I’m waiting for changes, I’ll format my last draft of Secret of the Stones into Scrivener, a contemporary YA fantasy. I’ll edit it, and maybe see something different in the time it’s set and in the writing growth I’ve achieved in the months it’s been carefully tucked away.

That’s it. 2018 will be a greater year. I’m more grey then I’ve ever been. Hopefully, I’ll be turning white by the end of the year 🙂

Speaking of Gandalf, I watched the Fellowship of the Ring on January 1, to lay the foundation for change.

Would you like a few fantastic quotes? Here’s my list from Goodreads.

1. “No, my heart will not yet despair. Gandalf fell and has returned and is with us. We may stand, if only on one leg, or at least be left still upon our knees.”
   ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
2. “He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.”
   ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
3. “Courage will now be your best defence against the storm that is at hand-—that and such hope as I bring.”
   ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
4. “He raised his staff. There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth.”
   ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
5. “However it may prove, one must tread the path that need chooses!”
   ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring