In March, I wrote a post called 12 Steps to a Writing Life. Step Four, I make a searching and fearless inventory of myself and the world around me, and write it down, as I see it, resonated with blogger EK Carmel, who commented: “Great list. That ‘searching and fearless inventory of myself and the world’ gets me to the core. When I first started writing, I just wanted to tell stories. I didn’t realize then just how much of ourselves goes into these stories. Sometimes, it seems like I’m standing out there in my underwear for all to see. I must be developing a thicker skin because it doesn’t seem as scary anymore. Thanks for the wonderful insights!”

I responded to EK: “Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, in her book Pen on Fire, in the chapter titled ‘Expose Yourself,’ quotes novelist Jo-Ann Mapson on page 98: ‘Exposing yourself means writing close to the bone. It seems to me writers are born with one less layer of skin, so that they are privy to hard truths and pain that others might not feel.’ I think it can be a difficult thing to do, and I’m happy to hear it doesn’t seem as scary anymore for you. I also think a writer needs a thick skin to handle the rejection that often comes when one does expose themselves through writing.”

About a month later, I received an e-mail from my blogger friend Jenn, who felt anxiety blogging about matters that were extremely personal to her. She worried that she should blog about a less personal topic. Then she asked me if I thought she was crazy.

It isn’t crazy to feel this way, it’s natural. All writers feel this anxiety, whether we blog or write essays or fiction. No matter what you write, you have to expose yourself. The universal is in the personal, the hallmark of great writing.

In The Writing Show forum (please stop by and check it out if you haven’t already), there’s a discussion underway about exposing yourself through writing. Mark Leslie, the interviewee of Episode 10 of Getting Published with Mark Leslie (you can find the other nine episodes in the archives, under “Reality Show Archives”), wrote the following: “I interviewed science fiction writer Julie E. Czerneda many years ago shortly after she got her first contract with DAW books (prior to that she’d been a writer/editor of Biology textbooks) and she compared having a novel published with standing naked on the front lawn.”

DeMarco-Barrett quotes Jo Ann Mapson again on page 99 of Pen on Fire: “I think that writers need to make a list of ‘forbidden topics,’ and then make themselves write about them. Such writing doesn’t have to be shared, but it will help to access strong emotions, and strong emotions lead to intense writing. Intense writing can teach a writer how to approach and explore any kind of topic. But if all that stuff is moldering away in the heart, well, it’s a kind of constipation that keeps a writer from creating believable, involving stories.”

Give it a try. Make your list of “forbidden topics,” and then write about them. Stand naked on your front lawn. Don’t constipate your writing. If it’s just too personal to explore in an essay or other type of nonfiction work, give it to a fictional character and embellish on it even more. Remember, you don’t have to share it with anyone if you choose not to. By exposing ourselves through writing, we find the universal in the personal, and create connections with those who read and find value in our words. It’s a powerful process.

Thoughts?

I graduated from Kent State University on May 11, 2002, eight years ago today. As a gift, my husband (who back then was my fiance) gave me a silver heart-shaped locket with “Alanna & Mark” and the date engraved on the back. That day is imprinted into my brain like the letters and numbers etched in the silver.

The photo is a picture of me with my Aunt Joni on graduation day. She’s struggled with Alzheimer’s for the past few years, and they don’t know how much longer she’ll live. I wanted to post this photo as my tribute to her. It’s because of her I went to Israel at the end of 2000, it’s because of her I took Hebrew for my foreign language instead of the usual French or Spanish, and it’s because of her, in large part, that I am who I am today. She encouraged me to write and to believe in my dreams.

I didn’t intend for this to happen, but on May 11, 2009, I created another important anniversary: I’ve kept a writing log for exactly one year. The writing log has been an enormous game-changer for me, as far as my writing life is concerned. Most of you have read this, but if you’re new to my blog, I wrote about my writing log in my essay for one of my favorite blogs, the Procrastinating Writers Blog , called Logs, Frogs, and Blogs.

The partial inspiration for this post came from another favorite blogger of mine, John Ettorre’s blog Working with Words. I can only link to it through the archives; it’s the post dated 11/23/09 called Secret Anniversaries of the Heart.

This prompts me to ask you, fellow readers and writers, three questions. Please feel free to leave your comments on any or all of the questions, along with other thoughts.

1. What are your personal anniversaries?

2. If you are a writer, what devices do you use to keep yourself writing?

3. Who in your life has helped you to believe in yourself (as a writer or otherwise)?

It’s unusual for Paula Berinstein, the producer and host of The Writing Show, to answer the questions instead of ask them. Aggie Villaneuva of Visual Arts Junction interviews Paula B.about her writing endeavors, how The Writing Show began, and the new features of the podcast, such as The Writing Show Slush Pile Workshop and the Forum, in a post titled The Woman & The Writing Show: Paula Berinstein. I’m a huge fan of both Paula and Aggie, and I enjoyed reading this interview between two of the best in the business.

I wrote a guest post for the Procrastinating Writers Blog, a follow-up piece to my essay, Logs, Frogs, and Blogs. It’s called The Finer Points of Frog Eating. As always, I’d love to read your thoughts, and I thank you for reading.

I interviewed Michael Wilson, author of Writing Flash Fiction: How to Write, Revise, and Publish Stories Less Than 1000 Words Long, on The Writing Show. Click here to listen. Michael is the creator of the JumpStart Jar, and publishes two blogs:

1. Grist for the Muse: The creative writing resource that gets you writing and keeps you writing.

2. The 15-Minute Writer: Helping you achieve your writing dreams in just 15 minutes a day.

You know you want one of these! I do!

For a list of my other interviews for The Writing Show, click here.

Thanks for listening!

Writers will gather on March 27th for the 19th Annual Western Reserve Spring Writers Conference at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, OH. From 8:30 in the morning until 1:30 in the afternoon, participants attend their choice of three hour-long classes. Among the variety of topics this spring are “Writing for Children: Words and Illustrations” (Annette Sheldon), “Creating Credible Characters” (Debbie Alferio), and “The Scoop on Agents” (Holly Jacobs). Each hour contains four subjects to choose from, and everyone is encouraged to hop classrooms within the hour if there’s more than one they’d like to catch. The conference ends with a networking reception, refreshments, book sale, and author signing.

Unique to this conference is “Forming a Writers’ Group”, a special session facilitated by Diane Campbell Taylor. Her work has been published in The Plain Dealer and Grit magazine. The goal is to help writers get together to form their first writing group. “This is a wonderful, shot-in-the-arm way to learn more about the craft and business of writing and to make friends with other writers. Many writers groups – and success stories! – have been born as a direct result of these conferences,” says Conference Coordinator Deanna R. Adams. Deanna has just released her new book, Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Roots. (Deanna has also written a fabulous memoir called Confessions of a Not-So-Good Catholic Girl. I interviewed her about it on The Writing Show.)

The cost of the conference is $65, and for an additional fee of $10, writers can register for prearranged editing sessions with award-winning editor Nancy E. Piazza, a published writer with 21 years of editing experience. She works with novels, short stories, nonfiction books, articles, essays, memoirs, blogs, and letters for aspiring and published writers through her business, Writeperson Ltd.

For more information, including the bios of all the conference presenters, and to register, please click here. Enrollment is still open. Hope to see some of you there!

I wrote a post called Let Your Light So Shine back in December, and mentioned I was working on an essay for The Procrastinating Writers Blog essay contest. I’m thrilled to announce my essay won second place! You can read it here if you’d like. I’ll also be writing a guest post for The Procrastinating Writers Blog which should be posted around the end of March. Stay tuned and thanks, as always, for reading!

In 2008, I joined a writers group for a few months. We did some writing exercises, one of which was to write 12 steps for writers, inspired by The 12 Step Program for Alcoholics Anonymous. Here’s what I wrote.

12 Steps to a Writing Life

Hello. My name is Alanna. I am a writer. This is my version of Writers Anonymous: 12 Steps to a Writing Life (I write them in the present tense because they are never finished, they are things I must do over and over again).

1. I admit I am powerless without writing- that my life is empty without it.

2. I believe the muse can pour the words into my brain, down my arm, through my fingers, into the pen, onto the page.

3. I make the decision, sometimes hourly, to write no matter what else is going on in my life. No excuses.

4. I make a searching and fearless inventory of myself and the world around me, and write it down, as I see it.

5. I admit on paper the exact nature of my flaws through my characters and stories.

6. I am entirely ready to let the characters speak for themselves, and not force the characters into a mold or stereotype.

7. I humbly apologize to the characters when I do try to control them.

8. I make a list of all the characters in my story, and I am willing to listen to all of their backstories, even if it’s time consuming, and even if the information doesn’t go into the finished story.

9. I allow the characters and the story to evolve and change whenever possible, except when to do so would block the progression of the story.

10. I continue to take inventory of myself and the world around me, and write it all down, as I see it, and if I dance around the truth, I rewrite it.

11. I seek, though daily writing practice, books, classes, and my writing community, to improve my craft and discipline, to the best of my ability, and to draw inspiration and knowledge from these various sources to achieve my writing goals.

12. As a result of these steps, I have experienced a creative awakening, and I try to carry this message to other writers and would-be writers, and to practice these principles in my writing life.

Here are the winners of a free copy of Laura Christianson’s e-book, Blogophobia Conquered:

1. Kass, who blogs at The “K” Is No Longer Silent and ReDoingTheUndone

2. Letitia Suk: http://www.letitiasuk.com/

3. Lori Lowe: www.LifeGems4Marriage.com

4. Elisabeth, who blogs at Sixth In Line

5. Kristine Meldrum Denholm: http://www.kristinemeldrumdenholm.com/ and http://www.kristinemeldrumdenholm.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to the winners! Laura has e-mailed you your free copy. If you don’t receive it soon, it may have gone into your spam box. If that happens, please e-mail Laura at laura@bloggingbistro.com . I’m looking forward to reading your reviews!

You can read Review: Blogophobia Conquered if you’re interested in reading about this fantastic e-book for bloggers and wannabe bloggers. It’s a gem!

On Tuesday, I posted a review of my new favorite e-book, Blogophobia Conquered: Overcome the 7 Most Common Fears and Create an Amazing Blog, by Laura Christianson, who blogs at Blogging Bistro. Laura will send a free copy of her e-book (normally $19.99) to the first five people who post a comment on Tuesday’s post, Review: Blogophobia Conquered, and who also agree to write a review of the book on their blog. So, if you’re interested, please leave me a comment on Tuesday’s blog entry! I’ll need your e-mail to send to Laura so she can send you your free copy.

P.S. There may be more than five comments by the time you read this, but some of them are mine, so please leave a comment if you’d like a copy to review. If there are less than five at the time of your comment, you’ll receive a free copy from Laura!