Writing is a process as much as it is a creative action. Those of us who write for publication know that this process, while we are drawn to it without reason, is not always easy. Writing involves a process. Part two of my series of classes on Writing for Publication focuses on this process and breaks it down into manageable steps. Today, I'd like to share some content from that class, which will be available in an e-book later on this spring or early summer. My first e-book from this set of classes is already available and you can find it here . John Steinbeck said, "I have written a great many stories and I still don't know how to go about it except to write it and take my chances." John Steinbeck knew that the writing process is not magical. You basically just have to do it; just write. This is not a "how-to," it's more of an attempt to help you know the process so that none of this process will catch you off guard and you will know what to e...

Lately I've seen a regular theme in the writing blogs I follow and that theme is simply that the best avenue to writing is to write. John Steinbeck once said,  “I have written a great many stories and I still don’t know how to go about it except to write it and take my chances.”   He knew that the "secret" to writing is to write. Writing is a process.  In the past two weeks, I've sold two articles (one just this morning!) and they were alike in that they both required a lot of thinking before I actually wrote them down.  I don't have the luxury of a certain time of day I can set aside for writing. I have eight children and am still home schooling my youngest two, so their needs come first.  Even though five of my eight have grown and left home, they call, text and email frequently to talk to their mom, so I'm still in demand in their lives.  (I'm so glad!)  Anyway, I say all that to emphasize that my writing does not have a schedule or predictable t...