inspired

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Writers: Does a library intimidate or inspire?

Posted by george on March 2, 2009
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , , , . 24 comments
Image from Curious Expeditions - Strahov Theological Hall

Image from Curious Expeditions - Strahov Theological Hall

I love libraries.  Always have.  It’s a combination of sensual delights, peace and organization that appeals to my nature.  The comforting smell of paper and bindings, whimsical shafts of late afternoon sun laying geometric patterns on the floor, the idea that the whole world is available to me and the price of admission is a library card.

I think I’ve mentioned that I substitute teach in my local school district.  Last week I had the opportunity to sub for the Librarian at a nearby elementary school.  I was so excited.  I got to read aloud to Kinder-folk and I dutifully spent time shelving books.  Needless to say, I hardly considered any of this to be “work”.

As I shelved books into their rightful places, I had two trains of thought running through my head at the same time (thank goodness they were on opposite tracks).  With the hundreds of authors and story lines staring me in the face I was thinking, “My God.  It’s all been said.  It’s all been done.  There is no room for me, what am I doing?”

At the same time, I felt excited and inspired in a way I had not even imagined.  If all of these people can do it, then so could I!  It dawned on me that there is always room for one more.  As well, I was inspired to keep the ball in my own court and move forward with my ambitions.

So my question for you, faithful Tumblemoose Clan, is:

When you go to a library are you intimidated by the stacks of authors who have “made it”?  Do you see them as being the stars you cannot reach?

The inspired writer

Posted by george on January 6, 2009
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , , . 22 comments

I had kind of a revelation after I posted this article at Tumblemoose yesterday.

I was reviewing the comments and it occurred to me that most of the comments on this post – and almost all of my others include something about being inspired. And that got me thinking.

A few months back, I had my blog analyzed by Web Design Servers and one of the suggestions was to post more on the topic of writing. I had been doing the usual stuff about blogging, driving traffic, seo, the same as every one else. I slapped my forehead, went, “DUH!” and started to focus on writing. At first it was easy, there were a lot of writing topics to include but I quickly reached a point where I felt like posting any “hard” writing topics would turn away members of the base readership I had built up. I’ve been struggling with this recently and today that changed.

I thought about the inspiration aspect of my postings and the comments and I glanced at the tag line for Tumblemoose Writing Productions. The tag line read, “Freelance Writing and Writer’s Resources”. And while this is a true tag, in a sense it didn’t really tell folks much about what TM was all about and for that matter it wasn’t an accurate reflection of the posts. So, I went in and changed the tag line. It now reads, “Inspiring Writers Every Day”. I’m pretty happy with that. In addition to being more accurate, it more sharply focuses the writing niche and highlights my strength.

So while writing is still going to be the focus, expect the posts to be from the perspective of informing and providing inspiration.  This change in posting is going to be combined with the addition of a new service: Writing Coach and Cheerleader – no kilt cracks, please :-) .  To learn more about this service see the Rates and Services page.

I’m very excited about this new phase of Tumblemoose.  I feel like I’m getting settled in and entrenching my blogging niche even further.

So the lesson here is that stagnation can hold you back. Don’t be afraid to evaluate and look at what you are doing if you have a web site – be it blogging or writing or whatever.