Do you sit down at your computer with the idea of what to write but are not sure of how to start, or jump all over the place losing the flow of writing once you start?

I’ve been there and done that until I read a blog on how to write a blog or story. It suggested starting with pen and paper, not on the computer.

Duh! A light bulb of remembrance went off in my head. I used to do that.

When my children were children I took a course on writing for children and joined a local writing group. This was before the internet and definitely before self-publishing or blogging came into existence. The writers’ group suggested we write anything daily in a notebook. I bought a notebook and journaled every day. It got my thoughts out of my head, which I didn’t even know were there, and onto paper. I soon discovered it helped me get rid of old lies and hurts from my past also.

I ventured out of the notebook onto my computer and wrote short stories and articles and sent them to publishes, and received a lot of rejections in return. I was insecure and feared rejection. Rejection is part of the writing process. I knew that in my head, but my broken heart from life’s rejections told me I wasn’t any good at writing. Despite that a few articles did get published in magazines, I still felt inadequate and suffered from those rejection letters. I quit my writing career before it had a chance to begin.

At about this time, I started making pottery. I like to write but I prefer to make pottery. The more pottery I made, the less journalling I did.

I began blogging at https://butlerpottery.blogspot.com/. and wrote about the pottery that I made. I couldn’t get into the groove of blogging often. It dwindled off to very little until I stopped blogging. I lost interest in writing about what I had already made.

I sell my pottery on Etsy. In the beginning, I joined a few of the Etsy teams. One team was a Christian team who had a blog for writing Christian devotionals. I volunteered to write a devotional once a month for them. Other people were reading my articles. I didn’t get criticized or rejected. I received compliments. This boosted my confidence. Unfortunately, the teams and the blogging went the way of the dinosaurs. Once again, my writing career was over.

In the spring of 2022, I started this website and rekindled my desire to blog. During my teens, I told my mother I wanted to write and she said I couldn’t because I couldn’t spell. I couldn’t spell then, and I didn’t have the computer to help. My heart knew I wanted to write, but I had to wait for computer technology to help out. Writing and reading have improved my spelling and grammar.

Now, I am writing about how I make pottery instead of what I made. This helps my creative juices. I have written more blogs in the past few months than I ever have.

BUT — I was anxious to start and forgot the advice I learned 30 years ago, I went straight to my computer instead of a notebook. My thoughts while typing didn’t come out clearly and concisely. Therefore, I was making several revisions to each article, which ate up lots of my time.

I bought a journal specifically to write what I want to blog about. This article is the first one in my journal. My thought path was more organized. It was easier to make revisions, and I spent a lot less time typing it on my computer.

Now I have it all together. 1) Share and teach what I know. 2) Start on paper. 3) Edit on paper. 4)Type it on the computer.

I hope this helps you tailor your writing. Let me know in the comments how it’s helped you.

Check out my pottery on my Etsy and here, by clicking on the orange and blue buttons below. Etsy has the shipping included in the price.

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