TrinkaBean

As the pups refuse to pay attention and I can't vent elsewhere, I'll just blow up here for a moment.

The best writing is transparent. The reader flows in and out of your universe. You tickle their ears a time or two with lovely alliteration, set the scene with a place to call home, dazzle them with brain stomping dialogue, then blow them out of the water with your stinkin' storyline.

We learn the rules so our writing gets out of the way of telling a compelling, grab-you-by-the-hair tale of woe or passion or triumph. If you can't weave the elements of story together, all the rules in this or any other universe will not save your sorry backside from a life of self pleasuring your own laptop.

Those of you who read The Other Blog already know about the accident. A wayward upgrade to Wordpress scoured away two years of blog posts.

The semi-miraculous element here is that I didn't get upset. I sat staring at the emptiness that once held thousands of semi-interesting bits and pieces of nonessential trivia and said-

"Huh."

No emotion, no gnashing of teeth, no reaction whatsoever.

I started ConnieBrz two years ago as a real estate investment blog. It quickly morphed into a slice of life, part real estate, part family journey, part writing blog. (Read that, schizophrenic.) It lacked focus. I wrote about sewing and cooking and home rehab and snakes in the house. Can't tell you how many times I almost started over but couldn't let go of the over-bloated mess. And now it's gone and it wasn't so painful after all.

In God's economy, nothing's wasted.

Everything learned about marketing, blog promotion, and design made the restart easy. And now, ta-da! Focus aplenty. But isn't that the way it works? We make it look easy to outsiders because we sweat blood the first time around.

When I read the work of other writers, some days I sense the blood behind the words. And when that happens, it's a beautiful thing. You, my friends, make it look easy.

We know better, don't we?

If someone says I’m a good writer, I say thanks much. Because I know I am.

If someone says I stink, I say thanks much. Because I know I do. And If you’ll point out exactly where I stink (and communicate same in an understandable fashion) I’ll be a better writer tomorrow.

One person focuses on strength and another on weakness, depending on what pops into focus. There’s room for improvement always. I’d rather you focus on my strengths but truthfully, I learn more from the other.