Friday 27 February 2015

Writing and Photography

February 27, 2015

My goal was to blog for the rest of February to make up for fact that I haven't blogged at all this month.

That's basically six days in a row, so while I may meet that goal, I don't consider it an accomplishment. I would like to post everyday in March, just so I can get back into the habit.

Today, I want to talk about two passions I have. Writing (everybody should know that) and photography. It's an update post about both. Writing being the more important one.

Writing:
The last post about my writing was about my rejection letter. Right here. I haven't done any writing this month, blogging or novel writing, or editing. It's been a terrible month of not writing. I don't think it's because of the letter. I think I've just been lazy.

I've been inspired lately. By myself. By Clint's encouragement. I've FINALLY felt the need to keep on writing.

I sent my first novel (thus far, rejected) for a manuscript evaluation. I printed all the many pages, and sent it off yesterday. I won't be touching it until I hear back so I know exactly what I should change in it. Then I'll start sending it away to new publishers.



Clint suggested I continue working on the one I started in November (the Nano-Novel). It feels bad working on the second novel when the first one is just sitting around collecting imaginary dust, but he's right. I have to keep writing. 

This week, I've been starting at the beginning of that novel. (I can't finish writing it until I edit/catch up. It's been too long, and my memory is terrible). 

I am incredibly proud of myself for starting to write again. I knew I would, but I've just been so hard on myself lately, and lazy about continuing to work towards my dream. I'm back at it.

Writing, reading, and blogging are the three things I'm focusing on in the upcoming months. (Plus friend and family time).



I plan to succeed. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but I'm going to continue working towards becoming a published author. I'll keep writing no matter what. 

I'd be so much farther in this career if I had kept on writing after University. I don't know why I stopped, and I don't want to spend a lot of time getting into 'past Erin's' brain. Just as long as I continue writing now. No more 10 year breaks. 

Photography:

I love taking photos. Of everything. Nature, food, people, selfies, drinks. You name it, I'll take it. If it's there, and I like the look of it, I will most likely take a picture. 

I'm sure that is a little bit obvious from all the photos I have on my blogs. 

If I could take photos for a living, I would. I like taking photos, and I like sharing them. It's not something I've ever taken very seriously, but it's something I enjoy. I'm sure I'm not unique in that. 

Yesterday, on my walk to work, I was walking across the bridge to downtown just as the sky was a beautiful pink colour, with a fog off the river. It was cold out. I think it was about -35 with the wind chill, but I saw the moment, and I stopped to take a couple of pictures in the cold before heading to work. 

The pictures, turned out gorgeous. (In my humble opinion). 




So, of course, I had to share on Instagram (which also shares to Facebook).



I also tweeted the picture to CBC Saskatchewan because they had a status asking for the cold winter morning pictures.

From the CBC Twitter feed (with a photo credit) my photo was retweeted 13 times, and favourited 14 times. (That's a lot for me).

On the CBC Facebook page, the same photo was liked 95 times and shared 12 times. (Mostly by people I don't know.)

My friend, also shared it on the Prairie North Magazine Facebook page (with a photo credit). The photo on that page had 285 likes, and was shared 72 times.  http://www.prairiesnorth.com/

Things that I post on public media don't usually get shared like that. My blog and my photos are commented on (sometimes), but rarely shared. I keep my actual page pretty private, but the photo still got shared (with my permission). (Which is fine, it's a good picture.) 

It's actually kind of a cool feeling. I'm not gaining anything from it, but people seem to love a photo I took. I can only hope that someday, people will share my book and love it as well. 

The thing with photos and books is while they are a part of me, I still get to be me (strange 'ol me) while the pictures (and hopefully -someday- fiction novels) get the attention. 

I feel like by writing this, I'm showing off about my accomplishment, but I'm really not. (Maybe a little). I'm happy about it, but is it an accomplishment? I posted a picture I took. I do that frequently. I did feel like it was important to have the photo credit though, but I'm not sure why. I wish I had watermarked it, but I'm still learning how to do that.

I guess it's just nice that something I love is getting notice. The beautiful city I live in, the sky, water, and my photo. I might like it if my novel gets as much (and more) notice when it gets published, but it will be a long road of photo taking until that happens. 

Other blogs I read, don't have people showing off about their accomplishments. Mostly because they are already accomplished. I'm not there yet. I want to share my beautiful photo. 

I've been feeling down on myself because I haven't been blogging or writing, and while my posts are slowly getting more attention, it felt good to have something I've done be noticed. Maybe down the road, when I get published, somebody say, "I recognize that name, she took a cool picture once!" (haha)



Talk to you tomorrow. 
As always,


"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

©ErinLeahMcCrea All photos I share on my blogs are my own, please Ask Me For Permission Before Using Them.


Also, check out my ongoing book blog:  Proud Bookworm at: http://bookserinread.blogspot.ca/ 

Blogs I used to write on but not being updated:
and

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