Books on Writing Books:

The Papa Bear Book:

Remember, the other day, when I began reading this book by Oakley Hall?  I was so excited.  I said that it was going to be hard, though, like going to school.  It was/is difficult for me to read.  I only read around 10 pages and then put it away for later.

The Mama Bear Book:

Then I remembered that I had this one, from 20 years ago.  It is a great book, written in 1938 by a wonderful woman.  It is fun to read and very inspiring.  I am going to re-read it shortly.

The Baby Bear Book:

In a snap decision on Friday, I visited the new location of the St. Vincent de Paul in Mayberry for the first time.  I had been thinking about how hard the Papa Bear book is.  All those new terms thrown out here and there, excerpts from those masters that I am supposed to know about.  Well, I had heard of most of them and read some them, but they are not my first choice for everyday reading.  That book intimidated me.

When I walked in to the St. Vinnies, there was a library section near the front door.  On the left.  I am always a sucker for library sections.  The cheapest place in town to buy books is at the La Pine Library Book Nook, which is open on Tuesday mornings and Saturday afternoons, by the way.  Anyway, back to my riveting story.  This book, "On Writing", by Stephen King was placed there just for me, and my eyes zoomed in on it immediately.  I will count it as a God thing.  It was in brand new condition, and cost me only $3.00.

I love reading it!  It was written in 2000.  Steve (as I now call him) spends the first part of the book writing essays about his life, and how he came to become a famous writer.  The second part is how to improve your writing.  For me, everything he says in this book goes straight to my heart, and is very encouraging and inspiring.  It is funny too.  I even want to go to Steve's website and tell him thank you for writing it.  I'll put that on my list of things to do right now.

I have gathered my writing books, journal, legal pad, pens and pencils and placed them in to a big leather purse/bag that I got from my step-mom Jill, and am now carting it around all over the place.  I am really getting serious about my writing now, and I don't want to miss an idea, forget a conversation, story or awesome phrase that I can use later on.  


So, now, I leave the house with two camera's in my purse (3 if you count the one on my cell phone, but I haven't figured out how to get the pictures off of there yet) ... and my "writer's bag".  I am prepared for life documentation of all sorts.  It's funny, but it wasn't so very long ago when I was carting around a large diaper bag everywhere I went instead, and children were my focus and passion.  Things do change over time.

The other thing I am going to do is start writing down my memories and stories in addition to what I put on my blog.  I just want to sit here at my computer all day long and write, write, write.  It has suddenly become a passion, like my photography.  Practice has to help.  My pictures have gotten better over time, and I believe that my writing will too.  I hope so!