{"id":8939,"date":"2014-07-01T23:36:38","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T03:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gracebiskie.com\/?p=8939"},"modified":"2014-07-01T23:36:38","modified_gmt":"2014-07-02T03:36:38","slug":"writing-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/everydayblackmatters\/2014\/07\/01\/writing-process\/","title":{"rendered":"My Writing Process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Participating today in the #ShareTheLove<\/strong> blog tour.\u00a0 I was invited by the sweetest Chicagoan journalist, Emily Miller<\/a> who I simply refer to as Emmille (pronounced\u00a0 em-meal) because her twitter handle @emmillerrwrites<\/a> always read to me as Emmille R. Writes.\u00a0 This generous soul spotted me a train pass and a coffee every morning of the Story Conference and I just love her to death!<\/p>\n

I digress.<\/p>\n

Emmille \u201ctagged\u201d me in the Spread the Love Blog Tour, where bloggers share their writing process and tag two others to share the love and new readers.\u00a0 Without further adieu, my writing process.<\/p>\n

\"photo-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/ What are you working on?<\/b><\/h3>\n

I am slowly but surely working on a book proposal for my 1st full length book, a memoir tentatively titled Detroit\u2019s Daughter. \u00a0\u00a0 Occasionally, I\u2019ll jot down ideas for a novel, or a satire about being biracial or a children\u2019s book but I haven\u2019t allowed myself to indulge the fantasy of starting anything<\/em> new until I finish the memoir.\u00a0 I LOVE starting writing projects and HATE finishing them, which is why blogging holds such appeal for ragamuffins like moi.<\/p>\n

Confession? I\u2019ve started and abandoned at least 5 other blogs (a product review blog, a hair blog, a Happiness Project blog, a photography blog & a writing-nuts-and-bolts blog).<\/p>\n

I write monthly as a part of the ADeeperStory.com team.\u00a0 I\u2019d be ecstatic if I could figure out how to write magazine-ish like pieces for publications like The Atlantic or something bomb.com like that.<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/ How does your work differ from others of your genre?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Honestly, I\u2019m not exactly<\/em> sure.\u00a0 Some of had said they truly appreciate my authenticity & ability to say hard truth in a straightforward, slang-laced, laid-back sort of\u00a0 way.\u00a0 I don\u2019t work very hard to try to be different.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, one of my biggest problems is that I tend to play it safe and take cues from others and it\u2019s taken some work over my adult life to cultivate and develop my own sense of identity, including my writerly life. So. If I stand out among the crowd in any way, it\u2019s hard-won and I believe that\u2019s why folks know I\u2019m actually<\/em> authentic.\u00a0 I just don\u2019t have much to hide.\u00a0 I\u2019m a human. I\u2019m a sinner. I suck. I am loved by God. The end.\u00a0 That\u2019s my genre.\u00a0 My story.<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/ Why do you write\/create what you do?<\/b><\/h3>\n

I write and share because I can\u2019t not write and share.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I grew up keeping copious journals and salivating over magazine articles and books that captivated my creativity.\u00a0 If I have an idea or a story in my head I literally can\u2019t not write it down or my brain will continue to pester me until I do.\u00a0 I\u2019ve gotten up in the middle of the night more nights than I can\u2019t count to transcribe pages and pages of a blog post, a story, a chapter, a Facebook update, even emails.\u00a0 So. Part of writing for me is an instinctual, bodily need.<\/p>\n

Besides all of those middle-of-the-night shenanigans, I write to bring hope and to effect change.\u00a0 As an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse I try hard to offer acceptance and hope through my story.\u00a0 As an advocate, activist & Jesus-follower who loves the poor, I pray my work will lead to change and hope for the poor.\u00a0 As a biracial chick with a fire up under my @$$ for Africans-Americans I write to help people understand how to love and engage one another.<\/p>\n

When my work isn\u2019t helping anyone at all, offering hope or affecting change, sit me down and shut me up.<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/ How does your writing\/creative process work?<\/b><\/h3>\n

When an idea, chapter, blog post or story hits me and I\u2019m unable to write or type it I record myself in my iPhone\u2019s Voice Memo app. I very rarely hand-write anything other than personal journal entries just before dozing off each night.\u00a0 Other than that, I pick a time to write, pop open the lap top and get to it.\u00a0 Sometimes this happens at a coffee shop, but most times the magic happens right on my comfy couch.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a much better writer when I\u2019m reading lots of books and blogs and engaging well with my kids, friends and the world around me.\u00a0 Once I realized that being a better human being made me a better writer I\u2019ve been more alive to allowing my creative process to unfold through living<\/em> as opposed to trying to live around my writing\u2026which made me sad. And nuts.<\/p>\n

Introductions are in order to 3 WOC bloggers\u2026<\/h3>\n

1. Chante Griffin who writes at Beneath the Surface<\/a> is an old, old friend of mine and former InterVarsity colleague who lives in works in L.A. as an actress\/model\/playwright\/writer extraordinaire! She writes about how pop culture and current events intersect with the spiritual side of life.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>This girl is a brave, beautiful spitfire, check her out!<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Tasia Fields is an IRL (in real life) friend who is launching a shiny new site for teachers called\u00a0Great Minds Teach Alike<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3. Alicia Crosby who writes over at\u00a0Chasing The Promise<\/a>.\u00a0 Alicia describes her blog as a \u201clife-faith blog with social commentary sprinkles.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

If you\u2019re a writer, what does your writerly life look like?\u00a0 Where do you write on these interwebs? What are you working on? What does your creative process look like?\u00a0 Come on in, the water\u2019s warm!<\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Participating today in the #ShareTheLove blog tour.\u00a0 I was invited by the sweetest Chicagoan journalist, Emily Miller who I simply refer to as Emmille (pronounced\u00a0 em-meal) because her twitter handle @emmillerrwrites always read to me as Emmille R. Writes.\u00a0 This generous soul spotted me a train pass and a coffee every morning of the Story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2775,"featured_media":8942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,43],"tags":[653,1617,2593],"class_list":["post-8939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing","category-writing-tips","tag-detroits-daughter","tag-my-memoir","tag-writing-2"],"yoast_head":"\nMy Writing Process<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Participating today in the #ShareTheLove blog tour.\u00a0 I was invited by the sweetest Chicagoan journalist, Emily Miller who I simply refer to as Emmille\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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