writing advice | Cathy C. Hall Writes

I’m a blessed person when it comes to good writing friends.

I’ve met lots of delightful writers through the years–some of them, I know only virtually–and most of them have been or are delightfully supportive, generous, and kind. Not just to me but to a whole slew of writer friends. But when it comes to asking for my support (or I imagine the support of their whole slew of writer friends), they can be maddeningly quiet, or downright apologetic.

I expect it’s because, deep down in most writers, there lurks an insecure mass of quivering thoughts. The kind of thoughts that whisper, “You’re not much of a writer, and any day now, all your friends are going to figure that out.”

But maybe we need to start whispering positive thoughts. Affirmations. Remember Stuart Smalley from Saturday Night Live?

Yeah, that’s what we need to do. And then we need to “Ask (Writer Friends) and Receive”. (Um…It’ll make more sense if you zip over to the Muffin now and read my post about asking our writer friends for support.)

An idea that didn't quite work--apparently, you can't grow a working writer, no matter how many Cathys-on-a-Stick you plant.

An idea that didn’t quite work. Apparently, you can’t grow a writer, no matter how many Cathys-on-a-Stick you plant.

So the other day, I read a post (“Growing as a Writer”) by writer friend, Tina Cho. She had some lovely suggestions (and a very lovely analogy about plants and writing) and I’m sure you’ll find something that can help your writing grow when you give it a read. As for me, I found a little something extra.

See, I’d read her thoughts and posted a comment, adding that I believed you also needed patience for good writing (and a beautiful garden). Then I took my shower and started thinking about my upcoming Muffin post.

The one that looked more or less like a blank page.

Um…yeah. But all that hot water pouring over my head and Tina’s post that was still bouncing around up there and my own comment mixed in with it…well, pretty soon, I had an idea. You can read for yourself if you zip over to the Muffin for The Writing Waiting Game.

A little water, a little fertilizer from a friend’s post, and whoosh! That’s how you grow a lovely idea.

(Thanks, Tina!)