Video conferences – so great, so good!

/ Ev Bishop / 5 Comments

Today I got to take part in business workshop in downtown Vancouver for just $25.00. The location and price are only noteworthy because I sat in a cozy boardroom five minutes from my house in Terrace, BC, taking part via video conference. Normally conferences, workshops, and seminars cost me hundreds of dollars in time and travel.

I love how technology opens up the world, creates great opportunities for professional development and education, and helps forge connections with others who do what you do. I’ve never minded working alone, which is a good thing considering my occupation, but at the same time, sometimes you just really want to hear people pontificate on the things you’re passionate about, vent about the issues that drive you crazy, and laugh at inside jokes that usually fall short because you’re the only one at the party who’s inside that particular field.

So yes, WRITING FOR THE WEB (focusing on the do’s and don’ts of effective webcopy) with Rick Sloboda from Web Copy Plus was great. Small Business BC is doing a real service in bringing high quality workshops to people across the province. If you’re off in the boonies somewhere (or even in the lower mainland), you should check them out online and see what they’re offering via video conference in your area.

Nanowrimo 2008–crazy-funtastic writing insanity!

/ Ev Bishop / 1 Comment

It’s the middle of Nanowrimo right now (okay… “middle” is misused; it’s only Day 3!), and although it’s only my second year involved with the crazy-funtastic insanity of writing 50K+ in thirty days, I’m already reminded of why this month long free-write is the second best gift I give myself every year (the first being my annual foray to the Surrey International Writers’ Conference every October).

I find it easy to get bogged down in feelings of inadequacy as a writer. The world that comes out on the page (especially initially) is so different than what I see in my head. The authors I adore are inspiring, yes, but they’re also discouraging. How can I even esteem to their level? And why write at all when they’ve already said what I want to say and said it better. Plus, what if I am ever fortunate enough to share my stories and then not only do people not like them, they can’t even bother to hate them, because my words are…. nothing.

So if I’m so bloody insecure and neurotic about writing, why do I even bother? Well, because I need to. And because there’s just nothing else in the world like it. I love the worlds that seem almost more real to me than the one I literally inhabit. I love how writing makes me disappear, but how, at the same time, it’s through the process of writing my insides out that I discover myself. I love how it helps me make peace with the past and gives me hope for the future. I love…. Oh, enough. I love it; you get it.

And that’s what November, a.k.a. National Novel Writing Month, reminds me of and helps me celebrate: writing is about writing. Take away the fact that disciplining myself to churn out 50 000 words is a great benefit to me as a would-be-career-novelist. Erase the thought that it’s a great exercise to attempt to write every awkward kind of scene that I might otherwise avoid, thus building my writing muscles. Delete the value of experimentation with no pressure to ever share the monster you brought to life…. Nanowrimo is all about the fun, the playing, the pure for the fun of it joy of storytelling and world building.

If you are not Nanowrimoing this year, plan for it in 2009–the world needs more addicts. 😉

“Writing isn’t something to take up if it fills you with angst, it’s something to cherish and do so with childlike delight.” ~ James Mccann

Write here. Write now.

/ Ev Bishop / 3 Comments

I meet and work with a lot of aspiring writers, and I have heard every imaginable excuse as to why they want to write, but can’t—everything from where they live (like only people in London, New York, or Istanbul can pick up a pen or sit down at a computer?), to having too many demands at home or at work, to not having enough other things to do to “feed” their muse. Sometimes I find myself making up reasons for why I couldn’t, why I didn’t, why I shouldn’t write today….

I have also met countless writers who achieve mind-boggling word counts in spite of brutal schedules and complex life situations. I aspire to be like them (in terms of output, not suffering!). I want to write 30+ novels. I want to craft essays, articles, and short stories too numerous to mention…. I want to reach out into the void with my words and have even just one person respond with, that’s how I feel.

I love Barbara Kingsolver’s line, “There is no perfect time to write…. There is only now.” The three forces—writers’ excuses, writers’ examples, and BK’s wisdom—forge my own writing motto: Write here. Write now.

May this blog be an encouragement and a motivation to those of us who write, not soon, not later, not when we’re moved to, not when it’s easier to do so, but now.