The Mercurial Wordsmith

As a way to get back into the literary swing of things, I've decided to enter what I hope to be the first of many writing contests. I'm geeked!  This particular one is  seemingly pretty simple, in that it's limited to 100 words or less. But... This could prove to be a challenging exercise, too! I'm generally pretty wordy, and often I have to pare down my point to be more precise. I can spend a lot of time crafting an email or a post until it's just so. I'll write and revise and write and edit again. Which is totally fine, of course.  But this will be a different experience since the point is to tell a complete story in less than 100 words. I'll be curious to see how that process fleshes out for me! The deadline to submit is October 6th. Plenty of time, for sure. I'm still ruminating on a topic, so I'm not rushing it. I know the inspiration will come. I don't force myself to do any writing by staring at a blank screen. It's too much pressure...

I used to be a voracious writer. Twenty-five years ago, I had big plans. Creative writing. Journalism. Historical biographer. Poetry. In my high school and college years, I did all of that to a certain extent. But after graduating from college, I had no clear path to follow it through, and I eventually ended up losing my way from all of it. My first non-retail job outside of college was at a local newspaper, where I ended up mostly 'writing' obituaries. In the movie Closer, Jude Law's character refers to writing obituaries as the 'Siberia of Journalism.' That is so incredibly accurate. To say it was a depressing and off-putting experience is an understatement. Not surprisingly, I did not last long at that job, and by that time, I was newly engaged and looking for more financial stability as I entered the next phase of my life. Unfortunately, this meant that I would end up stifling and ultimately ignoring my creative voice. I deeply regret that decision, and my plan ...