Fade to Grey

Yesterday morning I was looking at a shirt that was previously white. Now it was whitish with hues a blue and grey from where my blue jeans rubbed off on it. It got me thinking about how that applied to life. People are a lot like that white shirt. As we go through the struggles of living and becoming something that we can be happy with, the things we are closest to often rub off on us, coloring who we are and what we become.

I could end the post here, because that is the small insight I had yesterday. But insight is no good if you don’t apply it.

With the above inspiration in mind, I thought about how to apply this to my current situation. Since I am working on becoming a “real” writer that is of course where my thoughts naturally went, well second only to how it affects my nephews.

Here is what I came up with:

1.) Read the books you want to write. Style, genre, content, whatever it is you want to become as a writer. Read it.

2.) Surround yourself with supportive people who will encourage you to achieve your dreams. If you want to stay excited, find people who are just as excited as you. Whether they are excited about you or writing in general, they will rub off on you. (A nice balance of both is awesome!)

3.) Find author’s you admire and read their blogs, follow them on twitter, facebook, myspace or whatever social media site you use.

4.) Having supportive people is wonderful, but you also need to find those people and the things that challenge you. Maybe it’s sharing your work with others, (it can be scary at first) or a critique group or partner, or trying something new like submitting your work to see if you stack up.

Hopefully in doing these things, you’ll find that the right shades have rubbed off on you a little, helping to make you into something that you can be happy with. For me finding the wonderful writing community on twitter has been invaluable. I do not think I would have remained as excited about writing without my cheerleaders, or believed I could actually, hopefully someday be published.

Good luck, and keep me posted!