SPROUT: Grow Your Relationships

I love this month’s power word (okay, so I will probably say this about every power word), because it speaks to what I love most: people.

The comfort level varies for every writer on how much they share about the writing process with others. And when you get an agent or a publisher, so many of the details are confidential that sometimes it seems better to keep everything under wraps just to be safe. But for the aspiring writer, it’s a wonderful thing to hear from other writers about the process. The more the better, as no one person’s tale is the same as another’s. I will always be grateful to those writers who opened up and shared their journey with me. It made me feel more relaxed in a world that in the beginning felt like a pair of new shoes—pretty, but a little uncomfortable.

When I started writing seriously a couple years ago, I involved everyone I knew in the process. From my kids to my coworkers to my fellow Chicks (of course) to Twitter friends, at one time or another, everyone got to hear me complain about celebrate the sometimes wacky, sometimes wonderful, always wild world of writing and querying. Through writer’s block, query rejections, revisions – we were all in it together.

What this ultimately did was create a strong support system that has gotten me through both difficult and exciting times. These wonderful partners and friends celebrate, laugh, and commiserate with me. I can’t imagine this journey without them and will always be grateful.

So, if you’re comfortable with it, share some of your journey—both highs and lows—with friends and acquaintances. Let those relationships sprout and everyone will benefit.

On a related note, to celebrate this month’s power word, I spent two hours in my flowerbed tonight, planting. After lying here with sore arms, legs and back, I’ve decided gardening is overrated. I’ll stick to sprouting relationships instead.

Vivi

According to Peggy…

Vivi and I met through our husbands and instantly clicked.  From the first day, it was as though we’d known each other forever.  I soon recognized it was because we both were lovers of words and, as such, shared a common language and sensibility.  Beyond that, she has that kind of sparkling personality that I’ve always admired.  She exudes happiness, laughs a lot and cares about people.  She likes to joke that her personality is her best feature, and you know what?  She’s right!  Everyone loves to be around her.  She brings out the funny side of life.  She appreciates all senses of humor, even dry, sarcastic ones like mine.

In her working life, Vivi has had the opportunity to produce business communications for a global company, which means she writes all day some days.  As a testament to her creative drive, she thrives on artistic endeavors in her personal life as well.  She has a keen talent for singing and playing the piano and, of course, writing.  She loves a good story and loves to tell a good story.  She can make up the most imaginative stories at the drop of a hat, and delights her children with them at bedtime.

It has been an adventure working with Vivi these last years (we won’t say exactly how many) to tell the story of a young girl finding her way through the modern drama that is high school.  We have found a place of true collaboration – where once it was her voice and my voice, now it is “our” voice that comes out in our writing.  And now, we are collaborating once more, along with two other great friends, to create 4 Chicks and a Muse – to continue inspiring and encouraging each other along our journey.