Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Blustery cold days in St. Louis now. These are those days when you just want to stay at home, huddled beneath the covers with your laptop and a pot of coffee, with incense burning. And I think that just might be what I do today. I deserve it. :-) Besides, I'm buried to my neck in writing. I have a great momentum going. I'm collecting stories during the week and writing the magazine stories on the weekends. And I'm working on the novel through the week, plus weekends as well. The more I get into the magazine writing, the more I get excited by it. I feel like I'm in a new area with so much that can be covered. I would liken it to the start of the hip-hop culture. In it's newness, there was a lot of uncovered ground and any writer had free reign on the writing possibilities. Relating real life situations and realities to those of the hip-hop generation and expressing their opinions on everything from music to the economy. After being in and becoming acclimated to, and now being of the urban biker culture, I'm able to see the gap and the lack of voice of expression. I got article topics coming out of the butt hole and I'm blessed to have two avenues of expression right now, Even with that, it would take years to cover my topics at least once. Which means it will be a while before I run out of fresh stories.

And there are two other important ingredients.What I have found is that bikers are full of stories and information AND they LOVE to talk. It's almost as if they've had something pinned up in them for so long and they've been looking for an outlet in which to let it explode.

I think about all this. I must be in one of those reflective moods again. LOL Because, writing and motorcycle riding are things I've always wanted to do. But never did I think I'd be able to combine the two. After writing my novels, I wanted to freelance, but think I would because I didn't see anything that I WANTED to write about. Entertainment, fashion, cooking, etc, are of absolutely no interest to me. Writing about them would be a chore and feel like work, which is something that I hate when I comes to writing. I can't write if it feels like work. Which is why I decided not to major in Journalism or Communications in college, which I had considered because it seemed like the natural path. I'm so glad I didn't. I don't want to have to write for my meals or to pay my bills. If I draw income from writing, that's great. But I don't want to have to depend on it to live. We all know how impossible that is anyway. LOL

Wait, so what was my point?

Reflecting...oh yeah. So I think about how I love writing and riding. How I came back to St. Louis and without seeking it, got into the urban biker scene. How, without me actually pursuing it, that has led me freelancing about the set. This is like my dream. Who knew?

See, it's stuff like this that makes me believe in destiny and the belief that some higher power is guiding our lives. We don't know what's coming, but we have to work and be open for anything. Okay, let me stop before I get cosmic again.

4 comments:

TJ Brown Tue Feb 12, 09:57:00 AM EST  

too funny. I started my writing career with a very bad YA novel and then moved on to freelancing about the things I was passionate about--homeschooling and parenting. Then I went to freelancing full time. Now I'm all excited about the prospect of only doing fiction work:)

And Yes, I believe there is a higher purpose and we are called if only we will be quiet once in a while and listen:)
Teri

Melissa McClone Wed Feb 13, 11:26:00 AM EST  

Very cool, Cherlyn! You can feel and hear the passion in your voice. Good luck with it all. Not that you need luck. You're a very talented writer.

Carleen Brice Wed Feb 13, 06:16:00 PM EST  

Go on and get cosmic! You're onto something! :)

Anonymous Thu Feb 14, 11:42:00 AM EST  

Isn't it refreshing to be able to do something you enjoy--write on and ride on sister :)