So you want to be a writer ~ Part II

I wonder how many people challenged themselves to some writing yesterday?  I know one person did - I was blessed with a beautiful poem today of why she writes.  It was a wonderful way to start my day.  For those of you writing - keep it up!  And if you are willing to share, I'm willing to read!  Thanks for taking the challenge everyone!

As promised, today I'm going to talk about the items I keep at my finger tips to make my writing go smoother and with minimal distractions.  Some will seem obvious while others might make you think "What is she thinking?" 

Either way get ready to learn the items
surrounding me when I'm writing...

*Writing Utensils:  pens of different colors, mechanical pencils, regular pencils, goofy pens and pencils (for inspiration), highlighters, thin and fat markers - probably should list the laptop here

*Paper Products:  assorted sticky notes (colors, lined, plain, and varying sizes), index cards (different sizes and colors), looseleaf, spiral notebooks, decorative notepaper and varying scraps containing genious documented while traveling or busy

*Support items:  scotch tape, white-out, erasers, ruler (6" and 12"), pencil sharpener (electric and old school), stapler, paper clips (various sizes and colors), scissors, hand lotion, envelope opener, and thumb drives for storage (notice that is plural), calendar, MP3 player

*Writing Resources:  Bible, dictionaries, thesauruses, my grandmother's diaries, newspaper clippings (nearly every one about my sister's kidnapping since 1994), family videos, news coverage from the first days, "how to" writing books, college writing books, copy of each revision of my book, chronological notes for the first couple years after Heidi's disappearance, shelves of books

*Inspirational items:  picture of my sister and I from my wedding day (6 months prior to her kidnapping), pictures of my daughter, pictures of the NCMEC Ride for Missing Children, an angel ornament, Scripture verse of 1 Samuel 7:12 etched on a chalkboard, photos, notes of encouragement from wonderful people like you

Today my "secret pal" at school blessed me with new mechanical pencils and sticky notes!  Thank you SP - two items crossed off my list.  Once again God has worked through you to bless me with items of need! 

Today's Writing Challenge:
Take a moment to think about the items you have near you when you are sitting down to write or better yet, think about the items that distract you when you sit down to write.  What items on my list made sense?  What items are you intrigued about?  Is there something I should add to my writing tool kit?

Your challenge tonight is this - prepare yourself to write to avoid being distracted or lose valuable writing time getting up and down.

Thought to Ponder:
This past July I started with only paper, pencil and pen (and of course highlighters and sticky notes) yet the more involved my writing became I kept finding myself needing to get up for this or that.  I do not like to waste time so I've created a sytem and tool box that works for me.  I have more time to write and less time "getting" or "searching" for various items.

This can apply to many aspects of our life.  For my mornign devotion time I have similar items all near my chair so nothing pulls me away from this precious and necessary time of spiritual feeding and friendship. 

Prepare for your time with God & prepare for time to write. 

Part III Tomorrow: 
To write or type...that is the question! 

Lisa :)