Welcome to Our Blog!
By Jen Jandavs-Hedlin
I have a confession to make. I have never written a novel. I have started several, but they always seemed to fall by the wayside to make room for other—more complete-able—projects.
And while we’re at it, I don’t journal. As a child, I did keep a diary, where the raw, juicy details of my young life were kept locked and hidden away from the not-so-prying eyes of my older brother. What precious nuggets were held to such secrecy? Sporadic food records (what I ate for dinner) were all that hit the page for me as a kid. I’ve always wanted to be that person who sits entirely oblivious to the world around them, black ink smudged across their frantically scribbling hand. I’ve attempted it; sometimes even for more than one day in a row. But I’ve never really found journaling to be in sync with my life’s rhythm.
However, writing has always been a part of my life. When I was six, I wrote a book called Feelings and my teacher laminated it and put it in our school library. She told me that I had been published, and that many adults waited their whole lives for this moment. I felt very honoured, and a little sad that I had already accomplished this great milestone. I wonder if it’s still there!
Several times I was chosen to represent my grade at a Young Authors workshop. In high-school, I was one of only a few students to ever receive a perfect score on the writing component of our provincial exam. And while working on my undergrad, my professors regularly praised me for my well-crafted papers. So, the challenge of coordinating our new blog in a community of writers was…(confession) terrifying!
But, I’m comforted by the knowledge that this blog is not about me, but about you. Together we are going to explore ways to improve my—I mean our—writing skills, delve into common editing mistakes, journey with authors’ successes (and sometimes failures), take on bi-weekly writing challenges to hone our skills and, hopefully, share a few smiles and maybe a few tears together.
Writing is a solitary practice, and our hope and prayer is that this will become a community where we can all share our experiences, be encouraged in our passions, and hopefully learn a few things along the way. Does that sound like a community worth joining? I hope so! We’d certainly love to have you follow along with us…and perhaps share a few confessions of your own from time to time.
Want more? Visit us often to discover new posts. Have a suggestion for a topic we should tackle? Email publishing@wordalivepress.ca or post a comment on our Facebook page.
About this Contributor:
Jen has worked in the publishing industry for over a decade and is passionate about helping authors to share their stories. She enjoys cooking, reading, writing, and organizing her home into boxes and containers. Jen lives in Winnipeg with her husband, and their canine companion, Montgomery.