work Archives - Amy Lynn Smith

Accepting the challenge

Posted on: November 1st, 2011 by Amy Lynn Smith 3 Comments

I love a good challenge. Especially one that could make me a better person than I am today.

So I accept the National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) challenge to write a blog post every day in November. Even though my friend and fellow writer/blogger, the exceptional Jim McFarlin (his blog here), asked if I’d “lost my natural mind” by already making a personal commitment to blog three times a week. He may be right, but that’s another matter.

NaBloPoMo, hosted at BlogHer, poses a challenge I can’t resist. I get the chance to connect with tons of other bloggers, exposing me to writers and subjects I might not otherwise find. It will also help some of those bloggers find me and, I hope, become regular readers.

Most important of all, though, is the idea of always being a better writer than I was the day before. And the only way to do that is to write every single day.

Granted, I already write every day (or close to it) for the clients of my writing business. But this blog is one of the few places where I get to write just for me. I can write about anything I want, with no limits on length or style. I am happy to write to the specs of others, but there’s nothing like writing for yourself.

NaBloPoMo is definitely going to be a challenge. But I’m going to take it on with delight.

Because next to a good challenge, there’s nothing I love more than writing exactly what I want to write.

Tags: blog, BlogHer, BlogHer.com, challenge, editing, Jim McFarlin, NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month, work, writing
Posted in Writing | 3 Comments »

There’s a time to wait

Posted on: October 30th, 2011 by Amy Lynn Smith No Comments

I have a great idea for a blog post. I just don’t have the energy to write it today.

And you know what? I decided that’s okay. In fact, I decided it’s wise to wait.

What I want to write about isn’t time-sensitive. And I’m tired. So very tired. Too tired to do it justice.

Today is my first day off in, well, I’ve lost track. Delighted to have so much work, but since finishing everything yesterday I’ve done pretty much nothing. Read, watched TV, napped. Which I’m completely fine with.

I kept trying to start the post I want to write – and still will, very soon – but finally realized that I just didn’t have it in me today. So I’d never be able to write the piece I really want to write, and it’s a topic I feel strongly about.

Sure, sometimes you just have to crank things out. Like this little rumination, which keeps me true to my word of blogging three times a week.

But when you have the luxury of time — and something you’d like to savor the act of doing, rather than just doing it for the sake of completion — it’s better to wait.

So that’s what I’ll do. I’ll wait. And probably take another nap.

Tags: blog, blogging, busy, nap, napping, reading, TV, waiting, work, writing
Posted in Observations | No Comments »

Promises, promises

Posted on: October 27th, 2011 by Amy Lynn Smith 3 Comments

When I started this blog, I made myself a promise that I’d post to it three times a week. Which is a lot.

Or at least it feels like a lot to someone who already writes all day long and often into the evening.

I almost didn’t write today’s post. It’s been a big week. But then I remembered that I made a promise. Even if it’s to myself, I should keep it.

Which got me thinking about promises. I take them very seriously, but does everyone else do the same?

My work revolves around deadlines. My clients know they can count on me to hit them. Every so often, I have to beg for mercy, as I did this week. And because they know my word is good, my clients are willing to give me some leeway every once in a while. I don’t ask very often.

I look at the world around me, though, and I see plenty of people who don’t keep their promises. Writers who miss deadlines with abandon. People who swear they’ll stay in touch and don’t. Politicians who say they’ll do one thing and then do another. Companies that promise their product will deliver when it doesn’t.

I think keeping promises is important. Sure, there are times when going back on your word is unavoidable. But hopefully, you don’t take it lightly — and you make up for it somehow.

To me, it’s a sign of integrity when people keep their promises. Even the ones they make to themselves.