So many of us know few people who understand us as artists. We create stories from deep inside us. Our characters do not exist until we listen to the voices in our heads and then allow them to be real.

I can't paint or do any other art forms, so I can't speak for artists or photographers. I do know that my photographs don't capture my subjects' souls the way the pros do. Wonderful photographs and art works incorporate a part of the creator's heart and soul to make us feel. We see and we admire and we feel.

Writers share a part of themselves when they write stories. Our characters and their stories means something to us and we want them to have meaning to our readers. We want readers to identify with the fears and joys, the anger, the hope, and every smile and tear of our characters. We want things non artists can't understand and most of our families don't really identify with that part of us.

I want my stories to have impact. Each character speaks to me in ways a lot of folks don't get. Even some other writers don't identify with some of the people inside my head whose stories make me feel. That's fine. I still want the emotions to come through.

If your stories or images don't make someone smile or cry or want to hit something, why not?


Can you feel the love here?








Is there any doubt what these
kids are feeling?


Do you share the fears or just tell about them? Make my gut ache, or put a tear in my eye or make me fight feelings I don't want to face. Make me feel love and pride and passion.

Talk to me! Tell me what you want in a story you read
or in what you want to get from a painting, a statue, a photograph?

Focus. Now that word can send chills to my heart. I'm not the kind of person who maintains focus in many areas of my life. I certainly can't keep my focus on cleaning. I don't focus well on organizing or filing.

At different times in our lives we need to focus on different things.

From the time I discovered the bookmobile I focused on reading. (A bookmobile is a traveling library. I was in first grade and suffering from withdrawal pains. Summer meant no school and no school library.)

Even as a teenager I focused on reading, making the school library and the public library my second homes. Oh, yes, I did other things. I did homework, played the oldest sister, and helped around the house while my parents worked. I took piano lessons but read novels instead of practicing. The lessons weren't wasted any more than my years in choirs were. I enjoyed the singing and can play a tune if I want to.

For years I had to focus on motherhood, teaching, and helping my husband build a photography business. There was no time to focus on anything else, including reading for pleasure.

I couldn't focus on writing until I left teaching and my daughter entered high school and began to work part time at her dad's studio. My focus on writing developed as I discovered the new Macintosh computer at the studio. I had access to it after studio hours and worked after everyone left for the day. Often I worked until dawn. No way would I leave the studio at 2 or 3 AM, so I kept working.

During my daddy's illness, I changed focus to him and Mama. Both have left us and I sometimes question my focuses before those later years. Often as families grow and scatter, our areas of focus change. Our spouses and kids demand our time and attention, leaving less for our parents and siblings and extended family.

Since my daughter is married and the husband is now my EX, I can focus on my writing, my critique groups, and my friends. Because of my focuses, most of my friends are writers. I did not mention cleaning as a focus, because it isn't one.


FOCUS AND WRITING (Or other passions or hobbies)

We must each decide if now is the time to focus on writing in a big way or as one of the things we do. We are entitled to have some things that bring us pleasure. Many artists create for the pleasure of it, not for money. People focus on getting their lives organized, or building careers, or becoming fit.

Writers can focus on writing for pleasure or on writing to publish. Whatever you do, don't give up the joy of writing.

What is your focus when you write?

What do you write? Do you write stories in the same genre, the same kinds of stories? Some artists dabble in different mediums, while others do one thing. An athlete might play one sport or participate in every sport. Musicians often play more than one instrument, while some focus on one they play really well.

I find that whether I write suspense, or women's fiction, or romance, one focus is always there. Family - family lost, or gained, or valued. My heroes and heroines or protagonists are loyal to family and value family. Family that's there for them, or family they wish they had, or family they miss. Sometimes the family consists of a parent and a child. Some families include couples and sometimes parents and siblings.

Do you have one central focus in your projects? I prefer to call mine stories.