Work, interrupted...

The challenge of teaching writing becomes the challenge of writing itself: keeping material fresh, interesting, and rewarding. 

I talked to a class this week about brainstorming, finding good ideas to write about, and finding a market for them. One of the tips I offered? "Enjoy your work."

Enjoying your work seems to be something that we can't always control. I certainly can name jobs I've had that I didn't appreciate at all, much less enjoy, but they filled the need to pay the bills. And later, turned out to be jobs that led me down this twisty road I've been on toward academia, offering me fodder for classroom stories and experiences to share with others. 

But to enjoy your work requires writers to have a positive attitude about what it is they do. Enjoying your work means being eager to find that next idea, research that next topic, pour out the words on paper or on the screen, and move on to the next. It means somehow reconnecting and finding the enthusiasm for the work you need to get through each assignment.

In some ways, I started this blog for that very reason--I needed space and incentive to write again in the ways I've always wanted to write. My second book comes out this spring, but I really want to try to take my writing up to another level--maybe even try my hand at fiction.

Blogging offers me an opportunity to just keep that spirit alive--to write--to enjoy my work. 

Some days, there might not be anything here. But for the most part, this is my chance to simply spend some time every day putting down words and rekindling the joy.