Tuesday 12 x 12: Marcie Colleen

Today I have the sincere pleasure of hosting Marcie Colleen as the Tuesday 12 x 12 author.  Marcie keeps a wonderful blog – The Write Stuff.  I especially love her Wednesday weigh-in series because they always get me thinking about writing from a different angle, especially after reading the comments from all the others.  I also love how Marcie applies lessons from running to writing, as I too am both.  So, please welcome Marcie!

In January 2011 I ran my first race – a 5 miler through Central Park in NYC – as part of my training to run a half marathon a few months later.  I remember clearly standing in my corral waiting for the starting gun feeling like I didn’t quite fit in.  Everyone else around me looked like the “real deal”, wearing cool gear.  I looked like I was wearing a costume. “Hi, I’m Marcie.  I am a dressed as a runner for Halloween wearing various mismatched pieces of workout clothes I found buried in my closet.”   I was sure that someone would stop me and say, “Oh, I’m sorry, you do not belong here.  Please exit the corral.”  But no one said that, so I ran it and crossed the finish line with a big (albeit sweaty and exhausted) smile!

This scenario has proved a wonderful analogy for my writing career.  It has also helped me boil down my adventure into two distinct concepts which I would like to share with you.

1)     Find ways to treat yourself like a writer.  (build confidence and craft)

2)     Find situations where others will treat you like a writer. (build connections and community)

When I first started out, I packed my days with activities that fulfilled the first concept.  Yet, I didn’t quite understand why, despite all of the time spent in front of my laptop researching, reading, and actually writing, something was missing. It was not merely enough that I was “wearing my writer costume”…I needed to get into the corral with all the others in order to fully “run the race”.

When I trained for the NYC Half Marathon it might have been my own two feet that got me across the finish line, but I didn’t do it alone.  I had coaches, mentors, running partners, my amazing boyfriend, family and  friends that were a part of each step I took.  Through  wisdom, encouragement, laughter and cheers they all fueled and fed me.  Just like running that race, life is about community for me.  And what my writing “career” was lacking was community.

The real moment came for me when I signed up to participate in PiBoIdMo in November of 2011 which then led to participation in 12 x12 in ’12.  I originally decided to participate in both of these challenges in order to give myself goals to work toward, but what I found was greater than that!  I suddenly gained entry into a family of likeminded picture book writers who provided support, encouragement, and wisdom.  This community shares its ups and downs, its struggles and triumphs.  I found a writer to swap manuscripts with through email who doesn’t even live in the same country as me.  I gained 24 hour access to writers to bounce ideas off of.  My blog quickly gained Followers and became a true place of discussion!  It was clear that this circle of writers from various reaches of the earth were a community in every sense of the word.

I value my friends and colleagues of both PiBoIdMo and 12 x 12 in ’12.  I am proud to be counted among you.  You treat me as a writer and therefore I am able to treat myself like a writer with more confidence.  On the day that I am finally published, it will be my name on that book, but I won’t forget that you have been my coaches, my mentors, my “running partners” who along with my amazing boyfriend, family and friends make every step on this crazy journey a triumph and a joy.

Marcie Colleen is a pre-published Picture Book writer living in Brooklyn, NY.  You can read about her journey on her blog, The Write Routine (http://writeroutine.blogspot.com). Her new Friday Treats segment deals with the two concepts mentioned above and provides ways to bring them into your own writing life.  She loves the challenge of balancing her fulltime job as a nanny with her writing career and various other activities she dabbles in. She will be running the NYC ING Marathon for the first time on November 4, 2012. 

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Happy New Year!

After my previous bummer-esque post about why I don’t like New Year’s Eve, I figured I’d do a 180 and wish everyone a Happy 2010.  It turns out that a change of scenery was just what I needed to wring out the old year.  We spent the night in downtown Denver last night.  We kicked off the evening with a horse and carriage ride around LoDo, had burgers and milkshakes at Sam 3’s diner and capped the night off with the 9:00 family-friendly fireworks on the 16th Street Mall.

I watched the fireworks again at midnight from the windowsill of our hotel room while everyone else slept.  I have to admit it was a little magical.

After a buffet breakfast and a swim in the outdoor semi-heated pool (it can only be so heated when it’s below freezing outside), we came home to a big warm dog to hug.  I feel rejuvenated and thus inspired to list ten things I’m looking forward to in 2010.  These are in no particular order:

1. Not having a real job anymore.  It will be nice to have more flexibility in my schedule.
2. Writing this blog.  Perhaps sounds a bit self-serving, but I’m having so much fun I can’t wait to do more with it this year.
3. Writing in general.  Given that focusing on my writing was my #1 reason for leaving the real job, I so hope that in one year from now I’ll be reflecting on how wonderful it was to have been published by someone – anyone.  Anyone???  I am especially hopeful about my children’s books, although I hope to publish some articles this year too.
4. Family vacations.  Probably repeats of last year: skiing, Michigan, Rainbow Trout Ranch – but all good.
5. Summer with the Kids.  Last year was so crazy trying to manage child-care, work, vacations.  I’m looking forward to having some good old-fashioned summer fun with the kids this year.  Please remind me I said this at the beginning of August when I’m at the end of my rope!!
6. Running.  I want to get back into it this year.  I’ve continued the recreational runs, but I want to get fired up and do a few road races this year – the Bolder Boulder in particular.
7. Having a DOG!!! Rocky is a fixture in the family already, and I can’t believe how happy it makes me to have a dog warming the hearth.
8. Book Club.  I finally get to be in a book club!  I’ve tried multiple times to start one or join one, but the people I’ve invited have either already been in a club or the ones I’ve wanted to join were already full (or I’m just unpopular, which is also a distinct possibility).  This year, however, a good friend of mine is starting a new one and I get to join!  I know some of the women, but not all, and I can’t wait to meet everyone and get started!  Our first book is The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.  This leads me to…
9. Reading.  No matter how many books I’ve read the previous year, I love the open canvas of a new year and all-new books to read.  Last year, the first book I read turned out to be my favorite for the whole year – The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak.
10. Volunteering.  If I have any traditional resolutions this year, one is to get more involved in the community.  Now that I have a dog, the only other big hole is feeling like I’m making a direct difference in the lives of others.  I’ve never been huge on volunteering, mostly due to time constraints but also because for some reason it makes me self-conscious.  I hope to overcome both obstacles this year and get my kids involved too.

That’s all for now, folks.  Happy New Year!

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