“Oh, The Places Being A Writer Can Take You!”

Do you know what I’m looking forward to the most in the women’s workshop I’ll be teaching in Italy this summer? It’s sharing my experience as a published author with other writers. I’m looking forward to sharing all that I’ve learned throughout my years of writing and publishing books: “the ups and downs, the ins and outs, and the do’s and don’ts. 

Yet being a writer is so much more. A writer takes a dream and makes it come true, and sometimes the dream of being a “writer” turns into so much more. It can take you places that you had never dreamed of  and present you with opportunities that you never knew had existed.

I’ve been writing all of my life but my first real “writing” job was as a journalist for our local racetrack, Wall Stadium Speedway. I had my own column and interviewed drivers, pit crews, safety teams and fans. It was a dream to be at the track that I grew up attending, yet here’s where the “dream I never thought of” happened. I was asked to race a factory stock car in the woman’s “powder puff” race the week before I began chemo for breast cancer. Driving on that track was a place I had never dreamed of being, yet it all came from my writing.

When I published, “Waking Up,” I had written song lyrics for the title and found a local musician to record it. You would think one song was enough, yet before I knew it I had written lyrics to 14 of the stories in the book, recorded them with the musician, and together we produced a CD. It was another place that my dream of writing took me to and it didn’t stop there: I was filmed in a music video for the song “Waking Up.” Yet, the dream kept growing. I’d find myself on the front page of our local newspaper, being interviewed on a well known radio station, doing photo shoots and performing in public as the musician and writer team called “Collaboration of Hope.” The dream continued when I sang back-up in the song I wrote about myself called “The Dreamer.” 

But wait, the perks of being a writer continued with my own internet radio talk show called “Living Your Best Life With Anne Dennish.” I’ve always loved radio but this was yet another dream that came about because of my being a writer. 

And during the book launch of my newest book, “Each Breath Along The Journey” another dream I hadn’t even imagined happened again: I was asked to conduct a women’s writers workshop in Italy.

And so the dreams that are founded on being a writer continue. 

Now you know why the women’s writers workshop this summer is so important to me. I want to be able to share my experiences of being a published author with other writers but even more importantly, I want to share my experiences of one dream turning into another, and another, and another.

Meet me in Italy this August and join my workshop. You will leave with inspiration and motivation to keep writing and to keep your eyes open to all the endless possibilities that being a writer has to offer. 

Writers turn into published authors and dreams turn into reality.

Let’s explore all of it in Italy this summer.

It’s a good thing.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

 

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“The Life Of A Writer”

life of a writer

I love being a writer. It’s crazy, it’s enlightening, it’s therapeutic; it’s living a life on fire with a passion for words; a passion for observing the world; a passion for love, life, and the people in it. It’s waking up at 3 in the morning  and coming to life with a story in your head; it’s nights of waking up during a good nights sleep with the next chapter; it’s constant thinking, wondering and figuring it all out.

It’s a 24 hour a day job, 7 days a week; the only days off are the one’s in which you don’t write, but you’re writing in your head even when you’re not writing on the computer or paper.

It’s finding a story in every conversation you have; in every person you talk to during the course of a day; and in every social event you attend.

It’s endless notebooks and journals of notes, of titles, of thoughts, of words.

It’s always “remembering something so you never forget.”

It’s always analyzing a situation to figure out the lesson or the message.

It’s always wondering “why” and “how” and “what if?”

It’s always wondering about your past that led you to your present that will take you into your future.

It’s always wondering what your dreams meant and why certain thoughts enter your mind at the oddest of moments and hours of the day.

And it’s always wondering about the title of the next story, the next book, the next blog, the next post…and so on.

It’s a mind that never turns off, slows down, takes a break, or stops thinking.

It’s a mind that’s forever listening, forever wondering, forever seeing the endless possibilities in every minute of every day, in every person you speak to, of every experience, of every lesson, of everything…everything!

It’s listening to different genres of music that pertain to your different moods; sad music for pity party days, upbeat music for when you’re feeling great!

It’s feeling all the emotions that life hands you and loving each and every one of them. You love the sad, the joy, the happy, the heartache because a writer knows that every emotion is a gift, and each gift becomes the words to a beautiful story or poem or lyric.

Writers flourish under pressure and under pain…our best writing comes from the deepest of pain. We hold onto it until we turn it into something beautiful; it’s at that moment that we can finally let it go.

It’s feeling the pain in the world and turning it into a beautiful words of hope, faith and encouragement.

It’s feeling the joy in the world and turning it into a motivational story of endless possibilities.

Writer’s feel it all; we accept it all; and we love it all because no matter the emotion, negative or positive, sad or happy, we’re able to embrace it, live it, feel it, learn from it and write about it.

And then we move on…

But not a moment before…

There are those in my life that tell me I hold onto things too long, to just “let it go,” but as a writer, I can’t. It’s not in my nature nor is it in my soul. It’s not how I’m wired or how I was born. It’s nothing I can change and I wouldn’t want to try. It’s who I am…body and soul, mind and heart.

Feeling pain is something I’ve grown accustomed to. Life happens and even pain and heartache happens to a writer. How else could we write what we do? Pleasure is born out of pain; happiness is born out of heartache; joy is born out of sorrow. So why would we not feel these emotions? It’s our feelings that give us focus, give us answers and clarity, and most importantly, it’s our feelings that give us the “words!”

Writer’s are built on words.

We are great communicators.

We are intuitive…and insightful…and pay way more attention to detail than the average person. We listen, we hear, we process, and we write.

We live everyday to its’ fullest, whether we’re sad or happy, whether you believe it or not. We don’t see feeling heartache or pain as a waste of time; and we don’t see joy and happiness as time better served. We see it all as life…our life…your life…and we value all of it as precious time.

For me, “when my heart speaks I listen, and then I write.”

And that’s the truth.

My stories begin in my heart and soul; they are cultivated through my tears and heartache; they are polished by my joy and happiness; and they are written by the words of my truth.

If the eyes are the window to the soul, my writing is the window into “me.”

If you’re not a writer you’ll never understand, and why would you?

We writer’s are dreamers, and most of the “real” world thinks we’re crazy; obsessed; and a little weird. They think we’re constantly pursuing a dream we’ll never catch yet we believe differently. We believe in our dreams and in ourselves; we are born out of this obsession to achieve the dreams, no matter the cost; and yes, maybe we’re a bit weird because we know that what we dream, what we write and what we feel is reality: it’s the reality of a writer.

I love the life of being a writer; it’s crazy, it’s exhausting, it’s painful, and it’s simply amazing.

I am Anne Dennish…

I’m a writer, a dreamer and a poet…

I’m aware of my surroundings and all the people in it…

I’m a talker and a listener…

I’m your friend, your family and your lover…

I’m your mom and your mentor…

I’m all these things because…

I’m a writer.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

Photos by Tim McGeough – EVNFlo Photography