WritersRemember.com

What Are We All About?

WRITERS REMEMBER was born out of something my mother asked me once, regarding the similarities between myself and the heroine of one of my favorite books, Little Women.

“Do you ever feel a bit like Jo–writing what pleases others and pays the bills?”

Just as Jo March, and her author-counterpart Louisa May Alcott, wrote what pleased the newspapers, gossip columns, and the like over one hundred years ago, so do many writers today. We write articles and content for the internet, sometimes even compromising our values by deliberately butchering the English language in the name of search engine optimization. We might even write novels or stories that please others, but we feel nothing for the stories we’ve written, not even pride…more like numbness.

It is understandable–in our society money is important. Writers wish to have an income with which to support their families, and sometimes these online markets provide a quicker acceptance and payment than many larger magazines and Web sites, which often take up to a year to accept and pay. If you need money now, content writing can often be a singular option for those in need.

However, in our attempts to write for clips and quick cash, are we falling out of love with the writing process?

Have we forgotten what it feels like to scribble in a notebook, to collect our favorite words, to dream?

I used to relish the glimpse of some smudged ink on my fingers–that was how Professor Bhaer recognized Jo March as a writer, from the ink stains on her fingers. Now, instead, my fingers get tired after a long day of typing. Writing by hand is difficult because my mind thinks faster than my hand can write. Perhaps…

Perhaps we should take a few moments each day to pick up a pen with ink, and let the words flow from our minds onto the paper. Write slowly, meaningfully, as we did when we first fell in love with the craft of writing.

Neither Jo nor Louisa May stopped writing what earned the money that was needed, but they finally recognized that so much more lay within, so much of what was in their hearts needed to be written. Likewise, we do not have to stop writing what earns us the money we need, whether it be Web site content, or a well-researched article for a national publication. However, we do need to balance our writing profession with a healthy dose of writing passion. We must not forget what made us fall in love with writing, if we are to keep from selling our writing souls.

The goal of Writers Remember is to provide encouragement with writers all over the world, male and female, and to have writers share in return. Writers Remember will provide various resources which writers can identify with and apply to their lives. This will happen in several forms: a newsletter, a message board, and many features on this Web site. We hope you will join us in this creative endeavor.

~Julia Temlyn
Editor-in-Chief
Writers Remember
editor@writersremember.com