Thank you to Tiffany Mason for inviting me to the tour sponsored by IC Publishing. Tiffany Mason is an international coach, speaker and author. Tiffany's upcoming book, The Power of Adversity- A Guide To Finding Your Greatest Gift In Life, is a combination between a personal memoir of her adversity of being sexually molested and a self-help guide that empowers women to overcome their challenges and start designing a meaningful life. You can find more information about Tiffany at tiffanymason.com.
1. Share how you start your writing project(s). For example, where do you find inspiration? Do
you outline? Do you jump right into the writing? Do you do all of your research first?
I am a sexual abuse/rape survivor who utilizes my experience as inspiration for my blog. During April 2014, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, I blogged every day, sharing a little piece of my story each post. I choose to be absolutely raw in my writing in order to show the ugliness of my reality. This has resulted in helping many survivors come forward. I continue to blog weekly about my adventure through Dialectical Behavior Therapy coping with PTSD and Borderline Personality Disorder.
I normally do just jump into writing, because when the mood strikes, that is when it is best. I do not need to outline, because my posts deal with my personal journey. Occasionally, I will pull directly from my journal though.2. How do you continue your writing project? i.e. How do you find motivation to write on the non-creative days? Do you keep to a schedule? How do you find the time to write?
In order to continue blogging, I remind myself how many people I am helping by giving firsthand insight to being a sexual assault/abuse survivor as well as a Borderline sufferer. On non-creative days, I tend to pull myself away from my blog, and do something else to keep my mind busy. I don't really need to keep a schedule, because my goal is if I write at least one post a week, that is all that matters. If I write more, then that is awesome. I find time to write by utilizing my son's sleep schedule and the down time I have each evening. I simply make it a priority amongst other hobbies.3. How do you finish your project? i.e. When do you know the project is complete? Do you have a hard time letting go? Do you tend to start a new project before you finish the last one?
The last project I had was writing every day through the month of April. Sharing my story, as detailed as it was, was extremely challenging. Once I was finished, I felt sort of empty, as if I had no where else to go. I didn't start a new "big" project, but I made it a goal to continue giving insight on my journey through DBT as well as write opinion pieces on subjects that directly relate to my experience.
4. Include one challenge or additional tip that our collective communities could help with or benefit from.
My biggest tip to anyone who is having a writer's block is to journal! My rawness comes from my ability to write pen to paper. It is the way my mind processes things as I expel my words through handwriting that makes the difference versus typing. When you do write, never edit as you go, because it might deter from your point. Just write, then edit after. This tips may be simple, but I see that a lot of fellow writers forget the simple things when they are stuck.Next I'd like to introduce a good friend of mine, JoAnn Buttaro to continue the blog tour. JoAnn is a date rape survivor who has successfully completed counseling/treatment for PTSD and seen her attacker through two trials resulting in convictions for sexual assault and rape and him being sentenced to Life in prison. Since 2009 she has told her story to victim advocacy training groups, college campuses on the East and West coasts and Take Back the Night events. Her goal is to speak out on social media and publicly for those who are unable. JoAnn blogs almost daily telling her story one day at a time from her assault to counseling and two trials.
You can reach out to JoAnn and read her blog and tweets at:
BLOG: JoAnnSpeaksOut.blogspot.com
WEBSITE: www.JoAnnSpeaksOut.com
TWITTER: @JoAnnSpeaksOut
No comments:
Post a Comment