I’ve finally figured it out!

All right. So in my last post, I’d decided to broaden my theme to nearly everything, hoping I’ll post more regularly. But then I attended Nicole Miller’s social media class at an OCW writer’s conference. In addressing blogs, she noted that it’s important to stick to a theme (see her own recent blog revamp at http://www.nicolemillerbooks.com/2012/05/16/going-through-some-changes/  )

So I’ve been racking my brain to figure out what I could write consistently about. I do still want to share the epic journeys of women. But I can’t consistently and frequently write about that (it takes more research than I have time for on a weekly basis). I looked up the blogs of the most famous writers of my genre (Shannon Hale, Robin McKinley, Donita K. Paul, Jill Williamson, Patricia Wrede, Gail Carson Levine, etc.) They all write either about their books (I’ve written one first draft and it’s nowhere near ready to talk about constantly) or writing itself (and I’m still a beginner so I wouldn’t dream of giving public advice on that).

That left me still wondering what to write about. Then I joined one of the other arenas Nicole discussed: PInterest. I’ve had a blast creating boards and pinning things (mostly pictures I’ve taken). It’s like creating scrapbook pages, where all the elements on a page revolve around a theme. And I realized something.

All but one of my current boards is about places. Places I’ve been, places I want to go, waterfalls, places having to do with fairy tales and fantasy, and more. Travel obviously an important theme to me (just check out my scrapbooks). Then I made another connection. All my story ideas are about journeys.

Maybe not lengthy journeys, but my protagonists always find themselves in some kind of culture or world that is new to them. They see this place through new eyes. They struggle to adapt, or to retain their own identity in the new world.

The journey changes them. As any journey changes any of us.

So I’ll be writing about the places that have affected my life. They’ve been my sanctuary. My inspiration. Brought new friendships. A deeper connection with my Maker. And so much more.

I’ll continue every so often to post about the heroic journeys of women, because I am fascinated by that. Thank you for going on this journey with me!

*Update 8/4/2024: I do not have Pinterest anymore so I took down the link to it from this post. But I am still writing about travel and adventure and the journeys of life.