The WMF Archives

By Pam Houghton

Back in March, I posted an automated e-mail response to submissions from the Christian Science Monitor's Home Forum section with a very nice set of writer's guidelines. What I liked about them is that they were pretty specific about what they were looking for, yet general enough that you didn't feel pigeon-holed into any one particular topic.


A couple of readers took me up on the suggestion to submit, and I am glad to say that one of those readers had his essay published last week. So here, for your reading pleasure, is In a spice world, a man for all seasonings by Alan Barasky. Congrats to Alex!


Several weeks after I published the guidelines, another reader sent a note. She too mustered up the courage to send something to CSM's Home Forum section, and shortly after, found out her poem was accepted. Hopefully, she'll remember to send me the link to that once it's published. So congrats to her!


If anyone else is lurking out there with a soon-to-be-published piece, especially newbies to print or online publishing, let me know. I'd be glad to add a link here to your work.


On another note, I received an e-mail from a blogger who wasn't sure about her blog. I think she was afraid it was a combination of elements that perhaps I didn't sound too fond of in last week's post about mommy blogs. I took a look at her blog - and found a pretty charming little site that included giveaways, reviews and photos (which I think are fine, by the way; and apparently, quite popular). But at the heart was some pretty warm and humorous writing, the most important element of any blog. Plus she had a lot of followers and comments, so she was connecting to her readers. The blog also gave her an excuse to write every day and develop social media skills.


She wasn't sure where she was going with it, but I encouraged her to just keep blogging even if she didn't have a firm goal in mind. Eventually, the act of blogging, writing and connecting with readers will help her define some goals, and as I told her, you never know what other opportunities might open up further down the road.


And that's the whole point of writing even when you don't know where you're going. Sometimes you just have to put one foot in front of the other, whether it's submitting a piece to a publication such as CSM, maintaining a blog, or snatching a couple of hours to write a week while balancing a full or part-time job.


If you do nothing, you'll get nowhere. If you do something, no matter how small you think it is, you'll get somewhere, eventually. Really...you will.

photo by Mattox/Stock.xchng

Yes! Success from our Readers...and Ooey-Gooey Encouragement from Me