I came across a blog post while looking at my friends' FB posts today.  According to Jessica Hagy's post on the Forbes website entitled, How to Be More Interesting (in 10 Easy Steps), a person can be more interesting by:

1. Go exploring
2. Share what you discover
3. Do something. Anything
4. Embrace your innate weirdness
5. Have a cause
6. Minimize the swagger
7. Give it a shot
8. Hop off the bandwagon
9. Grow a pair
10. Ignore the scolds

(for more info on any of these topics, see the blog).

It's interesting because when I read #3 (in which she encourages people to create, etc.), I realized that writers do this all the time.  Which made me think that many of these are things that writers do without thinking about it.

After all, as writers we explore our worlds and the worlds of others when we write, read, and critique . . . and don't we often have to research or try something new so we can write about it well?  That's  #1.  Writing, in itself, is sharing what we discover.  That's #2.  And we readily create (#3).  

Let's face it . . . we're weird (#4).  (In fact, I read another blog about writers' quirks today.  Check it out: [link] ).

Some writers (though not all) are concerned about a given topic and choose to write about it (#5), and many writers strive to write an original story instead of following what's already out there (#8).  Making a living in writing . . . even just putting your writing out there, takes guts (#9).  And, often, we have to face negative criticism (#10).

Do you see that?  Out of 10, many writers are already actively doing 8 of these.  Get this!  We are interesting people. Writers are interesting people.

I know a lot of times, I think I'm a pretty boring person.  I can't do well on FB or twitter because I never think I have anything interesting to say.  So it's nice to prove to myself that I actually have something to say that someone may want to hear.  

So what about you?

Do you think you're boring sometimes? What makes you interesting?  What are your writer's quirks?

Quick Edit:  Upon reading this again, I realized that starting and finishing a story/book/poem accomplishes #7.  After all, how can you really know if you can write unless you gave it a shot that very first time?  So many writers do 9 out of 10!  Fantastic!

-~Michelay

This list is taken from "How to Be More Interesting (in 10 Easy Steps)" by Jessica Hagy, written 11/30/2011, and accessed 1/6/12 at: [link]

Yup, it's the new hear 1/1/12. How long will it take you to get used to writing 12 instead of 11?

As is customary, people make resolutions.  As writers, we may have not gotten all we wanted out of the old year--so what are you going to do about it?  Don't just sit around on your duff and hope your writing gets done, and don't just make a resolution that won't mean anything.

Define a goal and make a plan to finish it.  This year, if you want to finish a story, why not develop a schedule?  Write a certain amount a day so that by Dec. 31, you will have a story on your hands ready for editing.

Want to get published?  While there's no guarantee a publisher will pick up your story this year, they definitely won't if it isn't finished, if you haven't looked for an agent, and/or if you haven't submitted it.  Do the research, find the people you want to send to, make sure your work is solid, and SUBMIT!  

So, what are your goals/resolutions/plans for this year?  How do you plan to accomplish it?