Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Category: My Book (page 10 of 10)

IWSG Writing Update – December 2016

December 7, 2016 / / 24 Comments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) encourages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement or anything really about their writing.  Since August, the IWSG likes to see a particular question answered in each blog post of their members. This month that question is “In terms of your writing career, where do you see yourself five years from now, and what’s your plan to get there?”

Last month, I hinted at maybe trying to add 50,000 words to my memoir in November. That would mean write, write, write, and don’t look back, don’t edit, don’t improve, don’t polish and don’t criticize. While this is a good way to “get it all out there”, it is not really how I have been working recently, so I chose to maintain my current goal of writing one chapter every week. Continue reading

IWSG Writing Update – November 2016

November 2, 2016 / / 20 Comments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) encourages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement or anything really about their writing.  Since August, the IWSG would like to see a particular question answered in each blog post. This month that question is “What is your favorite aspect of being a writer?”

Exactly one year ago I started writing my memoir, Floating About – A Life Less Ordinary (working title) by following a one month “outline course”, organized by Christine Gilbert. I’d like to say I’ve come a long way since then, but truth is, I have come a very short way. I worked hard that first month, November 2015, creating an initial outline and pumping out 90,000 words getting there. I also started this blog, Roaming About, around then. All that extra time, unlimited internet and “free” electricity after living on a basic sailboat for so long, had to be put to good use! Continue reading

IWSG Monthly Writing Update – A Short One!

October 5, 2016 / / 18 Comments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) encourages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement or anything really about their writing.  Since August, the IWSG would like to see a particular question answered in each blog post. This month that question is “How do you know your story is ready?”

This IWSG post will be one of the shortest I have ever written, for a very simple reason: I have not worked on my book at all during the month of September. Not a word written, not a page edited, not an exercise practiced. Nada. Nothing! The good thing is that I do not feel bad or guilty about it. Mark and I knew September would be a crazy month, what with moving out of the last house where we took care of Jenny, the dog, and the maple farm for five months, our five-day vacation in Acadia, spending some quality time at our home base in Newburyport seeing friends and family, running errands and going to doctor appointments, and an unexpected week-long house sit on Cape Cod. That concluded September!

Even writing a blog has not always been easy in September!

Even writing a blog has not always been easy in September!

Continue reading

IWSG Monthly Writing Update – Lots of Time, but Little Progress

September 7, 2016 / / 38 Comments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) encourages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement or anything really about their writing.  Since August, the IWSG would like to see a particular question answered in each blog post. This month that question is “How do you find the time to write in your busy day?”

When Mark and I were cruising full-time on our sailing catamaran Irie for eight years, there was not much time (or electricity or internet availability) to write. I focused mainly on cranking out a sailing article once in a while, making notes about our travels and experiences, and creating about one blog a week on It’s Irie. One of the main reasons we left that boating lifestyle was to focus on our “careers”. The extra time, comfort and amenities a more settled life offers would certainly help with that. Continue reading

Recap of My Book Writing

July 6, 2016 / / 24 Comments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) encourages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement or anything really about their writing. Starting this month, they have added a question as a prompt to get the juices flowing: “What’s the best thing someone has ever said about your writing?” It has been a while since my last “book update”, so today is a good day for some insights and an answer to that question.

The Background

As some of you know, my biggest passion is traveling. Since graduating at 22, I have been on the road or on the water full-time for 14 out of the 18 years. I’m not sure whether to count our current lifestyle of house and pet sitting as traveling, since we are semi-settled “abroad” (for me anyway), but still explore different parts of the country while at it.

The other thing I have been doing most of my life is write. I have always enjoyed writing and have been pretty engrossed by it since I started my first diary at the age of 10. Continue reading

W is for Writing

April 27, 2016 / / 27 Comments
Day 23 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

My two hobbies (they are more like full-time occupations) are traveling and writing. And, since my topic for this A-Z Blogging Challenge covers the first one, the least I can do in regards to the second one is write a blog about it.

Writing this blog in our "new house" in Heath, MA

Writing this blog post in our “new house” in Heath, MA

Although I have never gotten far with my writing “ambitions” (they weren’t ambitions until I recently moved ashore to focus on them a bit more), I have always enjoyed the act of writing. Continue reading

Book Progress – Struggling with the Theme

March 11, 2016 / / 2 Comments

Why am I having so much trouble finding a focused book idea or common thread for my book? Why is this so important?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have written a lot of useful material over the years, I did a month-long outline course online in November, collecting another tens of thousands of words, and I started writing a couple of “real” chapters the previous weeks. All without that needed theme to tie it all together. Why don’t I keep plowing through all the content and forget about that supposedly important theme? Continue reading

Book Progress: Slow!

February 24, 2016 / / 14 Comments

Now that I have made it official that I am writing a book, I am encouraged to keep working on it. Yes, I have even made it a priority in my life at the moment. Once in a while, a friend asks “How is your book coming along?” They know this process will take a while, but they are curious about my progress and encourage me to keep going. All I can answer, however, is “Slow! And I have no idea what I am doing…”

Maybe it is because of my naïve or wishful thinking attitude, but I always expect things to happen quickly, as in … immediately, and smoothly, as in … naturally. Writing a book takes time. A lot of time. And effort. A lot of effort. Nobody says it is an easy task. But just how difficult does this have to be? I somehow thought the words would flow smoothly, an attractive frame would present itself, a book proposal would be drafted in a matter of weeks and the whole book would be done in six months or so, ideally commissioned. Obviously, I have not thought this through. Mark would call this “being in Liesbet’s world…” In Liesbet’s world, nothing is ever a big deal! Continue reading

How’s the Book Coming Along?

February 1, 2016 / / 9 Comments

What is going on with the book I am planning to write? Some of you might think that I have totally given up on that silly idea, which I brushed on a few months ago. I haven’t. Not yet, anyway… Writing a book takes a lot of time, effort, energy, prioritizing and commitment. Now that the excuses caused by living on a sailboat have diminished, I am still serious about this arduous project.

So, what have I been up to? Continue reading

The Idea of a Book

November 10, 2015 / / 5 Comments

DSC03792I have always – jokingly – said “One day, I will write a book”. When people suggested “You should write a book,” I laughed it off with a “suuuure!”  People say a lot of things. Everyone who travels frequently or extensively has friends suggesting the book idea. And, a lot of people do write books! If you want to dive into a book project, you have to at least like to write, and, ideally, you are good at it as well… Continue reading

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