Photo Credit: University of Scranton Weinberg Memorial Library
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If you happened to catch Part 1 or Part 2 of my summer reading list you probably noticed I don't read a lot of fiction. Well, actually, as a teacher of early American literature I read plenty of fiction by the likes of Kate Chopin, Edgar Allan Poe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. But when it comes to what I read in my free time it's usually non-fiction such as memoirs or collections of personal essays. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm one of those pretentious pricks who say things like "It's such a waste of time to read fiction. I need something real." But because I consider myself a creative non-fiction writer, I mostly read creative non-fiction.

This needs to change. I need to add more fiction to my reading repertoire. Essayists, journalists and memoirists can learn a lot from fiction. Regardless of genre, every writer and every artist is striving to tell a story. What better way to learn the art of storytelling than from great novels and short stories? Fiction, for example, teaches us that stories don't always have to be linear. It's OK to start in the middle or even at the end. 

But wait there's more! 

Reading more fiction might also make you more popular. It's true. From the Harvard Business Review Blog:

“Over the past decade, academic researchers…from York University have gathered data indicating that fiction-reading activates neuronal pathways in the brain that measurably help the reader better understand real human emotion — improving his or her overall social skillfulness.”

So reading more fiction could make me a better writer and a better friend. That's a pretty sweet deal.

What are some of your favorite works of fiction? 

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Last week a friend I greatly admire told me she's proud of me. She said she's proud of the work I've done through See Jane Write, the success I've had landing new freelancing gigs, and my efforts to grow this blog.

This really meant a lot to me because she is a very accomplished journalist and a social media guru.

Then she asked, "so where are you going with all of this?"

I had a very profound response to this question: "Uh, I dunno."

And it's true. I have no idea where I would like all this to lead. I have no grand goal in mind. There is no 5-year plan. I wanted to be part of a networking group for local women writers so I started one. After leaving my full-time reporting job for a new career in education I missed seeing my byline, so I started freelancing. I love blogging so I blog. But ask me what's next and I've got nothing. I often talk about making my writing dreams come true, but at this point I'm not even sure what that means.

After our conversation, after this revelation, I proceeded to have a come-apart once my friend and I went our separate ways. "You're 31, Javacia! That's way too old to not have a clear life plan!" I told myself.

Enter U.S. Olympic swimmer Brendan Hansen. (Yes, I'm writing about the Olympics again. We only have one more week. Indulge me.) At 30, Hansen came out of retirement to compete in the London games this year. In an interview with Glamour he talked about the importance of appreciating the journey when you're training for the Olympics:

"I swim four hours a day for two years to prepare for one race that's 59 seconds long and another that's less than two minutes. People are like, 'Why would you do that?' But to me, it's not just about the outcome. When you're in a sport like this, so much of it is the journey and so little of it is the race."

This quote brings me comfort even though swimming has very little to do with writing. I'm enjoying blogging. I'm enjoying organizing events for See Jane Write. I'm enjoying reporting and writing. I'm enjoying this journey.

This doesn't mean I don't need a plan. I still think I need one and hope to figure that out soon. But in the meantime, I'm going to keep having fun.

Do you have a life plan? What are you doing to enjoy the journey?

Photo Credit: Waferboard
Image via Flickr/Creative Commons

I have discovered a calorie-free brunch! 


Well, actually, when I participated in the Twitter chat known as Blog Brunch yesterday it wasn't as healthy as it could have been because I was snacking on Tropical Chewy Lemonheads & Friends the whole time. Nevertheless, the blogging and social media tips I gathered from the chat were plenty good for me. 


Blog Brunch is "a collaborative network powered by bloggers wanting to share, dream and learn with other creatives in the blogging community" that hosts Twitter chats on various blogging topics. 


Yesterday's chat was about reader engagement, something that's very important to me. This summer I've been fortunate enough to have had several of you comment on nearly all of my posts. You have no idea how much that means to me. When I decided to make The Writeous Babe Project more than just a place to post teasers to articles and essays I'd published, I decided I wanted to make this a blog that would encourage and inspire other women writers. But I have no idea if I'm doing that unless you leave comments and send me emails letting me know. And you have. And for that I thank you. 


Because commenting on posts is such a huge part of reader engagement, it's important to make commenting as easy as possible. I know that's probably not the case here. You have to get through that annoying CAPTCHA crap which usually takes me three attempts to get right when I'm commenting on other blogs. Hold tight, I plan to switch to Comment Luv or Disqus soon. 


Social media is obviously another way, if not one of the best ways, to engage with readers. But make sure you're not all business all the time. If you do nothing but post or tweet out links to your blog posts your followers are going to get bored pretty quickly. It's like having a friend who only talks about work. Use social media to share personal tidbits of your day that aren't blog-worthy but are still fun and interesting, suggested Lisa Butler (@elembee). 


I try to tweet at least four times a day --- sharing a link to my blog, sharing a link to an interesting article I've read, promoting someone else's work, and showing a bit of my personal life and personality. Some days I fail miserably at this, but that's what I aim for each day. 


Another thing to remember: bloggers must support other bloggers. Visit other blogs and leave meaningful comments. Naomi Anselmo (@ofanselm) said it perfectly: "Blogging is about connecting with others. Nobody makes friends by waiting for everyone else to visit them at their place." 


How do you engage with your readers? 

The cover story in the latest issue of Weld for Birmingham, one of my city's weekly newspapers, examines 10 provocative quotes about my hometown. The piece is called Write On Birmingham and I picked up the paper with this plan to read the quotes and then pen some compelling piece of my own about the Magic City and post it here. But that didn't happen. 


Besides, how could anything I write compare to this quote from the late Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth: 

There’s no place like Birmingham in my heart. I love Birmingham, and not just because some of my blood was spilled in its streets. I love it because it’s a place where we can look out and see where we’ve come from and how far God has brought us.

After being away for about 10 years, I returned to Birmingham in 2009. When people ask me if I like being back home I'm honest: "No. But I want to." And I do. I really, really want to fall in love with Birmingham. But it feels like I'm in a relationship with some guy who keeps cheating on me, who keeps breaking my heart and I keep giving him chance after chance. 


As we all do in rocky relationships that we want to salvage, I try to focus on the good things -- the wonderful performing arts school at which I have the honor to teach, my favorite coffee shops and restaurants, my church, the supportive community of women writers I've discovered through See Jane Write, Black Girls RUN! Birmingham. But not even all of this is enough to drown out the sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic voices screaming in my ears. This city's extreme colorism even has me feeling like an ugly duckling. 


Nevertheless, I'm going to stick around. Birmingham has scars and scabs but has made progress. It is a place where we can see how far we've come as a nation. And Birmingham motivates me to use my writing as activism because it is also a reminder that we still have a long way to go. 

Photo Credit: Kate Mereand-Sinha
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Earlier this week I changed the tagline of this blog. It once read: "I have some stories. I want to look good while I share them." I didn't change it because I feared you'd think me vain. Trust me, I am vain. No need for you to wonder about that.

I changed my tagline to "My Life as a Blogger, Writer, and Southern Fried Feminist," simply because I believe it better describes what The Writeous Babe Project is all about. I do worry, however, that the
f-word might scare away or alienate some readers. For so many, feminist is a dirty word associated with this idea of a woman who hates men, marriage, makeup, and stay-at-home moms and who is angry about everything except an announcement that Ani DiFranco is coming to town.

As a happily married woman who loves eye shadow and is in awe of any woman who can stay home with a kid all day, I am a feminist who defies all those stereotypes.Well, not all of them. I freaking love Ani DiFranco!

People have asked me how I can be so bold as to call myself a feminist when that label has such negative connotations.  I can do so because I have a clear understanding of what feminism actually means. And I believe that if people -- both women and men -- would focus on the true definition of feminism they'd quickly realize they're a feminist too.

A few days ago a pal of mine asked me via Twitter what it means to be a feminist. She then clarified that what she really wanted to know what was my definition of feminism.

Feminism is simply the belief in the economic, political, and social equality of the sexes. Period. And if you believe in that, guess what, you're a feminist.

Things get complicated, however, when we get into how an individual chooses to live out her (or his) feminist believes, because feminism is both personal and political. It's a lifestyle.

I'm not going to write a single post on how I live out my feminism. That post would be ridiculously long and you'd stop reading and go back to watching the Olympics before getting halfway through it.

But each Friday from now until I run out of things to say, I am going to address different feminist issues here at The Writeous Babe Project. I'll do my best to relate the posts to writing, but sometimes I may need to just rant or rave.

I promise the posts will be interesting, as many of them will tackle those gray areas such as "Can I still call myself a feminist if I take pole dancing lessons?"

And I promise the posts will be fun, because as feminist humor writer Caitlin Moran said in a recent interview, "Feminism is a revolution and revolutions are fun."

Photo by Kristin Nador
Image via Flickr/Creative Commons

Are you sleepy? Yeah, me too. Is it because you've been staying up all night watching the Olympics? Yeah, me too. 

Believe it not, however, between my cheers for the USA women's gymnastics and men's swim teams, I've realized that writers could learn a lot from Olympians. They can teach us a lot about dedication and the value of practice. 

Last week I showed up to my weekly meeting with my writing partner with no desire to write.  I'd spent the morning vacuuming the carpets and cleaning the bathrooms of my apartment. Before that I went to the gym to lift weights and to a spinning class in which I'm certain the instructor was trying to kill us all. (Love you, Cherie!)

My body was tired and now I was supposed to sit in a coffee shop, in a hard chair and write something brilliant. But that was the problem -- the idea that I needed to write something amazing, to complete an essay that would be my big break in publishing or finish a blog post that would win me some sort of award. No. That moment, that time to write, should have been about practice. As writers we sometimes lose sight of the importance of writing as a practice.

I'm a runner so I, of all people, should know how important practice is. I remember the day I decided to start running. I'd always been an active person. Back in college I taught group fitness classes at the university's recreation center. But I never ran. Then one day last year while walking my favorite neighborhood trail I just decided to give it a try.

I was out of breath in 30 seconds. But then I kept trying and one day I ran for 4 minutes without stopping, then 9 minutes, then 20 minutes, and the next thing I knew I'd signed up for a half marathon. And now I'm one of those people driving around with a 13.1 bumper sticker on the back of their car.

But to get the Mercedes Half-Marathon Finisher the medal hanging in my bedroom I had to practice. I had to go out and run in the heat, in the cold, and sometimes even in the rain. I had to run when I didn't feel like it.

And every run is not a race. You have to practice. You have to train. You have to run for the sake of running.

Likewise, sometimes I need to write for the sake of writing. I need to write when I don't feel like it. I need to write even when I don't feel inspired to do so. It's not necessary to always sit down to write with a specific goal in mind. No need to say, "Today I'm going to write an award-winning essay on my definition of feminism." Sometimes I need to just sit and write for the sake of filling the page.

Natalie Goldberg, whom I quote a lot on this blog because she's a genius, recommends filling one notebook each month with this practice-style writing. If you're looking for a project for #WRITELIKECRAZY month, I think that would be a great one.

Goldberg also sees the similarities between writers and athletes. In her book Writing Down the Bones she says:

"This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Some days you don't want to run and you resist every step of the three miles, but you do it anyway. You practice whether you want to or not. You don't wait around for inspiration and deep desire to run. It'll never happen, especially if you're out of shape or have been avoiding it. But if you run regularly, you train your mind to cut through or ignore your resistance. You just do it. And in the middle of the run, you love it. When you come to the end, you never want to stop. And you stop, hungry for the next time." 

Image via Flickr/Creative Commons

Last night at about 7 p.m. I decided to join writer Tayari Jones in her plan to #WRITELIKECRAZY for the month of August. (Thanks to Tatiana of Tatiana In Flux for telling me about this.)

#WRITELIKECRAZY is nothing like NaNoWriMo. In fact, Jones hates National Novel Writing Month, which is when writers attempt to write a 10,000 word novel in the month of November.  For #WRITELIKECRAZY you simply set your own goal for the month. Decide what you want to accomplish and just go for it.

My goal is to publish a blog post here at WriteousBabe.com every day in August. In September I plan to guest blog like crazy in an effort to get new readers. So I need to make sure I have plenty of good content for these new folks to check out. Also, I'll be returning back to work soon and will, therefore, be tempted to write less and less. I hope this challenge will keep me on track.

So, who wants to #WRITELIKECRAZY with me this month? Jones would like those participating to like her Facebook page and share their progress there. I'd love for you to keep me posted on your progress at my Facebook page as well.

Let's do this!