Week One with Writer's Smock in My Life.

Before I got smocked, it seemed that writing was such a lonely pursuit. I'm exaggerating y'all; the pen nor paper talk back to me, but when they marry their talents, it talks vicariously though my voice box from when arranging a few letters to form words; words that form sentences. These sentences form the paragraphs that visualize my personal stroke.

But now, I have strength in numbers. I got Jeff writing poetry and being a burgeoning writer in his own right. Theirry learning how to hone his craft for public consumption (and doing a great job with the spotlight on), and Erica, my constant companion in volleying fresh ideas when hitting the writer's wall.

Here is a sum of the writing week that was for me:

1. Got focused on reading. Reading only enhances your skill as a writer and here are some of the selections that I devoured:
- Waiter Rant by Steve Dubilanica
- Why We Make Mistakes by Joseph T. Hallinan
- Thinkertoys, Second Edition, by Michael Michalko

This jumpstarted my creativity, and got my imagination running wild. I learned many pertinent nuggets within the texts and look forward to reporting them on the smock blog and my own blog as well.

2. Erica taught Jeff and I the foundations in performing poetry slam. Slam's are when you perform an original work and you have a grand total of 3 minutes to use mannerisms, your voice box, your mind, and your thoughts to convey the message. To say we got thrown into the fire is an understatement. Our first performance is April 13th. Yikes.

3. Made a dent in my first crack at a novel, Muse of a Maneater. Seems so close but yet so far.

4. Wrote numerous short stories, for myself, and for public posting

5. Learning the basis of Spencerian Script, a technique developed by Platt Rodger's Spencer, who wanted an easy uniform script system that was inspired by the signers of the Declaration of Independence. I had a good first week, where I learned half of the lowercase letters. I'll report my progress as time elapses.

At the very least, smocking it out as got me focused.

Until Next time. Our next meeting.

Ralph - Numero Uno Mother Smocker.