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I have been writing for Triond since the first of November. I remember the exact date I started “blogging” because I had just had a ghastly (but extremely short-lived) experience with changing my hair color. And I remember that this profound lapse of sanity during which I had “gone blonde” for a few hours occurred on Halloween.

As a long-time advertising copywriter with the requisite “novel on my laptop,”

I have dared to dream the sleep-deprived reality that I could be a novelist, or “real writer” even though, for over twenty years, my tax return has listed “writer” as my occupation. That is the only part of my tax return I really like.

Since November 1, I have gotten some positive feedback about my writing from people who have read my movie and tv reviews, recipes (and rambling on about food and cooking) and my fiction (the beginning of a novel called “Getting Romantic” which got more than 125 hits during November.) It was also kind of cool to get over 150 “views” for my information-meets-inspiration packed article on getting into acting. One of my sons, now almost 18, was a child actor for years, hopefully going off to a great theater program at a superb institution of higher learning next fall. Everything I wrote about in the article came from his own experiences with getting agents, shooting pilots, getting his SAG card…so it’s great to have a place to share “content” with others, where you can see your words up on a computer screen within a day or so of the moment you submit your work. Most of us are experts on something and writing blogs, I’ve found, has somehow made me learn to write more quickly. That’s an important skill, as I know from my work in advertising, because real-life deadlines don’t allow for leisurely writing.

Someone named Robinhood, who called him-or-herself a “life coach” has responded to some of the blogs I’ve written with the same vaguely annoyed reaction to my work that my mother (!) has offered for a very long time; “Get some guts, girl!” said Robinhood, after reading my first stab at one novel I’ve pushed aside (and put up on authspot.com) to work on another. YEAH! Robinhood, thank you! Someone recognizes I can write. I love it! More, more, more! Other people have said the same things Robinhood did: “don’t tell me this is all you do; Robinhood’ also wrote “Don’ tell me you write for pennies,” and, those exact words came from someone else, too, in the “Comments” section under a different article. I wrote back to Robinhood – in response to her comments about my work and the fact that I knew I needed a life coach – on the webpage where she left one of her messages where one of . I even included my email address on one of my posts, hoping Robinhood would catch it.

After just two months, I couldn’t depend on this website earnings to pay for much more than a large pizza (but one with three toppings) but hey…it’s a start! It gives me confidence; it gives me structure…I have actually finished one of the four novels that have languished on my laptop and in my drawer since forever. I think I was able to believe in myself – thanks to Robinhood and others who wrote to me over the past eight weeks because of the positive feedback I’ve received on the articles published on Quazen.com, Socyberty.com, Notecook.com, Healthmad.com and authspot.com. One of the most common questions unpublished writers ask themselves and (if you’re like me) whine (just a little bit!) to others is: “why would anyone want to read what I have to say?” I don’t ask that question all that often since I began blogging.

Sure, even one of my kids, only twelve, teases me endlessly about making six cents on a certain piece I’ve written that didn’t get many hits over a few weeks’ time. But that’s not the point. Blogging creates a sense of community; I read what others write on Triond sites. You can learn a lot from other writers; you can never read enough when you’re trying to write.

And knowing how much it fuels the ego, I make a point of writing messages of encouragement to other writers; constructive criticism is not what I offer other writers. I think, rewinding to the subject of ego once again, that it’s not really my function to be digging into other writers’ articles, looking for its faults, trying to find something to pull up and scour over with a magnifying glass. I’ll leave that to the members of their writing workshops – or their mothers – or husbands…

In the meantime, maybe I can screw up the guts somehow to write more than advertising copy. It’s honest work, sometimes even fun and I am writing but there are never any by-lines. With ad copy, you rarely get to delve very deeply into a subject; when you’re selling a product or service, you get in, you make your point, with wit or emotion and one hopes, great graphics, and you get out.

Blogging is a great way to flex your writing muscles before you quit your day job. It’s a terrific bridge between writing identities, from the writer you are (or whatever you do on the way to your spot on the best-seller list) to the one you hope to become. In the meantime, Robinhood, if you’re reading this, thanks for the kind words. If you’ve got any further insights, your life coaching is very welcome. You can find me at stein_sophia@yahoo.com.