Week #1 – Grace & James Start a Website!
Last Monday, September 6th — I set my mind to a new adventure! For more than a year now I’ve been urged to start a professional page: a writer page, author page, or some-other-kind-of-public-facing page.
The problem? I didn’t know what to call it!
I brainstormed names thirteen ways to Sunday and nothing sounded right. To me, it all sounded…false.
It wasn’t until a coaching session with Susy Flory (Everything Memoir), a branding session with Tiffany Jo Baker (All the Things TV), and a hand-holding social media audit with Tonya Kubo (Social Media Consultant), all made possible through a year-long internship with Kathi Lipp (real life author/podcaster) — not to mention a few customer service calls and some major hair-pulling — that Rise and Write with Grace & James ever came to launch! PHEW!!!
And strangely, that’s exactly what I want this site to be about!
Yes, we are writers first: James and I have written over a dozen screenplays together. (We even sold a few!) We are proud members of the WGA and WGC. I have a weekly blog that just celebrated its seventh year (that’s 364 weeks). And we even have a non-fiction book in the works.
But it’s been hard!
And you don’t need us to tell you that…because if you ever told anyone that you are a writer/creator/musician/artist/etc. the first thing they probably said after that I-don’t-know-what-to-say look in their eyes was: “Oooh…that’s hard.”
We know it’s hard! Obstacles abound…but you know the old adage: where there’s a writer…there’s a way!
(Okay, that’s not exactly how that goes…but it’s true nonetheless!)
And thus, our tagline was born…because the hardest part about being a writer or creator (other than the writing and creating) is going it alone, feeling like you’re the only one, thinking that you’re doing it wrong, or that it’s just not meant to be.
And it wasn’t until I met some other writers and creators, podcasters, playwrights, actors, and musicians that I realized it wasn’t just me. It is hard…but each one has a how!
So if you think it’s hard…WELCOME to the club! We invite you and your how to a place where we can workshop challenges, share effective tools and techniques, and hold each other accountable to the work we have been called to create.
This week, we launched our website, started a Facebook page, started a free private group, created our Instagram and Twitter accounts, and updated our blog.
I’m not only username-d and social media-d out…I’m exhausted!
But I did it! And you can too! Join us on this adventure. We would love to talk with you about your experiences with creating, collaborating, and keeping fun company for the journey! Because I assure you, I didn’t do it alone.
Tune in to our Facebook page tomorrow for another awkward video!
And until then, set your alarm for whatever time YOU feel most creative and productive, then…
Rise and Write!
Grace
9/12/21 by Grace Church
© 2021 Rise and Write with Grace & James
riseandwritewithgrace@gmail.com