The Great & Powerful Inspiration

That would be me!  I am the great and powerful inspiration for this blog.

I was recently invited to participate in the Writing Process Blog Tour.  I am supposed to answer 3 questions about my writing and then pass the "tour" to 3 fellow bloggers.  However, everyone knows that Ma really writes my blog and I am just  her inspiration so I am going to tell you about HER writing process.

But first, I would like to thank Janet Keefe from Wag 'n Woof Pets for inviting me.  For those of you who don't know, Janet is my co-host for the WOOF Support Blog Hop.  She is a terrierific blogger who used to own a pet sitting business.  No wonder she can handle owning three dogs and two cats!  At Wag 'n Woof Pets, Janet shares her passion for writing and for animals through her fun and informative posts.  You can visit her Writing Process Blog Tour post HERE.

The 3 Questions

What am I working on?  Well, Ma is currently working on blog posts about or inspired by me!  She has some product reviews, some campaign posts through BlogPaws, our next WOOF Support post and another safety post all in various stages of being written (and by that I mostly mean she has an "angle" for each post even if it is only in her head and not yet on paper).  She is also working on some of my poetry - for some she just has ideas and for others we have several lines completed.

Through her new business, Ma is also working on creating content for a friend's new music production and performance website.  She is writing musician biographies, ensemble descriptions, the business description...even the tag line.  She is also waiting to hear back from a local nonprofit who requested her help with grant proposal writing, something she has done for over 15 years.

Why do I write what I do?  Ma writes in my voice because it allows her to look at the world from a different point of view.  Imagine what the world would look like if you stood only 1 foot off the ground!  She feels that in my voice, she gets more freedom to say things, no matter if they are serious or silly.  Ma believes that sometimes, a different point of view is all you need to really appreciate every day things. 

How does my writing process work?  Most of the time, Ma knows the "angle" from which she wants to approach a topic for a post.  If she doesn't have the angle yet, she tries not to worry about it; it will come to her either when we are out for a walk or when she is in the shower.

Before she starts writing anything, we have a photo shoot for the post.  Ma takes a lot of photos even though I have become an excellent model and can get "it" in a few shots.  She then uploads them to the computer and looks all the photos over until they form a storyboard in her mind.  That's when she hears my voice telling her the "story" and she types it all up...in Microsoft Word.

The above is done days before the post actually publishes.  Ma likes to walk away from a post for a day before going back, re-reading it and editing it accordingly.  Only then will it make it onto my blog.

My poetry is a whole other process.  A poem usually starts by something we see, giving us an idea - a word, a phrase or thought - that we jot down on a piece of paper or in the Notes app on Ma's phone.  As more thoughts come, we keep writing them down until we can form them into a poem...sometimes this happens very quickly and other times, it is a slow going process.

The same is true for my limericks with the exception that you, my friends, give me the thoughts and ideas.  And sometimes limericks are harder to write since we must always keep meter and rhyme consistent.  (Oz Poetry Secret: there is a special place online that we use to help us find words that rhyme with each other!  There are times even that site has a hard time finding a rhyme!)

The Next 3 Bloggers in the Tour

I want to thank these three bloggers for accepting my invitation to participate in the Writing Process Blog Tour!  If you haven't already met them, please pop over to their blog to say hello.  They will be posting about their writing process next week!

Dolly the Doxie.  Dolly may be a rescue Dachshund mix but she really rescued Her Lady, Sandra.  Together, they blog about living in Chi-Town (Chicago) and their many adventures together.  Dolly and Sandra are now gearing up for a re-branding of their blog where they will provide information on dog products, trends and the human-animal bond, among other topics.  You can visit Dolly and Sandra HERE.

Mochas, Mysteries and Meows.  Melissa loves to blog about her two passions - books and cats.  Currently, Melissa says her life is dedicated to the happiness and well-being of her beautiful tortoise-shell cat, Truffles.  Together they write a pet-centric literary blog and enjoy some of my favorite genres including mysteries and the paranormal.  If you enjoy the cozy moments of life then you are sure to enjoy the warmth at this blog.  You can visit Melissa and Truffles HERE.

Team Beaglebratz.  The team of Shiloh and Shasta, two Beagles who, along with their mom Kim, blog about their breed, dogs in general and of course, the super fun life of two bratty Beagles.  Team Beaglebratz has currently set a goal to get to 1,000 blog posts by the end of 2014!  They are marathon posting and are even accepting guest posts from other bloggers.  You can visit Shiloh, Shasta and Kim HERE.