A Year of Writing

The year is coming to an end and I am reminded of all that happened over the last year. Many personal struggles, successes and failures have taken place, but that is for my personal blog. You can read it at http://www.tinatoler.tumblr.com/ if you are interested. Here, I will discuss my writing struggles, failures and successes.

First, I began working for a non-profit magazine, Divinity Girlz, writing one article a month. It's strictly volunteer work, so no income, but it is a huge honor to be helping girls, especially on issues of faith, morality, and avoiding being like everyone else and finding their own way. That is something I have always done, so writing is another avenue for me.

The magazine went through many changes. Writers don't want to stay involved in a project that doesn't work immediately and that is volunteer. Sad, but true. I stuck it out because I believed in the magazine and I believed in the editor, and I am so glad I did.

During the beginning, I wrote five articles, which were loved. Sonja asked me to be contributing writer, writing many of the feature articles, as well as offered me the position of Assistant Editor. I went from writing one article occasionally to being responsible for several articles per issue as well as organizing all the material and making sure it was all received.

Things happen in life and in business and the magazine was put on temporary hold. I went for months without hearing anything. Although I didn't forget about it, I pushed it to the back of my mind.

Two months ago I received a message from Sonja the magazine was coming out January 2011 and was I ready to get to work. I, of course, said yes! For six weeks I worked hard, writing new articles, finding and revising old ones, gathering other assignments and filling in for assignments that had not been received. It was definitely time consuming and at times overwhelming, but I loved every minute of it.

I am jaded and have real trouble believing things will actually happen until I see it, so I treaded my faith in the magazine with trepidation. I figured that way if something else happens I wouldn't be too heart broken. Probably a bad approach, but hey, it works for me.

Last week Divinity Girlz magazine produced an e-zine that was awesome! I am incredibly honored to be a part of it. Sonja did a fantastic job getting everything together and getting it available on line. I am even more excited that it available in print...and yes I ordered 5 print copies.

I also finished my Devotional Book, GOD SAID WHAT? last December and during 2010 I made approximately $650 on it. It's not a lot and I can't exactly call it a success, but that book was written to make me rich or famous. It was written to help teens, and that is a goal that I accomplished. 60 books were sold to a local church and used for their summer devotionals and I have heard the stories of lives it has touched. That to me is the biggest success.

I still have a long way to go with writing and I have many resolutions this year to make it happen, but if I never do anything else, I will always have Divinity Girlz and GOD SAID WHAT? I am happy.

Happy New Year!