Member Spotlight: Donetia Renee Meshack

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing elevates the power of story to a medium that can change lives by opening hearts and minds to what often goes unnoticed. Anais Nin — “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” As a writer of transformational nonfiction, it’s important to amplify issues and concerns, and lessons learned with my target audience, women and girls with lived experience in foster care. Everyone has a transformational story to share no matter the genre that can change the trajectory of someone’s life and the world.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? I use The Artist’s Way Morning Pages Journal: A Companion Volume to The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, daily to jumpstart my day. Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. Every Friday I go on an Artist’s Date all by myself to do something engaging, entertaining, and inspiring for two to three hours to celebrate the victory of staying safe, sane, and engaged as a writer.

What is your favorite time to write? My favorite time to write is morning. Seedlings and insight for expanding on chapters of current and future projects often appear while writing my morning pages.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Create a schedule, sit down and write about what you know and what you’re passionate about. That’s how books get written.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? I’m excited about open doors, freedom of expression and endless opportunities to expand the reach of a familiar proverb “each one, teach one”. As writers we live in a day and time where the need for validation and permission to become who we were born to be no longer exists. If we hold a vision for our lives that meets our expectations, we can put a ring on it and escort ourselves down the self-publishing aisle without fear. I’m excited about the fact that comparison and competition do not factor into my writing life. The support of the Authors’ Guild and other associations supporting Indie Authors is all I need to get by to keep writing in my latter years.

Donetia Renee Meshack’s It’s Time to Turn Up! No More Trauma, written under her pen name Lady D, is out now.