The theme of the 23 June meeting for the Business and
Professional Women of Raleigh was "Writing for Success." The
meeting featured a panel of women published in diverse fields. (L to R in
picture) Lea Strickland, Laura Poole, Slee Arnold, and I
discussed the means by which professional women improve their writing skills,
writing pitfalls and common mistakes that detract from professionalism, and
online promotional media such as blogging.

I was the only novelist on the panel. Strickland writes
business and marketing material, Poole is an editor and writing coach, and
Arnold is a magazine publisher. It was tempting to focus on our differences. But
it was the similarities in our responses and approaches that really stood out.

For example, Strickland spoke about how prolific she is as a
writer, and how she doesn't wait for someone else to declare her an expert on
an interesting topic before she starts writing about it. She researches the
topic extensively, then dives into the writing, showing that she has the
knowledge. That echoes my experience with history and the Southern theater of
the war. I don't have a degree in history, but I have a passion for it, and
I've researched it for years.

Succeeding in writing, like succeeding in any other
discipline, involves seizing the initiative, not waiting for permission. You
must continually explore the borders of your field and look for new ways to
imagine, rather than enjoying your comfort zone.

Many thanks to Mary Ellen Randall for keeping me in
mind for this panel.

Next up: another fun Fourth of July at Colonial
Williamsburg, and the start of a busy July!