A Priceless Gift

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve seen the same post repeatedly on social media. It’s a good reminder and goes something like this—Hold people close and remember to hug, say I love you, do today all those things you think you will get to do later. Later may not come for some.

That is such a profound truth. My family and I know it all too well. I have several dear friends who know, as well. You know who you are and know that I am holding you in my heart today, and always.

A Low-Tech Grandma in a High-Tech World

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Okay. I admit it. I’m no techie, especially when it comes to anything social media related, but I think y’all knew that. I’ve taken social media lessons for a while now from the best teacher I know, Edie Melson. Edie is the co-director of a handful of conferences for writers. You know most of my writing story, so you already know I had no idea I needed a writing conference . . . or twenty.

Some social media things have been more difficult than others. I usually do okay if I have things written down step by step. I refer to them when I need to do something I haven’t done in a while, or even if it’s things I do regularly but which have lots of steps. One of the functions I perform weekly has twenty-five separate steps. Now you see why I need to have them written down.

Lost

When learning something new, I perform the task while I’m on the video lessons with Edie. But when I’m left on my own, I can’t remember what comes next—unless I write it down. I have to remember to write it down. This morning, we went through a task that was difficult for me. We’d been over this before, long ago and again a month or so ago, but I couldn’t remember the steps. I invariably left out some. Thus, things I should have been doing went undone. Sigh.

So, we went over this again this morning and I performed the task without any questions or prompts from Edie and I did okay with it. I’m happy to say that once we signed off our meeting, I went back to this task and tried it on my own. I faltered in a couple of places, but I quickly realized where I had made mistakes and I corrected myself. One time . . . okay it was twice . . . I had to undo the whole thing and begin again. It was at that point that I wrote down every single step. I’m happy to report that this one has far fewer than twenty-five.

This is just another aspect of writing that most people don’t even think about. You see all the Twitter posts and Facebook posts, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and anything else out there that people do regularly these days, and you don’t even stop to think about how that was done. In my case, I was clueless. I’ve learned how to navigate those swirling waters with many lessons, repeats of those lessons, and a few emergency emails to Edie to say I’m stumped. I had no idea one had to learn so many new things to be a writer in today’s world.

To say that I’ve been blessed by the people God has placed in my path would be one of the biggest understatements in my life. And I’ve lived a long time.

Equipped for the Journey

There have been many times when I wanted to quit because learning so many new things has been a huge curve for me. Friends always come through with words of encouragement, reminding me that I’m not on this journey alone. This is a journey God has placed before me and I know He will walk with me and help me see it through to the end. See what I did there?

When life throws something your way you don’t think you can handle, remember the One who is always there with you. And look to those people He has placed in your path to lend a helping hand or a good word of encouragement when you need it the most.

Edie is one of many people I’ve met along this journey since I first walked into the doors of Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference back in 2014. Since that time, I’ve met countless conference directors, teachers, mentors, fellow writers, encouragers—the list is endless. I owe every one of them a huge debt of thanks.

A Work-in-Progress

I don’t have all the little details mastered, especially of all things social media related. Like my writing, I’m still a work in progress. I’m thankful for those with me on this journey. And that includes you. Thank you for being here and reading my blog posts. It means more to me than I can say.

Do you have trouble with techie or social media things? Share your experiences with us.

TWEETABLE

A Low-TechGrandma in a High-Tech World @DDuPreeWilliams (Click to Tweet)

Have You Done Your Homework?

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

That may seem an odd question to ask as school draws to a close for the summer. For many, this is just the start of a very busy season. Just because school is out doesn’t mean the work ends. I’m talking about for writers.

This time last week I was busy running around the hills and up and down the stairs on the campus at the Ridgecrest Conference Center in Black Mountain, North Carolina. I was there with my sister for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. This is a fabulous conference for those of you who may have any kind of interest or a calling to write. It is run by Edie Melson and DiAnn Mills, two outstanding authors and all-around fabulous women. Each of these ladies has the heart of a teacher.

BRMCWC 
BRMCWC, as the conference is called by many, is a full four days of learning the craft of writing from the very best teachers in the industry. If you go to this site https://www.blueridgeconference.com/  you will be able to read all about the faculty for this year. Delve deeper and you will find classes they taught. It is an intense week filled with not only learning opportunities, but appointments with agents, editors, and publishers, and just about anyone associated with the publishing industry. We also have a time of worship each morning and each evening followed by keynotes from member of the faculty.

Learning New Tricks: A Writer's Lifelong Journey

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

I’ve been writing seriously for about four years. In that time, I’ve learned many new things. I’m not as good at some as I hope to be, but I’m still learning. I’ve learned Twitter and Instagram. I’ve learned how to blog and how to make memes and I have learned many other things I never knew.

As I told you in my last blog post, I’m now a grandmother. I have been for thirteen-plus years, so you do the math. Let’s just say, I’m not a spring chicken. But I’m learning new tricks every day.

Some of the techie things the twenty-or-thirty-something-year-old writers do with ease don’t come that readily to some of us of a certain age. But I haven’t let that stop me. I’m learning new things all the time. As fast as technology is changing, we have to change with it or we'll get lost along the way.