Please welcome back Norma Jean Lutz for a second guest host appearance at the Cyber-bistro.

 

Ensuring a Lasting Legacy

Grateful to be a Writer

When I began my writing career, my son and daughter were in elementary school; I am now a grandmother of four. Every day that I live, I am more and more grateful that I am a writer. Grateful that I get to do what I love; grateful that I didn’t quit when quitting would have been the easiest thing in the world to do; grateful that I paid the price and made the required sacrifices.

Not only do I get to write my heart, but I’m privileged to help others when I write on assignment (ghostwriting/freelancing), and when I serve as a novel critique consultant. It makes my life just about perfect.

Words as Gifts

In more recent days, I’ve added yet another plus to my career choice and that is something Michael Mulligan alluded to in his post of May 17, 2012 – leaving a legacy. This excerpt spoke to my heart:

How will your words affect the lives of others around you or the lives of people not yet born? Consider your written words as gifts to be opened long after you depart this world. You have the ability to change attitudes and change the course of history. (You can read his post here.)

“…gifts to be opened long after you depart from this world.” Hm. I like that.

A Couple of Coincidences

What a coincidence (or God-incidence however you like to look at things) that I had only recently expressed a similar thought in one of my Be A Novelist blogs. I titled it, “How Do You Want to be Known?” You can read it here.

But that wasn’t all. By yet another coincidence, at the same time I was reading Michael’s inspirational blog, out in my living room on the floor were sitting four very large separate stacks of books.

These are my published books. Some are author’s complimentary copies; others are end runs that I purchased when they went out of print.

Why were they placed in four neat stacks in my living room? Legacy!

One Set for Each Grandchild

In the past few months, it came to me that I needed to preserve my legacy for each of my grandchildren. I had never done that.

Through the years, I have accumulated copies of my published titles and they were sitting in a hodgepodge of boxes out in my garage.

As I said, it only recently dawned on me that I needed to create a “set” of my published titles for each one of my grandchildren.

Purposely and Purposefully

Understand – my grandchildren at this time are age ten and under. Still very young. But for today – now – I am choosing to purposely, and purposefully box up a set of these books to be sealed up and preserved for when they are adults.

Whether or not they care a whit about them ever does not matter. I am making the choice to leave the gift for them just in case they do care. (Since all four are already book lovers, I don’t think I have much problem in that regard.)

And of course I must consider their children. Perhaps one or two in that next generation will be wildly excited to have a set of great-grandmother’s published books.

Next Goal

My next goal? Keep on writing so as to create yet another stack so I can fill other boxes for them. (Wouldn’t want them to run out, right?)

I am putting Michael’s admonition into action:

Consider your written words as gifts to be opened long after you depart this world. 

Thanks, Michael, for the gentle reminder!

Norma Jean Lutz

Career author and writing instructor, Norma Jean Lutz, is the author of over 50 published books under her own name, in addition to scores of ghostwritten works. Prior to the books, she saw over two-hundred magazine articles and short stories appear under her byline.

Most recently Norma Jean has launched a unique program to aid aspiring novelists in finishing their work-in-progress. The Be A Novelist Six-Month, Finish-My-Novel Challenge is not simply a writing course, but points the enrollees to the core reason WHY their work keeps stalling out. More information here.

To receive a free 15-page writer’s workshop entitled, Don’t Dilly Dally at the Starting Gate: How to Start Your Novel With a Bang, simply go to the website and request it.