Introducing Christine Graves

Summary

Christine Graves, a seasoned writer with a long history of online writing, has recently been accepted to write for the ILLUMINATION publication, which has sparked a mix of excitement and self-doubt, but she is determined to grow and contribute meaningfully to the platform.

Abstract

Christine Graves, an experienced writer since the late 90s, has been welcomed as a new writer for ILLUMINATION. Despite her extensive background in various writing formats, including ghostwriting, copywriting, and managing her own writing site, she grapples with imposter syndrome upon her acceptance. Graves reflects on her journey from a high school dropout to a versatile storyteller, her early days with limited technology, and the evolution of her writing career alongside the internet. After a hiatus from writing due to personal reasons, she re-entered the field in 2018, rediscovering her passion and finding a new audience through this platform. She aims to continue developing her craft, embracing freewriting, and is eager to share her stories and poetry, hoping to inspire others through her contributions to ILLUMINATION.

Opinions

Christine Graves expresses a sense of unworthiness and intimidation about writing for ILLUMINATION among highly creative individuals.
Despite her success and experience, she struggles with an inner critic that undermines her confidence in her writing abilities.
Graves values the freedom to write what she enjoys and is not just influenced by others' expectations.
She believes in the power of freewriting as a tool for clearing the mind and producing some of her best work.
Christine is proud of her fiction stories and rhyming poetry, which have been well-received even by those she feared would dismiss her as an amateur.
Her ultimate goal is to keep growing as a writer and to fulfill her dream of illuminating the world with her words.

Introducing Christine Graves

The writer I was, the writer I am, the writer I’m hoping to be

“Well, I got my wish. I’ve been added as a writer for ILLUMINATION. I’m thrilled. I’m elated. I’m over the moon happy. I’m intimidated. I’m not worthy. I’m not as smart as the rest of these wonderful writers. O…M…G… What have I done? What was I thinking? What makes me think I’m capable of writing on the same level as this highly-creative group of people? Okay, stop. Breathe. Think. Believe”.

That, my friends, was the first thing to go through my head when I got the notification that I’d been accepted as a writer for this publication. I was excited to be accepted, but my inner critic quickly swooped in and put the kibosh to that. And this has become the biggest issue in my writing career.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Christine Graves and I’ve been writing online since the late 90s. I’ve written in just about every genre possible, been a ghostwriter and copywriter, had a few things published in print and a lot of rejections. All this from a high school drop-out.

I’ve always seen myself as a storyteller. Growing up an only child, I had to invent my own playmates. I had an over-active imagination and plenty of free time on my hands. I was a country kid who’s only experience with city life was from 70s and 80s TV shows. But my imagination took me to places that the rest of the world could only dream of.

In the late 90s, I got my first computer. It was like stepping into another existence and I found that I could write all my stories out in half the time it took me to bang them out on my old 1950s manual typewriter. At the time, there wasn’t much, if any, market for online writing opportunities. There was no Google, no instant submissions and no online writing platforms. But it wouldn’t be long before that all changed.

In the early 2000s, I took a free online writing class. I spent the better part of 3 months honing my craft and working hard to figure out the whole online thing. The lady who ran the class was working on creating an e-zine for writers, The E-Writer’s Place, and asked me to come on board with her and write a weekly column. It was the beginning of something wonderful for me.

I eventually started my own site, The Prompt Writer. I offered writing prompts to other writers in 20 different categories. I had fiction prompts, non-fiction, poetry and anything else my little brain could conjure up. I had a bi-monthly newsletter along with it and even had paying sponsors wanting to place their ads on my site. I was hooked.

Over the next 11 years, I learned everything I could about writing online. I met some wonderful people and even started making some decent money from my writings. I was ghostwriting for several people who were all getting into a new thing called SEO Content. It was easy for me and people were lining up to have me write out short posts for them to add to their own sites. Then it all came crashing down.

In 2012, I had to walk away from the world of online writing for personal reasons. My life was about to go in a whole different direction and I had to go out and earn a real living to provide for those in my care. I tried several times to get back into the writing game but wasn’t able to catch up with all the new rules. Many of the sites I’d written for in the past were no longer online and I’d lost all my clients to new endeavors.

In May of 2018, I found this wonderful platform and started out slow. I had no following, had no idea what I was doing, and wasn’t sure I still had it in me. I almost backed out and quit altogether. Then I earned my first dollar. It was only a dollar, but it was mine and I’d earned it on my terms.

Over the past 2 years, I’ve gained a small following and made a lot of wonderful friends. I’m having fun writing again and enjoy writing the things I want to, instead of just what everyone else thinks I should. I’m a firm believer in freewriting and find that it clears my head and some of my best posts come from this process. I love writing fiction and have created several stories that I’m very proud to call mine. I also write poetry…rhyming poetry…and have found that people I thought would call me “amateur”, have embraced my words.

My goal is to continue to grow as a writer. I know that there is a lot more to learn and I hope to see my dream come true before I’m too old to enjoy it. I hope to Illuminate the world with my words and I’m thrilled to be a part of ILLUMINATION. Thank you for having me.