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Welcome to Who’s on Fourth where one member of the yeah write community will interview another yeah writer, and the interview will publish the fourth Monday of each month. Fifth in the series features Arden R of Arden Ruth Writes interviewing Karen of Fat Girl in Boxing Gloves

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yeah write on yeah write: Arden interviews Karen

Karen from Fat Girl in Boxing Gloves first came upon yeah write in April of 2013. She was on the hunt for particular stories, those about people who had overcome major obstacles. Karen found the blog of a woman who lost her legs in an automobile accident. As she scrolled down to the end of the post, she saw a small badge with the words ‘yeah write.’ Curiosity got the best of Karen and she clicked away, only to stumble upon a virtual community for writers who blog and bloggers who write. She poked around, read a few more of the posts for that week, and a thought suddenly popped into her mind:

I’m kind of a blogger, and I’m kind of a writer – maybe I’ll submit something and see what happens.

After that first submission, the rest was history. For Karen, being a part of yeah write has been a transformative process. Her love affair with writing didn’t start in 2013. When she was in second grade, Karen told her parents that she was going to be a writer when she grew up. Growing up in a working class family of hardcore realists, one can imagine this didn’t go over too well. Embracing creativity wasn’t a part of Karen’s upbringing. As she grew up, she knew she still wanted to write but she never acted on the desire until she was in her mid-forties.

In spite of this, she did keep many journals for the past 30 years, but they were meant to be read by Karen, and only Karen. She started her blog, Fat Girl in Boxing Gloves, in April of 2012, and that became the first time that she put her words out there for the entire world to see. Unfortunately, since writing wasn’t a skill that was valued in Karen’s family, her confidence was certainly lacking.

The writers I know appear to be so confident – sure and proud of their skill. They seem to freely share their thoughts. They appear to long for people to read their words.  I’m kind of reluctant, and a little bit embarrassed of what I silently refer to as ‘the writing thing.’ Sometimes I feel like calling myself a ‘writer’ out loud, is akin to announcing that I have a communicable disease. “Don’t come too close, I have mind herpes and dream scabies. I’m not able to have a ‘real’ job right now, because of (puts head down and whispers): The writing thing…”

Once Karen stumbled upon yeah write, however, that all began to change. Karen found confidence through the writers and editors. Their words were supportive and encouraging and the more Karen shared her work with them, the more confidence she gained, and the more her writing improved. Not only that, but Karen has also made quite a few friends by being a part of yeah write. It’s easy to see why she comes back week after week.

In particular, Karen is a huge fan of the newest craze at yeah write, the Gargleblaster:

I have to say, I LOVE the gargleblaster! It’s really fun to try and tell a story, or write a poem, using only 42 words.

Karen has had a lot of success on the yeah write grids and she is always supportive of the other participants. As always, I wanted to know what advice she would give to any yeah write virgins out there who might be a little tentative at linking up to the grids:

First and foremost, KEEP WRITING! Don’t be discouraged if you get a ‘love letter,’ or if your submission doesn’t end up in the top row. Just keep plugging along. Don’t compare yourself to other bloggers. Try to find your voice, and stay true to it. Embrace your uniqueness. Explore all of the grids. Try a little Moonshine, write a poem for the Speakeasy. Challenge yourself to do something that’s outside of your comfort zone. But most of all, have fun.

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