At the Jemison Exxon at 65 exit 219. Come by and get a signed copy for just fifteen dollars. Save money on shipping and handling and get an autograph as well.
August 24, 2012
More on Procrastination...
For the past two days I have been off. During that time I wrote a reference letter for a friend. Send out a long over due email for a author spotlight in November. And send an e-mail update to someone I am writing an article on.
Some how I managed to stay off of facebook. However I did watch a bunch of movies that were truly awful. All the while I looked at my laptop and reminded myself I could be doing something positive- writing. But yet I didn't. I went and took a nap instead.
Before I went to napping I sat on my couch, surrounded by my writing team- a rotty and a golden retriever- who I scolded for not being busy writing by the way, and asked myself the million dollar question. Why are you not writing?
The answer was part fear- and part not knowing where to go.
Fear of what, you may ask? Fear that what I write won't be as good as what I imagine in my head. Once I started to write, on my last night off at midnight, was incredible and I hated myself for not jumping in sooner. I wasted two days, I could have been half the way through. But I got held up by fear of not being good enough, so instead I chose not to write. I think I may not ever get that feeling again after last night.
As for not knowing where to go- I have an outline for the next five or six chapters, but the story writes itself some times. I didn't feel like I would come up with anything worthy so I refused to believe I had a clear and defined path to start with. It is not where I ended up, but it was enough to get me going. I don't think I will make that mistake again either.
So, from now on the writer in me will have to come up with some new reasons not to do what I love to do so much. And one more reason to want a damn dragon!
Some how I managed to stay off of facebook. However I did watch a bunch of movies that were truly awful. All the while I looked at my laptop and reminded myself I could be doing something positive- writing. But yet I didn't. I went and took a nap instead.
Before I went to napping I sat on my couch, surrounded by my writing team- a rotty and a golden retriever- who I scolded for not being busy writing by the way, and asked myself the million dollar question. Why are you not writing?
The answer was part fear- and part not knowing where to go.
Fear of what, you may ask? Fear that what I write won't be as good as what I imagine in my head. Once I started to write, on my last night off at midnight, was incredible and I hated myself for not jumping in sooner. I wasted two days, I could have been half the way through. But I got held up by fear of not being good enough, so instead I chose not to write. I think I may not ever get that feeling again after last night.
As for not knowing where to go- I have an outline for the next five or six chapters, but the story writes itself some times. I didn't feel like I would come up with anything worthy so I refused to believe I had a clear and defined path to start with. It is not where I ended up, but it was enough to get me going. I don't think I will make that mistake again either.
So, from now on the writer in me will have to come up with some new reasons not to do what I love to do so much. And one more reason to want a damn dragon!
August 16, 2012
The Opposite of Writers Block
I have the opposite problem from Lorne Oliver. What keeps me from writing isn't usually writers block. For me it is Procrastination. The first thing that keeps me from writing is facebook. This social media program is like a drug to me. Before I do anything I want to log on and see what everyone is up to today. Then I jump over to other peoples pages or to my groups and I find four or five hours have passed. So you would think I would be done here. No! Instead I have to rush back to my page to see what everyone is up to since I was there last. Night falls, my day off is over and I have accomplished nothing.
Twitter has not quite taken over my life yet, but I think that is because I don't send a tweet every time I move or breath. I send a tweet when I have something to share. Yes, defeats the purpose of tweeting, I know. That is what facebook is for. I know. Trust me you don't want me to learn how to tweet and speak tweetspeak because your phone will be blown up with tweets in no time. Lets just leave it at that.
Then there is netflix. Need I say more? Anyone who knows me knows that I am a movie hound. On my gravestone I want the words "And now for a Feature Presentation. Only old folks will know what that means. It dates back to pre-DVD and Blu-Ray. It was when the movie theater and the video tape showed you previews of movies yet to come out. Then as they lead into the movie you got that message. It makes me happy!
One has to wonder with such a desire to write and a story in my head why I am not writing? It is not a block. I know exactly what I want to say. Yet I seem to avoid it like the plague. I allow constant distractions to get in my way.
I even posted that pic of Ironman and his friends on my screen telling me I should be writing. Instead I just stare at them. How cute they all are pointing their fingers at me. Ahh....
Oh, enough of that. I was writing something. Right.
See what I mean?
Twitter has not quite taken over my life yet, but I think that is because I don't send a tweet every time I move or breath. I send a tweet when I have something to share. Yes, defeats the purpose of tweeting, I know. That is what facebook is for. I know. Trust me you don't want me to learn how to tweet and speak tweetspeak because your phone will be blown up with tweets in no time. Lets just leave it at that.
Then there is netflix. Need I say more? Anyone who knows me knows that I am a movie hound. On my gravestone I want the words "And now for a Feature Presentation. Only old folks will know what that means. It dates back to pre-DVD and Blu-Ray. It was when the movie theater and the video tape showed you previews of movies yet to come out. Then as they lead into the movie you got that message. It makes me happy!
One has to wonder with such a desire to write and a story in my head why I am not writing? It is not a block. I know exactly what I want to say. Yet I seem to avoid it like the plague. I allow constant distractions to get in my way.
I even posted that pic of Ironman and his friends on my screen telling me I should be writing. Instead I just stare at them. How cute they all are pointing their fingers at me. Ahh....
Oh, enough of that. I was writing something. Right.
See what I mean?
August 2, 2012
Lie vs. Lay and other pesky words
You lay something down, but you lie down. That is easy enough. But then you get into laid down and lain down and I start to get lost. In my search to be a better writer I have encountered a few sites thanks to createspace blogger that I think might help.
First off is the createspace blogger page which probably requires a password, but I am not sure so I will include it.
Then they recommend the following:
http://www.confusingwords.com/index.php
This is a word search for confusing words. Type in the word and there is your answer.
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/
The list of information here is boundless! Check it out. Subscribe. Enjoy!
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
Oh the grammar girls! What can I say? They make correcting english fun!
And let me throw in this little gem found at Galley Cat:
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/spot-cliches-spot-overused-words-with-free-writing-program_b53352
This is a cliche program and more. It points out cliches in your own writing and over used words. Ever wonder how those reviewers are able to point out how many times you used a specific word? This is one way.
Please, please feel free to add more in comment section that have not been mentioned here.
First off is the createspace blogger page which probably requires a password, but I am not sure so I will include it.
Then they recommend the following:
http://www.confusingwords.com/index.php
This is a word search for confusing words. Type in the word and there is your answer.
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/
The list of information here is boundless! Check it out. Subscribe. Enjoy!
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
Oh the grammar girls! What can I say? They make correcting english fun!
And let me throw in this little gem found at Galley Cat:
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/spot-cliches-spot-overused-words-with-free-writing-program_b53352
This is a cliche program and more. It points out cliches in your own writing and over used words. Ever wonder how those reviewers are able to point out how many times you used a specific word? This is one way.
Please, please feel free to add more in comment section that have not been mentioned here.
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