Journaling

Don't try to be different. Just be good. To be good is different enough. ~ Arthur Freed
***

Keeping a journal is a good way to keep your fingers active, your brain functioning and also it is a wellspring of ideas for writers. Sometimes as I’m writing in my journal I think, now there’s a good blog post, then I start writing my 500 words for the day for my blog and maybe even get a few more ideas as the journaling continues.

Remember that journaling isn’t for the public to read. It’s your private thoughts on paper. It’s the machinations of a day-to-day mom, writer, or worker but either way, your journaling is the secret you that nobody needs to read.

Maybe some of you write in your journal so that other people CAN read your thoughts on your day to day activities, but me, as a writer my journal holds my deepest thoughts and through my deepest thoughts come ideas for a story, usually a short story.

My safe haven is my journal. It is a place I go to, connect with my inner being, sometimes I’m even caught talking to God, and I don’t come out of the ‘zone’ until I feel it is a safe place to go.

I’m not one who likes to carry bitterness around with me; always the pleasant happy-go- lucky person, (and sometimes talkative!) that when it comes time when I feel that bitterness and resentment, confusion, or torment are surfacing in me, I, like a robot, automatically head to my journal, get it all out and find myself relieved of all the tension that was trying to build in the first place.

I’ve said this numerous times, and on many occasions have I relayed this information to you, my reader, writing is an emotional healer. You may be sitting there chuckling at the idea but I’m telling you, if you have a journal, release all the pent up feelings that you are harboring, you will find yourself with a leg to stand on, you will find a part of healing that guess what, you don’t have to pay some Psych doctor for.

Not that I have anything against psych doctors. They can be a great help to the not so sane of the world in need of their services. But for me, there are things that I’d tell my journal that I would never tell another living soul. I’d rather have someone pay ME for my insane thoughts than to give a doctor my thoughts and pay him for me to give him them? There’s something wrong with that idea to me.

I’m a writer, so all my insanities will fall onto the paper like fine drips of blood from a paper cut. My words will roll down the page and color the white sheet in crimson marked with pain and torment, but in the end the white LIGHT of the page will shine through and everyone will grasp the inner me that they thought was such crazy mundane triviality. And the reader will love the tale as if it has seeped into their veins.

It’s what writer’s do. Now Write Right!!! 

***

Your life may be the only Bible some people read. ~Author Unknown

Finally Friday

"You must write for yourself, above all. That is your only hope of creating something beautiful." ~Gustave Flaubert
***

It has been a long week. A good week, but unseemingly long to say the least. Adam finished up school on Tuesday, finally getting the year of being bullied behind him. He wrote a story for his English class, and was pretty successful in bringing home a complete story. It’s official, my kid can write! I’ve taught hime everything I know, except one thing you can’t teach, is writing. You’re either born with it or your work sounds forced. He is a natural! *happy momma*

He also won some ribbons for his art. I am pretty excited about that, so much so, I hung them all on his wall and surprised him when he came home on his last day, Tuesday. The teacher let him have them on Monday, but the one where he received Grand Prize was missing. I’m assuming someone liked it so much they wanted it for themselves, but the teacher still gave him the purple ribbon!

It has been cold and windy and yes, my heat was still churning on May 20th! I have to admit, weather wise, this has been one strange year. This week alone we received well over four inches of rain, throughout the week. An awesome downpour but I feel for the farmers whose fields look drenched solid.

As for writing, I’ve been focusing more on my writing and websites of writers. I can’t just stay in one place, as much as I love, adore, respect Writers Village University and F2K, there comes a time when one needs to expand their options. And this is one of those times in my life where I feel I’ve hit a roadblock, and need to see what is over the horizon of my journey.

I’m refocusing, prioritizing, and really just shaking up the normal routine of things, because you have to admit, eating oatmeal every single day for five or six years straight kind of becomes a boring and untastey ritual no matter what you add to it, thinking it will perk up. It doesn’t, it is still oatmeal.

I’m also realizing along the way, who my true friends are. It’s sad to see the ones whom I thought were, are not really ‘friends’ per se, and the ones whom I thought were just drifters are true friends. A strange world we live in. My advice on the writing trail: watch your back always. Protect your heart indefinitely. See through the hypocrisy and be yourself. Don’t try to be someone else, so that people will like you, because most of the time, people will see right through you.

Remember to watch your words carefully. Your words can cut wounds into the heart of someone, just as theirs can be like a knife, slicing down the skin and all the innards within falling on the floor.

Well folks...it has arrived. It is Finally Friday!!!

F2K Begins

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you're doomed. ~Ray Bradbury
***

The exodus has begun. People flocking to the Social Scene, f2kers all lined up outside waiting for the classrooms to open so they can make their way in to begin the writing journey of a life time.

F2K is the free writing course that I’ve mentioned over and over throughout the years. Monday was the last day to register, so if you’ve missed registration, I’ll have to see you next time around. And since the course happens four times a year, the likelihood that I’ll get to read you and your writing is pretty good.

F2k Stands for Fiction 2000. It is a free course offered by R.J. Hembree and is a child of Writer’s Village University. Some are afraid to sign up because they think there is a hidden fee? There is no hidden fee. Free means just that, FREE! I had quite a few people from here (my blog), and Face book friends take the course, and they loved it.

Can you imagine a writing course making a writer out of you? I’ve seen people who have never written a thing in their life take the course, and come back time and time again because of what they learned the first time around. They were never writers before but they loved the course so much, that they came back to learn and seek out that writer hiding within.

The lessons never change so if you take it once, you’ll get to see the same lessons the second time around, but they are so flexible, you can have numerous characters and plenty of story options to work with, with each session. Don’t be afraid of opening a vein to a new character, or peeling back layers of yourself and finding that you’ve always wanted to be a writer. And most of all, never tremble at the sight of writers who’ve been here before you, plunging into the course right along with you.

Sometimes it can seem intimidating working with long time writers, but soon you find out, that we are learning and growing with you. We don’t know everything and there is always a portal of knowledge that we need to climb through to make us better writers.

You can join the F2K Social scene, free, but you won’t have access to the classrooms if you didn’t register. But you can hang out and learn, what with all the discussions on the board, blog entries, fun and camaraderie, you’ll be glad you did.

Blog-o-sphere

Job 17:12 They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.

***

Blog Catalog

What happened to the friendly, easy to maneuver place where links were at the click of a mouse. Blogs were found easily and you could SHOUT OUT to a blog you liked and visited with an effortless flow. It was bright, congenial, new friends were made, blogs of importance were easily noted, and I visited often, to see what was new in the blogosphere.

Well one day I clicked and could have sworn I hit the wrong button. I thought I hit some kind of stock photography site, with all the pics and chosen links.  The also have an, ‘expose yourself’ option where you can, here’s the catch, PAY to have your blog front and center. Isn’t that sweet? You can pay to have your blog front and center! Before the upgrade, the expose your blog annoyingly appeared in your shout box whether you liked it or not. I couldn’t tell you where it is now.

A nice little box at the bottom, of all the PLUS members, showing just who paid to upgrade, and next to that is a list of links of POPULAR  BLOG CAT, I can’t read the rest because I have a big black stripe down the entire right side of the page, on both firefox AND my Internet Explorer.

So while I’m enjoying discovering new things about Blog Catalog, and see this catalog of blogs advancing into the future, I’m not tech savvy to where I can understand why half of my screen is obliterated from being seen.

On the list of topics, I see Arts, Entertainment and such, along with WRITING, and when clicked, my blog is fifth from the top! Woohoo! Now I’m LOVING blog catalog because many of my followers have found me through them, and commented and went on to join the Free Writing Course (f2k) that Writer's Village University has in session right now as I write this.

Am I giving Blog Catalog a bad review? By no means at all. They have taken the needs of the blog writers, given them a display case, and allowed them to shine and stand on their own merit. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that. I just want the black strip down the right side of my page gone so I can leave friends a comment, shout out to them, let them know I’m reading and enjoying their work.

I told one of my students the other day, after we at the F2K have been upgraded to a new site, “It’s all about clicking in this cyber world.” And I’m finding with Blog Catalog, the more I click, the more I learn. I might not be a tech savvy woman, but I certainly am a click happy one.

Happy Writing...and Happy Blogging!

What happened to the friendly, easy to maneuver place where links were at the click of a mouse. Blogs were found easily and you could SHOUT OUT to a blog you liked and visited with an effortless flow. It was bright, congenial, new friends were made, blogs of importance were easily noted, and I visited often, to see what was new in the blogosphere.

Well one day I clicked and could have sworn I hit the wrong button. I thought I hit some kind of stock photography site, with all the pics and chosen links.  The also have an, ‘expose yourself’ option where you can, here’s the catch, PAY to have your blog front and center. Isn’t that sweet? You can pay to have your blog front and center! Before the upgrade, the expose your blog annoyingly appeared in your shout box whether you liked it or not. I couldn’t tell you where it is now.

A nice little box at the bottom, of all the PLUS members, showing just who paid to upgrade, and next to that is a list of links of POPULAR  BLOG CAT, I can’t read the rest because I have a big black stripe down the entire right side of the page, on both firefox AND my Internet Explorer.

So while I’m enjoying discovering new things about Blog Catalog, and see this catalog of blogs advancing into the future, I’m not tech savvy to where I can understand why half of my screen is obliterated from being seen.

On the list of topics, I see Arts, Entertainment and such, along with WRITING, and when clicked, my blog is fifth from the top! Woohoo! Now I’m LOVING blog catalog because many of my followers have found me through them, and commented and went on to join the Free Writing Course (f2k) that Writers Village University has in session right now as I write this.

Am I giving Blog Catalog a bad review? By no means at all. They have taken the needs of the blog writers, given them a display case, and allowed them to shine and stand on their own merit. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that. I just want the black strip down the right side of my page gone so I can leave friends a comment, shout out to them, let them know I’m reading and enjoying their work.

I told one of my students the other day, after we at the F2K have been upgraded to a new site, “It’s all about clicking in this cyber world.” And I’m finding with Blog Catalog, the more I click, the more I learn. I might not be a tech savvy woman, but I certainly am a click happy one.

Happy Writing...and Happy Blogging!


Job 17:12 They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.
***
What happened to the friendly, easy to maneuver place where links were at the click of a mouse. Blogs were found easily and you could SHOUT OUT to a blog you liked and visited with an effortless flow. It was bright, congenial, new friends were made, blogs of importance were easily noted, and I visited often, to see what was new in the blogosphere.

Well one day I clicked and could have sworn I hit the wrong button. I thought I hit some kind of stock photography site, with all the pics and chosen links.  The also have an, ‘expose yourself’ option where you can, here’s the catch, PAY to have your blog front and center. Isn’t that sweet? You can pay to have your blog front and center! Before the upgrade, the expose your blog annoyingly appeared in your shout box whether you liked it or not. I couldn’t tell you where it is now.

A nice little box at the bottom, of all the PLUS members, showing just who paid to upgrade, and next to that is a list of links of POPULAR  BLOG CAT, I can’t read the rest because I have a big black stripe down the entire right side of the page, on both firefox AND my Internet Explorer.

So while I’m enjoying discovering new things about Blog Catalog, and see this catalog of blogs advancing into the future, I’m not tech savvy to where I can understand why half of my screen is obliterated from being seen.

On the list of topics, I see Arts, Entertainment and such, along with WRITING, and when clicked, my blog is fifth from the top! Woohoo! Now I’m LOVING blog catalog because many of my followers have found me through them, and commented and went on to join the Free Writing Course (f2k) that Writers Village University has in session right now as I write this.

Am I giving Blog Catalog a bad review? By no means at all. They have taken the needs of the blog writers, given them a display case, and allowed them to shine and stand on their own merit. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that. I just want the black strip down the right side of my page gone so I can leave friends a comment, shout out to them, let them know I’m reading and enjoying their work.

I told one of my students the other day, after we at the F2K have been upgraded to a new site, “It’s all about clicking in this cyber world.” And I’m finding with Blog Catalog, the more I click, the more I learn. I might not be a tech savvy woman, but I certainly am a click happy one.

Happy Writing...and Happy Blogging!

I LOVE my job!

Matt. 25:15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
***

“What? You got a job?”

“Well...”

“But that’s great, you got a job!”

The truth be told, my job is writing. Like it or not. My job is writing.

“Now that Adam is off at school you can go out and find something.”

“Find something? I’ve been working my tail off educating myself, volunteering, networking, getting my name out there, and you what? Want me to quit this job?”

“Does it pay?”

“It WILL!”

“But it’s not going to put food on your plate.”

“I’ll let the Lord worry about my food, shelter, life.”

How many times has a conversation like that been broached. So often I could hurl chunks! I mean, really!

Many many years ago (almost 25 to be exact) when I gave up drugs and alcohol (remember, I grew up in the city. There was no other life except the dark route) I took the initiative, embraced God and moved forward in my life. God had a job for me. Me? Little ol me? Yes!

He said, “Make a difference in people’s lives, change one person at a time. Take care of people, shower them with love, let them know that I AM.” Big job for a little lady. I was twenty-one at the time and people thought I was crazy. God didn’t talk to them, so what made me so special? I’ll tell you. I gave my LIFE for Him! Literally. The old me died and a new one was born.

I set out on a mission to help people in any way I could, often NEVER getting paid one red cent, and many times working in 104 degree heat for one dollar, because to a woman of 100, that was all she could pay. I did it all with grace and enjoyed my work for the Lord.

Then one day, after about 15 years had passed, when I didn’t think I was doing my job to the fullest, He said, “Use the talent I gave you. Change one person at a time.” Me? Here again, lil ol me is suppose to change people with my talent? Oh...I get it.

I dove into my talent. He provided the computer, free of charge, He provided my growth, my initiative and onto the world I went, with my writing talent, to change the world, one person at a time.

I’ve never felt like I was letting Him down. Onward and upward my mission for the Lord goes on, without skipping a beat. He provides the people needed, He helps me to shower them in a light they may have otherwise overlooked and He embraces me in full glory. Wow!

Now that Adam is in school, I feel pressured into getting a job. You know, to help pay the bills, to make ends meet, to let society know “I’m a worker!” Well guess what? I asked God again as satan is approaching me with flames of fire, “Should I get a job?”

His words, “You have a job. You work for ME!”

I don’t expect anyone to understand this concept. This is a hard part of FAITH that many cannot grasp. I put all of my faith in Him who provides every step of the journey, who puts food in my mouth and shelters me from raging storms. I have the faith that He will carry me and mine through the darkest of days. I will hold my head high and move on in a blaze of Glory.

I love my job.

Comparative Writing

Mark 15: 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.
***

I need to make writers aware of a trap that they are setting for themselves and need to be cautious before you get snared and wind up getting a foot cut off or something. Okay, maybe not that drastic but still, there are ramifications.

I have no specific person in mind here, I am thinking generally as a writer. Have you ever compared your work to anyone? All my life, I was compared to this one or that one. My sister always said, “Well Joni, this or Joni that.” I lived in the comparative world always being compared to something or someone.

I fought my way through the layers so that I would stand out on my own, and I think anyone who knows me, that is the one thing they will attest to, “Joni has a personality all her own, yup, the girl is unique!”

This is what I try to bring to my writing. I don’t want to be compared to someone else. I know I’ve covered this topic before, probably on individuality, but I’m here again to say, “Don’t compare your work, to someone else's!”

When I write, whether it is poetry, or a story. My words are my own. They carry their own weight and are as unique as a thumbprint, my thumbprint. My mother told me last night that my aunt had called and asked how I was doing, did my mother tell her? No, she said she didn’t say anything because my aunt was just being nosy and wants to know my business. I said, tell her, I have nothing to hide. “Well she just wants to know if you’re working,” (here’s the money thing again with my family) I said, “Did you tell her I’m a writer, writing my heart out every day? That life is a struggle but we get through with a smile and I fall asleep at night in peace knowing we’re in God’s hands?”

Ha ha ha! She didn’t want to hear that. She’d rather lie and say she knows nothing. (There I divulged ANOTHER truth, my mother likes to lie her way out of a paper bag. Am I ashamed? Not at all. She is who she is, I am who I am, and I thank God everyday that HE molded and shaped me and taught me right from wrong.

So here again, compared to my brothers I have nothing. Compare me to my sister I have a little, compare me to anyone and the trap is set for Joni to break. But guess what? When we compare our writing to another persons work, it is only us that is going to get hurt. Not the other writer. No one is perfect but we are all individual. We have our own unique voice that will carry echoes through the valleys and give our ancestors something they can hold onto.

Joni’s kid will say, “My mom was one of a kind.” To him, I’m a living legacy and that is all matters to me in life. It isn’t what I do or have, it is what thumbprint I leave behind.