That Time Of Year...

Job 17:11 “My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.”

That Time of Year

Well, my friends, it’s that time of year once again. You probably think I’m referring to the merry and joyful time of year with the lighting of the Christmas trees, the sounds of Christmas carols ringing through the air, the aroma of pine scent wafting through the house, children anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus with a little countdown calendar to Christmas hanging on the fridge. If you think that is what I’m referring to, you’d be wrong. 

This is the time of reflection for me, that leads to my New Year in April (Easter is my New Year, for those who don’t know me). Reflection is sometimes one of the hardest things one must do because being faced with truth, direction, and discernment; one is pulled in many directions of an emotional roller-coaster ride.

For nine years I’ve been writing this blog and statistics show more than five of those years two hundred and some odd days a year were spent writing and bringing a Light to your world. You may or may not see it that way but as you scan over the years of posts, you will be hard pressed to find anything negative that I’ve brought to your world.

1 Cor. 14:1 “Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.”

[12] “Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.”

I take my faith, God and my gift of writing very serious as many of you know. I’m not judging you and saying you don’t take your God given gift(s) serious, on this blog I am defining me at ALL times and if you see YOU in my words, well then Praise Be, I’ve done my job!

Heb. 2:4 “God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?”

I know some of you don’t see writing and not getting paid as a ‘real’ job, but let me tell you, it is the most richly rewarding ‘job’ of my life, and personally I don’t see it as a job unless you understand that all I do, I do for Him! This is why when I make a decision on something, I take it to Him and see what HE has to say about my decisions. It sounds crazy, I know, but it is my way of life and the way I’ve been since I can remember.

Last year the three deaths in my family hit me pretty hard, and a recent death of my too young to die, cousin. I know, all deaths take a certain toll on each individual but they hit me like I had not expected, scarring my heart and allowing a mountain of emotions and flashbacks to remain unmoved; an aunt, an uncle and my father all taken away from this earth. People say, “They’re angels in heaven now,” but you don’t know that for a fact and not even I can be certain that is where their souls drifted off to, thus leading me to a reflective and contemplative year, this one, 2016. (Please, this is not a debate on heaven and hell or a weakening or strengthening of faith, it is ME seeing to it that this mountain is MOVED! With God’s help of course.)

Hence my decision to shut this blog down, I did not just pull this decision out of my hat, I have been contemplating since the New Year began but the political infestation of negativity kept me writing to bring you LIGHT in an extremely darkened world. I’m sure you all know everyone was a victim of this political disastrous negative year. I watched as what I deemed pillars of strength in the ‘Christian’ community crumble and buckle to the negative impact of the role politics played in their lives. They were hurtful, hate-filled, anger driven, they stood on a higher than though pedestal, sweeping their voice around the social platform waving words as truth but realizing as they scraped themselves off the floor by years end, they were just victims of satan’s very cunning lure.

I don’t know if the people held any shame in their actions but I myself stood strong in the face of satan and spit in his face and walked with my Lord. There are repercussions with taking that stance just so you know. I AM NOT being judgmental here, lest I am judging myself, but the past two years have really given rise to ME and where I need to go. While my gifts of the Lord will continue to grow and soar, it might mean that writing for YOU may not be in the cards for the coming year, I don’t know yet.

Pss. 100:3 “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

My Spiritual Family, I do not label you as left or right, nor does God; you have stood firmly behind me on my journey all of these years, some new to my world, some who have been here for the long haul, you know who you are, and God has BLESSED me with each and every one of you! I don’t take our friendship lightly and I take into consideration your sage advice always.

I have another health crisis biting me in the face and this coming year will be a challenging one as I face it with faith but I’ll need your prayer always as I endure, it’s what keeps me going. Will I blog in the New Year? Will I close this down? I go with God and what HE tells me to do because He knows that I have utilized my gift and done everything for Him. I will never change that and I don’t care how much satan’s minions attack me, my God is greater than him and THIS I am CERTAIN of!

While this isn’t the merriest of Christmas’, I must say first, God is still making His presence known in my life whether it is the lost packages we ordered being FOUND, one on my neighbor's back lawn where I would have NEVER looked but my stray dog Riley led me to it via her dragging off her water bowl and me searching for it and finding the Lost Box! All the way to the parcel my mother sent arriving on my doorstep as we watched A Christmas Carol, and right as the ghost of Christmas past surfaced so did Riley’s wagging tail hitting the door alerting me to the gift on my front steps at 7:00 in the evening. Many memories of the past were in that box! I thank God He sent me Riley, a stray dog who has a heart of gold. 

God is Good, God is ever present and life in the coming year will be welcomed. I thank you all for being a part of God’s plan for my journey and may all of our New Year be blessed! 

Pss. 95:7 “For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,”

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good life! 

Deut. 4:32 “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?”

No Doubt

"Squelch the doubt with a challenge, you'll be surprised how high you climb." ~Joni

I sometimes come off as harsh, and if yesterdays post offended anyone, please accept my apologies. Anyone that knows me, knows I’m honest, to a fault. I tell it like it is and I tell the truth. It may not be YOUR truth but it is all I know to be TRUTH. And yes, the truth hurts some of the time.


A lot of times as I’m writing I have no specific person in mind, but often I’m told, “That spoke to ME!” I’m glad that in my writing, you can see yourself there. Honestly, this is more about me, finding my place, but if it speaks to you, well then, all the better.

We as writers live in self-doubt. We always doubt our work, our sincerity, our façade. What? You don’t have a façade? Come on now, be honest with yourself and you’ll feel better. A façade is like a mask. You wake in the morning, slide your foot into your slippers and shuffle off to make coffee, making plans in your head of what needs to be done for the day.

You put your face on as you listen to the computer hum to life. “I’m feeling good about this today.” You say to yourself, “I’m going to write.” Then it happens, the façade slips over your face, you head somewhere you have no intention of writing and spend your day, wallowing in self-absorption for hours on end and then wonder, “Hey, where did the time go?”

No writing was accomplished and that was truly your intention when you slid in the chair in the morning, but by now it is afternoon, and you have so much more of life to take care of, like washing clothes, cleaning, the mundane chores. Then when it is time to slide into bed, there it hits you, the self- doubt. “This just isn’t for me” you say, “I’m no good.” Blah blah blah.

To get over this hurdle of self- doubt, you need to prioritize your time! Sometimes we have every intention of coming in and writing but we’re sidetracked, not because we found something more interesting but because we’re really trying to subdue our intent. We intend to write, but we’re not forced to do it, so we don’t.

Make writing a priority. To do this, open word document instead of the Internet. I, a lot of the time, get lost in my email and reading today’s Top Stories, then I need to share what I’ve read and then it’s gone, the precious moments of the morning in which I choose to write.

Note to self:

1. Prioritize – If you are really serious about being a writer, you must make it a precedent and force yourself to ignore emails, facebook, Top News.

2. Mantra – Adopt a mantra that you’ll repeat over and over again. “I’m going to write!” or “I can do it, I know I can.”

3. Set goals – This is important too as you don’t want to start off like the Hare in the Turtle and the Hare race. We all know what happens there don’t we? “I’ll start off with 500 words a day, and raise it when I’m comfortable.”

4. DON’T GET DISCOURAGED – This is easier said than done. Sometimes we see we’re not getting anywhere, so we give up. If you hit this block in the road, it is important to find an avenue you’re comfortable with. Find a site that offers prompts, copy many of them down, and get off the internet to WRITE!

5. Turn off the voices – You know we all have them, that’s where self-doubt rings in our ears. If they become too insistent, play music. It sometimes distracts you from the voices, puts you in a zone to write.

6. Determination – Be determined in your writing. Determined to accomplish a great feat. Determined to alter the negative voices into positive inspiration that will feed you on your journey.

Now get writing. Stare at the blank page as if it were a conquerable mountain that you dare to climb. Dare yourself to go there and write as if it is a challenge that you’re going to tackle head on. Our voices don’t like challenges, because that is where self-doubt is born.

I can’t encourage you every single day to write your heart out. I can’t hold your hand and walk you through this but I can offer you a positive, uplifting voice, that you’ll never hear, only read. It is now up to you to go forward with NO DOUBT.

Quotation Saturday

GOALS

Goals are dreams with deadlines.
~Diana Scharf Hunt
 
The road leading to a goal does not separate you from the destination; it is essentially a part of it.
~Charles DeLint
 
The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.
~Thomas Henry
 
I don't care how much power, brilliance or energy you have, if you don't harness it and focus it on a specific target, and hold it there you're never going to accomplish as much as your ability warrants.
~Zig Ziglar

ATTITUDE

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
~Herm Albright,
 
Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.
~Anthony J. D'Angelo
 
Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left.
~Hubert Humphrey

I've decided that the stuff falling through the cracks is confetti and I'm having a party!
~Betsy Cañas Garmon

GRATITUDE

As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world.
~Terri Guillemets

You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.
~G.K. Chesterton
 
The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!
~Henry Ward Beecher
 
Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live.
~Attributed to Jacqueline Winspear

Goals for the New Year

"So often we dwell on the things that seem impossible rather than on the things that are possible."
Marian Wright Edelman

As the new year begins, this is the perfect time for setting your goals; whether it is for the week, the month or the coming year! As writers, we need to have goals in order to accomplish them. A lot of writers make plans by spelling out their goals; they make a list, either on white board or in a document, so they can visually SEE the goals and once they’re achieved it gets marked off.

Say for example:
January’s Goals
write story
revise story
edit story
find market
query
send

Or maybe the goals are simpler in that it’s a time line for your novel. You’ll need to follow each character created so the consistency remains solid throughout the novel. Or maybe executing goals was your problem in 2011? Whatever it was for you, goals were made to be broken. It seems like thousands, no, millions of people make resolutions when the year ends and the very next day, they break them like an egg into a frying pan. There goes your goals, all fried to bits.

You need to set realistic goals, ones that are possible to accomplish and carry out. How many people say, “I’m going to start going to Church! Every week in the new year!” or “I’m going to quit smoking!” or my favorite resolution across the country, is, “I’m going to lose weight.”

You’re setting yourself up to fail. I’m setting myself goals that I aspire to keep. But when you’re addicted to things it is not easy to just say, goodbye addiction. Some people are in the throes of social addiction. They NEED the sites, so they feel a part of something solid and whole, even though it is a virtual, temporary, blissful world. Maybe it is what completes them as a human being, maybe it fulfills the empty aches in their heart? I don’t know, but I realized that while the internet is a voice-box to the world, I also realize it can suck the oxygen right out of your lungs! Some know where to draw the line, some can’t draw the line, and some have no desire to draw the line. I’ve decided to draw the line and work on my writing, not the social ins, outs, gizmos, apps and gadgets. A danger to computers and lives, everywhere!

Networking is an entirely different use of the net, that as a writer, is necessary. But is it all about pics and ‘like’ing? Networking is connecting, it is not a social popularity contest. Suffering from low self esteem is an entirely different blog!

As we enter into a new year, goals are all a part of feeling as if you have something to reach for in the year, and maybe accomplish them too. And when next year ends you can look back and say, “I set goals, AND I followed through!”

My goals for the new year:

1. Use facebook to network with other writing sites/writers.
2. Focus on MY writing!!!
3. Focus on my health and not being a Socialite
4. Remain focused on my Lord and Savior.
5. Be strong, endure the pain, chin up and move on!

Basically I’ve set pretty achievable goals for myself, so I don’t set myself up for failure. The tie that binds my goals? FOCUS!!!

authors note: Please keep in mind the views on this blog are entirely mine and not targeted at anyone. I’m entitled to an opinion too, I’m a writer! 

addendum: My Lord and Savior has and always will be first on any list in my life, it's a given. 
 
 Happy New Year! 

Focus: Part II

The road leading to a goal does not separate you from the destination; it is essentially a part of it. ~Charles DeLint
***

I think I missed the five tips to get you focused so that you can do away with the networking of the facebook frenzy for a moment. I’ve come down pretty hard on facebook this week and it is only because I allowed it to absorb so much of my time and needed to be slapped upside the head by some things that kind of put everything into perspective for me.

Let me just say this, I am highly insulted when someone says I  basically: Don’t love my country/child/mother/brother/sister, dead or alive, that I was raised basically by the Hickmeisters of society all because I won’t repost something on my wall? I am not a conformist of this world who has a need to repost my love for my country/child/mother/ father/sister/ brother. I’m finding, my mother actually DID raise me right! :) *holds door for you*  “Now PLEASE leave. Thank you.”

By falling prey to the facebook fiasco you lose focus on things that really matter. Do you really need to know or let others know how you were raised? I have a blog for that. :)

Stay Focused

1. Many of you have jobs/children that keep you occupied; so busy you rarely find a moments time to write. Make it a point to focus on you somewhere in the day, if you don’t, you will lose yourself. Write! Junior napping? WRITE! Dad home/fed/bathed? Hand off junior to HIM and take a moment for you!!

2. Don’t lose sight of the goal at hand. Think about what it is you want to accomplish. Maybe it IS your farm at farmville, maybe you want to take a walk. Make a goal, and stick to it.

3. If writing is your goal, and you’re pretty serious about it, make an effort to sit down and write in the quiet moments you have alone. Calgon will not take you away to the bathing fantasy of your dreams. Someone HAD to purchase the stuff, right?. Make it a goal to ‘buy’ yourself some time to write!

4. Once the distractions (facebook, coffee, playing,) are out of the way, sit yourself down to WRITE! Why not write out the goals you have in mind for the day? I can bet on the list wouldn’t be ‘One-hundred things to do on facebook, then write.’

5. Focus! This is not the time to be discouraged or lured away by all the shiny objects dancing around in your face, or all the peeps on facebook that you know as acquaintances (excluding your network of friends, mind you) FOCUS on your goal! Grab what you want and go with it. Become your dream and soon...all the flashy elements will become diamonds in the sky!

FOCUS

One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it. ~Sidney Howard
***

I’ve set in motion a plan that I have for my life but somewhere along the line I got sidetracked by all the cute rides at the carnival. The roller coasters, the Carousel, the games and stuffed animals, what happened? This isn’t the picture I had in mind for myself.

I had a picture of a professional writer. One who becomes published with a real hard cover book sitting on the shelves at Barnes and Noble and maybe a few articles submitted, and Short Stories published, and most definitely a few books of poetry out there. All sidetracked by play time?

Not any more. A rude awakening! I’ve been God Slapped! I’m tired of being discouraged to the point of depression. I’m tired of putting my goals and dreams aside for a few moments of howdy do’s, a few games of yo/farm/hippie ville and a wave and a few hugs. Is this all worth it, for real? Is my sanity worth it?

I don’t think so. I have an email, I have a blog, if people really cared to see me or wave to me or give me a word of encouragement, I am a part of an online writing site, you can all wave and flutter by there can’t you? Or here?

I am normally a fun-loving free-spirited person but here lately things of the smallest caliber have crawled under my skin and turned to worms in my stomach making me want to vomit, and it can all be very discouraging.

When I see people make fun of God, and spew vulgarity, while others wink wink and say “Oh you’re going to hell.” Am I supposed to just sit like a carved statue on the side and listen but not react? Well, I  have chosen to focus on me and my writing. Through my writing I may rant and rave and get a whole lot of ugliness off of my chest that I’ve carried around a lifetime.

Let them laugh, mock, pretend; let them wallow in hypocrisy and drown in their own sorrows because me, I’m focusing on me as I change and grow to be the woman that God himself carved me out to be. I just hope that some people know that the way to encourage someone is to support them. That simple.

As my family, who is all back East and I in the Midwest, survived an Earthquake that by Maryland/DC/Va standards was big. As I watch people laugh and mock, natural disasters, I will celebrate the tenth Anniversary of September 11 attack with a candle and some prayer. Not on facebook, where it will be turned into a hatefest, racial slurs, religious taunts and all the ugly you can imagine. It is time for me, to become me, and time for you, to become you. What an enlightening week.

Now is the time to focus not just inward...but upward. As I grow and change, as the world shifts...will I stand alone? Only time will tell.

Quotation Saturday

GOALS

The important thing is to strive towards a goal which is not immediately visible. That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit. 

~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
 

One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it. ~Sidney Howard

Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. 

~Doug Larson

The road leading to a goal does not separate you from the destination; it is essentially a part of it. 

~Charles DeLint


GIFTS

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. ~Kahlil Gibran
 

But it is a cold, lifeless business when you go to the shops to buy something, which does not represent your life and talent, but a goldsmith's. 

~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Gifts,"
 

If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give. 

~George MacDonald
 

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. 

~Pierre Corneille

GRATITUDE
 

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" ~William A. Ward

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. ~H.U. Westermayer

There is no such thing as gratitude unexpressed. If it is unexpressed, it is plain, old-fashioned ingratitude. 

~Robert Brault
 

As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world. ~Terri Guillemets

GOD
 

Any fool can count the seeds in an apple. Only God can count all the apples in one seed. ~Robert H. Schuller
 

God understands our prayers even when we can't find the words to say them. 

~Author Unknown
 

If God had wanted to be a big secret, He would not have created babbling brooks and whispering pines. 

~Robert Brault
 

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell. 

~C.S. Lewis

Write Right~ Ten things to help

Many people ask, "What will kick start my writing?" Well here are TEN THINGS to get you started and help you on your way.

1. WRITE - this is an essential part of writing. If we don’t write then we bleed, terrible pain ensues and, well, you know what comes next.

2. NOTEBOOK - this is a part that many writers forget to have. I’m not meaning the computer notebook, I mean the old fashioned pen and paper. We all remember what that is right? WRITE! Have one in the rooms you occupy most, jot down story ideas, words that will trigger story ideas, poems, or write a story!  (no doodling please)

3. TIME - Set yourself a place and time for writing. We all say, “I don’t have time.” But really think about that. You don’t have even thirty minutes to spare for a dream, when you have eight hours for dreaming while you sleep?  ;)

4. WORDS - Words can trigger a whole line of thoughts. The thoughts can be strung into sentences and before we know it, we have a story. Know your words.

5. THESAURUS - You’d be surprised what a thesaurus can do for you. Instead of using the same word over and over to describe say, rain, use your thesaurus to conjure more creative ways to write about rain.

6. DICTIONARY - This is also a useful tool to find ideas AND get the right word. Use it so you sound like you know what you’re talking about.

7. WRITING GROUP - This one is the best tool ever. After you’ve written, you can show your group and they can tell you whether it is good, redundant, boring, or done too many times before. Your group is your lifeline into the reality of your writing. Treasure them!

8. Music - Sometimes when I sit down to write, I need silence but often times I need the strumming of a guitar or the sound of the sax. Whatever it is that puts YOU in the zone, use it to your benefit and begin writing!

9. GOALS - Everyday you need to write. Whether it is five hundred words or a thousand. You need to set a goal. “I will write five hundred words today!” Stick to your goal and your goals will get higher and higher each week!

10. CONFIDENCE - This one is a toughie. You need to have confidence in what you’re writing. Don’t keep going back to edit your work. You need to write and not stop. Save the editing for a completed work. Know in your heart you can do this and do it! Gain confidence through the prior suggestions.

After you get into the habit of utilizing these ten things, you will then see your writing get better, more frequent, nice and tight writing, growth, then with some luck, publishable work!!!

Now copy and print this out! Hang it above your computer so you are reminded EVERY DAY what you have to do, and STICK TO IT!!! Just give the author credit where credit is due. ;)

Thinking Thursday~ My 500th post!!!

Happy 500th Post!

***

Well I’ve been thinking. Oh no, there goes the neighborhood when Joni begins ‘thinking’. lol

Have you ever lost sight of progress? You know where you just go on, day in and day out, forgetting what you’re doing all of this writing for and blogging?

I get bored very easy and I have to strive to find new things to talk about since in my last 500 posts I have talked about everything from adverbs to adjectives, POV to characterization, from glory to shame, acceptance to rejection, everything there is to get you through your week, and me too.

Getting me through a week is a challenge on a daily basis because I’m not organized in the least. June will have my head! I’m not goal oriented and sometimes I lack persistence. What is that you say? I’m normal? Oh go on.

I should be tackling the keyboard like a madwoman but instead my garden speaks to me and I go running to it forgetting this here blogisphere. So if you don’t hear from me, you’ll know Joni has gotten lost in the garden of life and she is basking in the glorious sun that sweeps over her like a feathered breeze.

I need to be revising my novel. I read everyone else’s work, get lost in critiques, write about saving the world (okay that one I tossed in) but you know how it is? You get lost out here in the world and forget about what really matters.

Today marks my 500th post! Congratulations Joni! I know to some who have surpassed the 500 mark and are aiming at 1,000 or 5,000 for that matter, laugh at me and choke on their own saliva. But to me, 500 is a goal I striven for, for my fellow writers to gain something of true substance in my helping the writer along in the craft. Hopefully I’ve succeeded in giving you all a glimpse of the struggle writer’s go through whether in writing or in life. We persist, endure, strive, and conquer.

My post have been kept to the 500 word limit give or take a word here and there, so as not to bore you with redundancy. I see myself as achieving a goal here with my blog. I have blogged, enjoyed it, written and persevered with my fellow writer’s. Now lets head forward and move the bushes out of my eyes as I segue into a new journey.

I’ll keep you posted. *wink* Pun intended here!
Thank you my followers for all of your support and encouraging words along the way. You’ve been a blessing.

May many blessings rain down upon you and you feel the presence of the Lord’s fingertips! Godspeed one and all.

Pri No Wri Mo

John 9: 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
***

I did pri no a few years back and you know what, to get myself back on the constant of writing, I think I’ll do it again this year. (there’s a goal, June.)

What is PriNo? It’s Private Novel Writing Month which takes place in May. Like NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) we belt out 1500 words a day for a month. But in Mr. Bennings prino, any writing counts as a springboard, just as long as you are writing!

I need to get back on track and my friends June and Raven are always talking about setting goals for yourself. I got a little sidetracked last year when we moved and life was just all over the place for me, just ask Steven. It has still not returned to normal but at least I’ve had some focus lately, enough to get my blog done on a regular basis, mentoring f2k, keeping the forest alive in 911 (my group at WVU) and trying to keep up with the domestic stuff too.

Did you ever notice how life happens no matter what your goal is? If you make plans, they get broken. You set goals and they get sidetracked. You try so hard to keep some brevity and instead you get white-washed. I keep a positive outlook no matter what negative forces try knocking me down. They can pull out the bulldozers but guess what? I’m a Superwoman against those things and they can not and will not move me!

I think I have my story for prino in my head dancing around. Jayden is a girl who was looking for prince charming and realizes after many moons that she has only found the same thing she left behind, pain. Plenty of conflict will abound as Jayden and Prince Otto try to find a place of meeting of the minds but does Jayden know the secret of the power that brought her to this prince in the first place?

Can a protagonist be fear, mistrust, disillusionment? Does it really need to be a person, per se? Okay, I’ll put my spiritual spin on the story as usual and there will be many forces that battle it out for Jayden’s soul, and which one wins in the end, is anybody’s guess.

Maybe not exciting sounding as of yet, but remember, I’m just toying up there in my brain and something, I’m sure, will concrete itself and fixate on me in the process of building this tale. For now, it is a goal to work towards. I’ll get it together and noooo I won’t be sharing it with my blog friends because it’s a big secret as to what will happen to poor Jayden.

So there you have, prino! The force that will reckon with me to pull me back into the realm of imagination and character building. Maybe you all need to set some goals too, not just set them, stick to them!

Freaky Friday

Psalm 95:1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Goals goals goals!!!

One week has almost passed since my last posting. That shows you how well I am at setting goals and keeping them.

Sure I like to blog every day so that my fans can all get a good lesson of their writing needs. Whether it is inspiration, encouragement, skills or just passing by for some fun. This is what I like to offer my blog readers.

But this week I’ve been a little lazy in my writing endeavors. I’ve been running around cleaning, preparing for the holiday shuffle and doing all sorts of things that just keep on pulling me away from my writing!

My friend Raven always says you should set goals and from what I read, she actually does set goals and keeps them! She’s one busy gal AND she completed the NaNoWri Mo (National Novel Writing Month, for those NOT in the know.) The idea is to sit at that computer and write at least 1500 words a day and by the end of the month you’ll have a novel, ready for revision! That’s what I said, a novel!

This is what setting goals can do for you. I’ve been writing my blog for some time now and I’ve given you all a taste of the writer’s life. We need to learn, write, submit, write, grow, write, and basically every single day pen something worthwhile to read!

Sure we can post rants and raves on a daily basis like a good cup of morning coffee, it becomes regular, enough that we know our fans likes, dislikes, wants and needs. So you all want more of my life story don’t ya? Ha ha...Just kidding folks. I’m sure after this holiday hustle and bustle we’ll get back to a more regular ‘learn to write’ style.

But I thank you all for staying with me this long, bearing with me as I go and grow. What a life! This is all any of us can do in this world and that is go with the flow that life’s pace hands out and grow from the experience of it all.

I wish you all a wondrous and glorious holiday season no matter where you are in this world or where you are at in life!

Note: Look for my posting on the free writing course coming up January 6, 2010! I’ll be providing links to haul you all into class with me as I teach you the basics of writing! It is an awesome FREE course! Yes people FREE!!! More later. :-)

Godspeed friends!

Setting Goals

Setting Goals, the most important thing a writer can do (besides writing of course.)

If you’re like me, you sometimes place goals as second or third on your list. I can’t help it, I have a son to tend to first and foremost and making him set goals is as important as me setting goals.

Okay maybe I need to be more clear here. Setting WRITING goals is front and center in a Writer’s life. You need to be clear as to where you are going and what you want to accomplish.

If writing a story is your goal, then set out to make it the best story possible. Day one, you will free write. Allow the keyboard to take on a ghostlike feature and just type away until your fingers hurt. Remember turn the internal editor off first, then type.

Day two of your writing goal will be to peek in on what you wrote. (This is where we usually begin talking to the screen and saying, "EGADS, did I make THAT many mistakes?") You may go over your work and fix all the red squiggly lines. Try not to edit too much at this point.

Day three, peek in again at what you wrote. (This is where you might say, "Sheesh did I write that?") If that’s the case let it settle a little longer. But while it is settling, think of markets that you’d like to send it to. Get a clear vision of what you wrote in your mind and think markets!

Have you gotten a market in mind? Well now you need to revise the piece! Revise it three to five times, hopefully with a workshop (like the great ones in WVU) or a yahoo group, of course. And make the piece shine. If it is 1,000 words or less this will be easier. If it is a short story, then you’ll obviously need more time. If it is a novel, it is still a good idea to have a clear marketable place in mind.

Goals are important in life. It is like a highway that is placed in our journey. We ride with the flow of traffic but if we didn’t have an occasional red light or off-ramp, we would keep driving aimlessly into the blazing sun. The road will then take on the mirage of melting wax, and you may get lost along the way, swimming in a pool of the unknown.

In writing we need to know where we are headed. Setting goals is the perfect way to absorb the clear idea you have in mind. "Where do I want to go with my writing?" After you know where it is that you want to go, make plans to get there. Whenever you are headed out on a long journey, what is it you do first? PLAN the trip first, setting a direct goal and the finishing outcome in mind, then you leave, hopefully not forgetting anything or you’ll have to start all over again on the journey.

Is your goal to become published? Do what is necessary to get you from point A to point B. Point C is reaping the rewards of all your hard work. It’s the relaxing part where you sit back in the luxury of a deserted island drinking Mai Tai’s and basking in all the glory.

Okay, that’s a fantasy for Mr. King. For us realistic souls, we go back to the writing board and begin the journey all over again!

Happy Writing! ~ joni