Quotation Saturday ~ Strength - Courage

Rescued tiger, from neglect and abuse

Deut. 31:6 “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

STRENGTH

“If you were born with the weakness to fall you were born with the strength to rise” 
― Rupi Kaur

“Challenge and adversity are meant to help you know who you are. Storms hit your weakness, but unlock your true strength.” 
― Roy T. Bennett

“I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death” 
― Leonardo da Vinci

“My child, the troubles and temptations of your life are beginning, and may be many; but you can overcome and outlive them all if you learn to feel the strength and tenderness of your Heavenly Father as you do that of your earthly one. The more you love and trust Him, the nearer you will feel to Him, and the less you will depend on human power and wisdom. His love and care never tire or change, can never be taken from you, but may become the source of lifelong peace, happiness, and strength. Believe this heartily, and go to God with all your little cares, and hopes, and sins, and sorrows, as freely and confidingly as you come to your mother.” 
― Louisa May Alcott

PERSISTENCE

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.” 
― Maya Angelou

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” 
― Calvin Coolidge

“Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.” 
― Hal Borland

“The sky is not my limit...I am.” 
― T.F. Hodge

POWER

“Be not the slave of your own past - plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
rather it is "timing"
it waits on the right time to act,
for the right principles
and in the right way.” 
― Fulton J. Sheen

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” 
― Carl Sagan

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a
listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all
of which have the potential to turn a life around.” 
― Leo F. Buscaglia

CHALLENGE

“These are the times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised, and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant, wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman.” 
― Abigail Adams

“Life is about accepting the challenges along the way, choosing to keep moving forward, and savoring the journey.” 
― Roy T. Bennett

“That is the challenge Companion. To take what has happened to you and learn from it. Nothing is quite so destructive as pity, especially self-pity. No event in life is so terrible that one cannot rise above it.” 
― Robin Hobb

“The strong-minded rise to the challenge of their goals and dreams. The weak-minded become haters.” 
― Steve Maraboli

COURAGE

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” 
― Lao Tzu

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” 
― William Faulkner

“Don't be afraid of your fears. They're not there to scare you. They're there to let you know that something is worth it.” 
― C. JoyBell C. 

“Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing.” 
― August Wilson

Joni, The Rocky Champ

James 5:16 KJV “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Joni, The Rocky Champ!

I must admit, I feel a little guilty feeling so good. I saw my sister-in-law, yesterday on the 6th at my niece’s graduation and she said after looking me over with a broad smile on her face, “You look great!”

I responded with, “I feel great! You wouldn’t know I have this dreaded disease would you?” 

The place we were at was a pretty big place with thousands of stadium style seating. It had an elevator to accommodate people or an open-aired staircase which allowed people to ascend via the stairs. 

Fear gripped me when I saw all of those steps, but seeing the family and their faces, telling me they’ve been praying for me made me feel ‘flighty’. I felt as if I could accomplish anything. So when my husband asked if I wanted to take the elevator, I boldly stated, “NO, I’ll take the stairs.” 

My other niece, daughter of my s-i-l, my mother in law, an uncle and I and hubby all began the ascent. Step, step, step, step I went, keeping pace with the floods of people in front and behind me as well as my niece and s-i-l. My sister in law gazed over at me at me keeping up with her and said, “Go Joni!” A platform then twenty more steps I went! I heard my husband behind me saying, “Show off.” Jokingly of course because all were quite amazed that this little woman who used to walk every step on a flat surface in pain, cringed with every hug because of my back pain, dreaded going to the store because of my pain, was now the Rocky Balboa of Nebraska ascending the stairs like a champ! 

Yes, I did a little fist raise at the top of the stairs, through panting breath I exclaimed, “I DID IT!!!” I was more raising my hands thanking the Lord for the strength than I was thinking of Rocky. But yes forty-some stairs and I made it. (Keep in mind the steps it took to get through the parking lot, to the front door, to see the stairs.)

While I felt I had the strength of a thousand men behind me, I looked at the stadium style seating with exasperation and fumed, I cannot go DOWN all those steps. Uncle said, “Why because you just made it up all of those steps?” A little out of breath I stated, “That, and my fear of heights!” After a little chuckle we found seating at the top and found they were pretty comfortable heavily plastic seats, not the bleacher style seats that we faced at a previous graduation two years ago, where I had been in so much pain, I had to leave the event and wait in the car.

Not this time, this time I was a champ! And to think I was hesitant in even wanting to attend the event. But my niece was graduating. This little lady has spent eight years trying to get this diploma to be a nurse. The course was full if I remember correctly when she first signed up and she was put on a waiting list where she tried to wait patiently. In the meantime she took on three jobs to fund her schooling, working at nursing homes and other duties of the field to prepare her for this day. She found the most money-making job in delivering pizza’s believe it or not.

I was hesitant in attending mostly because I would have to face many family members that I haven’t seen since my diagnosis. I prayed of course for guidance and God always tells me, “We got this!” So again, I took His word and barreled on. I didn’t attend the after party where too much food would be that I couldn’t eat. But we came, I conquered, and I felt GREAT! I made sure each and every one of them knew it too!

The other reason I was hesitant was my bladder. A forty-five-minute drive? Could I make it after having two cups of coffee and some water? Guess what people, I made it!!! We sat through an hour of the diplomas being handed out before I made my way to the restroom to relieve my bladder before venturing on another forty-minute drive home!

I’ll have to admit, I’m pretty amazed myself! When God said He was healing all of me, He meant it! He’s not laying down on the job expecting me to do all of the work, nope we’re a team! I’ll climb those stairs as long as He fills me with strength! I’ll bask in the sun as long as my friends and family are behind me cheering me on, I’ll continue on this promising road as long as God allows His Light to shine through me! Yesterday I was living proof for all of those who needed to see, SEE!

All Glory and Praise to Him on High!

Praise be to God!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 KJV “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

AMEN!

Prioritizing

“The quieter you become the more you are able to hear.” Rumi

Yup, this here is another blog post from none other than, ME. Aren’t you all so lucky!

I have been taking measures to change my online presence and that means prioritizing my time on the web. As you’ve read since the beginning of this month, I’ve been writing blog posts and enjoying writing again in general. So what does that have to do with cutting out certain things on the web?

Well allow me to tell you. First of all, I’m in no popularity contest. The fevered race to be all for everyone while selling myself short. I am me, being a writer, first and foremost. As a child I was never popular or had many friends and maybe that is why I began writing because all my friends were in my head just waiting to be ‘fleshed out’ in the written word.

I joined facebook because it touted, ‘Get connected with your friends from school’. “Wow!” I thought, “I wonder how everyone is doing?” This is to show you how popular I am, not one friend from school has EVER looked me up! So, I decided to ‘friend request’ people from my writing classes. Heck, even most of them don’t want to be seen knowing me.

Most accepted my friend request, only to delete me further down the line. After my attack a few years ago, I HAD to delete a few, to keep my sanity! I know I know, I’m not that sane anyway, but what little I had/have, I want to keep! So the second goal on my agenda is prioritizing whom and who isn’t a true friend, and well look around, their all lining up, don’t ya see?

What was the first goal on my agenda, you might ask? My first goal was getting back to writing. I felt it was sleeping for quite awhile and recently has been awakened with a new passion. But with the passion, along comes obstacles that were around before the break and by prioritizing, I’m hoping to keep the block out of my way so I can accomplish all my goals I’ve set for myself.

Goal #1 – Get back to writing.

Goal #2 – KNOW who your TRUE friends are.

Goal # 3 – Cut the social network time OFF!

Goal # 4 – Prioritize the web usage. Not for fun and popularity contests, for WORK! Writing!

Goal # 5 – This is the biggy!!! Write and submit! Yes, I said submit!!!

It looks to me like I’m on a roll. I’m accomplishing my goals by setting priorities. You do know that by prioritizing that goals are easier to achieve, right? Take me for example, I’m accomplishing four of the goals already, in motion, and I’m improving because of it. Now to tackle number five, and I’m good to go!!!

Godspeed!

NOTE: No PIC? Because blogger is not allowing me to post pics at this time.  No one else is having a problem, but on TWO computers here at home? Nothing. So we’ll see if we can find the bug causing this. Not a tech savvy woman…so wish me luck!

Standing my Ground

I have always been the type of writer to stand my ground on my beliefs. Sure, I know for a lot of you it is hard, but for me it is more a moral stance. I will not jump outside my domain and watch or write something I think to be immoral.

Often I am shunned for being a ‘snob’ because I set my standards so high, these are standards that I choose to live by and don’t judge you as a person for not living by. This is MY moral compass and as a woman who isn’t getting any younger, I feel it necessary to stand my ground the closer I get to being PUT in the ground.

I watch as some claim a moral compass, some claim to be a Christian but their behavior and actions speak something totally opposite. Why is that? Sometimes I sit and watch, sometimes I try to comprehend, often times I’m scratching my head wondering why I am so different. Why do I see wrongs where there are wrongs and others see wrongs as right? Am I missing something? Are you going to tell me that God DOESN’T see you betraying Him? Or do you think He’ll just overlook the tiny things?

I started this writing blog with the right intentions but watched as it flopped. Slowly being here for no one to read and even less to comment. I didn’t write to get comments, but I did write to be read. What good is writing for yourself if no one is going to read you? I think that is why I lost interest in writing. As I wrote and posted (here or other places) no one was reading me. One person to LIKE everything I write does not encourage me to continue writing.

I went from 200+ posts a year to 60 if I’m lucky 80 by years end. This isn’t the successful journey I envisioned for myself. I persevered…persisted…plowed on and in many dark tunnels I crawled out to see the light, but when I got to the end of the dark and musty tunnel, no one was there.

Sure, I’ll hear, “God is there.” I know this! “God’s on your side.” I know this too. I have so encapsulated myself with God that it has scared people off leaving me alone (not totally because I KNOW God is there) in my writing journey. Sometimes I wished the computer and internet had never come into my life and that I would have stayed the type woman that I was molded into. I left that world for the virtual world and have to wonder if I took a wrong turn somewhere on the path. Granted, it was a path to meeting new friends but I wonder…

I know God has something planned for me and it’s not in the virtual social world of facebook or the extremely weird social format of Twits, I mean Twitter. It’s out here in the real world of beauty, nature and reality.

I WILL revive my writing blog perhaps come September. I WILL use my God-given talent of writing to further my goals. I WILL, I WILL, I WILL!  For now, I’ll await the season’s change so I can feel alive again. I’ll wait for the tapping of marbles rolling on the tin roof in the form of rain. The sound and the new season will revive in me what I’ve been waiting for to breathe the life of writing once again. 

I will stand my ground and firmly plant my feet in the Light of truth. My writing will soar as the eagles! I’ll do it with or without you, I have God, that’s all I need!

Commit to Writing

As we begin our writing journey, oftentimes we lose sight of our obligations and fall prey to the things that are important in our life. We find ourselves distracted and get carried away with everything else BUT writing. That is not a writer.

Writer’s need to learn commitment to the craft. So many times do I see writers, old and new, (admit it) lose interest in writing over and over again. Even I myself have lost interest a few times but when I commit to a course I see it through to the end, just to satisfy myself and no one else.

I recently signed up for a five-week course that I had wanted to take but fear of so many no-shows kept me away. This one showed promise as about six people all signed up for the course. Sure the first week people conversed, by the second week it had slowed and by the third week I was alone, losing interest myself from the inactivity.

Week four I went in and asked if everyone had bailed. I got a response a few days later. There you have it, I bailed on the course too. I see this all too often at the free seven-week writing course. People saying they have always wanted to write, can’t wait to get started, and soon afterwards, the site is left with a few determined hangers on.

So you want to be a writer, but you are not willing to commit to the craft? When you decide to become a writer, it is a relationship not much different from a committed relationship you’re in with a man/woman.

It takes dedication, commitment, sacrifice, and work, lots of hard work, if ever you expect the payoff in the end. This day and age people are so ready to just throw in the towel and give up. I think this generation has the highest divorce rate ever. Why? Because people think giving up is easier than hanging on and suffering a little to reap the rewards!

If you want to be a writer, fight for it! Commit to the craft, the lessons, the learning and the growth.

1. Walk the walk and talk the talk – When you say it out loud and to others that you want to be a writer, DO IT! Do everything in your power to BECOME a writer.
2. Stick it out – There will come times when you feel like bailing, but look at quitting as a non-option! There is no quitting. You either go full steam ahead or do nothing.
3. Commit – I know it is hard; I’ve been there! But commit to seeing it through.
4. Dedicate – Dedicate time out of your day to commit to the writing course you signed up for. If you’re going to be an absentee student, don’t sign up for the course.
5. Don’t give up – I know sickness happens but whatever you do, DON’T GIVE UP! People are depending on you, and YOU are counting on you to see this writing bug through!

This is the time to take the bull by the horns and stay in this relationship you’ve committed yourself to. This is not the time to give up and run away. This is the time to commit! Persistence pays off!

Writing: Talent or a Learned Skill?

And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

~William Shakespeare

Well this turned into an interesting discussion in a writer's forum.

Is writing learned or an inherent trait (talent)?


P. said: "I suggest the answer is "yes and no". I don't accept that the skill is innate. It is an art, and like any other form of expression, has to be learned. No one can be a good writer without learning the craft, but one can have the mechanical skills and still not be a good writer. But we have to try."

How many of you agree with this?

I personally don’t feel you can force yourself to learn how to write skillfully. Sure you can learn the skills, you can learn until your face turns blue, but to carefully and skillfully pull off a tale of art? Can you learn that?

R. said: “Writing is an art and, as such, it can be improved. Practice without talent won't work, however, since you have to have a minimum of culture and preparation to write something that makes sense.”

B. wrote: “You have to want to be creative and have a love for the writen word. That's the talent part. The learned part is pracitce, practice - write, write, write, read, read, read and always invite and accept constructive criticism.”

I like B.’s response. A talent innately, but it falls on wood and not paper if you don’t practice writing itself, read a lot of books, and be strong enough (criticism) to be told your work stinks! Just like a musician. He may have the talent to play an instrument, but if he never plays, will his talent heighten or lessen?

This response was almost comical in my eyes from M.: “It would be very difficult to determine, because an infant cannot contribute in words or writing, we must assume it is a learned ability, but by that I would shy away from a person's ability to gain that skill without being prone to do that. Because the experiences in a toddler's life are not related very well, but early impressions may influence a later leaning toward writing.”

This person must not of had kids for he could not witness the intelligence that newborns exhibit! Yeah, it was ‘impressioned’ upon me to be a left-handed person. I mean really? Listen to this; All (three) of the J’s out of six kids are left handed in my family. Each one of us has excellent cursive writing, drawing abilities, and we can write very well, as writers. They didn’t pursue a writing career and only I showed an interest in becoming a writer, but it was not impressed upon me from any form of well-bred functional familial upbringing. I just knew, innately, that writing was within me, and have been writing poetry since I can remember!

I like this woman M.’s response: “Intriguing question and intriguing answers! I lean towards those who say "both," but also believe that without a spark -- elusive and wondrous -- neither talent nor training produces good writing.”

So that sums it up for us, ladies and gentlemen. It is a talent, when nurtured, can become a great tool in your path of pursuing your writing dream.

One final comment from K.: I dreamed of being a writer since the first grade. The desire to write has driven me to aquire the skills needed to achieve my dream. A person can learn new skills, but I believe we're born with the determination and passion that drives us.

Born with the determination that drives us. So all in all… if you’re choosing writing, be determined and the dirt road will become a yellow brick road that you can follow all the way to successville!

Do Readers Write?

In yesterdays post, I stated that writers read. We flip through the leaves of a book, go sailing on an ocean, climb into a characters head, and enjoy the journey we’re taken on. What is also true is that not all readers write. My dad was an avid reader. He could always be seen, sitting in his recliner, blanket over his legs, and a book in his hand. Lots of people in my family liked to read, educate themselves, drink from the fountain of knowledge, but none of them aspired to be an actual writer.
 
That’s not saying that they couldn’t write, but none ever went the distance of pursuing a writing career. I sometimes thought that with the proper support, they might have journeyed out into the unknown world of writing, but as it was in my family, support was not to be had. We were lost kids seeking approval of something, anything, and it was not to be. Just as I had to find my way to Christ (or He found me) I had to lead the way down my own path in life.
 
I’ve seen people who’ve read all their lives who never ever wanted to write. “That is just not for me.” they say, but then after retirement sets in, and they want something different to do, they try out their hand at writing. And I’ve seen some success from that leap in life. They’ve gone on to be published writers!
 
What is the difference in a reader and a writer? A writer WRITES!
 
A story is told of a famous writer who was invited to address a group of aspiring authors. He arrived at the venue, walked onto the stage, and looked down at the upturned faces of his admiring audience. "Ya wanna be a writer?" he said. "Then go home and write."
 
With that, he pocketed his check, and left.
 
So you wanna be a writer? Here’s some interesting tidbits for you:
 
1. Do you write almost every day? Journal, snippets, 500 words or less. Or more?
 
Then you’re not a writer
 
2.  Do you allow yourself to think of YOU?
 
Writing requires that you spend a fair bit of time in your own, totally isolated zone, oblivious to the demands of others, no matter how reasonable their demands might be.
 
3. Do you know WHY you want to be a writer?
 
The urge to share is a primary driving force for writing. Whether it is to share an idea, a story, just a simple piece of information, you feel that people have a need to know. The main thing is, that what you write should matter to YOU and to your readers.
 
4. Do you think you’re a good writer?
Well there’s a problem. No one THINKS themselves a good writer! We ALL think we can use some work!

5. Do you read as many books, as much as you write?
Then you have a persistent road that needs grading, get to it!

Tidbits over, now a few thoughts to leave you with.
 
If you wanna be a writer, plan on reading A LOT!
Plan on WRITING a lot!
Plan on harsh criticism, mostly from yourself!
Plan on getting published!

Newcomers

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye
serve the Lord Christ." Colossians 3:23-24
***

I have to admit, watching new writers makes me smile. They are just like I was about eight or nine years ago when I began to take this journey seriously; alive with creativity bubbling over their cup. Oozing with frothiness, layers of imagination whipped up for the course.

Some newcomers I sit in awe of as they have a natural ability to putting pen to paper and creating a dashing piece of art, not just words in a novel. The most fun part of being a new writer is learning. Learning new words, new techniques, grabbing ideas, tapping at the keyboard into the wee hours of the night, and being one with a new character. But the most fulfilling, is completion, I have to say.

Although when you complete your novel, you’re sitting there scratching your head wondering what to do next. We can’t go back and do revisions, it is too fresh in our minds, we won’t see anything wrong at least until a week later. So what is a writer to do?

Start a new story, new style, learn new words, different techniques. There’s a world of knowledge to be gleaned from the writing pool. As I sit in the stages of revising my nearly sixty thousand word novel, which will more than likely be more after revision, I think of where all this writing began.

Like many before me, writing was and is a part of  every day living, always has been and always will be. It began at a young age when I first held a pencil, albeit a fat one, in my tiny hand and began doodling. Ahh, fresh untouched paper, like a newly fallen snow with not one footprint, a firm wooden pencil clutched in my hand like the baby-blankie I gripped in the other hand; scribbling thoughts that surfaced, images, words, the love of pencil and paper began. Those were the good old days.

As I grew, the words took on new meaning, they shaped either a poem or a story and all throughout school, before I ever typed on a computer and had the luxury of internet access, I was born to write. I didn’t stumble upon the written word and think, “Hey, this is cool.” No, I read, read and read some more. Wrote, wrote and continued studying the craft of writing, all throughout my childhood and early adult years.

After my hand developed callus's from writing, my hands ached from the old style typewriter, then out of nowhere a computer fell into my lap and changed my world forever. That was almost nine years ago, and I still persist in writing, whether pen or keyboard, I still write.

The best advice I can give newcomers to the field, is persist. Don’t write for a year or two and give up, that does not make you a writer, nor just because you pen words on occasion, does it make you a writer. A writer exemplifies, PERSISTENCE! We’re a tough breed and I’ve learned that the writing community is more than a community of artists, it is a home away from home.

Welcome to the writing world F2k alumni! You completed lesson six, in the shroud of NANO, and now move on, to PERSISTENCE!

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.

Perspective

Psalm 51: 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
***

From my perspective, life is moving along at a snails pace, the mundane becomes boring and a shake up is in order for it to move along swiftly. Oh, wait, I already had a shake-up a few weeks ago. Still reeling from the aftermath too.

Perspective is where we can sit on a cloud and look down at people and their lives, swooping down to get a closer view or just sitting and observing. I gain perspective the longer I observe and in writing that is just what you need to do sometimes, observe.

I observe other writers as they link words together to form sentences. I watch as the sentences take the shape of paragraphs, and the paragraphs form a story. What better way to learn than to witness the classics in action?

I’ve read some newer authors and I’m not impressed with their storytelling. What I get from the library shelves is that this new author writes the book, feeds it to the editor and sometimes the publishing house needs new blood so bad they accept, not so good work.

I see typos throughout, misspellings weaved in, atrocious punctuation and this all slipped by? Wasn’t anyone watching the creation of this tale? This is the very reason I prefer classics. The story didn’t depend on a computer program. It depended on a writer sitting at his/her desk tapping on the keys of a typewriter. Yeah, a typewriter, remember those ancient things?

I’m not knocking new author’s, by no means. After all, I can learn a lot from them too. I see what NOT to do in a story.

I read differently being a writer. I try to get into a story, but I’m always picking it apart, word for word, sentence for sentence. It can become quite annoying so I rely on the classics to take me to an imaginary world, where I soar in the reading of the text, without picking and needling every aspect of the writer’s skills.

Maybe I should start listening to audio books. You can’t find typos if you’re listening now can you? And you can hear the words forming sentences, but you can’t nit pick the structure.

As far as perspective goes, this is my view, from my world, my perspective. Others may have a different take and that is okay because being a human being with free will, you my friend, have a perspective too.

Enjoy being unique. Cherish the life you were given and always have, give and share your perspective. You’ll be glad you did. :)

I sense a good week...

Pss. 3:3 But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
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Well the senses lesson went off without a hitch. I wasn’t let down as writers across the board dabbled in bringing the senses alive.

They made clouds out of marshmallows, the sea became a frothing cup of espresso, a river was birthed, a tree swayed, a path was made and I was led down a writing frenzy. These are supposed to be amateur writers but I was quite impressed with the remaining writers at f2k.

Most of the new folk who had a dream of writing, realized all too soon that they had to actually work at it and writing wasn’t something that they could just do. Their introductions led me to believe that their heart and soul wasn’t into writing and I can usually tell if this is really what a writer wants, but we lost a few.

The few who were lost came and went like a brief spring shower. They’re out there wanting to become a writer but they are not willing to take the long hard grueling steps to becoming a writer.

Now we have a few hanger’s on. These are the ones who are wholeheartedly doing all they can to become a writer in every sense of the word. They’re studying the craft intently, they’re practicing sentence structure, they’re even flirting with new words.

These are the people who have an innate sense of what it takes to be the artist that they want to be. Artist are not just thrown into the world knowing all they can about the craft. They learn on every level, grab hold of the intimate aspect and feed off the style to bring you, the reader, into a realm that they call their own.

Have you ever wondered what Picasso was thinking when he painted his masterpieces? What Stephen King is thinking as he jots down his stories? (Oh dear, I put Stephen King next to the same sentence as Picasso! You won’t see that too often.) Well I’m here to tell you that they weren’t thinking anything. They worked to create and delivered to us some of the worlds greatest masterpieces.

The two artist are a lot alike believe it or not. They love (or loved in Picasso’s case) what they do and shower the public with pieces of themselves through their work. (No pun intended Picasso.)

So why not as a new writer, dig deep into yourself and pull out the artist that you know yourself to be. The person that longs to give society what they’re missing. Give it to them!

And whatever you do...write write write!

Check Mate

Detail makes the difference between boring and terrific writing. It’s the difference between a pencil sketch and a lush oil painting. As a writer, words are your paint. Use all the colors.
Rhys Alexander
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Since blogger won't upload my pics, I'll resort to what I know and love the most, writing quotes! They keep us all motivated.
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So you were anticipating the blog about the correlation between writing and chess? Well let me tell you, I can give a really good analogy of a chess/ life scenario but I’ve really got to work on the writing/chess.

Okay where do I begin? I’ll start with the white side. This is the team I always go for in playing chess. It reminds me of purity and all that that entails. Strength,wisdom, knowledge,etc.

In writing, the white team can be visualized as the protagonist, or the good guy. The dudley-do-right, the main character of the story. Then we have the black team and they are the antagonist, the bad guys, the dark force, the one or ones that will be causing all kinds of trouble in the story.

We have pawns on both sides, correct? The same powerful pieces standing behind the pawns on both sides too. The pawns can be seen as the disposable characters, if you will. Now you have all of these characters standing behind you vying for a place so lets give them a place.

The rook will be the homestead or foundation of your story, the dark side has an ominous looking castle which probably houses Count Dracula or some other dark figure.

The knight will be the character in your story that does all the fighting for you. The dark fights for the light, the light normally wins IN THE END, hopefully, with fingers crossed the Light will win. (emphasis on WILL win)

Then we have the bishops. They can be your moral compass. The good seed buried in all of us that sometimes we call a conscious. Now the dark bishop is who in your story? Well it’s the dark force or the bad seed that will not and can not take root because you’ve given him/it no fertile soil in which to grow.

Ah, now we have the king and queen. This will be the strong lead characters in your story who eventually are left standing with the dark side (king and queen) all alone on that big checkered board, or white page.

What do we do in this position? We do what any good writer would do and that is knock the pants off of the Dark Force and we have our main characters all full of light left standing in a triumphant glow of completion. Check Mate!

Hey I think this sounds better than the football analogy. Have either of these two posts made any sense?

Good...now lets see if I can see what gardening and writing have in common. Okay, I’m kidding!

Now we know what makes a story so what are you waiting for? Why are you sitting here reading, shouldn’t you be writing?

Staying Motivated

Light your candle within and allow it to burn. That's what a writer does.

How does one stay motivated in writing? I mean lets face it, it can wear you down, drag you through the mud, slap you upside the face and yet you wake up everyday and do it again?

What is wrong with you? Oh, that’s right, it is the passion within you that keeps you going back to the writing table. Sure setting goals, being inspired, and being obedient to the craft helps in assisting you in a daily routine, but what keeps you motivated in doing so day after day? Month after month? Year after year?

Let’s say you’ve written the all American best selling novel of your dream, you’ve revised it numerous times and have sent it out with the wings you gave it to watch it soar. Only it was returned, rejected. Did you know that there are thousands of best-selling authors who have trudged the same path as you? J.K Rowling and Stephen King to name just two who were rejected. (see post below of nine BS authors who were rejected)

You’ll get a glimpse of the struggles that a writer has to endure to make it in a cut-throat business these days. Staying motivated can be one of the most daunting tasks you undergo.

1.Never undermine your work. If this is what you have chosen to do, then do your best and wait for the positive outcome that you envision.

2.Never lead with an ego. An ego can get you in trouble when you think you’re the best. Rejection will hit you the hardest of all.

3.Accept rejection! By accepting the rejection slip you are allowing yourself to move forward and GROW as a writer.

4.Always hope for a positive outcome. There is nothing wrong with having hope. It’s the patience that you’ll need in seeing the tomorrow’s sun shine!

5.Always believe that your reward is right around the corner. If you tend to give up easily, writing is not going to be for you. Believing that it is not much further to acceptance, then the payday will be right around the next bend!

Now these steps may take years to finally get that one published story, but when it happens you will be the happiest fish in the sea doing pirouettes on top of the waves.

I can’t emphasize enough the patience, faith and hope you need to have in yourself to carry you one little extra mile.

And let’s not forget the One that carries all of our burdens for us. Your gift was given from Him so He knows you’ll need Him to get you through each and every step.

Be wise, don’t compromise. And before you know it all fear dies!

Determination

Now that we’ve had our dose of inspiration to get us writing our fingers off, I think we need to put our writing into high gear and give a swift kick in the rear to DETERMINATION.

Determination (ie: fixed direction or tendency toward some object or end)
is another way of persevering. Perseverance means the steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

Did you read that? In spite of difficulties; in spite of obstacles or discouragement you need to show the teeth of determination. You have been given a purpose, you’ve found your direction and now you need to jump full throttle into action to see your dream realized.

I know some writer’s who give up. Sometimes life throws a hardball at them, they have kids, and everything gets lost in the vortex of living. But writing isn’t about, leaving and coming back to it again. Maybe today I’ll write kind of attitude. Writing is about determination in seeing the dream that began as a seed inside, flourish. Don’t allow someone or something to discourage you!

When you wake up, live and breathe writing, you know you’re a writer. Sure there is time for walks, jogs, swims, dog playing and child rearing, but interlaced in the day has got to be a determination of allowing yourself to bloom. Writing, whether it is journaling or story telling, article writing or novel writing, if you are not determined to bring your words to life then the dream withers, the bud dies. All water will be drained from the dream and no persistence will carry you through this stage.

I say wake up, have that cup of coffee, tell the world your coming and drink in the sunshine as you tap on the keys. Be determined to succeed. Tell yourself you can do it, envision the picture, paint the picture and display it for the entire world to see.

If you can see the road ahead that you want to take, don’t allow the heat to cause a wavering mirage so that you lose sight of the road. Keep the picture of what you want to become clearly in focus, tell yourself over and over that YOU ARE A WRITER, be determined in seeing your words spill onto the page like liquefied dew.

Once you have a point A clearly in view, point B will follow with determination and perseverance. Whatever you do, don’t give up! Even if you write 100 words a day, keep at it, keep positive thoughts always front and center. Save the revisions for another time. Right now it is important for you to bring this dream to life and allow it to take hold of your being.

My son sees me write so much that he is now writing. He has three stories in the works and for some reason he is determined to be a published author. I keep telling him to keep at it. He is only twelve years old and new ideas spring in his head all the time. I try to explain that he needs to finish the ones he started before he can leap into another one, but at least he is writing the ideas down and getting them out if his system.

Maybe being a home school mom wasn’t such a bad idea. Everyone told me that he would never adjust to the world and here he is with the determination of a tiger hunting prey! That’s my boy! :-D

Be peristent! Be determined! Make your dream happen!

Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne