The Truth Shall Set You Free

I’m not sitting on a high horse of preaching this week, I’m just trying to show you that in writing, readers can see through any lies that you dish out. If you try to con a person into believing what you say to be true, you better have some hard evidence on where you’re coming from.

I don’t mean for you to search google to find the truth, I mean research everything you know to be truth because if it is shallow truths from google, you’re surely going to be caught in the web of lies.

By doing the research for your readers, the truth will set you free and the reader free in allowing them to open up to your words and trusting what you have to say. If you are not sure if it is solid truth you stand on, then you better have something to back up in the way of proving your stance.

This is usually why I stand on biblical truth. As far as I know God doesn’t lie. He doesn’t dish out half-truths and He doesn’t stand on sand to build you a story He needs you to hear. He built the scripture on a solid foundation so that you KNOW it is truth.

There are some non-believers and even believers who feel like God made a few mistakes in delivering His message or maybe they weren’t documented well enough. I know in some places the bible is meant to be taken metaphorical and not literal in meaning. Like the term ‘eye for an eye’, I don’t think that for one second God intended for us to go around and pluck people’s eyes out because they offended you. We’d live in a blind society for sure.

In writing we need to use metaphors but to the extent people understand that you are metaphorically speaking. Know your metaphors and use them wisely. Know your truths and keep them to yourself. Know your friends and be aware of the your enemies.

Psalm 18:39 You have armed me with strength for the battle; you have subdued my enemies under my feet

The truth will set you free. Is that a metaphor or something? How will truth set you free? Are we all just imprisoned by lies?

As I’m disliked for my views, persecuted for Christ, I will stand tall knowing I’m not a hypocrite who pretends and hates on people because of their beliefs. I love all, forgive all and if anything I learned in being battered, is turn the other cheek. I’ve run plum out of cheeks to be slapped on but it’s okay, I have God and He is more than enough for me!

The TRUTH does set you free.

God Bless!

 

The Truth Hurts

Pss. 86: 11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

Yes it does.  I still remember being told that Santa Claus was not real. Yeah, I had mean brothers and a sister who didn’t want to see me happy, so when I proclaimed Santa got it for me, they made sure they said loud and clear, “Santa ain’t real!” (Yeah they used the word ain’t)

I didn’t want to believe it. My mother wouldn’t lie to me, would she? Well sure enough, she wasn’t happy with my brothers' way of telling me but she did sit me down and tell me the truth. Santa, the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny all lies concocted by some age old myth. Great, my entire life was a lie. Granted I was only six but to me, my life was all a lie. I grew to form my own beliefs, never, and I mean never counting on man to feed me the truth!

Now imagine me as a grown Christian woman, someone telling me that the Bible has ‘some lies’ or untruths in it (lies; untruths, same thing), but ‘most’ of it is true. Well slap me upside the head and color me stupid!

My faith has been built on these truths, or what I have known and been SHOWN to be truths and after being told that, all of my biblical beliefs came crashing down around me and I began digging through the rubble reassessing my ‘beliefs’.

The truth hurts. Have you ever been lied to? It sure doesn’t feel good, nor does it feel good when you find out the truth.

Pss. 32: 8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Instead of doubting my faith, I went to God himself and asked for clarification so that I might respond clearly to the attack, as I saw it, of lies about Him and His truth. He guided me to truths about Him and when shown to the person, undoubtedly the person became angry. Mind you they were not MY truths, they were God’s truths.

I didn’t dig for scientific proof, I didn’t sling words to say 'Believe this', I slung it to say, you’ve showed me what YOU believe to be truth, and here is what I believe to be truth.

Truth hurts. I also got a quite intelligent answer from a kid, almost 18 years old. He said, “There are only opinions of one truth.”

“What?” I said.

“Truth is like a tree root, it grows and grows, the branches are the opinions formed from that truth.”

Wow, what a smart kid, I say!

Eph. 3: 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Imagine a strong wind coming in and breaking those branches leaving all leaves on it to wither and die. No, I won’t be a branch, I won’t pretend to be a leaf. I choose to be the root and the Son being the Light in which I find my strength to grow.

THAT is my truth. THAT is who I am. I won’t be swayed by science; I won’t be molded by words of men. Science is just an opinion formed by men with supposed intelligence. Remember, science once stated that Pluto was a planet, only for years to pass and then to say it isn’t a planet. What IS the truth?

I tell you this writers, the reader WILL find out for themselves. If you mislead them or try to fool them, they WILL find out. And the truth hurts.

Truth in Tales

Pss. 30:9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?

Have you ever read Hansel and Gretal? Well, I’m sure at some point you have, if not yourself maybe for your child? Did you ever wonder if the world they lived in was real?

Writers have a tendency to write fiction that comes off as an intricate world of fairytale imagery. I often wonder where the truth is and sometimes I won’t even read it because of the frivolous lie that I’m trying to be forced into.

Take for example sci-fi. I am no fan of sci-fi for the very reason that the conjured worlds I can not really climb into and envision myself. When I read a book I like to envision myself running through the field/street scene and with sci-fi, I can never seemingly grasp running on Mars.

Another example is vampire stories. Now I know there are millions of fans who love a good vampire story. They love the fantasy world, climb into it, and relish all the dark substances that it entails. I don’t like them and I know there are actually people who drink blood and think these vampire tales to be some sort of truth to them. I bet there is even some sort of statistical facts that can prove their existence. I’m not interested. Don’t inundate me with false truths.

Years ago the possibility of life on Mars was an impossibility and recent scientific studies show that life on Mars will become a probability. Maybe some of your sci-fi tales will become a reality. But no, I don’t believe vampires are real, so don’t try to sell me that tale.

I know some people like the occult and I myself, when I was a young child, dove into those tales thinking them to be truth. I quickly had to ride out of those childhood fantasies and hold onto something that was truth just to keep my sanity.

I remember watching The Lost Boys and I so wanted vampires to be real. It was a stimulating arousal wanting Keifer to suck on my neck and make me one with him. My disillusion quickly faded when I found God. Now I know some of you Christians out there can read those non truths and walk with God at the same time, but me, I don’t feel complete. So I don’t read fantasies like The DaVinci Code or Salem’s Lot.

Some will tell me that the DaVinci Code was based on scientific studies and proof, but to me, it is a book full of lies wanting to distract me from the truth. That’s what fantasy is to me, a demonizing of truth. I prefer non-fiction, or at least a fiction based on a true story, than read about, fill my mind with, hunger, for lies!

As you can imagine I was pretty upset as a young child being told that Santa was not real, or the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny for that matter. I felt that it was a betrayal and no, maybe I never did get over it because now, I don’t like lies or fantasy tales.

As a writer we’re supposed to be open to fiction. It’s what we do, write lies in hopes someone walks away loving it.

My truths are not your truths, nor yours mine, and I’m okay with that, but please don’t try to sell me on your truths when mine are already formed. It’s demeaning to me as a human being. 

I read what I like to read, you read what you like to read. As humans we’re allowed that, to be different. I don’t force my beliefs on you, please refrain from trying to force your beliefs on me.

You read me because I obviously have written something that you WANTED to read. You stay away because I obviously DON’T have something you want to read. Granted this post makes absolutely no sense, but that’s okay, in the coming days you might put it all together and it will make sense.

My point being this week will be, truth and all that means to us as writers who are trying to sell the story to the public. Readers want something to hold onto as truth; to carry with them throughout the day or their life. We as writer’s are obligated to give them that.

Another Secret Hideout -- Goodreads

Goodreads is another secret hideout. Well I don’t think it’s a secret because they have thousands of people on there of all ages running the halls!

Goodreads is basically a site for book readers and everything books. It’s where you read a book, post that you’ve read it, and share with others their thoughts on the book. You also list the amount of books you’ve read in the past and rate them; catalogue your library of books, post book reviews, and connect virtually with book lovers, quizzes and games.

You can also create lists of your genre. Lists of your favorites

You can join a book challenge, where you list the amount of books you’re going to read in say a years time. It sets you on your goal of reading that amount of books and it holds you to it too!

Steven likes it for the widgets he can place on his audiobook blog, like ‘What I’m Currently Reading’. He’s really into The Neverending Book Quiz, you guessed it, a quiz about books that never ends. He tells me you can put in your own questions to ask, and actually look at who is getting the questions you’ve asked right. He also claims it is “Rollicking good fun.” His words, not mine! I imagine him skipping through the site tossing daisies as he ‘rollicks’. (Doesn’t take much to amuse him when it comes to books and sci-fi, eh?)  In my words it’s a pretty cool site, but I’ve not used it as much as he has because honestly, he listens to more books!

There is also the chance to become a librarian!!! He likes that, too. Yes, of course he IS one on there! He has the power to fix things, where he might see a typo of some sort, or like an author was listed wrong on the reviewers post. Power I tell you, and if you’re a man or woman who likes power, then the Librarian is the job for you. (no pay, just good honest joy in the written word.)

I have 26 friends and listed that I’ve read 130 books. The leader of my friends is Julia with 802 books read, Steven, who only lists books he reviews, is at 387, and Benning is in third with 217 books. It’s really fun to watch your friends chart their reading habits.

It’s a nice place where you connect with friends, so far for me it is 26 WVU friends. And like Linked In they have groups that branch off into discussion forums, where you discuss books! Now remember this is about books or audiobooks, which I myself feel like that is cheating because you can listen to three or four books a week where you can maybe only read one page-turning real hard copy of a book in a week.  But still, a listen or a read, a book is a book. It’s all-good, books are books and no matter how you get them read, you’re a reader!

You might ask why I, as a writer, would be found on a book social scene. Well because the last time I checked, writer’s WRITE books, and we’re all about books, so why not be a part of the reading community that may one day read my book, review it and discuss it? Sounds like a win/win situation to me.

Go on…find out for yourself how addictive these sites, LinkedIn and Goodreads, are. It has been a pleasure sharing!

Linked In

Okay, I’m gonna share a secret. My secret is LinkedIn. I’ve been secretly lurking on this site for some time now. I go, I read, I gain. I’m sure Linked In is more than just writers communing and discussing the business but it is all I use it for, gleaning info about the writing business. It is a professional network, not a social scene.

I lurk around many sites, meaning I visit them, learn and grow in my writing. I think my friend told me about Linked In many many years ago and I had no use for it because I was so busy with ‘schoolwork’ and teaching folks about writing that I didn’t see this site for the immense amount of information that it held.

It is really a site where writers link up or any professional field of interest. I’m sure if you’re an astronaut they have groups to link you up, or if you’re a librarian, yup link ups to other librarians. But to me, this is a source to link up to other writer’s, publishers and editors.

You join the group of people that are in your field of interest, and join in the discussions of others in your field. That simple. It’s a professional site, unlike facebook where you throw things out and friends connected to you throw things back. No this place isn’t a place to show your immature silly side loaded with pics. It’s all forums and sometimes the sharing of your work. Notice I say WORK; a place to share your professionalism.

Also on LinkedIn, friends can endorse your work. Other professionals see your profile, and find interest in your work. Some will even hire you for a job. You know, a job where you get money for your work?

LinkedIn is not the immature looney bin palace of MySpace or Facebook or other social networks where socializing with the world becomes a laughing stock. I didn’t list Twitter because all that that place is good for is PROMOTING your work. To socialize on Twitter is creepy!! No, Linked In is the place for the professional, where you AS the professional, put on your intelligence cap and let your light shine!

Another place I like to lurk is Faith Writers. That is a place for writers of faith, to share their work. Granted it has benefits when you pay for their membership. There is a no-fee way to post but all the benefits come from the ‘paid’ subscription. BUT it is an excellent place worth mentioning to my writing friends. I haven’t bought into the site yet, maybe one day.

I lurk on the sites, drinking in words like a warm cup of coffee. I’m not an obsessive person (unless it is cleaning the house) or a stalker but I do lurk and see who is watching and who is obsessing, and WHO is learning from me.

My hope is that as you follow me, you’re learning from me and not abusing the situation to suit your needs. I have a lot to offer. Use my info wisely. Thank you!

More Sex Scenes for Teens?

More SEX Scenes for Teens?

Can you imagine my surprise when this subject was approached at the LinkedIn Forum. It’s a forum for adult writers/publishers/editors to toss thoughts around in the form of a Forum Topic. I don’t comment on many because through my experience, some (no names here) think they are above the little guy, and toss around their degrees acquired and their college this and that’s, that makes someone without a MFA feel small. A long post for sure, and I’m sure I’ll write more.

As the prude you all know I am, I had to comment. Here was the specific topic that got to me:

 

"More sex scenes in books for teenagers"? I'm meeting with a client (a respected, mainstream publisher) on Wednesday for a brainstorm on a possible new series of romance titles for teens, a kind of "teen erotica", with educational value - to some degree at least, in line with what is expressed in the following link. (no name)

 

No thanks, I won’t post the link on something that is telling me that we need more sex in books for teens so they can learn? They want to use erotica to teach children the ropes of love, not really love, but sexual arousal? You mean to tell me, this is where our educated children are getting their information on sex? Through these types of trashy (to me) books?

 

One of my responses went a little like this:

 

I think if we raise our children morally right, then they can make a moral decision whether to read what is deemed 'teen erotica' or not. (I personally think erotica is for healthy adults, not children)
If kids who are not raised in a moral environment read that type of book, then they are probably lacking education and hunger for the explicit content to teach them what they should feel.  

 

Wow, wouldn’t you know the higher ups (the ones who think they have ALL the answers and are RIGHT and no one can tell them differently) thought my response was spoken like a true naïve mother.

 

Joni, I am not saying that this applies to your son, but many, many parents get fooled by their children as to what they are up to, what they like to read and watch etc. And your post assumes, like so many others, that the novels we have in mind will be dirty tales of rampant sex. Not sure how many times we need to explain.
Then Paul jumps in and calls it trash. Says that kids can be tempted. Well, if they are not already temped by the trash that is out there, perhaps they might be tempted to read an erotic rendition that is not trash but has a moral message.

 

And IT (no name) went on to say:

One wonders how many copies of mom's 50 Shades has gotten to the hands of teenagers who must wonder, amid the preaching, about the hypocrisy of some parents.

 

Another WOW! For this person to assume that I’m a mother who would even TOUCH 50 Shades of Trash, one must assume, WHO is the preaching hypocrite here?

 

IT also said:

Joni, I am so glad for you and your son. Good work. As to 50 Shades, although the writing is horrible, the sex, I am told is quite good. No reason to deny yourself the experience of such literature, IMO.

 

I had said my son has a moral compass and wouldn’t TOUCH crap with erotica in it. Was this jealousy or envy that their son or daughter turned out to be a greedy/selfish/ immoral sex freak?

 

Does my son look at porn? More than likely so but we’re talking about WRITING/READING here. To call Shades literature to me is a slap in the face to writers of generations past and future generations who take writing more serious than, ‘lets add more sex so it sells’ writers.

 

I was not the only prude in the comments, there were many as you can imagine and non-religious freaks also. They had a moral compass that didn’t stem from religion, it stemmed from what they thought about a subject.

 

A comment:

Shame on anyone who contributes to sex for teens. Let them be kids as long as possible. How stupid some adults act. Such an idea only puts additional sex ides into their innocent minds. Research proves that young boys who dwell on porno rewire their minds and will be unable to sustain a relationship with a woman. So you contribute to more divorces. Shame shame shame on you. Some publishers will work for anything that makes them money No matter how you try to relabel it you are pushing sex and porno.

 

Oh, the bashing went back and forth and goes on for pages, and IT always came back with a response basically calling us unnatural, inhuman, sex-deprived beings who live in a box!

 

I had to share this forum topic with my son, who is a very vocal teen, that wants to be a writer, and loves reading books.

“Adam, what do YOU think?”

 

Adam’s response, “I think Shades is trash and NO, not all kids want to read that trash. I want to read a story and erotica is not storytelling, it’s sex. If I want sexual content, I’ll go to a porn site!”

 

Okay, I laughed, his honesty with me never ceases to amaze me. And while some uppity ups think all kids are liars and not honest with their parents, I say they are WRONG! Raised with a moral compass, kids can and will be bluntly honest!

 

I know what I like to read, he knows what he likes to read, and no I don’t find sexual gratification in a book with erotica. When did we as human beings need books and words in a book to fulfill us sexually?

 

Wow, I must have really messed up my son, huh? He has a moral compass that teens today would never know or understand for that matter.

 

Note to parents: Don’t let books raise your kids! Don’t let them learn life, sex, morals through a book! Lead by example and sure enough, your kids will learn! Talk to them, face to face, not via a text message!!!! I have to admit, homeschooling was the smartest thing I did for my son! He’s not led around by peers, he’s led by his moral compass, and that’s a GOOD thing!

Sad commentary from the ‘I know it all, IT’. I feel for this lonely person IT:

It may take another hundred years before John Lennon's image of no religion will come to pass...but make no mistake...religion as a fundamentalist ideology, is dying. I think it wise to do what we can to nudge that dying process whenever possible.

Religion, dying? While erotica is rising??? Sad thought isn’t it?

The final comment I read before unsubscribing after 200 and some comments?

The easier it becomes to get sex, the harder it is to find love!

 

I am not alone. Thank You, God!

Encouraging Words for the Writer's Soul

Well folks, it’s time for some encouragement and you came to the right place. I’ll dish it out and you adhere and help yourself and honestly, you’ll be all the better for it.

Have you looked at the calendar? Did you know spring - the first day - is less than twenty days away! Can you believe it? And have we done any spring-cleaning? Well, with aches and pains, some may find it hard so I’m here to encourage you to get it started!

We’re closing in on Easter and we need to be ready for the rush of warm weather, possible rain showers, and more days OUTSIDE the home. So during these next few weeks as we embrace the chill that is keeping us inside, get to de-cluttering before the warm sunny days keep you from spending time inside.

I know how I am, once Spring arrives, I’m out in the garden raking old leaves, ridding the lawn of what winter has left behind, then my days are spent out there in succession, pain and all. This year, I might set me up a little place for my laptop out there, so all of you can be kept up to date with my activities. Oh you know you’d like it, admit it.

But first, before we can spend endless days outside, we need to get the place inside ready. You can do it, just take small steps each day and in less than twenty days, besides it being my birthday on the 23rd, we’ll be ready to face spring with a bounce in our step.

Our 1st baby step is realizing that the work needs to be done. So we’ll start small, say, with the desk drawers, and move onto the kitchen drawers. Rid yourself of all those saved pens and pencils that probably don’t even work! The kitchen drawers are probably filled with old papers and receipts from Christmas shopping. How about old utensils? Toss them if you see any rust, wood splinters, or worse, anything you haven’t used in a years time.

2nd – Clean out those drawers with some spic and span or your soap of choice. After scrubbing them out, return only the things you NEED and USE!

3rd – We’re going to get a broom, or a wooly-monster (that is what I call my furry TV electricity charged duster) I turn on my TV, run the wooly-monster over it and it charges the thing so it collects, you guessed it, DUST! Take your time! You’re in no marathon here to get it all done in a day.

Are you feeling ready now? These are small tasks (unless you’re a hoarder) and may even be done sitting in your desk chair or kitchen chair. The broom and wooly monster are for standing only; you’ll need to walk around the house, poking in corners at the ceiling to get any remnant cobwebs that linger.

By cleaning just these small things for starters will motivate you for the bigger chores done during spring-cleaning like ridding all closets of clothes not worn for five or ten years.

By this time you should now feel like a cup of coffee, and a nice seat at your desk to do some writing. Why not tell your tale of how glad you are spring-cleaning only comes once a year, and what motivates and drives you in getting it done.

Sure you’d rather be shopping, spending money you really can’t spare at the moment and sure you’d like to be lying on the sofa watching TV accomplishing nothing but remember by not getting these things cleaned up and organized, you’re really not helping yourself finding a cleansing spot to heal your soul.

I always took the saying “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” literally. You see, when you clean up your soul, you’ll feel the need to clean up your house, desk, computer, etc. so your cleansing feels complete.

I’m with you on the back aches, knees hurting and such but we must push our aching bodies to move through the smaller steps and hopefully we’ll be up to the bigger steps.

GET TO IT!

A Writer? You?

A sticky thorny subject...

So many of you say you’re a writer. What do you do about it? Well you can’t just say the words, spill a few onto an empty page and then call yourself a writer. To be a writer is to take action to be a writer.


1. You must study – This is good either in a college or at an online course where you can surround yourself with like-minded people who share your interests in becoming a writer.

2. Become a writer – To become a writer you must write. You must love conjuring tales in your head then write them down. Write a poem or two and get a feel for the ACT of writing. One thing writers don’t do, is NOT write.

3. Know grammar – I see a lot of writers write excellent stories but have no clue on grammar and punctuation. You need to understand the English language very well if that is going to be the language of your target audience.

4. Pick a genre – You can’t just write a story and have no clear idea of what it is you’re writing. Sometimes picking a genre can segue you right into a story idea. You need to know what and whom you are writing for.

5. Do your homework – Know what is out there waiting for you as in submissions, markets, publishers, agents etc.

This is a short list but a tight list to get you started on your journey. I’ve seen many a writer get started on this journey only to be hindered or discouraged along the way for whatever reason: life, circumstance, negative people, time etc. etc.

1. You must make time every day to write even if it’s a short story, a poem or a chapter in your novel. Me, I blog to keep my muse active, sometimes I write but don’t blog it (too personal) but I still write as much as I can.

2. Put it out there – A lot of times this is where we get the recognition we’re seeking in our writing.

3. Connect – Shut out facebook and Twitter for the day, and only focus on connecting with writers in your group, library group, or whatever group you choose. Stay connected to writers!

4. Write – This one is tough if you don’t feel like writing. Find a prompt generator that randomly selects ideas for you; run with it and write!

5. Be yourself – Trying to be more than you are will slowly put you behind. Be yourself in your writing and it will all come together for you.

These are just some minor tips for the beginner. To one who is already an author? You should know all these facts with your eyes closed. These tips are helpful to the wanna-be writer also, it might be the kick in the rear that you’ve been seeking.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and write!

Surviving...NOT Writing!

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

― Maya Angelou

Well writing friends, it is 80 degrees here in Nebraska at 8:30 in the morning. I haven’t done much writing as of late as the days are loaded with heat and exhaustion. The gardens are looking nice, the pumpkins are flowering like crazy and the birds find relief in my makeshift birdbath. The grass on the other hand is almost non-existent, burnt to a crisp as temperatures have topped 100 for almost two weeks and what seems forever!


What a heatwave! Storms rocked my hometown of Maryland last week enough to scare my 73-year-old mother into the bathroom as winds topped 75 miles per hour! The days in Texas look cool compared to this. I’ve grown accustomed to Nebraska’s nice temps, but this summer is not good temperature wise. And as I read the morning news, not many states are being left out of this bake-bath!


Beau (Stormcrow) is awaiting glasses, job hunting, and license renewal. If you remember he was blind for two-and a half years and now has sight restored in one eye. Adam (my son) has had his own illness to contend with and the heat of the summer is not helping any! And me, my back issues are not resolved, but I still get out and weed (or de-weed) the garden and water my flowers. What a lovely summer thus far.

We missed the family bar-b-que on July 1st, due to these illnesses plaguing us. (But we’ve had many visits this year, so it was okay) Here in Nebraska there were many firework displays going off for what seemed like five nights in a row. We sat out on the back porch, in the sweltering night heat, watching the many light shows, so all was not lost for the holiday.

I’ve not returned to my writing community as of this date. I just pop in, friend request, and check out what is happening in the world of writers. I no longer feel it is the family of writers that I’ve known and loved throughout the eight years spent there. I’ve maintained a few friendships via facebook, but to get into the site and get writing done? I think that (site) is now a part of my past. I sweep it under the rug, and move on to a more professional writing site where people are there to write, not gossip, back-stab, demean and hurt. I say, if those types of people surround you, they are only going to bring you down. Surround yourself with the positive so that a positive flow and outcome will be your reward.

While it has been a bumpy road so far these seven months into the year, I’ve become stronger and I feel a renewal of spirit that has welcomed me into the wings of growth. I’m a better not bitter person because of the entire experience and I go into my future with my head held high and with great expectations as the road is paved smoothly, not buckled from the sultry heat! Now if only I could remember my name…

“I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much.”

― Mother Teresa

Blog a Book

It is perfectly okay to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly.
C. J. Cherryh

Here’s the concept. For starters you need to start yourself a blog. I have one and the settings are set to ‘closed’ where no one can read or comment on it but me. My goal? Write my life story. I don’t know where the idea came from and at first I had it opened to where people could read my gut wrenching, painful past and learn from it, but then I thought I was revealing too much for public viewing so I closed the doors and am writing my novel instead, through the use of a blog.

Many of you have read books like Go Ask Alice and surely, the Diary of Anne Frank. The format is quite simple in a daily journal style format; with some added tidbits meshed into the story. Well that is my goal in Blogging a book. Day after day I’ll write one tale after another, compile posts of substance, possibly 1,000 words a day. Then at the end of the month I will have close to 30,000 words written! Sounds like a plan.

You don’t need any fancy gadgets and sidebars, this is where you are just going to pen your story. You could do it outside the blog, but I know many of you don’t back up your work on a daily basis. This is where all your writing will be safe, and when your computer crashes and you lose everything, the blog will still be there storing all that you’ve written, so a months worth of work will be safe.

Writing a novel of fiction would be done the same way, but not so much as a journal. I’m going for the journal-like route because my biography is non fiction. The style might change after I get it all completed, but this gives me something to write about on a daily basis. I’m done on classes for now, I’m finished leading people in their writing (except for my blog here at Write Right) and I’m moving on to action. The action being that I’m writing every day, no outside negative influences, and I’m well on my way.

If you’re a new writer and this is your first time penning a tale. Do your research! You don’t need to pay for expensive classes to help you along the way. Make google your friend and search out style of writing, voice, metaphors and the like. Surround yourself with positive people which you can find on many writing sites on the web, for FREE! Take it from me, one negative person can take you down, so flee from them! Be forewarned! Surround yourself with positive and positive will be your pillow at night, and all you dream.

There are many storage facilities, also free on the net, GOOGLE is one of them. Make sure you store your work somewhere other than just on a blog. Your files are not safe because computers have been known to crash, with years of hard work wiped out completely, all because no one thought to BACK-UP their work. Sure the websites you store your work at can rarely be hacked, and this is why you choose many sites all with different passwords.

Keep your novel/blog/work safe! And Write Right!

What Dreams May Come

Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you. ~Marsha Norman

***

Well here we are. Today I’d like to talk about a few things, if you don’t mind.

For one, I almost gave up on writing (yeah right, you say?) No, seriously, I really have not felt like writing because a few loose cannons went off, and tried to disable me, but then I realized, no one can hurt me but me! I am my own worst enemy when it comes to writing.

I’m no longer a part of a certain writing site, just too much has happened, too much pain and bitter feelings there and as I let the administration down and many writers, I have other avenues in writing to pursue. My old friends will have to visit my blog if ever to see me, or not visit me at all and let me get on with my life. Thanks for the many good years, but now it is time for me to go and grow. They know who they are, know what they did, and they have to wake every morning and live with trying to wreck a writers dreams. Personally, I hope they look in the mirror and feel good about themselves.

It is Spring as you might have all noticed, as the robins are dancing in the yard, flowers have reared their head from the soil, and a mild winter will bring us a beautiful flourishing abundant Spring and Summer for sure. Well Summer is still iffy, since I think we’ll be getting some horrendous storms that will cripple a couple places, but don’t hold me to that, okay? It might just be an amazing and uneventful summer where you are at.

Dreams come from imagination. Your conscious mind creates things and it is up to you to make that dream become reality. My dream of writing cannot be put out by a few watery hoses; someone better bring out mightier and more powerful arsenal to squelch THIS flame.

While the first three months of the year have not been uneventful with Omaha trips, infections poisoning our systems, attacking us, and months of the same from my once joyful writing site, I am heading into Spring, and my New Year (Yes, I celebrate MY new year on Easter) with promise and HOPE for a new beginning.

As I’ve peeled myself away, I have opened new layers of consciousness which have enabled me to meet new people, become a part of NEW places to advance my writing because as it is told to me often, I have a talent, and as such, I must find a way to utilize the gift given to me.

Next week, we’ll begin looking at grammar and all the useful tools available. I will not list the different sites I’ve signed up to, because I do not want the vipers to follow me and continue to haunt and taunt me. But you’ll see, as I move forward, we move forward together. New tools, new aspects of the writing field, can only mean New Growth as Spring comes alive and showers me with what dreams may come alive for me as the days roll along.

Wild World of Writing

The writing world is just wild! With Authors, Publishers, Agents, and Editors, we find ourselves in a world of words, bouncing around like balls in a BINGO machine! It’s a wonderful world mostly, where like minds join together for the same common interest and that is the love of reading and writing.

The definitions of such are below:

AUTHOR --
1. a person who writes a novel, poem, essay, etc.; the composer of a literary work, as distinguished from a compiler, translator, editor, or copyist.
2. the literary production or productions of a writer:
3. the maker of anything; creator; originator:

WRITER --
1. a person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc., especially as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist.
2. a person who commits his or her thoughts, ideas, etc., to writing.

PUBLISHER --
1. a person or company whose business is the publishing of books, periodicals, engravings, computer software, etc.
2. the business head of a newspaper organization or publishing house, commonly the owner or the representative of the owner.
 
AGENT --
1. a person or business authorized to act on another's behalf:
2. a person who works for or manages an agency.
 
EDITOR --
1. a person having managerial and sometimes policy-making responsibility for the editorial  part of a publishing firm or of a newspaper, magazine, or other publication.
2. a person who edits  material for publication, films, etc.

Publishers, Editors, and Agents are not necessarily writers/authors. They are in the business because they were either writers in their previous years and found the business exciting enough to stay in the field one way or another, or the love of reading has brought them to this juncture.
 
And not all writers make good editors. I see some well published writers/authors of their own works still in need of an editor who can pick out that typo and make their work appear more professional. Say a writer posts an article at Helium. If they have not edited their work and many typo’s abound, what are the odds of that author ever being taken seriously?
 
Is an agent necessary to get your work into the hands of the publishers? Not necessarily, but they do know who to pitch your work to and whose hands it would best have a likely shot at being published. So as you can see, it is one wild world this writing domain that I’ve gotten myself into. With ups and downs, in's and outs, the Wide World of Writing is a kaleidoscope of adventures and can bring a richly rewarding creative world to life for you whichever you are in the industry, writer/author, agent, publisher or editor.
 
As the Cat Stevens song says, “Oh baby baby it’s a wild world!” ...it goes onto saying, “But if you wanna leave, take good care, hope you make a lot of nice friends out there, but just remember there’s a lot of bad and BEWARE!”
 
The same can be said for the writing world.

Learn from the Past!

If you read good books, when you write, good books will come out of you.
Natalie Goldberg

I know as a child, had it not been for the mistakes that my parents made, would I have ever learned right from wrong. We learn from other people on the road of life, and it is through them that we decide what we’re going to do or where we’re going. Right or wrong, we’re going to step into the unknown, make a choice, and stand firm in our decision.

I read something that was quite funny yesterday from a student. “What can we learn from the ancients. Times have changed. Move on.” After I readjusted my jaw after it dropped and hung there for a spell, I replied gently, but firmly. This person wants to be a writer, but doesn’t want to learn from writers that have gone on before him/her??? How logical is that?

This person’s exact words were this and I quote: “You know what? I thought this class was to help us become better writers. Not, to learn how to intrepert writers from hundreds of years ago. Hello, times have changed. Our understanding of ancient writers is NOT going to help us attract the interest of that potential agent. Are you REALLY here to help us??? We're not here to be impressed by the accomplishments or knowlege of your experience.”

After you get over the grammatical errors, learn something quite pivotal from this statement. This person is in writing for the money. Not the knowledge they can gain from writers and accomplished writers who came before them who achieved greatness because of their skills in the writing world. How does this young student EXPECT to attract that potential agent, if that person has not gained one bit of insight from from those ancients such as James Joyce, Shakespeare, and Sorry Mr. Bradbury, but you’re thought of as an ancient tool in the writing world.

I cannot imagine a world of learning not being shaped by the thoughts and techniques of men and women who have gone on before me. I learned to write poetry, not by some new aged rapper, but from the elders in the field. First Shakespeare, Frost, Tennyson, Byron, Dickenson; just to name a few. They didn’t teach me, but reading them and dissecting their work, I gained knowledge of the flow, the artistic stance in their words, the paint they used to place a portrait in my mind. Had I not read them, where would I get my information? Knowledge? Know-how?

Are we expected to learn from the new age and times? Sure times have changed, and I haven’t seen much in the way of, for-the-better, either. So what am I to take away from the statement, “What can we learn from the ancients?” You will learn this my friend, just what your FUTURE holds!

Built Over night?

There are three difficulties in authorship: to write anything worth publishing, to find honest men to publish it - and to get sensible men to read it.
~Charles Caleb Cotton

I see so many folk jump on the bandwagon of writing only to want to get it done, right here and right now. This career choice isn’t one where you go to college, come out with a degree and then become a rich and famous published author. It’s all about a snails pace mentality. You write every day, you blog possibly, you move forward step by step in hopes to achieve something of a positive result.

Many want a lesson to know about show and tell, they look for answers and feedback, get swayed by being the most popular in a class and are quick to help, and aid in any way they can. But I’m telling you once more, writing is not a popularity contest. Writing is long hard work. Dedication to knowledge in the field.

Don’t walk into a class, with an arrogance of , “My work is so great, I’m saving it for ‘proper’ publication.” You’re in a private classroom, locked out from the public, you’re creatively learning by doing writing lessons, and when someone wants to honor you on a good job, it gets published in a private ezine. And you, as a writer say, “No, I don’t want my work published, I’m saving it for the big leagues.”

We writers are an arrogant bunch. To think for one moment, that a lesson, in a class, where you are learning the ropes, is publishable in the ‘big leagues’?  Let me tell you now, arrogant writers, your writing is protected in a classroom. Even if published by your classroom ezine, does not make it, already published when it comes submitting time to the big leagues of the industry. The Big Guys are looking for polished work. They strive to find perfection in an imperfect world, they want knowledgeable and profitable work that is going to not only make them money, but bring you a few dollars too.

It’s a long hard road to publication, and no, you as a beginning writer are not going to become this great publishable writer over night. The road is bumpy and sometimes unpleasant. There are hurdles to leap over and hoops to jump through. There are hours upon hours of learning techniques and knowledge to form and shape a story into a money-making sold story.

Some steps to take to get where you’re going:

1) To learn about show vs. tell, Point of View, Character building, etc. , don’t wait for an online course to teach you what THEY know, go out and grab information for yourself!!! You can google simple words, ie. Show and Tell in Writing, to give you tons of knowledge.

2) Put all the information into a file and use it as you write and shape your story. If you feel that a sentence isn’t working, it probably isn’t. Dig into the knowledge pool and find out why!

3) Learn what publishers are looking for. You may think your story is the best on earth, but will any publishers want the same old, same old, tried and true crud that is already out there, or are they seeking something new and different in your work?

4) Set aside the popularity contest. Being popular is not what writing is about and will not get you one iota closer to being a published writer. If you need your ego stroked, you’re in the wrong line of business here.

5) Write! Write! Write! -- Being a writer means that you are going to spend hours upon hours writing and learning. A writing career is not built over night. It takes years of patience, blood, sweat, and tears.

Write! Bring it home!

19-Sep-82 11:44    Scott E  Fahlman             :-)
From: Scott E  Fahlman :
I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:

:-)

Read it sideways.  Actually, it is probably more economical to mark
things that are NOT jokes, given current trends.  For this, use

:-(

We’re writer’s right? Then why the need for accentuating what you say? I’m meaning, the emoticon frenzy. Sure here I go again, calling writers out on using a smiley to accentuate, as if their words can not be digested unless an emoticon is in place.
 
Imagine this: You enter to read a blog post, the words, the story, all fall down like rain in a downspout, because the person has accentuated every sentence or every other sentence with a smiley, or five smiley’s for that matter. Would you stay and enjoy that persons writing?
 
Now imagine opening a novel, and inside there is emoticons, accentuating sentences. You’d tire of it real quick? Would you even read it or take the writer serious? I know I wouldn’t. I would think that that person is not a writer at all and in his/her need to bring home an emotion, he used smiley to do the work. Read more on the advent of smiley here:  

What did we do before emoticons came into our life? Was our life a boring flop on the big pillows? Was our life in front of another box, called a television instead of a computer? Were we so lazy to speak, that our lives were meaningless until the arrival of smiley? I personally use the exclamation mark for emphasis. For a strong emphasis I use many!!! I use the emoticon sparingly; a smile, not to emphasize my writing, a smile because well, it is sharing a joy of an emotion felt. To over use it? That's abuse!!!
 
While researching the smiley. I stumbled upon an interesting fact, many explanations to be exact. Abraham Lincoln used the first emoticon we call smiley and implanted it in our psyche. Our conscious carried it around for years, not even knowing it!
 
The president’s speech was moving along, and he had breaks like (applause) and he went on writing and then something appears, (applause and laughter;)  His sentence was the first recorded emoticon in history. ;) We relate the colon, semi colon with laughter.
 
Now I don’t know about you, when I’m writing, I don’t sit and laugh. When reading I don’t sit and laugh. When talking to someone, again, I don’t do it through laughter.  I liked this statement from the wikifiles, “Emoticons are often used to alert a responder to the tenor or temper of a statement, and can change and improve interpretation of plain text.” With that said, are we an emotional society fixated on the keyboard, that need to relay an emotion all the time? Change and improve? Do we need to convey that we are laughing or smiling so someone doesn’t misunderstand us and takes what we are saying as serious? Are we that gullible of a society that we can not get by without a smiley for conveying emotion?
 
I can understand a community of online people (chatters and social networks) needing smiley. But a community of writers? The very people who can express words and meanings like no other people? A world of writers who can bring it home for me in no other way? If you need to abuse smiley, not just emoticons, actual smiley faces have replaced that, because not even the EMOTICON can get across the true sense of what a person is saying and feeling anymore, because you can’t get the emotions right in your writing?  Please don’t call yourself a writer, you make us all look a little loopy too!

Writers Read

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

~Eleanor Roosevelt

As a writer, it is essential to read, and I don’t mean every book On Writing that you can get your hands on, because I’m from the old school, you can not ‘learn’ to be a writer. And this is true, if you think you can write just because you want to, you are on the wrong path. Jump off and join a circus, better odds of success there. You can learn the basic elements of writing, but to be a writer, you need to READ and to WRITE! All writers are avid readers. You’d be hard pressed to find a writer who says, “I don’t read books.” 

Are you kidding me? Why does one become a writer to begin with?  It is because you were little once and climbed into a book and chapter after chapter you were swept away into a fantasy land. You then thought things like, “I could do that! Take people to another world of imagination.” And the dream of becoming a writer was born. What were you, a month, two months old when your first book was ever read to you?
 
I didn’t become a writer, I’ve been a writer all my life, and you’ll hear that a lot too in the writing community, “I was born to write!” We began our life being read to, then we began reading all on our own, then we saw something that was like a small spark of fire in the dry timbers of the pages. We knew we could write a story like this or that, and so we started with an essay, then it grew to a short story and maybe poetry, then we were well on our way to driving the train into the writing world.
 
I used to read anything and everything I could. I began diving into books of fiction then moved onto philosophy, then psychology, then I got into reading about the many different religions, physics, quantum physics; I just got wrapped up in those books educating myself for who knows what purpose, then I returned to fiction. All the while growing, I was writing poetry and stories on a typewriter until about ten years ago I got a computer and began joining writing sites and poetry sites, posting my work for all the world to see.
 
Being the most popular will not make you a good writer, popularity and over eagerness will NOT make your writing appear better! My family never supported me then and doesn’t support me now. In my physical realm, it is just me. In my virtual world I have an over abundance of support! How did you become such a good writer, you ask? Well, it was through the encouragement of the many writing communities, a two year writing course, and being wrapped up in words like a blanket to my soul. It was due to the fact that I have read thousands upon thousands of books. To be a writer, one must be a reader first and foremost, then writing comes almost as natural as brushing your teeth in the morning.  

Professionalism

It only takes one person to change your life – you.
Ruth Casey

***

There comes a point in ones writing career when you realize the importance of acting like a professional. If you’re just writing to make friends, to be popular, to just plain old have fun, then you are in the wrong business. Maybe you should think of joining a circus, or a carnival, or perhaps a day care where the children don’t want you to be professional, they want a like-minded person who is funny and will play all the time. Remember, they WANT Bozo the Clown for a friend!

When you join the writing sites, it is pretty important that you come off as a professional. You never know if a prospective editor, agent, or publisher is sitting right next to you, observing you before she/he approaches you. If they see that you can’t even act professional, why would they want to take something as serious as getting you published and helping you with it, into their professional business?

Allow me to ask this, when you submit your work, are you going to put cute little hearts on your work, a few woohoos; are you going to sign it with (hugs)? I’m just here to tell you, that your work will go right in the trash! Why? Because not only did you not adhere to the guidelines, it was because you were very unprofessional in the submission of your work!

As teachers of writing, we have to set proper examples for the new writer to follow. When we act in a childish manner, the newcomer finds this as an example to follow and they go on acting like a child, then the whole class begins acting like a child, then the classroom erupts in crazy behavior and becomes a circus-like atmosphere. Which has me running for the exit. But it has the newcomer embracing the silliness, and then the entire school is acting crazy and unprofessional and makes me not want to be a part of the writing world!

I will not take seriously anything someone is trying to teach me if they continuously shout out “WOOHOO” with a smiley or the words, woohoo. An occasional smiley might make them feel welcome, but the annoying over use makes you appear not very knowledgeable, or better yet, very unprofessional in the field. You’re waging a popularity contest, an ego boost, and in hindsight, you’ve created a series of fellow performers. You were just suppose to teach lessons.

The RINGMASTER - YOU, the teacher! The one who is guiding and leading has trained:
CLOWNS - these are the folk that follow your insanity and lead others too!
TIGHTROPE WALKERS - these are the ones that stand high above you looking down, wondering what they got themselves into.
TRAPEZE ARTISTS - these are the ones who swing all around the place, trying to fit in, and showing off their silliness, as you taught them!
JUGGLERS - Who juggle many sites, doing the same thing. Running around being crazy.

Now don’t get me wrong, the newcomer is frightened as it is upon entering a new course, and when they see someone acting like a goof, they then think, “Hey, this is an okay place! I feel at home.” Then they go onto acting a little loose too, where otherwise they might have remained professional. I say this: Know your boundaries! Set your limits! Know that the writing community is full of professional people, just waiting to help you along your path. Even the ‘stiff shirts’ can be a little zany sometimes, but we know what our job is and that is to guide you in the RIGHT direction, not skirt you off to the circus!

Write On!

If you have an hour, will you not improve that hour, instead of idling it away?
Lord Chesterfield
***

The world of writing is all about writing. Trying so hard to over please people, clicking the LIKE button one hundred times a day, does not make people LIKE YOU more it makes you pitied more. I have joined a couple of new writing sites where a like button is obscure. And the one site that does have a like button I haven’t seen anyone going down the board clicking like to something as simple as “my dog died”. You know these people don’t even read what they are clicking like to, they just want to BE liked and are over compensating while looking a little foolish.

No this isn’t at facebook that I’m speaking of, this is just my observance elsewhere on the net. A site that I no longer promote because honestly, its an embarrassment and I would not refer a professional, only for them to lose money because that is what they sought, a professional writing atmosphere.

Writing takes focus, writing takes commitment, writing is the breath of you and there will come a time when you can like your way into peoples lives, and some will buy it, but professionals won’t. A professional writing site is focused on your writing, your creativity, your story and structure, they don’t need the like button because everyone is equal!

That is what I seek in my writing journey, like minded people, who are creating and crafting stories, willing to give honest feedback, and are a comfort to wake up to, not a big scare. I laid my dream on the line, now I’m going after it without all the idle distractions of the day.

What will you do this new year to make your writing dream come true? Will you waste it trying to be liked? Or are you going to write, snag that keyboard by the keys and begin tapping ‘til your fingers bleed? You betcha!

Things to get you focused on WRITING:

1. Open your MS word, or whatever program you use, and begin with...”The clouds swept over the house...” or something to that affect. I notice if I open with an action line, many other words start to flow that I didn’t even know I was sitting down to write!

2. Disconnect from the internet! That is one of the main distractions to writing and that is the internet, looming in your browser, if it is open, you are more tempted to be distracted from it!

3. Focus on writing AT LEAST 500 words at one sitting. When you take away the distractions, more times than not, you can produce more than 500 words at a sitting.

4. Open the internet but only for research reasons! We may have written a 1500 word short story and need to do a reference check or something. Be strong, and focus on RESEARCH!!!

5. Have confidence in yourself. You DO NOT need a Social Scene to boost your moral, or to get you writing. If you honestly go there to boost your writing, then why all the LIKES? You are not focusing on writing, you’re more focused on being accepted, popular and LIKED. In the WRITING world, focus on WRITING!!!


So there you have it, all the tools TO WRITE! Writing software, focus, NO INTERNET, research tools, and most importantly, confidence in yourSELF! Now WRITE ON!!!

What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself.
Hecato, Greek philosopher

Dream On

“Dream on it. Let your mind take you to places you would like to go, and then think about it and plan it and celebrate the possibilities. And don't listen to anyone who doesn't know how to dream.” ~ Liza Minnelli
***

Dream on, dream on, dream until your dreams come true. Ahh the words of a song by Aerosmith. I remember as a kid hearing this song and it just moved me on to dream. Sitting there with my feet up on the sofa, foot and head bobbing along with the song until finally I was on my feet playing air guitar! Those were the days.  Just like my aim with this blog, to move you on to dream of becoming a writer.

You see so many reality shows with young people dreaming of being singers, dancers, winning a million bucks for stranding themselves on an island with some other folks with the same dream. I even remember a day where stand up comics were given the spotlight to see if they had what it takes to be ‘professional’. Why is there no show for writers to showcase THEIR work.

Ok somebody is going to steal my idea, and I lay claim to it if they do, because maybe I want to see a show, of wannabe writers standing up on stage reading their work and in as few as 500 words hook the audience, and only giving the audience more, if the writer has nailed hooking them and leaving them wanting more.

Oh this reality show is only on dream status for now (tv producers out there? Contact me, I’ll give you the entire idea, for a small price. ;) ) You see it would never come to fruition unless you of course wore your most sleaziest outfit, showed lots of cleavage, and delivered something that our sick society would want.

You, as a writer, have a job to do. You’re writing is not just a dream. I was always told by my siblings when I said I wanted to do this or that, to 'DREAM ON!' And that is all I ever did was dream. I never had the encouragement from my siblings that I do now from the writing community, and that is what I’m here to tell you, DREAM ON... you can do it! You’re dream can become a reality. Stick to it, write your heart out, never give up, and as Liza said, “Don’t EVER listen to anyone who doesn’t know HOW to dream!”

Sometimes words can elicit a dream like the famous works by Martin Luther King, “I have a dream...” There comes a time in everyone’s life, where we dream a dream of bigger brighter and better days. This is my dream, to see each of you reach out and fulfill your very own dreams! I’m tired of all this talk about ‘reality’ shows, lets make our DREAM, a reality!
 
Are ya with me? Dream on, dream on...dream until your dreams COME TRUE!!!

Networking

Just the word sounds important as it stands alone up there.
 
Networking is defined as: the practice of making contact and exchanging information with other people, groups or institutions. Usually, networking occurs with other people who have interests in similar areas. The goal of the networking relationship may be to further your personal employment opportunities or to cultivate new clients or the expansion of business relationships. Networking is also a term of art used in the computer industry.
 
Monday we figured out that we have the procrastination bug, and I devised tricks to get that little thing nipped in the bud! Then on Tuesday, I gave a few tips on how to Prioritize your schedule so that you’ll have the time to write and take action instead of putting things on the back burner and making all your time about playing on facebook.
 
Now today I’m here to tell you, to GO to facebook. But I’m also here to tell you that you will not be going for fun and games. You’re not going to visit your friends, wink, hug, LIKE, and pretend you’re in the worldwide playground of the internet. You my friend, are going to NETWORK! If you want to do all that stuff, go ahead, but if you’re a writer and trying to NETWORK, I would not advise making Facebook a Farmville of a place with animals popping up, crops of people on your list (unless they are writers), and the abundance of games absorbing your wall.
 
Networking with like minds takes a certain finesse. When my friend from Finland told me about facebook and how I should network to jump start my writing career, facebook was the place to do it. Another writer friend, M.D. , introduced me to things like Twitter and Weebly, and Ping! All in my arsenal of networking my way into my writing career.
 
Someone had briefly mentioned MySpace but I quickly learned that place should have been name MySmut! So I quickly blocked that place and all the trash it carried with it. Facebook quickly became my virtual world for networking. But I  was new to the scene and did all the wrong things that got me nowhere in my writing. I played game upon game,  I poked, preached, ranted and raved, hugged and ignored, only to realize, I’ve lost the Networking battle.
 
Or did I? Something happened a few months back; I realized I was NOT prioritizing and making my writing come first. While I was off mentoring and facilitating, helping out other writers, editing and whatnot, I lost my love... of writing. I got so caught up in being self-righteous, I lost something along the way and only recently found again. Something I’m not letting go this time in my pursuit of Networking.
 
My list of five things to propel you into NETWORKING on facebook?
 
1. Accept friends of like minded ability. Not the ones who want to play; the ones who are as serious and professionally minded as you!
 
2. Make a separate account for family, games and the playground mentality.
 
3. LIKE, everything Writing related!!!  Then your HOME wall will be filled with vital info, instead of game updates or who went to pee and felt you needed to know this.
 
4. Participate! Actively participate in your writing pages that you have LIKED. These people are professional, welcoming, and they love sharing.
 
5. If you want to rant, rave, preach, and stand on a pedestal, either make a blog for just that, or make sure your network of friends is of the like mind, or surely you will lose some portion of your networking capabilities.
 
Maybe this warrants another post...at another time. :)
 
SUPPORT YOUR FELLOW WRITER and THEY’LL SUPPORT YOU!