In case you have not realized this yet, this is basically my online journal. I am writing about accomplishing my goal and all the valleys and mountain tops along the way. Well now that you know...
This week was not a very productive one. I found myself down in the dumps and concentrating on everything I had not achieved. Seems that when I do that everything I have accomplished becomes yesterdays trash.
If that is all maybe I would have pulled myself together quickly. Yet more than anything I was torn. While part of me was happy to tell myself how we had felled the other part of me was still reaching out and absorbing knowledge. It was not until last night when a friend called that I was finally able to see past the debris storm rolling around me.
AS I talked to her she told me all of her woe is me problems and I totally understood them. What she didn't tell me was her plan. How she was going to make her life different. Didn't matter if it was a weekly, monthly or yearly plan. She just needed a plan. It was enough to make me realize I had a plan, but I was letting myself down because I had not worked on it all week long. Forget your Mother or Father, forget your children you had better be doing something and going somewhere that makes you happy.
You only have this life. To be more accurate I only have this life. Yes I will struggle and yes I will have bad days, but at the end of my life I want to know I worked hard to accomplish the things that made me happy.
So yeah my week sucked, but my Friday rocked. Turns out that in the end I learned a lot also.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Friday, August 15, 2014
Journey of an underfunded writer
Technically I wanted to call this post: Journey of a poor writer. So why didn't I? Well I now tend to stay away from things that classify me in a way I no longer see myself. So instead I will call myself underfunded which happens to be true.
Today I have been thinking about editing vs. not editing. I have come to the conclusion that editing is better. Duh! The question is what if you can't afford an editor? Everyone who has decided they have something to say cannot always afford an editor in the beginning.
I classify myself in the group that is unable to afford an editor for various reasons. I proudly finished my first novella consisting of about forty thousand words. Wow I thought I wrote forty thousand words and they actually form a story. I was so proud of myself I was used to writing short stories. Whew I did it I thought. I read it over and decided no editor needed, its the best thing ever written. Hey somebody has to like it might as well be me!
Fortunately a friend of mine said can I read it. Yes! I was so proud, I printed it and packaged it up nice and neat and gave it to her. She then said is it ok for me to make any corrections I see. Of course I replied with pride. I knew there was nothing wrong with that story. I waited a while for her to read it but hey I had a beta reader. Go me.
Finally she brought it back. She liked the story. Whew. Then she said I made some correction in red. Very few story correction, but a lot of errors with punctuation and a few with grammar. I nodded and took my precious baby back.
When I was alone I opened it up. There was a sea of red swimming on every page. Now if there was ever a time to be discouraged that was it. I diligently read the first few pages then put it up to take home. After cheering myself up I decided I would correct two chapters a night. That meant reading over every word so I could see how every comma and punctuation effected the story. It was hard and tedious work, but I did it.
I quickly caught on to several mistakes I was making repeatedly. So I not only corrected them there but I corrected them in the projects I was working on. I feel like I was blessed to have her. Now is she a professional editor? Nope, but she was better than not having anyone look over it.
If you find that you are strapped for cash for any reason and cannot afford an editor, look for a beta read. Preferably one that has a good command of the written language.
If your alternative is to do your very best with your beta reader and then self publish your book vs. waiting until you hit the lottery so you can afford an editor. Take the harder path. Self publish, forget about print for a while and take all the well meaning criticism in stride so the next time you hit publish you will be one step closer to your goal.
Signed by,
Making life worth living
Today I have been thinking about editing vs. not editing. I have come to the conclusion that editing is better. Duh! The question is what if you can't afford an editor? Everyone who has decided they have something to say cannot always afford an editor in the beginning.
I classify myself in the group that is unable to afford an editor for various reasons. I proudly finished my first novella consisting of about forty thousand words. Wow I thought I wrote forty thousand words and they actually form a story. I was so proud of myself I was used to writing short stories. Whew I did it I thought. I read it over and decided no editor needed, its the best thing ever written. Hey somebody has to like it might as well be me!
Fortunately a friend of mine said can I read it. Yes! I was so proud, I printed it and packaged it up nice and neat and gave it to her. She then said is it ok for me to make any corrections I see. Of course I replied with pride. I knew there was nothing wrong with that story. I waited a while for her to read it but hey I had a beta reader. Go me.
Finally she brought it back. She liked the story. Whew. Then she said I made some correction in red. Very few story correction, but a lot of errors with punctuation and a few with grammar. I nodded and took my precious baby back.
When I was alone I opened it up. There was a sea of red swimming on every page. Now if there was ever a time to be discouraged that was it. I diligently read the first few pages then put it up to take home. After cheering myself up I decided I would correct two chapters a night. That meant reading over every word so I could see how every comma and punctuation effected the story. It was hard and tedious work, but I did it.
I quickly caught on to several mistakes I was making repeatedly. So I not only corrected them there but I corrected them in the projects I was working on. I feel like I was blessed to have her. Now is she a professional editor? Nope, but she was better than not having anyone look over it.
If you find that you are strapped for cash for any reason and cannot afford an editor, look for a beta read. Preferably one that has a good command of the written language.
If your alternative is to do your very best with your beta reader and then self publish your book vs. waiting until you hit the lottery so you can afford an editor. Take the harder path. Self publish, forget about print for a while and take all the well meaning criticism in stride so the next time you hit publish you will be one step closer to your goal.
Signed by,
Making life worth living
Friday, May 30, 2014
I Got Scammed
My phone rang waking me up from much needed sleep. Then things went down hill from there. The voice on the other end of the phone states he is calling from Microsoft. They are receiving reports my computer that i picked up a virus. So here are the facts. I just gave Microsoft my phone number several days ago when i decided to use their in the cloud program. I never give my real number but hey there such a big company what could go wrong?
I downloaded a virus X number of days ago. One I thought I had gotten of my computer and I was sleep. I throw in the sleeping part to make myself feel better. So I went along with the program until the side of my brain that was crying BS overcame the part of my brain saying all of this happened to you. Unfortunately by then it was to late. I called the place that has worked on my computer before and they said you were scammed. You can use your computer but do not connect to the net.
I wanted to cry but didn't. In comes my teen who says mom maybe its a blessing in disguise. My sarcastic reply was I am tired of my blessings wearing a disguise. So after i confirm several times to myself that I do not have the intelligence I was born with I start to think. Recently my daughter tried out for a theatre company but she had been sick for a week. Her voice was shot and she could barely do her monolog.
My nephew is one of the top runners in the country and he sent me a text after his last race. This is what i told them when you go out and give it your best but it turns out to be your worse do not worry. When the worst is out of the way you now have room to do your best. I made the worse business decision when i allowed myself to get scammed but now i can make better business decisions.
I don't know why this happened. I do know that i will be out of commission for several months. SO i started a new book and maybe one of the good things is i will not only have product by the time I can access the net on my lap top but i will keep growing as a writer.
Turns out that the road to your dream is not always paved in sand many times there are unseen detours with lots of rocks. Be weary so you are not scammed.
Keep writing many times you are describing tomorrow today in your stories.
I downloaded a virus X number of days ago. One I thought I had gotten of my computer and I was sleep. I throw in the sleeping part to make myself feel better. So I went along with the program until the side of my brain that was crying BS overcame the part of my brain saying all of this happened to you. Unfortunately by then it was to late. I called the place that has worked on my computer before and they said you were scammed. You can use your computer but do not connect to the net.
I wanted to cry but didn't. In comes my teen who says mom maybe its a blessing in disguise. My sarcastic reply was I am tired of my blessings wearing a disguise. So after i confirm several times to myself that I do not have the intelligence I was born with I start to think. Recently my daughter tried out for a theatre company but she had been sick for a week. Her voice was shot and she could barely do her monolog.
My nephew is one of the top runners in the country and he sent me a text after his last race. This is what i told them when you go out and give it your best but it turns out to be your worse do not worry. When the worst is out of the way you now have room to do your best. I made the worse business decision when i allowed myself to get scammed but now i can make better business decisions.
I don't know why this happened. I do know that i will be out of commission for several months. SO i started a new book and maybe one of the good things is i will not only have product by the time I can access the net on my lap top but i will keep growing as a writer.
Turns out that the road to your dream is not always paved in sand many times there are unseen detours with lots of rocks. Be weary so you are not scammed.
Keep writing many times you are describing tomorrow today in your stories.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Why I Write
I am writing this blog to chronicle my journey as a new writer.
When I was eighteen my dad asked me a question. "What do you want to do."
I answered with no hesitation. "I want to write."
"No" was his reply and so I didn't go to school for writing. That was many years ago. I am older and wiser and I understand why he said no at the time.
I went on with life I met someone and married. We had a beautiful baby girl together. Then after many difficulties designed to let me know this was not going to work we went our separate ways. I kept the beautiful baby girl who was born with a genetic illness. Best thing I have ever done.
Many years passed and I realized I was in trouble. I was working a job I really didn't like anymore. Not because it was a bad job no actually its a great job. Yet i was changing and the job wasn't. My needs were changing and the job wasn't. In the end I was starting to feel like I was in bondage. I had stopped growing.
One day my nephew said to me at the glorious age of eighteen Aunt Serena I want you to watch this movie on youtube called The Secret. I assured him I would when I had time. One month turned into another and I never watched it and he kept asking. So right about October 2012 I gave in and booted up my laptop. I was enthralled by the concept.
That's when my discontent became severe. I would walk the corridors of my mind just wearing out the floor. How can I make a difference in my life what can I do? I decided I wanted to be an entrepreneur to own my own business and to take a chance even if it meant I failed.
Unfortunately I saw no way of making that happened so I simply stewed and fretted. That year for Christmas my daughter was in the hospital. If your child has ever been sick during the holidays you may understand what I am saying. There is something in your heart that just wants to make the situation better. If you can't change the illness then you simply want to make their surroundings better. Maybe be able to spend more time with them. You want to provide a better life for them to enjoy during the times they are not sick.
I wanted all those things and more. That Christmas my sister handed me a present in a Barnes and Nobles bag. I wonder what it could be, a book? Of course it was a book. It was by Jack Canfield, The Success Principles. I took it back to the hospital, I had gone to pick up my mom, and later that night we started reading it together. Anything to take her mind off the pain.
I read it cover to cover and I started to wonder if my life could be better. I had never spent much time thinking about the fact that some people actually loved what they did for a living. It was such a novel concept for me. So I decided I needed to learn new things but how I asked myself. I didn't have the money to go back to school and with a sick child even internet school was more than I could handle.
Finally I decided on watching motivational videos.
When I was eighteen my dad asked me a question. "What do you want to do."
I answered with no hesitation. "I want to write."
"No" was his reply and so I didn't go to school for writing. That was many years ago. I am older and wiser and I understand why he said no at the time.
I went on with life I met someone and married. We had a beautiful baby girl together. Then after many difficulties designed to let me know this was not going to work we went our separate ways. I kept the beautiful baby girl who was born with a genetic illness. Best thing I have ever done.
Many years passed and I realized I was in trouble. I was working a job I really didn't like anymore. Not because it was a bad job no actually its a great job. Yet i was changing and the job wasn't. My needs were changing and the job wasn't. In the end I was starting to feel like I was in bondage. I had stopped growing.
One day my nephew said to me at the glorious age of eighteen Aunt Serena I want you to watch this movie on youtube called The Secret. I assured him I would when I had time. One month turned into another and I never watched it and he kept asking. So right about October 2012 I gave in and booted up my laptop. I was enthralled by the concept.
That's when my discontent became severe. I would walk the corridors of my mind just wearing out the floor. How can I make a difference in my life what can I do? I decided I wanted to be an entrepreneur to own my own business and to take a chance even if it meant I failed.
Unfortunately I saw no way of making that happened so I simply stewed and fretted. That year for Christmas my daughter was in the hospital. If your child has ever been sick during the holidays you may understand what I am saying. There is something in your heart that just wants to make the situation better. If you can't change the illness then you simply want to make their surroundings better. Maybe be able to spend more time with them. You want to provide a better life for them to enjoy during the times they are not sick.
I wanted all those things and more. That Christmas my sister handed me a present in a Barnes and Nobles bag. I wonder what it could be, a book? Of course it was a book. It was by Jack Canfield, The Success Principles. I took it back to the hospital, I had gone to pick up my mom, and later that night we started reading it together. Anything to take her mind off the pain.
I read it cover to cover and I started to wonder if my life could be better. I had never spent much time thinking about the fact that some people actually loved what they did for a living. It was such a novel concept for me. So I decided I needed to learn new things but how I asked myself. I didn't have the money to go back to school and with a sick child even internet school was more than I could handle.
Finally I decided on watching motivational videos.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)