I've noticed with my writing that I can write and write and write, edit and edit and edit, but it's not until I read everything outloud do I find the things that I really need to fix. The become so glaringly obvious I wonder how I could have missed them in the first place. But that's what reading outloud my work does for me, it makes it more clear. In life I think there are many things where we could "read them aloud" to make them more clear. Like talking with your spouse over something instead … [Read more...]
Day 164: Roadkill
Have you ever done something where you felt like in the end you killed whatever it was? Kind of like someone who love drawing and wanted to be an architect. So they went to school to get their degree in what they love. And then they got the dream job. However, after several years of doing what you used to love it's not become a job and you no longer love it like you used it. In a way it's like the dream became roadkill. I think when we go after our dreams we have to remember that we focus on … [Read more...]
My Favourite Character of All Time
MICKEY MOUSE!!!! He's the man, or at least that's what I've said for years. I started to collected Mickey Mouse when I was around 13 or 14 years old. I still collect him and many of the Disney characters like Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. I still own things from all those years ago and some have either broke or been lost over time. When someone asks me what I want for my birthday or Christmas I tell them it's easy. Anything with Mickey Mouse. I'm not even … [Read more...]
Day 163: The Proper Training of a Writer
I love what the author had to say about today: Maybe you don’t have a college degree. Or maybe you have an MBA from Harvard. Or maybe you barely got through high school. Do not use any of the above (including your MBA) as an excuse not to write. Very often our path to becoming a writer is messy and unpredictable and totally disconnected from formal education. Abercrombie, Barbara (2012-05-08). A Year of Writing Dangerously: 365 Days of Inspiration & Encouragement (Kindle Locations … [Read more...]
If I Had A Million Dollars…
But there's a catch. You are given the million in the morning and all of it must be spent by that night. If this opportunity happened to me I know without a shadow of doubt I contact as many school as I could to find out how I could give a four-year scholarship to those individuals who were majoring in special education. Even if the student was a senior that year, I'd give a one year scholarship to that individual to pay for all of his or her expenses. When I read the first prompt for the … [Read more...]
The Journey with Ava Pennington
Please welcome this weeks guest Ava Pennington for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? Step By Step I dreamed of writing for years, but never considered publication a realistic goal. My one success was a tribute to my mother published in a human interest column in a local newspaper. I wasn’t paid, but it encouraged me that someone thought enough of my writing to publish it commercially. Writing took a back seat when I began … [Read more...]
Day 162: Privacy, Privacy, Privacy
In this life is anything ever truly private, like in a diary or journal? Probably not. I think of the book "Go Ask Alice." I guarantee that when she wrote out what she did that she didn't expect that once she died it would be turned into a world-famous book. Or Anne Frank or any other books that came from a diary. While we would love to have our privacy, the reality is no one really has any. Maybe were not supposed to. Since I was around ten, I got my first diary from Grandma Patton one year … [Read more...]
Confucius…
He said, "To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short." Do I agree with this? Absolutely not. Why would it be wrong to go beyond what you expect or thought you would. I think of goals and my writing. When I set one, the main focus is to not only make the stated goal but to also exceed it if at all possible. You feel good not only about making it but surpassing it. On the opposite side, if you don't make it you tend to beat yourself up and feel terrible about it. I've always been told to set … [Read more...]
Day 161: Dreams of Messy Rooms and Crazy Typewriters
When you dream do you dream about things that actually have happen or will happen or are your dreams of things that are completely made up? I can honestly say I rarely remember my dreams. If I do, it is only for a limited time and the memory of the dream itself seems to vanish a short time later. However, I sometime have day dreams, or more like thoughts, that pop into my head for a good story idea for a book. I still remember the day I was up in my bedroom making the bed when the idea for the … [Read more...]
FALLing into Place
Nothing in life is ever easy for most of us. It's the things we work hard for that tend to be the most rewarding in the end. Compare someone who started from the ground up in a business and worked hard to make it a multimillion dollar one or the child born into wealth who never had to work a day in his life that when he turned eighteen he just expected much of the same. Who will appreciate what he has more? Hopefully it would be obvious that the guy who worked hard as the one who did doesn't … [Read more...]
