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...]
Billy Graham and My Life
I sat here tonight watching a Fox New Channel special called “My Hope America w/Billy Graham.” I sat here crying as I watched because it’s just so simple and so many miss it. That Jesus died, yes He died for every last human being on this planet from the past, present and future. He took all the sin of everyone and put it on Himself so that we may have everlasting life. Think about that. He died having never committed a sin taking on every last one of our sins so that we may live eternally in … [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...]
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...]
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...]
Day 160: One-Hair Brushes
It means to let yourself go. To be free to what you want to possibly get a better result than you could have expected. I love this quote, "Technique alone is never enough. You have to have passion. Technique alone is just an embroidered potholder." - Raymond Chandler I think writing is that for me. throughout the last five years I've done different things with my writing which has allowed me to become more and more open with it. I'm able to share more about me and who I am as a person. I try … [Read more...]
Day 156: Gratitude
In life there are so many things that can bring us down. The loss of a job. A house being foreclosed on. A spouse who’s had an affair. The loss of a parent; a spouse; a son or daughter. The list could go on with all the things that make us sad and miserable. However, it’s what we do when these things happen that matters most. When Mari died it would have been so very easy to curl up into a ball and just wither away as the pain was so acute and utterly deep. I’d cry out of the blue for what … [Read more...]
Day 149: The DVD in Your Head
Whether you are a writer or not have you ever had an idea that just goes round and round in your head until you do something about it. As a writer, it might be your story and your characters constantly talking to you. Or maybe a scene that is playing out before you. For me, I've relieved what happened to Mari in the hospital more times than I can remember. It's something that's always there and can easily be brought to mind. I think it's because it will forever be apart of me and is embedded … [Read more...]
Day 148: Intimacy
When some thinks of intimacy, they might think about those who are married or couples. However, in some case, it's within yourself and being willing to open yourself up to others about you and your family. I love what Barbara Abercrombie wrote about intimacy: "I want to read writers who have the courage to let me into their lives, who are open and intimate. If they've gone to the trouble of writing a book or an essay, I want it to be emotionally true; I want the details, the nitty-gritty, … [Read more...]
Day 145: Talent
I love this quote: "Lots of people have talent, darlin'. But look how many people throw it away. It boils down to this: having talent is not enough. You also have to have a talent for having talent." - Ruth Gordon There are so many people whom we come into contact throughout our life time that can have unbelievable talent but they either have no interest in pursuing that talent or simply don't have the drive. My brother comes to mind with this. My brother has a learning disability called … [Read more...]
