Keeping a Journal

I'd like to say I still have every journal from a lifetime of writing. After all, I poured so many thoughts into those pages, secrets I couldn't even share with myself.

My childhood diaries, however, have gone the way of my baby teeth. Just as well. Some things are better left forgotten.

More recent journals are scattered about my home: stacked on the floor, stuffed into the back of shelves, and hidden in boxes in the closet. I wouldn't be surprised if some are propping up second-hand furniture.

Does this mean I'm indifferent to the contents of those half-remembered tomes? I prefer to see them as buried treasure. How much more poignant the words will seem when unearthed years from now. And perhaps their value will have grown during the passing years.

Consider the following description written during a morning freewrite at an oceanfront cottage:

"The way the foam dances ahead of the wave, it looks like nimble fingers on piano keys."

The line stayed in my head for years and eventually evolved into the following poem:

water washed over

cold crescent shore loosely keyed

pebbled concerto

The basic concept had endured but been expanded to include more concrete imagery. If I hadn't captured the description in the moment, however, the poem never would have come about.

Journaling is a valid aspect of any writer's life. Recording your observations on a daily basis provides practice and discipline. Try it for a week--just one page per day--and see if you're not convinced.

You just might realize that there's more to "keeping" a journal than choosing its storage location.

Betty Dobson is an award-winning writer of short fiction, essays and poetry. She also writes newspaper and magazine articles but is still waiting for those awards to materialize. In the meantime, she continues to run InkSpotter Publishing, which has three new books available and several more in the works for 2012.

PERFECTIONISM

Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best. ~Henry van Dyke

When you aim for perfection, you discover it's a moving target. ~George Fisher

These quotes really speak to me today."It's perfect!" My two year old daughter exclaimed, proudly holding a drawing she created in art class. A part of me delighted in her present-centered joy and self -esteem. Another part of me cringed as I wondered if she knows the meaning of the word "perfect" at such a tender age. For many of us , perfectionism is a tool we use to postpone our dreams and procrastinate. Many people I talk to are waiting for those "perfect" conditions to start writing their book, find a soulmate or change careers. Time and experience have taught me that conditions are rarely perfect for beginning any endeavor. As a working mom, I have no desire or time for the old perfectionism that I used to embrace. Sometimes I overcook dinner, don chipped nail polish or leave the house with my hair disheveled. My new goal is to see the perfection in every day, instead of trying to make every day perfect.

How do you define perfect?

 

How can you eliminate perfectionism in your own life and write the book of your dreams?

 

 

 Aileen McCabe-Maucher is the author of the book "The Inner Peace Diet" which was published by Penguin Books and released in December 2008. Aileen is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist who has helped many people find inner peace and discover their unique life purpose. Aileen has worked for over fifteen years as a licensed psychotherapist and registered nurse providing individual and group counseling to a diverse client population. Aileen is currently pursuing a doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania and writing her third book.

 

 

Visit www.theinnerpeacediet.com to get your free Inner Peace Diet ecourse/mini book today.

Keep it Simple with Blogging

The busy, busy world crowds into our lives each day and pushes itself (often rudely) into our minds. Some of us have a difficult time shutting our thoughts off as we pull the comforter over us at night. We have goals and objectives and deadlines - all taking turns showing up in our thoughts for the next day or week.

Sometimes life has to come in sound bites.

Writers have much to say. And we like to say it! We are thinkers. We can look at a person, an object, a situation, and create a story. But with blogging: keep it simple.

Sometimes one solitary flower speaks more than a whole bouquet.

With writing my own blog, which is partly to build my platform, but also to bring hope and encouragement to someone who may be hurting, I have come to realize that less is best - for me writing it and for the one reading it.

I have also come to understand that writers have a tendency to go on and on and on - like a good cook on Thanksgiving Day - good food but waaaaay to much!

So I will end. right. now! 

Kathleen Moulton is a freelance writer and nature lover. She is married, has 8 children, ages 10-28, and has been homeschooling for 25 years. You can find her passion to bring encouragement and hope to people of all ages at http://kathleenmoulton.com/

Criminal Behavior

            Psychologist Abraham Maslow gave us some rules that govern basic human behavior. These rules have become the foundation to understanding criminal behavior. Human motivation is described in terms of a hierarchy of needs. These are placed ito five categories:

            1) Physical - such as food.

            2) Security - concerning things like shelter

            3) Belongingness and love - the desire for roots and a need to be wanted

            4) Esteem - desire to be liked and respected

            5) Self-actualizaion - a need to know and understand our world around us,

                to invent and create, and to discover joy in solving problems.

            Criminals degenerate in behavior, and this is displayed by three basic traits that signify the criminal personality:

            1) Weakness - emotional and/or physical which lacks discipline.

            2) Immaturity - childish egocentrism

            3) Self-deception - a severely narcissistic personality with a distorted

                 sense of personal reality

            Though it is not necessary to go into the details that cause a criminal to become a criminal, a writer must understand the mind of the criminal he/she is writing about. It is just as important to understand what makes your antagonist tick as it is your protagonist. Otherwise how are you going to make your readers understand why the murderer is killing or the robber is stealing? The writer must also develop a feeling of sympathy for the bad guy as well as for the protagonist. It all boils down to a believable story, and the bad guy has a backstory that makes him do the things he does just as the victim does.

            There are some questions you can ask that could help you understand your bad guy:

            1) What is the victimizer’s psychiatric type, and who are the victims? What

                is the victim’s profile?

            2) Where did the crime occur? What was there about this environment that

                 could have facilitated the crime?

            3) What time was the crime committed, and what is the relationship of the

                time to the crime?

            4) What occurred? What types of acts defined as intentional trauma?

            5) How did it happen? What was the injuries; what were the weapons and

                tools used?

            6) What was the motive for the crime?

            There are three characteristics that make up criminal behavior:

            1) They have a dominant ego where what they want is all that is important.

            2) The criminal exhibits dominant childish etal and emotional qualities.

            3) The bad guy has an obsession with sex.

            Developing your bad guy is more than just a physical description or a sad narration of his/her childhood. Just as you do with your protagonist, you must get into the mind of your antagonist. But you do not stop there because once you get into his mind you need to understand it and why he/she is the way he/she is.

Reference:  Malicious Intent

                   by Sean MacTire

                   Published by Writers Digest

Faye M. Tollison

Author of: To Tell the Truth

Upcoming book: The Bible Murders

                           Sarah’s Secret

Member of: Sisters in Crime

                    Writers on the Move

fayemtollison.com

fayetollison.blogspot.com

fmtoll.wordpress.com

              

The Kindle Challenge

Kindle had me clambering around the slippery snakes and ladders of techno-learning this week. There I was happily following Tiffany Dow's  experiences and starting her this month's Kindle Challenge when my Kindle app for PC threw down a challenge of its own.

" Won't. shan't, can't make me," it taunted to every attempt l made to open it.

I booted, rebooted, tried to run it as administrator. crept away and rushed back in the middle of the night when it least expected me.

Tried starting from various icons and through files--nada.

What do you do when your Kindle app with all your edited books and books for review expires?

But then common sense kicks in and you trawl through the search engines to find an answer to the problem.

The Good News

• You are not alone.

• Tech support from Amazon may be able to help. Tech support from Kindle forums is excellent.

• Best of all, not one of the books you've bought from Amazon is lost.  Even the freebies are still there on your Manage My Kindle accounts page.

The Bad News

• Anything you have acquired through another publisher is not there.

• You're going to have to be brave and tinker with some hidden files.

• It takes time you don't have when you're on a deadline.

But then that's when these things always happen isn't it?

The Solution for Windows?

1. Click on Documents and find the folder named My Kindle Content. If you have any non- Amazon books which you want to keep there, back up this file on  flash key or external hard drive.

2.Click on start menu, click on Amazon, click on Kindle for PC and finally uninstall.

3. Check that the uninstall has deleted your Kindle content.

4. Check your user files--that's the folder with the name you gave your PC, usually heading the right hand column on the Start menu--find data apps then open local then Amazon. If nothing has uninstalled there back up that file by copying it onto your flash drive. Only then, shut your eyes and bravely delete. It is essential to remove the kindle.info file.

5. Back to Amazon to deregister your app and download a new one.

6. Remember to register your new Kindle app when you first open it or you won't be able to download your books again.

7. Copy any other Kindle books from your back up drive straight into the My Kindle Content documents folder (each one has three files.)

8. Check all is working well. Treat yourself to a restorative drink and consider yourself an IT whizz kid.

Why Does the Kindle App malfunction? 

I had downloaded some new software which may have disagreed with it. Others find it happens because Amazon updates the app automatically and then it may have software incompatible issues. Sometimes downloading an older version of the app and unchecking the updates box in its menu tab does the trick.

For the moment, mine's as good as gold and l've no more excuses to get between me and writing that long promised eBook.

But l'd be interested to know if anyone else has suffered from Kindle or Kindle App or any other e-reader glitches.

 Oh and if you're looking for more writing challenges find the Writer's Digest popular fiction and short story competitions mentioned at Slow and Steady Writers,

* * * *

 Anne Duguid is a senior content editor with MuseItUp Publishing and   her New Year's Resolution is to blog with helpful writing,editing and publishing tips at Slow and Steady Writers far more regularly than she managed in 2011.

Write a Children’s Book in 14 Days!

Is it possible? Can you do it?

This summer, I bought the software program, How to Write a Children’s Book in 14 Days (or Less!) by Mel McIntyre.  I imagine that many aspiring writers have done the same thing, but how many actually go through each lesson and complete them all -- in two weeks? It’s not easy! It’s very important to set aside time each day during those two weeks. Otherwise, you might not be able to complete the program in the allotted time.

I also am a member of the Working Writers Club and took this class with Suzanne Lieurance.  Suzanne was our coach during the 14 days.  After we registered, she sent us a syllabus and schedule. This was a serious undertaking!

Suzanne also instructed us to read the entire textbook prior to the start of the class. I read most of it. Hmmm . . . there’s that time thing again! However, I did get a good understanding of what to expect during the two weeks.

Suzanne recommended we do some additional reading before we began the class. In the text, Mel gave examples of children’s books. I went to the library and checked out several of the titles she mentioned and read them. I got a better idea of how children’s books are written.

Last year, I started an idea notebook and file for the books I want to write, so I already had something in mind before the class.  I thought it would make the project easier. (I did say this wasn’t easy, didn’t I?)

During the two weeks, Suzanne, my classmates and I, had daily conference calls to discuss assignments, problems, etc.  I was able to participate in most of those calls. There is that time thing again! While the calls were recorded and could be listened to at a more convenient hour, I felt it was important to be there “live.” Luckily, I did not have many appointments or meetings scheduled for those two weeks. On the days that I was not available, I listened to most of the recordings. I think I missed one or two.

I enjoyed using the software program, being part of a class, and Suzanne’s coaching. I got alot out of the experience. But I also hit writers block after one week! My brain did not want to cooperate anymore. I found it difficult to do the daily assignments, but I did what I could.

I’ve been giving my brain a rest and I plan to tackle the program on my own next month.  I will try to complete it in four weeks. This will allow me extra time for the other things that happen in my life, yet gives me a calendar goal to reach.  

I would like to fully utilize what I learned from Mel and Suzanne. Hopefully, a second go-around will improve my writing and my manuscript will be that much closer to being submitted and published.

Debbie A. Byrne has a B.S. in Mass Communication with a minor in History. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and is currently working on her first children’s book.

How Yoga and Aerobic Exercise Can Help Defeat Writer's Block

It seems Writers on the Move is attracting the attention of freelance writers who are promoting online colleges, and today I have another guest article from freelance writer Carrie Lewis.

Writers on the Move accepts high quality and informative content from writers, as long as their promotion is of G rated and quality sites. As long as the content is helpful and/or interesting to our readers and the links are 'okay,' guest articles are welcome.

Now on to the article:

How Yoga and Aerobic Exercise Can Help Defeat Writer's Block

Guest Post by Carrie Lewis

 “Once in a while you have to take a break and visit yourself.” These are powerful words for writers to keep in mind, especially for those trying to defeat the dreaded syndrome known as Writer's Block. This can be quite a challenging condition for writers to contend with because they lose their ability to produce fresh and engaging content, or any content at all for that matter. Even the most seasoned wordsmiths sometimes have to make the unnerving discovery that their writing has become lifeless, devoid of imagination and loaded with repetition. When a writer makes this undesirable discovery, he or she should immediately take a break and find an escape. Yoga and aerobic exercise are two phenomenal activities these stressed writers can turn to in order to refresh themselves. Let's take a look at how yoga and aerobic exercise can help defeat Writer's Block by providing refreshment to the body, mind and spirits.

Yoga

The stretching and deep breathing involved in yoga really helps relax us and leaves us more alert, energized and refreshed. After just an hour of yoga, writers will feel ready to once again return to their work with a renewed sense of creative prowess. When writers experience Writer's Block, they immediately feel down on themselves and negativity seems to pervade their minds. Yoga helps eradicate this incessant negative self-talk, which can destroy creativity. You will build a strong and healthy body by engaging in yoga and you will naturally become better at handling stressful situations.

Aerobic Exercise

Neuroscience has authoritatively proven that aerobic exercise stimulates creative thinking, which makes it a powerful escape for writers to turn to when dealing with Writer's Block. Studies have proven that those who exercise routinely sleep better, which translates to a surge in the flow of our creative juices the next day. The sweat we experience when exercising helps lubricate our brains and makes our thinking more fluid. After we engage in about 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, endorphins, feel good chemicals that combat stress or pain, are released in areas of our brains that produce feelings of pleasure and reward. Endorphins minimize the discomfort of vigorous exercise and are associated with feelings of euphoria. This can help writers return to their work with renewed spirits.

All writers experience the dreaded Writer's Block at some point or another. Yoga and vigorous aerobic exercise can help to combat the syndrome by destroying negativity and fostering creativity.

Carrie Lewis is an avid fitness enthusiast, online English instructor for www.TheCollegeCity.com. Carrie has recently started writing her own novel and often turns to yoga and vigorous aerobic exercise to refresh her body, mind and spirits.