It's been a while since I posted anything. I've been busy with a lot of positive events. Growing my presence in the writing and reading community. Growing myself for the many stories that whisper in my ears. They make my fingers twitch with longing. I need to write them. I want to write them but I have to finish the stories that are ahead of the wisps that are ideas.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Dreams are not Made for Boxes
Dreams are not Made for Boxes: It's a truth that finally settled within me. Dreams are seeds that when watered and tended grow. But sometimes, I've learned, that it is the gardener that needs pruning and fertilizing before the garden that is "the dream" can finally thrive and bear fruit. Like flowers, their life and death bear fruit. Life brings beauty, fragrance and joy upon viewing. The death of a flower creates food for the next generation. My dream started with short stories that evolved into novels, now those novels are branching out into series. The challenge: pacing myself. Speed walk. Run/walk. Jog. Run. I am currently at the working my way to the jog stage. I've been running/walking for years. The year is at it's quarter mark. The question to those reading this blog: Where are you with your dream(s) and or goal(s)? Are you still working at them? Moving them toward reality? Are they still in a box? When I say, still in the box, I mean it's the "hope" but you are doing nothing to make it a reality.
If you are an artist of any kind. Are you meeting other artists? Getting that encouragement. Feeding off the energy of those chasing their dream? Are you being spurred along with a healthy spirit of "I can get there too" as you watch others in your craft inch their way or leap their way to the next level? (This isn't only for artists. Do you want to go back to school? Get a better job? Loose weight? Whatever. It applies. You have to do something to attain it.)
A dream in a box is not a real dream. Something in a box is useless. It's when you remove the contents of that box does anything begin to happen. To my fellow dreamers, I encourage you to keep it up, but pull the dream out of the box. Let it's magnitude terrify and excite you. Anticipate it's achievement. Be giddy when that little idea slips through your fingers only to morph into something bigger. Follow that dream. Chase it like an adored lover. Give it your all and don't quit on it. As long as you have breath you can make it happen. Dreams are not confined by time. They don't age. Like a child they keep growing. Don't shove it in a box.
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. - Anatole France
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Fear is Stronger than Love
“Fear is stronger than love”
― Tupac Shakur, Resurrection, 1971-1996
I like looking up quotes. I post them on Twitter and Facebook and I post them around my house and jot them on index cards I carry around. This one in particular stands out. I can identify with it. It's a daily struggle to overcome the fear of the ghosts of "what if's," the demons of "past failures" and oddly enough the terror of "what will I do when I succeed"? It's crazy, but fear can be the water that douses a dream's fire (if you let it). Fear can be a sledgehammer to the knee caps of progress as you fight your way to the next step toward your personal goal. I'm quite familiar with this one. There have been times when I've had my manuscript and contemplated taking a lighter to it out of frustration but reading Twits, Facebook posts, talking to actual "full time" writers and friends, I put the lighter down and write on. It's hard chasing a dream. Sometimes your legs give out. Sometimes you catch a cramp. Sometimes you let yourself go, on the physical or skills level, and you get fat.
Fear.
Fear can paralyze and kill. It can scare the love of what you do right out of you, but as long as love burns, even if it's a tiny spark-you can overcome fear. I've sat for months at a time fearing that I'm not a good enough writer to move my story forward. I've learned to recognize the internal critics, the doubts and nay saying that goes on inside and kill them with truth. Being devoted to anything is hard. It takes work and it can and most assuredly is a lonely journey. I've learned to take the water that threaten to douse my dream's fire and turn it to gasoline so that my dream burns brighter. I am willing to do what it takes to sharpen my craft, so that I am worthy of, and able to tell the stories that rattle around in my head. I aspire to be on the bookshelves (or virtual bookshelves) with an actual readership. (Woo Hoo!). This year I'm doing things that scare me in order to evolve. I've slacked up on my virtual presence but I'm not quitting. How about you? How are you doing with your dreams? Are you letting fear beat you into paralysis or are you pushing forward?
Pushing past fear gives birth to courage. Without love you won't have the courage to overcome fear. Fear+Love=Growth
Just an unknown sharing a stumbling block that when viewed properly can be a ladder up.
“During your life, never stop dreaming. No one can take away your dreams”
― Tupac Shakur, Resurrection, 1971-1996
I like looking up quotes. I post them on Twitter and Facebook and I post them around my house and jot them on index cards I carry around. This one in particular stands out. I can identify with it. It's a daily struggle to overcome the fear of the ghosts of "what if's," the demons of "past failures" and oddly enough the terror of "what will I do when I succeed"? It's crazy, but fear can be the water that douses a dream's fire (if you let it). Fear can be a sledgehammer to the knee caps of progress as you fight your way to the next step toward your personal goal. I'm quite familiar with this one. There have been times when I've had my manuscript and contemplated taking a lighter to it out of frustration but reading Twits, Facebook posts, talking to actual "full time" writers and friends, I put the lighter down and write on. It's hard chasing a dream. Sometimes your legs give out. Sometimes you catch a cramp. Sometimes you let yourself go, on the physical or skills level, and you get fat.
Fear.
Fear can paralyze and kill. It can scare the love of what you do right out of you, but as long as love burns, even if it's a tiny spark-you can overcome fear. I've sat for months at a time fearing that I'm not a good enough writer to move my story forward. I've learned to recognize the internal critics, the doubts and nay saying that goes on inside and kill them with truth. Being devoted to anything is hard. It takes work and it can and most assuredly is a lonely journey. I've learned to take the water that threaten to douse my dream's fire and turn it to gasoline so that my dream burns brighter. I am willing to do what it takes to sharpen my craft, so that I am worthy of, and able to tell the stories that rattle around in my head. I aspire to be on the bookshelves (or virtual bookshelves) with an actual readership. (Woo Hoo!). This year I'm doing things that scare me in order to evolve. I've slacked up on my virtual presence but I'm not quitting. How about you? How are you doing with your dreams? Are you letting fear beat you into paralysis or are you pushing forward?
Pushing past fear gives birth to courage. Without love you won't have the courage to overcome fear. Fear+Love=Growth
Just an unknown sharing a stumbling block that when viewed properly can be a ladder up.
“During your life, never stop dreaming. No one can take away your dreams”
Sunday, January 20, 2013
To make our way, we must have firm resolve, persistence, tenacity. We must gear ourselves to work hard all the way. We never let up. - Ralph Bunche
For the mortal man (or woman in my case) it only takes a few good hits to dissolve the firm resolve that starts out in the new year. So far, I'm glad I've managed to "just keep swimming" toward my goal of being more productive in the realm of writing. I've finished my first short story re-write. I've gotten a few reviews from readers. I have a black sharpie, blue pen and lined post-it notes and am slashing away at my manuscript. The amount of time, effort and heart that go into the process of writing (or whatever it is that calls to your heart and soul) can be overwhelming. Add on it life: the social, the dollar earning nine to five and the spiritual (whether one is of the faith or not), and I'm already tired. Yet, I must make my way, with firm resolve, persistence, tenacity. I must gear myself to work hard all the way.
Criticism. Feedback. They can be the sharpest blades. I welcome them. I have learned to edify myself with the choicest comments. I have also learned to ignore what does not edify and sift through opinion. I'm seeking more of it. I joined a local StoryStudio in order to be around working writers to remind myself I am not alone in the fight to produce readable work. There is also the constant battle to quiet my inner critic. Feedback. Communion. These things peel back the fingers of my critic from the windpipe of my muse, allowing her to breathe. Ideas flow. My fingers move across the keyboard. I write. I produce. I make my way.
We must gear ourselves to work hard all the way. - For me I call this the Double D (and I don't me cup size), "Discipline and Determination." The discipline portion is reconditioning myself to sit down and write for four hours. I can break it up, but four hours is the personal minimum. So far, I have reached it a few times this month but not consistently. The determination portion is writing my goals on post-it notes and hanging them where I will always see them. Finding more than one accountability partner. Being my own police. Cutting myself very little to no slack. Not stopping even if I don't reach my goal in one sitting. It's about pressing on until the last page of my novel or short story is complete. It's exposing myself to my critics so I can grow as a writer. It takes work. It takes effort. It takes me (and anyone with a dream or goal) never letting up.
For the mortal man (or woman in my case) it only takes a few good hits to dissolve the firm resolve that starts out in the new year. So far, I'm glad I've managed to "just keep swimming" toward my goal of being more productive in the realm of writing. I've finished my first short story re-write. I've gotten a few reviews from readers. I have a black sharpie, blue pen and lined post-it notes and am slashing away at my manuscript. The amount of time, effort and heart that go into the process of writing (or whatever it is that calls to your heart and soul) can be overwhelming. Add on it life: the social, the dollar earning nine to five and the spiritual (whether one is of the faith or not), and I'm already tired. Yet, I must make my way, with firm resolve, persistence, tenacity. I must gear myself to work hard all the way.
Criticism. Feedback. They can be the sharpest blades. I welcome them. I have learned to edify myself with the choicest comments. I have also learned to ignore what does not edify and sift through opinion. I'm seeking more of it. I joined a local StoryStudio in order to be around working writers to remind myself I am not alone in the fight to produce readable work. There is also the constant battle to quiet my inner critic. Feedback. Communion. These things peel back the fingers of my critic from the windpipe of my muse, allowing her to breathe. Ideas flow. My fingers move across the keyboard. I write. I produce. I make my way.
We must gear ourselves to work hard all the way. - For me I call this the Double D (and I don't me cup size), "Discipline and Determination." The discipline portion is reconditioning myself to sit down and write for four hours. I can break it up, but four hours is the personal minimum. So far, I have reached it a few times this month but not consistently. The determination portion is writing my goals on post-it notes and hanging them where I will always see them. Finding more than one accountability partner. Being my own police. Cutting myself very little to no slack. Not stopping even if I don't reach my goal in one sitting. It's about pressing on until the last page of my novel or short story is complete. It's exposing myself to my critics so I can grow as a writer. It takes work. It takes effort. It takes me (and anyone with a dream or goal) never letting up.
Friday, January 4, 2013
2013 Socially Active and Writing Again
I am actually online a bit more. I know it's because I'm still on vacation. I'm on the computer researching a few opportunities. It's good.
I'm writing.
I'm so excited to be writing and soliciting feed back. I really want my writing to grow and to get rid of the literary muffin top. I know I've been lazy. I've been working in spurts. I've been cowardly. Afraid of the industry and all the hurdles and mountains one must jump and climb to even get an audience with the "movers and shakers."
Well, this year, I am focusing no growing my craft. Telling my stories. Writing them out to completion they throwing my drafts to the critique wolves and surviving evisceration. I let myself get distracted. Well that's done. I'm looking forward to the callouses I will develop as I get to work. I'm excited.
I'm writing.
I'm so excited to be writing and soliciting feed back. I really want my writing to grow and to get rid of the literary muffin top. I know I've been lazy. I've been working in spurts. I've been cowardly. Afraid of the industry and all the hurdles and mountains one must jump and climb to even get an audience with the "movers and shakers."
Well, this year, I am focusing no growing my craft. Telling my stories. Writing them out to completion they throwing my drafts to the critique wolves and surviving evisceration. I let myself get distracted. Well that's done. I'm looking forward to the callouses I will develop as I get to work. I'm excited.
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