Bend in the Road

You're going along, marching toward your goals, when all of a sudden the road takes a turn and you are set back. What looked like an easy goal suddenly looks unreachable. Detours come. 

So what do you do? 

Keep on going. Go back to the last thing you knew to do. What direction did the Lord give you? How many pages to write or edit? 

If you fell behind, forget it and move forward. Keep going. Press on toward the mark. Maybe you didn't make your goals last week, so make them today.

Focus for the goal ahead. Detours happen. But keep going and you'll get back on track.

You can do this!

Words!

Words 

Words are the clay the writer works with to mold ideas, stories, and articles that will impact others. Also the paint that colors the mood, setting, and action of a story. Vocabulary is important. It's the difference between your character walking across the street or shuffling, stumbling, limping. 

Each of those words offers a different picture in the minds of your readers. 

Writers want to find the best word to fit their sentences. But sometimes those words hide. Play on the tip of our minds, lurking in plain sight while staying just out of reach.

Aha! We have tools, treasure chests of words that we can dive into and search for just that right word.

The Thesaurus. Every writer should have one or more.

Also have a good dictionary. I have one that displays the date the word came into use. Very useful for those writing historicals. (Once I had a character taking a nosedive off her horse. Ooops. Nosedive came about because of the airplane. Definitely not a fixture in the old west : ) 

There are Flip Dictionaries

Picture Dictionaries

One source I found online is:   Visual Thesaurus. A useful tool that shows you a web of related words. The Vocabgrabber allows you to make a list of the words you use in a chapter. Very helpful in finding those pet words that latch onto your mind and plop themselves into your story time and time and time again.

Start flexing your vocab abs. Read lists of active verbs to help your mind create unique sentences and get out of the rut of overused plain words.

My goal - Refresh my brain with 100 words a week. Not necessarily new words, but those I haven't used in a while. Let your mind play. 

Happy Word Hunting!

Monday Motivation

"The distance is nothing; it's only the first step that is difficult." Marquise du Deffand 

It's Monday! A new day, beginning of a new work week. So what are your goals? Are you working on finishing your book? Chapter? Editing? 

Like the quote for the day says, it's that first step, word, page that is the hard one. Determine to start. Sit down and tap those keys. Trust the process! The story is there, waiting to be unveiled. But so often, the first word stalls, sticks its little curly q's against the doorway, and refuses to go down on black and white.

What is a writer to do?

Push that word out! Threaten to skip over the offending letters and go onto to the next word, sentence, scene! Determine to the four walls, your computer, the dreaded game, that you are going to write . Period.
So there.

All it takes is one. One word to get started. Soon you'll have a sentence, a paragraph, ...

WE are writers and we write.

Set a goal for the day. And persevere until you meet it. Then the next day, stretch that goal.
For Monday's Motivation - what is your goal today, the week, and month.

Be as specific as you can. That way you'll know you accomplished your goal.

What are mine? Well, humm, guess I better come up with some. Here goes:

• Edit three chapters today, twelve for the week, finish the book by the end of Feb.
• Write a chapter this week on the new WIP, 

Ok, I've done it. Now, for that first word. 

Bring it on!

For More  Quotes from Inspirational Quotes

Treasure Hunting

Did you know Amazon has an Indie Book Store?
Along with being able to have our books rub shoulders with those traditionally born novels, our books can stand tall in their own bookstore on Amazon.

I discovered it today by Googling Indie Books.

Amazon's Indie Book Store

I know, we've all been told and told and told how the Indie book craze will result in a multitude of horrid books being published. But you know what? There will be treasures that slipped through the traditional publishers fingers for a myriad of reasons. Too long, doesn't fit a genre, author is unknown, author doesn't have a platform.

So grab your shovels, and let's go treasure hunting. Let's see what we can find. Check in and let us know if you found a wonderful Indie book. Let's spotlight these jewels.

Go intrepid writers. You have a story to tell and a story that needs to be read. Make it the best you can and get it out there.

Until next week, she said as she donned her Indie Jones felt hat, cracked her whip, and delved into the depths of the Indie Book world.

Who are you going to listen to?

“If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” ~ Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch Painter 

More words of encouragement

There is the pesky voice of the enemy who tells you "you can't do it. You're no good. You will fail." Good news is that he is a liar. So take heart if you hear these words. 

The best thing you can do is to continue. Keep  writing, painting, sketching, whatever your heart's desire is, do it. Don't stop. When you hear the words of defeat, do more. 

And be aware that the enemy can use more than just your own mind. He can also arrange for you to hear these word come from family, friends, and trusted coworkers. And if we are honest we must admit, that we have been used by the same enemy to discourage others.

So determine the course you have set. Understand that there is an enemy who wants you to fail. Even more understand the Lord desires for you to succeed. And guard your mouth that you are a messenger of hope and encouragement. And guard your heart from the discouragement.

You can do this. You can. Really. One step, one letter, one sentence at a time. You can.

To Go Indie or Not?

I'm standing in a long, and I mean looong, line. But only a few, maybe 60 out of thousands, will make it through the door. As I stand  between the narrow ropes keeping the line straight, I look to the side and see wide-open fields. Opportunity begs me to come. Promises me nothing other than to be free and risk the journey. I may win the prize or may wind up beaten. But I'll be free to venture into the new frontier. The land of Indie-publishing. 

Yep, I jumped the fence. The allure of uncharted trails too much for my entrepreneurial spirit to deny. The publishing industry is entering its own unknown territory. With the E-book revolution, nothing will remain as it was in the book world.

Are there pitfalls, dangers lurking for the intrepid author as they wield their pens against the overgrown grass of opportunity gone wild? You betcha. Going Rogue comes at a price.

But you can't beat freedom. Liberty is not a padded-wall life, but it is for those who look into the distant future, who long for open roads, and fight for their freedom.

Go For It.  If you dare.

So far, I have my front cover.
Am working on editing the book and establishing my author platform.

Is it at times daunting?  Yes. But as I look ahead, the rush of freedom brushes the fears aside. With the Lord before me, I run. I run the race set before me.

I'll check in next week and let you know how my intrepid journey is going.


God is Good!