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Showing posts from March, 2010

Please Understand Me

While cleaning out cabinets last week, I came across a poem I acquired at a conference several years ago. Written by Keirsey and Bates, it is one of my favorite pieces.  Please let me know what you think. If I do not want what you want. Please try not to tell me that my want is wrong. Or if I believe other than you, at least pause before you correct my view. Or if my emotion is less than yours, or more, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weakly. Or yet if I act, or fail to act in the manner of your design for action, let me be. I do not for the moment at least, ask you to understand me. That will come only when you are willing to give up changing me into a copy of you. I may be your spouse, your parent, your offspring, your friend or your colleague. If you will allow me any of my own wants, or emotions, or beliefs or actions. Then you open yourself so that someday these ways of mine might not seem so wrong and might finally appear to you as

You've Come a Long Way Baby

Whoever coined the term, “Practice makes perfect” was a wise person. In fact, I never appreciated the importance of these three words until the other day when the spring cleaning bug bit me. As an individual who leaves no dustbunny unturned, I decided to begin my journey to “Tidydom” with a cabinet crammed full of old papers and keepsakes. What I found brought me several moments of nostalgia, followed by an unexpected jolt of panic.  Tucked away in a dark corner of the shelf was my nineteen- year- old son’s second grade science project, my seventeen- year- old son’s fifth grade report card , some of my nine- year- old son’s Thomas the Train drawings and a tattered Indiana Jones whip.  Where did the time go?  Two of my three babies had somehow tranformed into independent young men.  Now all I had to remind me of their childhood was a few lonely mementos. Among these long forgotten treasures was a folder containing several pieces I had written eons ago. As I sifted through the slush

Building a Platform Without a Hammer and Nails

Over the past year I have come across several references to the importance of a platform in writing. Although I grasped it is an essential tool in achieving publication, the principle of how to apply it to me and my book seemed ambiguous.  This said, I set out on a quest to understand what a platform is and how it works. Now I would like to share my findings with you. According to Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen, author of How to Build a Writing Platform: 10 ways to Achieve National Visibility for Writers, ”A writing platform is one tool to promote yourself and sell your writing.” Laurie explains that a writing platform does the following: • Drives books sales. • Speaks to the writer’s ability to promote and sell his or her book in national and international markets. • Provides security to the publisher. • Acts as a vehicle to promote the author and his or her book. If most of you are like me then I'm sure you're asking, “ How do I accomplish such a feat?” Well, Laurie giv

"LY" Devils

Hello All, I hope this post finds you well. The past couple of weeks have taught me several lessons in writing which I would like to share. As most of you know, I submitted the first page of my work in progress for critique over at Slushbusters. For those who have never had their work assessed, believe me when I tell you it is a pride swallowing experience.  Nevertheless, it was also helpful in identifying weaknesses in my writing, of which there were more than I care to admit. Some of the most egregious errors were my overuse of adjectives and adverbs. I also found that I needed to pay closer attention to punctuation. I walked away from the critique feeling like I had been kicked in the stomach. First came denial; I thought what do they know anyway? This was followed by self deprecation - I suck, my novel will never be published, I may as well give up. Then after a day of pouting, I accepted the truth and decided to revise my page, which in my opinion was a significant improvement

Revision Wednesday

Hello All, By now most of you know I entered  the first page of my work-in-progress for critique over at Slushbusters http://www.slushbusters.blogspot.com/ ).    Since it's difficult to be objective about my own work,  the review proved to be insightful, instructive and oh so humbling.  After reading the good, the bad and the ugly, I revised and resubmitted my piece for feedback on Revision Wednesdays .  Yes, this means I've put myself on the chopping block again.  My page will be posted tomorrow.   If any of you get a chance, please take a gander at the updated draft and let me know what you think.   Thanks again for all the support you've given me throughout the critique process.  I promise my next post will contain more industry related content.  Until next time, happy writing.