Concrete Goals

Hi, folks, ah, school is out! I'm still giddy the day that school is out. I love summer. The sultry heat, the wind, the endless sunshine, the beach, baseball, sitting in a lawn chair as the sprinklers spray -- summer always is a productive writing season for me. Mainly because the calendar thins out some, and I have chance to put in some marathon work hours.

My goal this summer is to read two of my novels and get them sparkly for marketing. I'm also going to do a second revision of my big fat sci-fi novel. I'm feeling so jazzed about that.

I hope that me lifting up the lid on my goals will help you make a reasonalble goal. One thing that I've found helps me is to keep a task list. I might revise for time, or revise for voice, or perhaps for scenes/sequels, whatever, it helps to be specific on this list. I might write read chapters 23 - 25, write the timeline for those chapters, revise them as needed to make the timeline makes sense.

I hope that you make a list of concrete goals and that you will do what you said would. Don't give up. Your dream is at the top of this hill. It is totally worth hiking up there! See you next week. :)

Today's doodle is called: "Surprise!"



The quote for the day is a popular oldie but goodie.

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for? Robert Browning

A Perfect Storm

Hi, folks, I'm still reading a crazy number of essays, so a short and sweet post for the week. Last night the sky was on fire with lightning. Flashes lit every second, Rumbling was punctuated with cracks. Rain sprayed down like a shower on high. It was a perfect storm.

My favorite stories mirror thunderstorms. In the beginning the air is thick, sultry. The birds are chirping. It's quiet, too quiet. Flashes of lightning pop on the horizon as the storm rolls in. This is quick. It only lasts a small fraction of time compared to the storm. The next part of the storm is wild and unpredictable full of light and thunder. It rises to a wild crescendo and then ebbs off with random lightning strikes.

Bring something of thunderstorm in to your work this week. If your writing is a gentle rain, see if you can get a little storm going. A thunderstorm of a story is hard to put down. Inject some good old-fashioned storm slant into your pages and see if it doesn't pop! See you next week with more encouragement to seize the day.

Here is a doodle I call "Splashes Against the Page."



Here is a quote to keep you revising.

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.Winston Churchill

Change the Weather

Hi, folks, a short post this week. I am busy scoring some crazy number of essays this week. We are in the middle of a drought in College Station and yesterday we had a soaking rain. It was glorious. It made me feel that we all have droughts and how much more wondrous it is when the drought ends.

Every plant greened up overnight. I suppose every drought must end, but perhaps entrenched weather patterns will only move with big changes. For me that was bringing a definite end to "it's never going to happen talk." I just stopped. And as a friend encouraged me recently it's probably a good thing to let go of.

I feel the drought in my work changing. I mean really, I'm a voice of the universe crying out the glorious, tragic, awesome, (almost any adjective will fit here) story of us. My challenge for you this week is to seek a change. Whatever it is that you need to act on, but your not acting on -- give it a shot. See if the weather changes.

Peace all. See you next week!

Here is a doodle: "Bouquet".



And a good quote.

A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves. Marcel Proust

Soften the Blows

Hi folks, I sometimes feel I need to duck right now because the hits keep coming. I must work hard to lighten up. We have to just go through a lot of stuff in life, really hard, stupid stuff. We are supposed to be tellling stories, but things might be kinda dark right now. I have found a little laughter will go along way in making life sort special.

I went to the movie tonight. I liked the guy next to me who kept asking me questions during it. (Yes, I went to the first night premiere of THOR.) Who's that? Guy whispers. Stan Lee. I whisper back. You know the guy who wrote the Thor comic. Who's the guy with bow and arrow? Hawkeye. Who's the Stark guy? Iron Man. Something about hapless movie going guy next to me was making me giggle.

And then after the movie, my daughter looks at me and I look at her and we say together and laugh -- worst movie ending ever. It's these little moments that keep me glued. Keep laughing. Let laughter leaven your life. Let that influence you to supreme confidence and hope.

Just some ramblling this week. Hope you are laughing. Be back next week with more inspiration.

I call this week's doodle for no particular reason: "PINK".


Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it. Bill Cosby