Life Lessons—Sometimes Life REALLY Gets In The Way

by Bruce Brady @BDBrady007

Lately I’ve been feeling a lot of stress. This is nothing new to anyone who writes. But I mean a lot of stress.

Here is just a sampling:

• A honey-do list longer than Santa’s.
• Neighborhood problems that cause me concern for the safety of our residents, especially my wife.
• Two recall notices on my car.
• Trees that have grown so large their shade is killing my lawn. But the weeds love it.
• A hole in the bathroom wall screaming for attention.
• Four bedrooms, one hallway and one stairway that need carpets re-stretched.
• A sloped lot with extreme erosion issues and a budget that requires my doing all the work.
• A need to hand dig a trench and install a French Drain while nursing pulled back and chest muscles.
• Other health challenges that require extensive research and prayer.
• And just to make it interesting, I decided to write 50,000 words in 20 days.

But enough about me. What do you think of my situation?

Truthfully, we all face a great deal of stress in our daily lives. Some put on us by circumstance, some by our own agendas. And if you’re like me, most stress does not make for good writing.

Life Lessons—How to Deal with Rabbit Holes when You're Writing

by Bruce Brady @BDBrady007

Curiouser and curiouser!

This is how Alice described her experience in Wonderland, and it's my reaction when I realize I'm writing myself down a rabbit hole.

I used to get frustrated, delete my work and start over. Now, I've learned to step back and ask my inner helper what I should do. More often than not, the answer I get shows me how the seeming rabbit hole actually fits the story by reminding me of Psalm 77:19 which tells how God led the Israelites through the Red Sea, "...a pathway no one knew was there."

Frequently, my inner guide helps me weave a better story than if I just forged ahead without paying heed. Of course, this means the occasional rewrite of portions of my story, but the end result is worth the extra effort.

Life Lessons—Don’t Let the Don’ts Stop You

by Bruce Brady @bdbrady007

During a writing class I attended, the instructor stressed that we should write just about anything. She went on to qualify that by saying, “It needs to be believable. You don’t want to write about the moon being made out of cheese.”

Because my brain works the way it does, I thought why not? I’m not saying the instructor was wrong. It was just a spontaneous remark to stress that readers would not be receptive to the absurd. However, my questioned remained. Why couldn’t I write about the moon being made of cheese?

Life Lessons—Mine Your Experiences to Make Your Writing Richer

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson 

We all want what we write to matter—to touch hearts, change lives, challenge the status quo. To that end we search high and low for the words that connect us to our readers.

But what if the gems we’re searching for aren’t hidden in distant places, but instead are buried deep within our own experiences?

Today I’m going to give you the clues to finding those precious nuggets hidden in plain sight. If you’ll bear with me, I’d like to follow this mining metaphor to its ultimate end and show you how to mine your own experiences to make your writing richer.

Life Lessons—Finding the Good in a Bad Critique

by Edie Melson

Critique—just mention of the word can make me break out in hives. Don’t get me wrong, I really like to get feedback on my writing, as long as it’s positive. 

But there’s the rub, a steady diet of positive critiques alone doesn’t help me grow as a writer. 

Now, I’m not one of those who believe positive feedback is worthless. I like to know what I’m doing well, so I can do more of it. But, I also want to know where I need improvement.

To that end, you might say I’m a glutton for punishment. 

Life Lessons—14 Things Writers do to KEEP From Being Successful

by Edie Melson

I’ve never met a writer who didn’t want to be successful. Sure everyone’s definition of success is different, but we all want to succeed. And a lot of writer blogs offer advice on how to find that success. And while it’s vitally important to learn how to write well, network, and market. Often those aren’t the only things that stand between us and our goals.

The one thing I’ve discovered on my own writing journey is that I’m often my own worst enemy. I’m the person who has—most often—stood between me and success. So today I’m sharing 14 things that writers do to KEEP from being successful.

8 Things That Will Derail Your Writing Goals the Fastest

by Edie Melson

Through the years I’ve discovered something about writing that I never expected. I always believed that to be a successful writer you had to  learn to write better, be diligent about networking and keep submitting. Those are all important, but it turns out the biggest things that affect my writing happen in my head.

By allowing all sorts of negative thoughts, emotions and habits creep into my mind I was defeating myself before I put the first word on the page. I’d like to share 8 things that will derail your writing goals the fastest, and invite you to learn from my mistakes.

Life Lessons—Silence the Voices in Your Head Once and For All

by Edie Melson

As writers we all hear voices. Often times they’re the characters who inhabit the worlds we create. But almost as often, they’re the voices of naysayers, reminding us how horribly we’re going to fail. I call these the You Can’t Voices.

And even worse than the You Can’t Voices, are the voices that try to remind us of all the good things we’re neglecting when we self-indulgently steal time to write. I call these the You Shouldn’t Voices.

Today I’m going to share some thoughts about those last two categories and how to silence the voices in your head.

Life Lessons—10 Things Successful Writers Know AND Believe

by Edie Melson

There are certain things that writers learn as they gain more experience in the industry. These lessons serve us well when the going gets tough. One of the reasons is that we learn them by attending the school of hard knocks. 

But I’m a big believer in not always having to learn things the hard way. To that end, I’d like to share some things that successful writers know and believe.

The believe part of these truths is key. So often success or failure is just an attitude adjustment away.

Life Lessons—Are You Just Playing it Safe with Your Writing?

by Edie Melson

Being good at something is tough.

It takes effort—and time—lots and lots of time. It’s the time part that trips most of us up. At least it does me. We tend to stop too soon. We get to the probably-good-enough stage and quit.

It’s tempting to slack off, because the air is thin at that point. What I mean is that the majority of our competition has disappeared, and it’s easy to think we’ve done enough.

But that is the point when we have the ability to reach our full potential.

I’m not going to give you a list of things to do or not to do. I’m going to stop right here and ask you to finish this post by leaving a comment. Share how you keep from stopping too soon, or even how you know what too soon looks like.

Don’t forget to join the conversation!

Blessings,

Edie

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Life Lessons—Where Does Your Writing Go From Here?

by Edie Melson

I can’t help it. The time between Christmas and New Years is—at least in my mind—no man’s land. It’s a time filled with clean up, hurry up and wait up. In many ways it’s the lull before the storm.

January is when I hit the ground running, determined to start things off right. One of the reasons I’m able to do that is because I do some re-evaluating during this week. I always ask myself one question. Where does your writing go from here?

Life Lessons—Look a Little Deeper

Shiloh battlefield in Corinth, Mississippi

I’ve been so blessed to have spent the last several days in and around the little town of Corinth, Mississippi. It is so rich in history, particularly surrounding the Civil War.

Every place I turn has a story that altered the face of our nation. The ground that I walked on was rich with events of the past… of heroes and legions.

Life Lessons—What are You Waiting For?

What are you waiting for? It's time to follow that DREAM!

So often, when I tell people I’m a writer, they’ll look at me, sigh and tell me how they want to write . . . if only.

So I ask you, what’ are you waiting for? Is it time, money, fear? Well the year is young and I want to challenge you to put your if only aside and take a chance on your dream.

Evaluating the Writers Path

The writing path is a journey of a lifetime

I’ve found the writing path to be the journey of a lifetime. At times it’s fraught with discovery and at others, discouragement. I’ve learned how to avoid some of its pitfalls by spending some time each year gazing back at the way I’ve come.

This time of year, with Christmas and New Year's close at hand, my thoughts turn backward as I evaluate the past year and prepare for the next one. I've given up New Year's Resolutions completely and find the freedom from those expectations a major relief.

Life Lessons—It's Never too Late

by Reba J Hoffman, Ph.D.

It's never too Late to follow your dream

I hear individuals all the time saying they wish they would have done something earlier in life, because now it’s too late. I can understand that if you wanted to be a child idol and you’re 35. I’d say that dream is gone. If you want to be a wide receiver for the NFL and you’re 62 AND female, chances are that ain’t gonna happen.

Life Lessons—Living on Purpose

by Reba J Hoffman, PhD

I talk to people everyday who say they would like to do this or that but just can’t find the time. I understand their plight.

There are some days when I feel as though I need to hold my breath to open up a spot in my day.

It’s a wonder we get anything done in our busy world. Remember when summer days seem to stretch into infinity? You could lay in the grass for hours on end watching the upper winds blow puffy clouds by.

Life Lessons—Stop Thinking Outside the Box

by Reba J Hoffman, PhD

Is it just me or do you get tired of hearing people say, “think outside the box”? I personally think that’s very poor advice. Here’s why. Thinking outside the box interjects that confining cube into your life when it never was part of the décor in the first place!

You wouldn’t have to worry about that if you never had a box, now would you? That whole concept is entirely limiting. Think about it. You only have two options. Either you think inside the box or your think outside it. Right? Are you feeling a bit claustrophobic? Yeah, me too.

Life Lessons—The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

by Reba J Hoffman

Ok, I know many of you started humming a song just then, didn’t you? I know that, before long, you will be GPS-ing “over the river and through the woods” so you’ll safely make it to grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving. Nothing like family, love, turkey and trimmings. Oh yeah, and lots and lots of FOOTBALL!!!!!

I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything. Know what else I wouldn’t trade? My dreaming. This really is the most wonderful time of my year because it’s when I dream big and set goals for the upcoming year. My imagination conjures up all sorts of exciting possibilities. I usually set about three goals in each important area of my life that I’ll spend my time accomplishing during the 365 days that start January first.

I’ll admit, that doesn’t sound as inviting as Grandma’s pumpkin pie, but I promise you that the results will be just as sweet. Here’s why:

Life Lessons—Only One Thing!

by Reba J Hoffman, PhD

A to-do list longer than Santa's?

Ever had a to-do list that’s longer than Santa’s list of who’s naughty and nice? Yeah, me too, especially when it comes to writing and developing new ways to live my dream. My dad used to say, “The more I do, the behind-er I get.”

Wasn’t great English but the wisdom rang through. There are so many things to do sometimes, those with a dream become weary. Sometimes it’s so overwhelming, you just pop-n-plop. You toss a bag of popcorn in the microwave and plop down in front of the TV to watch a movie.

It becomes routine until you look back over a year wondering what happened to it. Your dream is no more realized than the day you birthed the desire in the first place. There is something you can do to make sure that doesn’t happen to you. That is, concentrate on Only One Thing!

Here’s why that helps you: 

Life Lessons—Mining for Gold

by Reba J. Hoffman

Gold doesn't hang from the trees.

What would you do if you could walk outside and gold would be hanging from the trees and sprouting from the grass? You’d stop reading this blog post right now (sorry Edie), grab a bucket and head outside, right? Of course you would.

Well, while gold isn’t hanging like an ornament from the oak tree in your front yard, writer’s gold is everywhere. Great authors take advantage of that wealth, understand it on a deep level and invest in its growth.

Each and every day of life is chocked full of precious golden nuggets of truth and wisdom. And yet writers—and people in general—expend an overwhelming amount of energy trying to avoid it.

I wrote this in one of my books of long ago: True wisdom is forged on the anvil of suffering. It’s absolutely true. All the hardships you face in life hammer out a wisdom that will be intricately and uniquely woven into the fabric of your story. But, it’s completely up to you whether or not you mine for it.

Here are some steps you can take to turn the calamity in your life into award winning novels.