I’m looking for a half-dozen or so beta readers of my manuscript. If you’re interested, please message or email me (me (at) amandamichellemoon (dot) com). I’m looking for feedback on the overall plot and story, not line editing. I can provide you the document as PDF, word or kindle format, I’ll need your notes back as word or PDF. And, as an added bonus, I’ll put your name in the acknowledgments section when the book is published.
This inspired me tonight. I hope it inspires you:
The poet-monk, Thomas Merton, said in his New Seeds of Contemplation:
If you write for God you will reach many men and bring them joy. If you write for men—you may make some money and you may give someone a little joy and you may make a noise in the world, for a little while. If you write for yourself, you can read what you yourself have written and after ten minutes you will be so disgusted that you will wish that you were dead.
I walk in the cold. It stings and soon my cheeks grow so numb I can no longer enunciate my P’s and M’s. The holly shrubs are the only green thing here, and the skeleton fingers of trees reach up to the bluefrozen sky as if they pray for warmth. They will pray through the darkness of night and get none.
How to Catch More Life in Your Writing | The Write Practice.
Great inspiration from Anne Lamott. Perfect for this time of the year, with all the new resolutions and all the of the great intentions.
So, I’m a bit behind with my Google Reader. Right now, I have 410 unread items. Before your head starts spinning, let me say that I subscribed to something like six blogs today, so right off the top there are sixty posts right there. And I subscribe to Design*Sponge, which I love, but which posts multiple times a day. So that right there accounts for…oh…wait…they’ve slowed a bit for the holidays. That’s only 30. So, all in all, I’m only behind by about 300. Luckily, I read fast. And the kids are finally asleep.
Anyway…on Ask Allison Sarah Jio gives her 2012 writing resolutions. This one really stuck with me.
Write every day, even if it’s just 10 words: I’ve found that writing is a lot like exercise. If I take too many days off, I’m stiff and exhausted when I try to jump back in. I lack the focus and energy to power through a challenging chapter or scene. But when I open my work-in-progress daily, even if it’s only to write a single sentence and to say hi to my characters, I feel as if I’m still in the story, the rhythm of the project.
Since leaving my day job a little over a month ago, I haven’t written every day, but I’ve written most days. And let me tell you, I can attest to the fact that writing is easier the more you do it. SERIOUSLY. I promise.
This is a really interesting post about a study of violinists. The difference between the practice habits of the average and the great players makes me think about how to best organize my days between writing, jewelry, etc.,and further how to divide up the writing between working on my books and working on freelance articles. What does it say to you about how to organize your day?
To be elite: Put in the hours, devoting yourself to two sessions a day of complete and deliberate focus. When you’re done, be done. Go enjoy the rest of the day. (And as a side effect, feel more relaxed).
I pulled out the paints for ten minutes tonight, and enjoyed photographing it as much as I did creating. Makes me think about doing more paint photography- could I paint only for the photos and not the finished product?
I’m supposed to be writing right now. It’s my time out of the house to get some writing done, but it’s slow going. Everything I try to write about today is coming out too personal. It’s fiction, but based on truth, and I’m afraid if I write it someone is going to think that I don’t love my family or that I’m going to leave my husband or fill in the blank.
It’s a bit psycho, I know. But I wonder- when Agatha Christie was working on her first book, did anyone wonder if she had really killed someone at some point? I mean, if you’re supposed to write what you know…
Actually, Stephen King talks about this in On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
So…my conclusion is that I should get over it and write. Right?
My article, Pregnancy Resources for Pilates Instructors is now available on PilatesDigest.com.
Cheers!
