Welcome back to my humble blog site. I hope you are ready for a few tips and thoughts, and I also hope you are receptive to them. J
I was on a writing roll yesterday. It was one of those days when my head was full and the words needed to be written, and when I finished one article the next one took shape and was ready as well.
I don’t know about you but Mondays are easily my best days for writing, and the hours of 7-11 a.m. are the most productive for me. I should never break for lunch because I run out of steam once I sit down and have that meal.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Books want to be born: I never make them. They come to me and insist on being written, and on being such and such.”~Samuel Butler
Oh how I can relate to that quote. When I wrote “The 12/59 Shuttle From Yesterday To Today,” it began as a writing exercise. Within two days of completing the exercise, which was basically an introduction consisting of free-form writing, the entire book had been born in my head.
The same thing happened recently when I decided to write my next book entitled “The Vision: Humanity One World.” I had debated writing it for several months, and the debate had to do with whether to make it a non-fiction or a fiction. Once I decided to make it fiction, I thought of how to present this serious issue of making a difference in the world in a fictional story. The story line came to me after waking up one morning and I had the whole story sealed away in my brain by the end of that day.
Here are the opening three paragraphs of my new book:
CHAPTER ONE
The Associated Press….May 8th….The jobless rate rose once again in the United States. The latest figures from April show that 9.6% of Americans are unemployed, a rise of .6% from March.
President Sara Whitehorse woke at five a.m., as was her norm, and rolled out of bed in the Lincoln Bedroom. She still found it a bit difficult to believe that she was sleeping in the room where the Great Emancipator had slept. Growing up in the Spirit Lake Nation of North Dakota, her wildest dreams were of escaping the corruption and abuse of the reservation. Well, she thought, I definitely escaped it.
She hadn’t slept so well in the three years since being elected. It was the dream for sure, a most unusual dream and yet very peaceful. She was vaguely aware during the night that she was sleeping, and she remembered thinking that she hoped she didn’t wake up. Normally she didn’t remember dreams, but this one was so vivid that she recalled it in detail.
She was standing in a field, surrounded by others who were just blurred shapes, and a young girl approached the group. There was a soft yellow glow enveloping the girl, and the yellow reflected off of her shoulder-length, raven-black hair. She had jade-green eyes and seemed to flow gracefully across the field until she was standing in front of Sara and the others. She then reached out and showed them all a large key, similar to the ones politicians give to dignitaries as the key to the city. On the key was inscribed a string of numbers…..47217 and below that 1225357.
The child, who appeared to be close to Sara’s daughter’s age of ten, then spoke to the group: “My name is Astarte, and I am the Goddess of Rebirth. Come join me before it is too late.” Then she approached each member, stood up on her toes, and kissed each of them on the cheek. The dream then ended.
TIP OF THE DAY
Pay attention to your use of commas and periods. These two types of punctuation control the flow of your thoughts, and misuse of them can make your writing confusing even if the words are clear.
SITE OF THE DAY
Writing Site Reviews can be found here. You will find quite a few reviews written about some major writing sites here, including Squidoo and HubPages. I thought you might find it interesting.
PROMPT OF THE DAY
I love this picture of Bev. I hope it inspires you as it does me every single time I see it.
BOOK OF THE DAY
Dixie City Jam by James Lee Burke. If you want to read a writer who is a master at painting a scene, try Mr. Burke. Finish a page of this book and you will feel like you are living in New Iberia Parish, Louisiana.
THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY
I’d love to do more but the sun is out and I need some relaxation. It’s been a long day of juggling nouns and verbs and I fear if I continue I’ll drop a few of them. J Have a great day and thanks for visiting once again.
Billybuc
Artistry With Words 
Beautiful picture of Bev indeed and loved getting a glimpse into you book here today. Thanks so much for sharing and hope you are having a great day now!! 🙂
Thank you Janine! I’m looking forward to writing this book. Four pages so far and a long way to go.
Great beginning! I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from there.
Grammar Girl had a great podcast on comma splices a while back. Her writing tips are easy to remember and have helped me out a lot over the years.
Lizzy, I have struggled with commas my entire life, and I’m sure I will keep struggling. Thanks for stopping by my Dunedin Dynamo!
Bill, what a wonderful blog and an exciting start to your new book. I can’t wait to see where this story goes. Always a pleasure to follow your journey as a writer. Blessings on your day.
Well thank you once again, Catherine. I’m excited about the book and I’m excited about the blog…I love to share ideas with writers and see them find success.
Hi Bill: Now I know who Sheila is! lol. Thanks for giving us this web site. I love it and I love what you are doing with it. A tutorial or teaching site for writers. Very thoughtful and creative. I love the positing of the photo each day as a writing prompt. That is great! I wish you much success with your novel – I like the topic of Spirit Lake Nation – I remember your blog that went viral and world-wide. Great subject for your book.
Suzette…how nice of you to stop by my blog, and I’m really happy that you like it. Sheila is my Bev and the inspiration for my book. You would love her. 🙂 I hope others find this blog useful…I’m all for all of us helping each other to become better writers and be successful.
That is a beautiful picture of Bev, with the mountains. It looks like she is embracing the day!
Thanks for sharing part of your newest story. I am very excited about it, and you can bet I will be one of the first in line to buy it when you get to the point of publishing it. But I will be patient 🙂 I know writing a book takes time!
I really like this blog! Have a productive week, Bill!
Thank you so much, Kathryn! I am enjoying this blog too. 🙂 As for the book, I’m working on it right now. I do about five pages a week, so I should be done when……next spring? Oh well, I need to be patient too. 🙂 Have a great evening my friend.
There ya are! And what a great post! I know I commented here at some point earlier, but I couldn’t find it anymore. Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Now it feels like home with lil’ Sis here. Thanks for following, Cyndi. Love your new site and the progress you are making.
Okay, now I really can’t wait until you publish this book. I have a feeling this is what you’ve been working toward with your writing and all your HOW articles. Well done my friend! That picture of Bev is awesome. I saw it on your preview, and had no idea it was her….made me feel motivated and energised just by looking at it. Have a great day!
Aww, thanks, Mel! That is my favorite picture of Bev and it speaks to her soaring spirit. I’m glad you liked it and I appreciate you more each day.