Welcome back! I hope you had a restful weekend and that your mind is refreshed and bubbling over with ideas. That leads me to the tip of the day. Shall we begin?
TIP OF THE DAY
Take a break! This is one I recently began adopting. Anyone who knows me knows that I am somewhat of a prolific writer. I churn out the words daily in an attempt to beat the clock and Father Time….but….
I have learned that I am much more refreshed and my writing is much better if I take weekends off. I can’t say in truth that my mind shuts down because I am always coming up with ideas for articles, but I do not allow myself to write on weekends.
A good friend of mine, Cyndi, talked about this recently. She said she needs to get out in nature and feed her soul, and I believe that is crucial for a writer. All work and no play makes for a very one-dimensional individual. Give yourself permission to go have fun. Your writing will be better because of it.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“In Hollywood the woods are full of people that learned to write but evidently can’t read. If they could read their stuff, they’d stop writing.”
Will Rogers
I’m laughing out loud at this quote. Why? Because it is so true in the world of writing.
I found great inspiration the other day when I came upon a novel in the library that was so poorly written as to be embarrassing. The dialogue was dull….the plot juvenile….the phrasing stunted….and this guy was published!
What I deduced from that was that a lot of writing and being published is being in the right place at the right time. There are many great writers who have never been published. There are many mediocre writers who have been published. Do not bother to try and make sense of it all. Just hold out hope and keep writing.
WRITER OF THE DAY
Say hello to my dear friend Vicki. You can find her here on HubPages. She is a reflective sort with wonderful insights about life, and on top of that she is a fine human being. Give her a shout out and in the process do yourself a favor. 
CONTEST OF THE DAY
500 Words Writing Contest can be found here. Write a short story of 500 words or less. Due date in September. Great contest for you flash fiction folks out there.
SITE OF THE DAY
Practical tips on writing a book from 23 authors is here. I ran across this blog a few days ago and found it interesting. There are some very good suggestions from some people who know what they are talking about.
AUTHOR OF THE DAY
I’m not much for religious writing, and I try to avoid preaching about God. Having said that, years ago I came across Og Mandino and found his books so good that I devoured them all.
Mandino wrote in such a simple style that one could easily read an entire book in a day. He was a master storyteller and every single book had an important, inspirational message. I highly recommend his books. If you ever want a kick in the butt motivational boost, try reading “The God Memorandum.”
PROMPT OF THE DAY
Here is another picture from the beautiful Pacific Northwest. If you have never been here then you owe yourself a visit. We really are surrounded by stunning natural beauty.
MORE TOMORROW
Enough for one day! Have a great day of writing and I’ll toss some more tidbits at you tomorrow. Thanks, as always, for the visit.
Bill
Billybuc
Artistry With Words 
Trying hard to take the weekends off too here. This past weekend was a washout (literally). It rained and was chilly both days. So, I caved and wrote one article while the kids napped yesterday, because it was just too nasty out to do much else. But I did read 2 chapters in a book I have been wanting to read since October and just haven’t seemed to get a second for. So, I did get a bit of me time with that one and felt great having actually gotten to do that!! So, yes couldn’t agree more with our advice and Happy Monday!! 🙂
Janine, I have come to the realization that it is crucial for writers to take down time. I have found myself becoming a copy of myself. LOL Nothing I write of late sounds like anything more than a carbon copy of earlier stuff. It was time for a break and it feels great. Today I am refreshed and ideas are pouring out of my brain.
Happy Monday to you my friend and thank you!
Luck is another word that a writer needs. That writer was lucky to get published.
Taking a break is essential in all sorts of work to rejuvenate and come back with vigor and more creativity.
Happy Monday, Bill.
Thank you Ruchira! I agree, it must have been pure luck that he was published.
The site of the day is a good one. Also, Vicki is awesome. And that quote is hilarious.
That’s about as coherent as I get on a Monday.
Lizzy, that was pretty damn coherent if you ask me. 🙂 Thanks and good luck waking up.
OMG…you just gave me a freaking awesome idea. I am going to use my photography for something new. Huzzah!
So, getting that part time gig was a good thing because it forced me away from the computer and forced me to take a step back and reevaluate. As a freelancer, I’m constantly doing that. But I admit I got sucked in. Now, I don’t stare as the screen as much – I make sure to take my dog or just myself on a walk every day, and spend my afternoons – whether teaching or not – working on something unrelated to blogging. I might work on a story, artwork, teaching stuff, photography, research, but I step away from the ding dang screen. My traffic suffers for it, but you know what? It leaves me more open to possibilities. 🙂
Anyways, yes…up until I started working at school last January, I was spending 12-14 hours a day at the computer. And I wondered if it was doing any good; it surely wasn’t doing ME any good.
Cydni, I hit my goal of doing 500 hubs. I have now pulled back from HP writing. This week I’ll only have four hubs. My views? What difference does it make? I’m not in this to be the god of HubPages…I have much bigger fish to fry my friend, and this week signals a change in direction. Like you, I am always reevaluating, but I remain on the course I set out to follow. 🙂
Keep on writin’. LOL
count on it lil’ Sis!
What a lovely house and a white picket fence! Looks like something from straight out of the movies. I like your philosophy and can’t agree with you more about taking a break on the weekends to relax and unwind. Part of writing is getting ideas, and I get most of my ideas when I’m completely relaxed and having a good time, and not even thinking about writing. I have stages of when I can write a lot and when I can’t. Mondays are my best days for writing…I got 2 blogs and 3 articles done before lunch. It was a good day. And then there are days when it doesn’t flow so much. But I know this is normal now. I don’t stress about it. Instead, I use the time to read up on writing tips and advice, or I spend it marketing and reading up how to do that better. There’s NEVER a day that goes by where I sit here bored. There’s always something to do. Which is why I love freelancing. Yes, money isn’t exactly flowing in right now…but I have faith. At least I’m trying to keep that faith. Some days are easier than other! Enough of my rambling….have an awesome day my friend!
Mel, Mondays are by far my best days for writing. I usually do twice as much by lunch on Monday as I do in three other days….I may not be the smartest man on the planet, but I can see a trend there that is worth paying attention to.
Thank you my friend.
I like your philosophy, Bill. What a wonderful outdoors palette we have in Washington to savor and recharge our batteries. Thank you for the wonderful tips as well as the references to the inspirational writers of others. Have a productive and memorable day, my friend! Aloha!
Joe
Joe, I hope by now you have had the coffee, and a productive day awaits you. Thanks as always and yes, for sure, Washington is an artist’s dream.
Sorry, Bill…I meant “writing of others.” As you can see, your brother needs his first cup of coffee this morning. LOL!