Artistry With Words

Happy January-Almost-February to you all!

What have you been doing lately?  I just self-published the second in the “Shadows” series, this one titled “Shadows Over Innocence.”  If you’re interested in a thriller, you can find it on Amazon, and that’s the last time I’ll mention it on this site for marketing purposes….well, maybe not the last time. lol

If you live on the east coast then I imagine you’re still digging out from the blizzard. I hope you are all well and healthy.  Nasty storm for sure!  Here?  Mild…wet….not a sniff of snow.  Welcome to my world!

Now let’s get on with the show.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“By taking the time to stop and appreciate who you are and what you’ve achieved – and perhaps learned through a few mistakes, stumbles and losses – you actually can enhance everything about you. Self-acknowledgment and appreciation are what give you the insights and awareness to move forward toward higher goals and accomplishments.”

Jack Canfield
SECOND QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Today’s accomplishments were yesterday’s impossibilities.”

Robert H. Schuller
THOUGHT OF THE DAY

My latest novel is my fifth book.  I have four novels now published and one non-fiction book on writing tips.  If you would have asked me twenty years ago how many books I would write in my lifetime I would have said none.

Today I have five.

I’ve begun work on #6, plus work on my first in a series of novellas.

The point is not to brag.  I am a fairly honest person when it comes to self-reflection, so when I say I am basically a modest person you can take it to the bank.  No, I’m only mentioning the five books because I’m amazed by what I’ve accomplished, especially since I didn’t really start writing until I was sixty-two years old.

What I’m trying to share with you is a lesson it has taken me a long time to learn….it’s all right to acknowledge your accomplishments and give yourself a pat on the back.  In my case, I will always think a book I write could have been better but still, I’ve actually written five of them, so how cool is that?

TIP OF THE DAY

Give yourself a pat on the back today.  Maybe you aren’t accomplishing what you wanted to so far, but you are moving forward and you have made progress.  Concentrate on that progress and for one day rejoice.

FREELANCE GIGS

Are you looking for paying jobs?  They are everywhere around you, so open your eyes and see.

Traditional magazines and newspapers are still hard to break into, but online mags and newspapers are great in number and seriously not that hard to break into….but you have to try.  You might get rejected a couple times but keep trying.

Here’s a free tip:  Decide what your passion is and then use that passion to springboard into a paying gig.  There are online mags, blogs and newspapers for practically every passion.  Get online, start Googling and see what you come up with.

If you have your heart set on traditional mags then be prepared to do some work.  I have a friend who parlayed her love of photography and nature into a newspaper gig called “Life at Boomer Lake,” a weekly article about the birds at Boomer Lake in Oklahoma.  She had a passion, she came up with a unique approach and she sold that approach to a newspaper.

You can do that too.  I absolutely hate hearing someone say “I can’t do that.”

Bull!  You can do it….you just don’t realize it yet.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Someone mentioned the other day that I should have an online writing course.  I’m thinking about it…they aren’t that hard to start.  I wonder how many would sign up for a course if I offered one?  What do you think?  Is it worth the time and effort?  Are there people out there who would pay to learn from this old teacher?

MORE IN A COUPLE WEEKS

I used to do this blog at least twice-weekly. Now I’m lucky if I do it twice-monthly.  Oh well.  Life hands us changes to deal with, and we change our approach, and our priorities change, and we either learn to handle the change or we get run over.

I’ve never been run over in my lifetime and don’t plan on it happening.

I’m not a victim and never will be.

Have a great week!

Bill

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”

HAPPY 2016 TO YOU ALL

My goodness, where does the time go?  I know, I know, we all say that, but I swear, I blinked and 2015 flew by me.

Reflection: I started writing on HubPages four years ago.

Reflection: I started my freelance writing career four ½ years ago.

Reflection: I finished my first novel 4 ½ years ago.

How much more can I do?

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.”

Denis Waitley

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Isn’t that what all writers do, break out of their comfort zone?  Every single time we publish something we are basically sending it out to strangers asking for feedback and hoping to the gods that feedback is kind…..that in no way can be described as a comfortable activity.  And yet we do it, day in, day out, weeks, months and years.

But worse than that uncomfortable feeling is the feeling that no one out there cares about our writing, that we are spinning our wheels and making no impact at all….that our writing will be met with a huge, collective yawn.

And yet we keep moving forward……

WHERE I AM HEADED

I don’t do resolutions. I set realistic goals and then, come hell or high water, I achieve those goals.

This week, or next week at the latest, I’ll publish the next novel in the Shadow series, “Shadows Over Innocence.”  Glad to have that behind me and moving forward.  I’m going to price this one very low to reward all those who have loyally followed me.

And forward means a new printing of my first novel, “The 12/59 Shuttle From Yesterday to Today” and also making it into an ebook.   Forward also means a new novel and the first in a new ebook novella series (99 cents each) about Billy the Kid.

I’ll continue on HubPages because that’s where my home is and my friends are.  I’m going to try and publish three articles per week on HP but most likely it will only be two per week since my new outside job is taking up quite a bit of my time.  Hey, I just hit four years on HP…well whoopdidoo!

So that’s it for me.  I’ll stay busy.  I’ll have fun.

And I’ll thank the stars that I am a writer!

ONE FINAL NOTE

I recently started following a writer on HP by the name of Swalia.  She is from India and she has written at least ten articles about Vastu Tips….Vastu for Apartments…Vastu tips for newlyweds…that sort of thing.  Pretty unique idea and she is definitely the only writer I’ve known to take on that niche.

What do you do that is different?  How are you unique as a writer?

Just something to think about.

Bill

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”