Thought for today:
"Forgive me using a picture I have used before, but its appropriateness for this post warranted its return. I often feel that many New Year resolutions often warrant a return also; especially those we fail to keep but wish we had, and in our heart of hearts still intend to make and keep one year in the future.
Leaving to one side the more common ones like the giving up or reducing the intake of alcohol and cigarettes, I would like to address one that is frequently made but invariably not kept; the resolution to someday write that story and publish that book we have in us.
You would be surprised to know how many frustrated authors we have out there. I was recently messaged by a close Facebook friend called 'J', telling me that he really must get pen to paper and start that book this coming year. Indeed, 'J' possesses all the skills that is required to be successful in getting his story written and I know the general outline of the story he wants to write is one that will make a good read. 'J' however, is but the tip of the iceberg in a literary sea of budding authors, and if I really tried, I could substitute 'J' to represent other 'want to be' and 'could be' writers with every letter in the alphabet except 'x-y-z', even from those messages I have received this year alone.'
Here are a few tips that will help, should you proceed in having a genuine go this year:
(1) If you decide to write your book, do it because 'you want to' and not because you think 'you ought to'; and most importantly, 'do it for yourself'!
(2) Know that every person who lives has a story in them that is worthy of the telling; be it long or short, suitable for a child, young person or adult.
(3) Don't restrict yourself to having your story form a book as there are hundreds of magazines out there that might be suitable. Even if your story does not seem to say what you want it to say when you write it down in print, if it's a children's story, go to a school and tell it! At the very least you should get some valuable feedback. if your story is for adults then it might help if you join a writers/readers group. There is usually one in every area of the country.
(4) To get you back into the routine of writing, enrol in 'homeschool' where you are the student, teacher and examiner. Pluck a word/thing/type of person/event out of the air and compose an essay around it. That's all I do every morning in my 'Thought for Today'. And practice, practice and practice! This way, you will discover your best style of writing; the style that suits you best.
(5) We all write better when we are writing about something we know; hence the importance of placing our experiences within the lives of our story characters. The beautiful thing about stories is that writing them is so therapeutic. By putting your own real feelings, words, views and thoughts into the lives, actions and mouth of one of your characters, when you are writing about them, you always have enough to say that is meaningful to you because you are in fact writing about yourself in part. If you find what your characters say as being meaningful, you can bet that your readers are likely to find them meaningful also.When someone who reads your story remarks,'Your characters seem so real' it is usually because they are!
(6) Everyone's style of composition is different and we arrive at the one that is most suitable for our use by much practice and walking down different paths of exploration. I have always found it helpful to outlay my story in image form. For example, I imagine every paragraph I write as one image and then write what I see in my mind. The process between writer and reader goes like this:
I have an image and I turn that image into words to make one paragraph. The words and image reinforce each other because they match.The reader reads the words from the page of their book and automatically form an image in their mind as they are reading. When the image they have in their mind is the same image that I initially turned into words, I know that I've cracked it and have them on board.
Without recounting the ups and downs I've experienced during the past year, I have to conclude that there have been more ups than there have been downs. In fact, folks, come to think of it, I do not believe that I've ever lived through a year when there hasn't been.
Do you know what my New Year resolution is for the year 2018? It's the same resolution I have had for more years than I care to remember: I'm determined to laugh more. So there you have it. I'm game for a laugh if you are, Buster. Bring it on!
Sheila and I wish all our family, friends and neighbours a Happy New Year. May it be filled with much love, happiness, peace, health, compassion, forgiveness, and generosity." William Forde: December 30th, 2017.
"Forgive me using a picture I have used before, but its appropriateness for this post warranted its return. I often feel that many New Year resolutions often warrant a return also; especially those we fail to keep but wish we had, and in our heart of hearts still intend to make and keep one year in the future.
Leaving to one side the more common ones like the giving up or reducing the intake of alcohol and cigarettes, I would like to address one that is frequently made but invariably not kept; the resolution to someday write that story and publish that book we have in us.
You would be surprised to know how many frustrated authors we have out there. I was recently messaged by a close Facebook friend called 'J', telling me that he really must get pen to paper and start that book this coming year. Indeed, 'J' possesses all the skills that is required to be successful in getting his story written and I know the general outline of the story he wants to write is one that will make a good read. 'J' however, is but the tip of the iceberg in a literary sea of budding authors, and if I really tried, I could substitute 'J' to represent other 'want to be' and 'could be' writers with every letter in the alphabet except 'x-y-z', even from those messages I have received this year alone.'
Here are a few tips that will help, should you proceed in having a genuine go this year:
(1) If you decide to write your book, do it because 'you want to' and not because you think 'you ought to'; and most importantly, 'do it for yourself'!
(2) Know that every person who lives has a story in them that is worthy of the telling; be it long or short, suitable for a child, young person or adult.
(3) Don't restrict yourself to having your story form a book as there are hundreds of magazines out there that might be suitable. Even if your story does not seem to say what you want it to say when you write it down in print, if it's a children's story, go to a school and tell it! At the very least you should get some valuable feedback. if your story is for adults then it might help if you join a writers/readers group. There is usually one in every area of the country.
(4) To get you back into the routine of writing, enrol in 'homeschool' where you are the student, teacher and examiner. Pluck a word/thing/type of person/event out of the air and compose an essay around it. That's all I do every morning in my 'Thought for Today'. And practice, practice and practice! This way, you will discover your best style of writing; the style that suits you best.
(5) We all write better when we are writing about something we know; hence the importance of placing our experiences within the lives of our story characters. The beautiful thing about stories is that writing them is so therapeutic. By putting your own real feelings, words, views and thoughts into the lives, actions and mouth of one of your characters, when you are writing about them, you always have enough to say that is meaningful to you because you are in fact writing about yourself in part. If you find what your characters say as being meaningful, you can bet that your readers are likely to find them meaningful also.When someone who reads your story remarks,'Your characters seem so real' it is usually because they are!
(6) Everyone's style of composition is different and we arrive at the one that is most suitable for our use by much practice and walking down different paths of exploration. I have always found it helpful to outlay my story in image form. For example, I imagine every paragraph I write as one image and then write what I see in my mind. The process between writer and reader goes like this:
I have an image and I turn that image into words to make one paragraph. The words and image reinforce each other because they match.The reader reads the words from the page of their book and automatically form an image in their mind as they are reading. When the image they have in their mind is the same image that I initially turned into words, I know that I've cracked it and have them on board.
Without recounting the ups and downs I've experienced during the past year, I have to conclude that there have been more ups than there have been downs. In fact, folks, come to think of it, I do not believe that I've ever lived through a year when there hasn't been.
Do you know what my New Year resolution is for the year 2018? It's the same resolution I have had for more years than I care to remember: I'm determined to laugh more. So there you have it. I'm game for a laugh if you are, Buster. Bring it on!
Sheila and I wish all our family, friends and neighbours a Happy New Year. May it be filled with much love, happiness, peace, health, compassion, forgiveness, and generosity." William Forde: December 30th, 2017.
