Hello to all!
As it is Christmas, probably the biggest gift-giving season of the year, have you got your presents all sorted and correct? Congratulations! People who are so organised such as you I simply hate with a passion! I have some really weird superstitions concerning shopping too early, especially for the older generation.
If I see something in about August, my brain says: Ahhh, perfect for Aunt Jane. No, hang on, isn't she still really sick from that last flu? Ummm. Maybe I'll give that a miss. There's no one else to give it to, if she does die.
And promptly the sky falls on me. Don't get me wrong. I adore all of my older relatives and never for a minute would wish death on them. ( Well, maybe Uncle Francis. That cancer of his makes his life a living misery. What the hell am I thinking about? Uncle Francis loves his life, pain, misery and all. And he really loves seeing all the relatives at Christmas so he can gloat that he's still alive.)
And so it goes. I am so lucky I cannot think of ONE relative whom I would genuinely wish off this mortal coil. I really hope you are like this too. Karma has a bad habit of biting the softest areas of your body if you aren't.
So, back to getting a gift for the relative in question. Well, why not involve the kids as well and make a personal gift? There are so many things that you can make, wrap in a pretty handkerchief or something and HAND-DELIVER, unless of course the person lives many miles away. Then spend the money that you would have spent on something they will not use, like fancy soaps, powders and that sort of thing, and have your gift COURIERED.
Or invest in a two-minute phone call. Some old people absolutely love the sound of a voice in their ear who is not selling them the newest vacuum cleaner or the (best) funeral plan.( In my part of the country this year, although they do advertise all year, they have really seemed to amp it up this year around Christmas. How revolting. And depressing. And they could at least schedule their ads better, instead of one for Chrisco followed by one for XYZ Funeral Plan.)
No, I am not in denial of the subject. I simply think there could be a little bit more tact used when programming these things. Another memory is of a god-daughter visiting an elderly aunt of her mother's. The little one was only about four, but one of those ads came on. before her mother could stop her, the child said, clear as a bell: Daddy says they are too expensive and the cheap one we have organised for you will do. Out of the mouths of babes! Luckily the old lady concerned had a marvellous sense of humour and roared laughing, saying to her niece later on: Tell young Jeremy seeing as I will go first, I'M the one who will probably receive him into Hell.
So I buy these gifts or make something simple and pray to God that he will not take the person concerned before I can see them/phone them or do some little thing to show them I have not forgotten them.
After all, we cannot make it up later, and one day out of 365 isn't much at all to make someone happy for two minutes.
Friday, 30 November 2012
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Christmas grouches
Hello to all!
What a delightful thought: four weeks(give or take a few days) to Christmas; the big, fat jolly man(how does he ever miss the attentions of Jenny Craig et al, I wonder?) pays his once-a-year visit to most of us.( Most of us, if we were truthful, also wish our relatives would follow his lead and only visit once a year, for one damned day or night!) . That would be usually enough to create the same chaos.
By the way, this is NOT a Pick-on-Santa post. I am just as fond of the idea as anyone else. The only thing about Christmas that sticks in my craw is WHY do everyday items become suddenly exotic and cost prices equal to a beach holiday every time it rolls around? Take soap, washing liquid, toilet paper for instance, and they are just necessities.
Okay, I understand the economy is lousy, sales aren't grossing what they should, we all need to tighten our belts, jobs have suddenly hit the equivalent of here today, gone tomorrow. But, really, is that worth a 500gram tub of margarine which was $3.50 last week suddenly being worth $4.95? There isn't any more in it, unless some new ingredient has been added and then it still adds up to 300grams or 500 grams. The packaging is the same. Everything is the same. So why the jump? Maybe a few cents, but that is plain ridiculous.
We all have chicken at least once a week nowadays. Once it was a luxury and for some, still is. But it is not limited to Christmas or just Sunday is what I am getting at. So why is it so expensive around this time of year? ham turkey are all available during the year now, or you can buy it frozen and use it, so why? Is it because it is so-called organic, or free-range or has ninety-nine growth hormones which cost money added? Or has some other marvellous thing implanted? In that case,I think it should be a lot cheaper. After all, who is really old enough to show exactly what these additions can do to us inside and out?
No, I am not advocating boycotting shops or major stores. And, I do wish them all nothing but the best. But, hey, can't they throw a bit of the charity towards those who genuinely cannot afford the huge upscale?
What a delightful thought: four weeks(give or take a few days) to Christmas; the big, fat jolly man(how does he ever miss the attentions of Jenny Craig et al, I wonder?) pays his once-a-year visit to most of us.( Most of us, if we were truthful, also wish our relatives would follow his lead and only visit once a year, for one damned day or night!) . That would be usually enough to create the same chaos.
By the way, this is NOT a Pick-on-Santa post. I am just as fond of the idea as anyone else. The only thing about Christmas that sticks in my craw is WHY do everyday items become suddenly exotic and cost prices equal to a beach holiday every time it rolls around? Take soap, washing liquid, toilet paper for instance, and they are just necessities.
Okay, I understand the economy is lousy, sales aren't grossing what they should, we all need to tighten our belts, jobs have suddenly hit the equivalent of here today, gone tomorrow. But, really, is that worth a 500gram tub of margarine which was $3.50 last week suddenly being worth $4.95? There isn't any more in it, unless some new ingredient has been added and then it still adds up to 300grams or 500 grams. The packaging is the same. Everything is the same. So why the jump? Maybe a few cents, but that is plain ridiculous.
We all have chicken at least once a week nowadays. Once it was a luxury and for some, still is. But it is not limited to Christmas or just Sunday is what I am getting at. So why is it so expensive around this time of year? ham turkey are all available during the year now, or you can buy it frozen and use it, so why? Is it because it is so-called organic, or free-range or has ninety-nine growth hormones which cost money added? Or has some other marvellous thing implanted? In that case,I think it should be a lot cheaper. After all, who is really old enough to show exactly what these additions can do to us inside and out?
No, I am not advocating boycotting shops or major stores. And, I do wish them all nothing but the best. But, hey, can't they throw a bit of the charity towards those who genuinely cannot afford the huge upscale?
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
Focus - isn't that something you do with a camera?
Hello to all!
Good grief, I actually am going to follow-up on something I said in the last post. I sometimes do, but not so often as I should. How come I can lecture one hundred people in my job and can remember to come back as promised with more the next time and cannot seem to manage it here? Just one of those quirks of mine, I guess.
Rubbish! More like it is simply I am only focusing on what I want to say today and NOT the long-term. This is fatal in any business, online or off. If you have not got a plan, a focus, a way, then, baby, you are screwed. You must focus. Maybe not on the real big picture but on at least a piece of it.
How many of us have ever done jigsaws? My absolute favourite way of getting the damned things all together is to separate all the blue pieces, all the orange, green, red, whatever and make a small picture from them. Usually I end with the tiger or the mountains or the sky(mind you, that one is a pain!), then I start to connect the small picture into a larger one.
I know, I know, it is so much easier to get the sides and corners together first, or apparently so, according to experts. Well, that doesn't work for me, so I use a method that does. I FOCUS on the tiger, whatever and get that part right. That doesn't mean that I don't construct bits here and there too, when they seem to come together, but my main aim is the trees, or the sky or the tiger.
Bingo! When I have that main piece done, the rest falls into line. Usually. Or that is my expectation. I haven't been disappointed yet, so I guess it works. And that is what you should do with your writing, your business, anything that is not personal, although the rules here can be worked into personal as well. After all, what is the point of having a thriving business at the cost of your family? In my book, that is no good trade-off at all. After all, I would prefer to snuggle up with a warm body any day, rather then cold hard cash. Everything in its place.
To revert back to another post, DO NOT go chasing shiny new things. Instead, focus on how you are going to get where you want to and go do it. It may take you some time, but at least you will have something to show for your work, and if you are focused enough, anything that is NOT helping will be spotted early in the piece.
What works for one may not work for another. But you can twist and tweak the original idea or thought to work for you. All you have to do is focus.
Good grief, I actually am going to follow-up on something I said in the last post. I sometimes do, but not so often as I should. How come I can lecture one hundred people in my job and can remember to come back as promised with more the next time and cannot seem to manage it here? Just one of those quirks of mine, I guess.
Rubbish! More like it is simply I am only focusing on what I want to say today and NOT the long-term. This is fatal in any business, online or off. If you have not got a plan, a focus, a way, then, baby, you are screwed. You must focus. Maybe not on the real big picture but on at least a piece of it.
How many of us have ever done jigsaws? My absolute favourite way of getting the damned things all together is to separate all the blue pieces, all the orange, green, red, whatever and make a small picture from them. Usually I end with the tiger or the mountains or the sky(mind you, that one is a pain!), then I start to connect the small picture into a larger one.
I know, I know, it is so much easier to get the sides and corners together first, or apparently so, according to experts. Well, that doesn't work for me, so I use a method that does. I FOCUS on the tiger, whatever and get that part right. That doesn't mean that I don't construct bits here and there too, when they seem to come together, but my main aim is the trees, or the sky or the tiger.
Bingo! When I have that main piece done, the rest falls into line. Usually. Or that is my expectation. I haven't been disappointed yet, so I guess it works. And that is what you should do with your writing, your business, anything that is not personal, although the rules here can be worked into personal as well. After all, what is the point of having a thriving business at the cost of your family? In my book, that is no good trade-off at all. After all, I would prefer to snuggle up with a warm body any day, rather then cold hard cash. Everything in its place.
To revert back to another post, DO NOT go chasing shiny new things. Instead, focus on how you are going to get where you want to and go do it. It may take you some time, but at least you will have something to show for your work, and if you are focused enough, anything that is NOT helping will be spotted early in the piece.
What works for one may not work for another. But you can twist and tweak the original idea or thought to work for you. All you have to do is focus.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Another job?
Hello to all!
Back on my hobby-horse With the economy in the state it is, should you really afford NOT to explore other alternatives to your job? Businesses seem to be hitting walls at a great rate of knots, some with very little warning to their employees, if any at all, so it does really pay to search out an alternative. After all, they may crash and burn, but you still need to eat, pay bills, have a roof over your head, etc.
Okay, you may be on one of those new-fangled diets and not need to eat. All the best if you are. And you may like sitting in the dark, bathing in cold water and living in a cardboard box on a street corner. I really HATE to tell you, but rain, mist, cars driving by, ALL dump some water on your abode and it is liable to disintegrate rapidly.
Okay, it's not a funny subject, but it IS one you need to look at seriously. If you follow the trend of getting into online marketing to get some money coming in, very good luck to you. It's not something I am interested at the moment, but there are a stack of really good marketers out there who can help you. The only thing I can say about that also is: DO NOT buy every program on the market, thinking each one is better than the last. That's called shiny new object syndrome, as one respected marketer calls it, and is only good for spending money. I've also been there and done that and have the proof on the hard drive of a few of my old computers, waiting to go into the rubbish bin when a friend reprograms the computers!
One thing that does not cost a great deal of money to set up is to take a particular pack of PLR and rewrite it to suit yourself as a small or large report. These are easy to do, and there are markets everywhere which will buy them from you for around $20-$100. This is easy money, easy work as most of it is in the PLR and very little research is needed. Just don't buy them and use them unadulterated or given your own treatment. Most search engines will throw them out without even thinking about it.
I'll talk more about PLR I hope(for some reason I always find something else that takes over LOL!) in the next post. Or maybe I'll talk about focus. That's something I find very hard to do. Yeah. Maybe the PLR can wait. We'll see.
Back on my hobby-horse With the economy in the state it is, should you really afford NOT to explore other alternatives to your job? Businesses seem to be hitting walls at a great rate of knots, some with very little warning to their employees, if any at all, so it does really pay to search out an alternative. After all, they may crash and burn, but you still need to eat, pay bills, have a roof over your head, etc.
Okay, you may be on one of those new-fangled diets and not need to eat. All the best if you are. And you may like sitting in the dark, bathing in cold water and living in a cardboard box on a street corner. I really HATE to tell you, but rain, mist, cars driving by, ALL dump some water on your abode and it is liable to disintegrate rapidly.
Okay, it's not a funny subject, but it IS one you need to look at seriously. If you follow the trend of getting into online marketing to get some money coming in, very good luck to you. It's not something I am interested at the moment, but there are a stack of really good marketers out there who can help you. The only thing I can say about that also is: DO NOT buy every program on the market, thinking each one is better than the last. That's called shiny new object syndrome, as one respected marketer calls it, and is only good for spending money. I've also been there and done that and have the proof on the hard drive of a few of my old computers, waiting to go into the rubbish bin when a friend reprograms the computers!
One thing that does not cost a great deal of money to set up is to take a particular pack of PLR and rewrite it to suit yourself as a small or large report. These are easy to do, and there are markets everywhere which will buy them from you for around $20-$100. This is easy money, easy work as most of it is in the PLR and very little research is needed. Just don't buy them and use them unadulterated or given your own treatment. Most search engines will throw them out without even thinking about it.
I'll talk more about PLR I hope(for some reason I always find something else that takes over LOL!) in the next post. Or maybe I'll talk about focus. That's something I find very hard to do. Yeah. Maybe the PLR can wait. We'll see.
Saturday, 24 November 2012
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE
Hello to all!
How many of you, I wonder, have always wanted to write a book and actually get it published? Well, now is about the easiest time ever to try. Go to Kindle and get some knowledge about how to format the books, and also what they want.
I know it is only 5(or is it 4?) weeks to Christmas, but amazingly you still can write a book. Or maybe you have written a book. Yay! that's half the battle! You are at the top of the mountain. Now the way down is usually easy. Format it and upload it to Amazon and let them handle it. You really do not need to spend a fortune in How-To books like I still do.
Drifting from the topic, I wonder just WHERE that trait came from? My father would watch someone closely, ask a couple of questions, and with very few minor mistakes, get it nearly perfect the first time. The second time was perfect. My younger brother has improved on that formula. His first attempts are always perfect. Being the younger brother, this is mortifying! I often wish I had choked him at birth, but i love him too dearly to do that. Besides, he towers over me now!
My mother was the same. Not me. All four of my siblings have mastered this trait, and the one who hasn't fakes it. Come on, sis, admit it!
No one who lives on this beautiful planet of ours can claim to get things exactly right the first time they even try to do something they are completely unfamiliar with, but they DID try. And, after the first time, it became easier. Einstein never perfected anything at first try. Edison had around 100 tries before he got the hang of a light bulb. So, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE.
Write this on a sticky and tape it to the monitor of your computer where it hits you in the eye the minute you sit in front of the monitor. Pick a really bright note and write in a contrasting colour. DO NOT REMOVE IT UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED WHAT YOU SET OUT TO DO. Yes, I'm shouting and I shouldn't but this is so very important.
The simplest things are the hardest things usually. But you found the time to actually write the thing. You are happy with it. The few you have shared it with are happy with it. So, go the last few yards with it. Take one of the minutes, hours, whatever you scrounged to write it and study the manuals from Amazon.
Don't worry about pricing it. Until you see what it is going to do, allow it to be downloaded free. Yes, that's right. FREE. Set a time for it to settle in, say a week or so, and then put your price on it. There are something like 40 billion people in the world, and not all of them will visit the Amazon site every one of those days. The week is to tweak and get it right. Don't just whack it up and get so many things wrong and have to make refunds. Sneak on it, and make it the best, faultless book you can. Bad formatting sinks more books than you could ever imagine, as does poor spelling, and bad grammar. So, let the public have a taste for free. many, if their is any problem with it, will let you know in no uncertain terms and may even give you good advice.
The best thing about publishing this way is: You may lose some sales by it being free, but at least you do not have to refund the lot! And you may benefit too!
How many of you, I wonder, have always wanted to write a book and actually get it published? Well, now is about the easiest time ever to try. Go to Kindle and get some knowledge about how to format the books, and also what they want.
I know it is only 5(or is it 4?) weeks to Christmas, but amazingly you still can write a book. Or maybe you have written a book. Yay! that's half the battle! You are at the top of the mountain. Now the way down is usually easy. Format it and upload it to Amazon and let them handle it. You really do not need to spend a fortune in How-To books like I still do.
Drifting from the topic, I wonder just WHERE that trait came from? My father would watch someone closely, ask a couple of questions, and with very few minor mistakes, get it nearly perfect the first time. The second time was perfect. My younger brother has improved on that formula. His first attempts are always perfect. Being the younger brother, this is mortifying! I often wish I had choked him at birth, but i love him too dearly to do that. Besides, he towers over me now!
My mother was the same. Not me. All four of my siblings have mastered this trait, and the one who hasn't fakes it. Come on, sis, admit it!
No one who lives on this beautiful planet of ours can claim to get things exactly right the first time they even try to do something they are completely unfamiliar with, but they DID try. And, after the first time, it became easier. Einstein never perfected anything at first try. Edison had around 100 tries before he got the hang of a light bulb. So, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE.
Write this on a sticky and tape it to the monitor of your computer where it hits you in the eye the minute you sit in front of the monitor. Pick a really bright note and write in a contrasting colour. DO NOT REMOVE IT UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED WHAT YOU SET OUT TO DO. Yes, I'm shouting and I shouldn't but this is so very important.
The simplest things are the hardest things usually. But you found the time to actually write the thing. You are happy with it. The few you have shared it with are happy with it. So, go the last few yards with it. Take one of the minutes, hours, whatever you scrounged to write it and study the manuals from Amazon.
Don't worry about pricing it. Until you see what it is going to do, allow it to be downloaded free. Yes, that's right. FREE. Set a time for it to settle in, say a week or so, and then put your price on it. There are something like 40 billion people in the world, and not all of them will visit the Amazon site every one of those days. The week is to tweak and get it right. Don't just whack it up and get so many things wrong and have to make refunds. Sneak on it, and make it the best, faultless book you can. Bad formatting sinks more books than you could ever imagine, as does poor spelling, and bad grammar. So, let the public have a taste for free. many, if their is any problem with it, will let you know in no uncertain terms and may even give you good advice.
The best thing about publishing this way is: You may lose some sales by it being free, but at least you do not have to refund the lot! And you may benefit too!
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Finding time to write
Hello to all!
Ever wondered how a book gets written? Well, of course you would. You have every intentions of writing one yourself, haven't you? Which is why you are reading this grasshopper of a blog.
There really is not standard way of writing a book. Some writers work for several hours in the morning, and revise it in the afternoon. Some spend the morning researching, then the afternoon putting it together. It really doesn't matter, so long as you actually put words on paper, or on your computer's face.
So you haven't got the time to sit down and devote long chunks of time to writing. You cannot see how you can possibly squeeze even five minutes out of your busy schedule. Well, one person who managed to do this on a regular basis, when he was at work, no less, Is Vincent Ros. www.TenaciousWriter.com. This man amazes me with the ways he has come up to find time to write. A last piece of his tells how he decided to write a book, come hell or high water, and made time to write.
He wrote at work. No, not in a way that would get you fired immediately. He stole half an hour from his lunch break, finding sneaky little bolt holes while he was on lunch and free-wring for the first or last part of the lunch-break. He really does deserve credit for his ingenuity. it's a good read, and he also gives ten tips as to how you can use that half-hour.
We ALL can find a spare five minutes if we really try. The often up to twenty minutes we wait for a doctor's appointment or a dental one can be utilized, instead of reading stale old magazines. If the surgeries have creches, put your children into these, and watch them while writing.
A laptop is rather bulky in these situations. Simply take a notepad and several pens or pencils in your bag and write. Develop characters, scenes, places and locations. I once grew a whole city while waiting for one of my ruder colleagues to finish what she was doing. To say it was fun was not the half of it. And I wasn't even cranky at her for delaying my own projects. it cost nothing but a little time and I had that, instead of a very boring meeting, gratis. The meeting was shorter than expected, too, because we needed to make up the time, which was a bonus!
So take a look around for where you can find a few spare minutes and determine how to put it to good use with your writing. Even if you only come up with a laundry list of names and places, it's a start, and, if you do this every time, you will soon have all the basics, outline and plan for your book.
Ever wondered how a book gets written? Well, of course you would. You have every intentions of writing one yourself, haven't you? Which is why you are reading this grasshopper of a blog.
There really is not standard way of writing a book. Some writers work for several hours in the morning, and revise it in the afternoon. Some spend the morning researching, then the afternoon putting it together. It really doesn't matter, so long as you actually put words on paper, or on your computer's face.
So you haven't got the time to sit down and devote long chunks of time to writing. You cannot see how you can possibly squeeze even five minutes out of your busy schedule. Well, one person who managed to do this on a regular basis, when he was at work, no less, Is Vincent Ros. www.TenaciousWriter.com. This man amazes me with the ways he has come up to find time to write. A last piece of his tells how he decided to write a book, come hell or high water, and made time to write.
He wrote at work. No, not in a way that would get you fired immediately. He stole half an hour from his lunch break, finding sneaky little bolt holes while he was on lunch and free-wring for the first or last part of the lunch-break. He really does deserve credit for his ingenuity. it's a good read, and he also gives ten tips as to how you can use that half-hour.
We ALL can find a spare five minutes if we really try. The often up to twenty minutes we wait for a doctor's appointment or a dental one can be utilized, instead of reading stale old magazines. If the surgeries have creches, put your children into these, and watch them while writing.
A laptop is rather bulky in these situations. Simply take a notepad and several pens or pencils in your bag and write. Develop characters, scenes, places and locations. I once grew a whole city while waiting for one of my ruder colleagues to finish what she was doing. To say it was fun was not the half of it. And I wasn't even cranky at her for delaying my own projects. it cost nothing but a little time and I had that, instead of a very boring meeting, gratis. The meeting was shorter than expected, too, because we needed to make up the time, which was a bonus!
So take a look around for where you can find a few spare minutes and determine how to put it to good use with your writing. Even if you only come up with a laundry list of names and places, it's a start, and, if you do this every time, you will soon have all the basics, outline and plan for your book.
Mind maps Part two
Hello to all!
I really was going to write something else this time, but I did a bit of research on mind maps and thought the subject could do with another visit.
You already know that mind maps can be as simple or as complicated as you may like. So can their names. For instance, spider mind maps, cloud mind maps, square mind maps, brain mind maps, the list is endless. But all these terms mean exactly the same. A main part, joined by lines or arrows to a smaller part of the same shape.
Don't worry, when I was at University, and first introduced to the term, it made no sense whatever. Nor did it help that several of the lecturers had a favourite mind map which never remotely resembled any other lecturer's. I am quite sure he/she simply wanted to keep us in a state of awe and fear. One even used designs of three-pointed stars for chemistry, and five pointed ones for physics. To us newbies, that was plain mean.
My last year of primary school did not involve any type of cluster designs at all, as it did not include very much physics, so it was probably committing dumb suicide to sign up for the classes, but hey! we knew everything and that was going to be a breeze. Such is the confidence of seventeen-going-on-eighteen year olds.
Anyway, that's a story for another time.
It doesn't matter what shape you use, as long as it works for you. I personally like the brain or cloud shape, because I am such a lousy drawer, and those two can be almost any shape, so long as they are vaguely like clouds or brains and the offspring match them!
The worst circle maps were those that enclosed abbreviations for chemical substances. Put them in brains or clouds and I was fine. Just NOT circles. I have never found out why either. Just perhaps my squirrelly brain! Seriously though, these simple diagrams can assist you a great deal in getting rid of procrastination too. This is where most of my writing comes from.
If you would like an article or two written, contact me on taylor.cheryl54@yahoo.com. I am working on a website, but haven't got it down properly yet! Very soon though.
I really was going to write something else this time, but I did a bit of research on mind maps and thought the subject could do with another visit.
You already know that mind maps can be as simple or as complicated as you may like. So can their names. For instance, spider mind maps, cloud mind maps, square mind maps, brain mind maps, the list is endless. But all these terms mean exactly the same. A main part, joined by lines or arrows to a smaller part of the same shape.
Don't worry, when I was at University, and first introduced to the term, it made no sense whatever. Nor did it help that several of the lecturers had a favourite mind map which never remotely resembled any other lecturer's. I am quite sure he/she simply wanted to keep us in a state of awe and fear. One even used designs of three-pointed stars for chemistry, and five pointed ones for physics. To us newbies, that was plain mean.
My last year of primary school did not involve any type of cluster designs at all, as it did not include very much physics, so it was probably committing dumb suicide to sign up for the classes, but hey! we knew everything and that was going to be a breeze. Such is the confidence of seventeen-going-on-eighteen year olds.
Anyway, that's a story for another time.
It doesn't matter what shape you use, as long as it works for you. I personally like the brain or cloud shape, because I am such a lousy drawer, and those two can be almost any shape, so long as they are vaguely like clouds or brains and the offspring match them!
The worst circle maps were those that enclosed abbreviations for chemical substances. Put them in brains or clouds and I was fine. Just NOT circles. I have never found out why either. Just perhaps my squirrelly brain! Seriously though, these simple diagrams can assist you a great deal in getting rid of procrastination too. This is where most of my writing comes from.
If you would like an article or two written, contact me on taylor.cheryl54@yahoo.com. I am working on a website, but haven't got it down properly yet! Very soon though.
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Mind maps
Hello to all!
As promised, here is the next part on my favourite ways of getting any type of writing done. I happen to really like mind maps. You can be as basic as you like with these, or make them state-of-the-art. It doesn't really matter. I've even been known to add a smaller bubble halfway through the first stage to carry secondary thoughts, which may or may not be used. If not, I can always spin them off into something else.
The main idea with mind maps is to choose just one topic. This often throws a lot of people as all types of topics and snippets that seem to be interesting sneak in. That happens to all of us, so don't stress too much.
You will find that over practice, the subject which occupies your main balloon takes precedence over everything and you will just brainstorm everything that goes with the topic alone.
This process is due to those busy little elves in your subconscious. Give them just one word to work with, and you will be amazed at how industrious they will be. Often it will seem like rubbish, but where the subconscious is concerned, nothing is rubbish. It all has a place somewhere, even if it is right at the end. Or even may be useful in another ebook. Never throw these scribblings out, as they can fill in a lazy afternoon, or even a blank space in your conscious train of thought. I have pages and pages of all types of these things, and even notebooks of them around, of which I may do something one day.
A friend of mine uses mind maps when she is waiting for her small children to finish kindy and school. She is not one to share idle chit-chat as she is very shy, so she uses this time to map out some writing which she probably will do when the kids are in bed and husband is watching TV.
So most of us aren't that organised or energetic. It works for her, which is the main thing. She turns out four ebooks in the erotic genre each year and makes a good living.
Set up your mind map, having chosen your subject. Ensure you have chosen one for which there is a market, otherwise you may write the best ebook ever on your subject, but if that topic is not already selling, then it will simply languish in cyber space. This, just quietly, is why many good ebooks fail. There just is not the market for them, and may never be.
Many people also baulk at that. "But that niche is already saturated!" I hear you loud and clear. It may seem to be, but the positive in that is you know that topic sells. So go write your book, using a mind map. Just put your unique slant on it. Remember, no one else can see the topic from your point, so use this to write and map.
Next post, I'll talk about the lengths of ebooks.
As promised, here is the next part on my favourite ways of getting any type of writing done. I happen to really like mind maps. You can be as basic as you like with these, or make them state-of-the-art. It doesn't really matter. I've even been known to add a smaller bubble halfway through the first stage to carry secondary thoughts, which may or may not be used. If not, I can always spin them off into something else.
The main idea with mind maps is to choose just one topic. This often throws a lot of people as all types of topics and snippets that seem to be interesting sneak in. That happens to all of us, so don't stress too much.
You will find that over practice, the subject which occupies your main balloon takes precedence over everything and you will just brainstorm everything that goes with the topic alone.
This process is due to those busy little elves in your subconscious. Give them just one word to work with, and you will be amazed at how industrious they will be. Often it will seem like rubbish, but where the subconscious is concerned, nothing is rubbish. It all has a place somewhere, even if it is right at the end. Or even may be useful in another ebook. Never throw these scribblings out, as they can fill in a lazy afternoon, or even a blank space in your conscious train of thought. I have pages and pages of all types of these things, and even notebooks of them around, of which I may do something one day.
A friend of mine uses mind maps when she is waiting for her small children to finish kindy and school. She is not one to share idle chit-chat as she is very shy, so she uses this time to map out some writing which she probably will do when the kids are in bed and husband is watching TV.
So most of us aren't that organised or energetic. It works for her, which is the main thing. She turns out four ebooks in the erotic genre each year and makes a good living.
Set up your mind map, having chosen your subject. Ensure you have chosen one for which there is a market, otherwise you may write the best ebook ever on your subject, but if that topic is not already selling, then it will simply languish in cyber space. This, just quietly, is why many good ebooks fail. There just is not the market for them, and may never be.
Many people also baulk at that. "But that niche is already saturated!" I hear you loud and clear. It may seem to be, but the positive in that is you know that topic sells. So go write your book, using a mind map. Just put your unique slant on it. Remember, no one else can see the topic from your point, so use this to write and map.
Next post, I'll talk about the lengths of ebooks.
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Free-writing
Hello to all.My last post was about how not to write that book that is blazing in your head, or what can happen and usually does.
If you do not have an outline and a plan.
These two things alone will stop your monster in its tracks. It may possibly do more. Ideas cannot be copyrighted The base idea can spin off in someone else's head, but you can still recognise it. This can be shattering for some and even worse if your idea is written very poorly, which does unfortunately happen a lot more than you would think.
Write down the idea and get stuck into it. That way you should have a great start on anyone else. The odds that they are still only thinking about it, whereas you are actually on the way.
Personally, I like an idea or two that my tutor swears by to get started with a book. Free-write and mind-map. These two simple actions can help to make writing a book a breeze. Let's take them one at a time.
I'm sure you've heard that free-writing comes from the right-brain which is connected to your sub-conscious. This place never stops; it works all the hours and would work more if it could. Years ago, Stephen King wrote of the sub-conscious as his personal sweat-shop for tiny people who sweated coming up with plots for him to take his pick, or left them overnight with something that was causing a blockage.
Set a clock for five or ten minutes. make sure it has an alarm.or get a cheap egg timer and set it beside you. Anything that can be made to make a noise after a set time is perfect. Ten minutes is usually enough, otherwise you may tire these little muses there.
Simply write. Anything at all. Your grocery list may appear. Take no notice and keep writing. Somewhere in this mess of pure words, there will be some real diamonds thrown up by the little guys which you can use. Don't stop until your timer goes off. Don't even go over a word and correct spelling. This will interrupt your creativity.
When you come to the end of your time, have a look at what you have written and see what you can tie in with your idea for your book. It might simply look like gibberish, but there are some parts you will be able utilize.
This is also an excellent exercise to start writing every day, if you are stiff and without thoughts. In order to write, you must stimulate the mind. This is one of the best ways I have found to do that. Dry-writing is very hard and no fun at all. have fun with your book. Robert Ludlum once said he had a marvellous idea for an epic. He sat down and began to free-write. His epic disappeared into one of the funniest books he had ever written, yet he had never intended that to happen. The book is Road to Gondolpho if you are interested in reading. I don't know if it is on Kindle, as the man is sadly deceased.
Next post we'll discuss mind-maps.
If you do not have an outline and a plan.
These two things alone will stop your monster in its tracks. It may possibly do more. Ideas cannot be copyrighted The base idea can spin off in someone else's head, but you can still recognise it. This can be shattering for some and even worse if your idea is written very poorly, which does unfortunately happen a lot more than you would think.
Write down the idea and get stuck into it. That way you should have a great start on anyone else. The odds that they are still only thinking about it, whereas you are actually on the way.
Personally, I like an idea or two that my tutor swears by to get started with a book. Free-write and mind-map. These two simple actions can help to make writing a book a breeze. Let's take them one at a time.
I'm sure you've heard that free-writing comes from the right-brain which is connected to your sub-conscious. This place never stops; it works all the hours and would work more if it could. Years ago, Stephen King wrote of the sub-conscious as his personal sweat-shop for tiny people who sweated coming up with plots for him to take his pick, or left them overnight with something that was causing a blockage.
Set a clock for five or ten minutes. make sure it has an alarm.or get a cheap egg timer and set it beside you. Anything that can be made to make a noise after a set time is perfect. Ten minutes is usually enough, otherwise you may tire these little muses there.
Simply write. Anything at all. Your grocery list may appear. Take no notice and keep writing. Somewhere in this mess of pure words, there will be some real diamonds thrown up by the little guys which you can use. Don't stop until your timer goes off. Don't even go over a word and correct spelling. This will interrupt your creativity.
When you come to the end of your time, have a look at what you have written and see what you can tie in with your idea for your book. It might simply look like gibberish, but there are some parts you will be able utilize.
This is also an excellent exercise to start writing every day, if you are stiff and without thoughts. In order to write, you must stimulate the mind. This is one of the best ways I have found to do that. Dry-writing is very hard and no fun at all. have fun with your book. Robert Ludlum once said he had a marvellous idea for an epic. He sat down and began to free-write. His epic disappeared into one of the funniest books he had ever written, yet he had never intended that to happen. The book is Road to Gondolpho if you are interested in reading. I don't know if it is on Kindle, as the man is sadly deceased.
Next post we'll discuss mind-maps.
Monday, 5 November 2012
What size book?
Hello to all!
I said last time I would go into some ways of getting your/my pesky book written. One thing I do recommend is take a look at how Kindle likes you to write. You don't really need anything else, apart from the imagination and the drive.
A book to us older people means just that. Something that has at least 300 pages and about 60,000 words. Or you can have ones that take up too much space, and weigh a tonne, such as Stephen King's The Stand. I read it, basically enjoyed it, but heartily wished he had cut it into bite-sized extracts, as he did with Green Mile. The reading burn-out wasn't bad, but it still made me shy away from anything but very small, pre-teen novels for a few months. My eyes and brain refused to take notice of anything that looked as though it might take a little effort to enjoy it.
Those days are still here, but muchly reduced with the advent of Kindle and all those electronic books. There is really no place for a 200,000 page epic, except in a physical book. Even 60,000 words is uncomfortable when read on a device. 45,000 words is much more comfortable, but can also be a drag to read.
This is disappointing, especially if you were looking forwards to a good read. My own personal opinion is to make your book in the middle. If it is 60,000 words, break it into two 30,000 words books. Of course you will not leave your reader hanging, but with a little fiddling, you can make the end of the first one dovetail nicely into the start of the second. Or start the new one with a little extra background, or even a new challenge, which leads into the second part. You will have two books for the time of one, and, if you publish them consecutively, hopefully two streams of income. Your platform is also given a boost.
Not for nothing did Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle make series out of their books, to the extent that Doyle's mother, on being told he was sick of Holmes and had killed him off, informed her son: Nonsense. You bring that nice man back at once.
In this age of the Web, there is no reason you cannot write and publish your book, and with very few hassles. Fiction is a big seller, as are supernatural genres, vampires and kid's books, and it is coming up to major holidays, so what better to give someone than a book? You can write short stories, as long as you specify it is just that, or you can write your life story.
The world wants to be entertained. Why not cater to that wish?
I said last time I would go into some ways of getting your/my pesky book written. One thing I do recommend is take a look at how Kindle likes you to write. You don't really need anything else, apart from the imagination and the drive.
A book to us older people means just that. Something that has at least 300 pages and about 60,000 words. Or you can have ones that take up too much space, and weigh a tonne, such as Stephen King's The Stand. I read it, basically enjoyed it, but heartily wished he had cut it into bite-sized extracts, as he did with Green Mile. The reading burn-out wasn't bad, but it still made me shy away from anything but very small, pre-teen novels for a few months. My eyes and brain refused to take notice of anything that looked as though it might take a little effort to enjoy it.
Those days are still here, but muchly reduced with the advent of Kindle and all those electronic books. There is really no place for a 200,000 page epic, except in a physical book. Even 60,000 words is uncomfortable when read on a device. 45,000 words is much more comfortable, but can also be a drag to read.
This is disappointing, especially if you were looking forwards to a good read. My own personal opinion is to make your book in the middle. If it is 60,000 words, break it into two 30,000 words books. Of course you will not leave your reader hanging, but with a little fiddling, you can make the end of the first one dovetail nicely into the start of the second. Or start the new one with a little extra background, or even a new challenge, which leads into the second part. You will have two books for the time of one, and, if you publish them consecutively, hopefully two streams of income. Your platform is also given a boost.
Not for nothing did Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle make series out of their books, to the extent that Doyle's mother, on being told he was sick of Holmes and had killed him off, informed her son: Nonsense. You bring that nice man back at once.
In this age of the Web, there is no reason you cannot write and publish your book, and with very few hassles. Fiction is a big seller, as are supernatural genres, vampires and kid's books, and it is coming up to major holidays, so what better to give someone than a book? You can write short stories, as long as you specify it is just that, or you can write your life story.
The world wants to be entertained. Why not cater to that wish?
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Some easy ways to NOT finish writing your book
Hello to all!
Ever had one of those days when you have a marvelous idea for a novel, you can see the characters, almost smell the action and are full of enthusiasm? You charge into it, all guns blazing, and have a wonderful time.
For about ten-twenty minutes.
Then the rot sets in. The scene you thought would take up at least ten pages from start to finish is flat out generating text enough for three pages and, furthermore, walks itself right into a dead end with no way out, apart from one that is extremely lame.
To make matters worse, the hero is suddenly developing very unpleasant tendencies that you had never imagined, or, possibly worse, becoming a full-blown wimp! So how many times have you struggled with one or another of these scenarios?
Well, I know I have. So much so that several books, almost finished and in the fiction genre, are gathering dust on my hard-drive. Another problem I have is: if I have never experienced the actual action I am trying to describe, I cannot get it right. Tara Moss, take a bow for being brave enough to actually set yourself on fire and all sorts of other things to bring authenticity to your writing. You leave me gasping with admiration.
I really must be the only person who has not at least dabbled in Fifty Shades of Grey. But that is for the simple reason that sort of thing does not appeal to me. I just can't read that sort of thing, but good luck to the author. I wasn't wrapped in Twilight either, so I am either far too fussy or straight-out culture-deprived.
I also have a bad habit of taking a book I have really enjoyed and trying to create my own. Surprisingly it has worked quite well and I also have three of these on my hard drive, waiting for me to grow some courage and publish them. I mean, what could be easier? I don't even have to use my own name.
Nor do I have to worry for months on end as to where my darling manuscript has got to. No matter how many people have told me to stop worrying about it and get on with the next one, I still cannot completely shake this thought that it has been buried in some tomb, never to see the light of day.
You have to agree, it's rather a depressing thought.
I have touched on a few subjects here that I think are worth expanding in the next few posts.So wait around for them. I can guarantee you, they will not be rehashed old stuff.
Ever had one of those days when you have a marvelous idea for a novel, you can see the characters, almost smell the action and are full of enthusiasm? You charge into it, all guns blazing, and have a wonderful time.
For about ten-twenty minutes.
Then the rot sets in. The scene you thought would take up at least ten pages from start to finish is flat out generating text enough for three pages and, furthermore, walks itself right into a dead end with no way out, apart from one that is extremely lame.
To make matters worse, the hero is suddenly developing very unpleasant tendencies that you had never imagined, or, possibly worse, becoming a full-blown wimp! So how many times have you struggled with one or another of these scenarios?
Well, I know I have. So much so that several books, almost finished and in the fiction genre, are gathering dust on my hard-drive. Another problem I have is: if I have never experienced the actual action I am trying to describe, I cannot get it right. Tara Moss, take a bow for being brave enough to actually set yourself on fire and all sorts of other things to bring authenticity to your writing. You leave me gasping with admiration.
I really must be the only person who has not at least dabbled in Fifty Shades of Grey. But that is for the simple reason that sort of thing does not appeal to me. I just can't read that sort of thing, but good luck to the author. I wasn't wrapped in Twilight either, so I am either far too fussy or straight-out culture-deprived.
I also have a bad habit of taking a book I have really enjoyed and trying to create my own. Surprisingly it has worked quite well and I also have three of these on my hard drive, waiting for me to grow some courage and publish them. I mean, what could be easier? I don't even have to use my own name.
Nor do I have to worry for months on end as to where my darling manuscript has got to. No matter how many people have told me to stop worrying about it and get on with the next one, I still cannot completely shake this thought that it has been buried in some tomb, never to see the light of day.
You have to agree, it's rather a depressing thought.
I have touched on a few subjects here that I think are worth expanding in the next few posts.So wait around for them. I can guarantee you, they will not be rehashed old stuff.
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