April 2011
One Word Can Change Your Life
Submitted by jlpowers on Wed, 04/20/2011 - 11:41amAs humans, we evolved to live our lives focused on the question:
What's wrong, right now?
In every moment, we look at each aspect of our life and ask "What's wrong, right now?"
This question evolved as a safely issue, because things that are "right" in our lives aren't potentially dangerous. Back in caveman days, focusing on this question was a necessarily survival mechanism, because they were continually surrounded by physical danger.
But for most people in today's America, which is one of the safest cultures in the safest time in human history, continuous focus on "What's wrong, right now?" proves tremendously detrimental. People concentrate on the imagined dangers and potential wrongs in their life, and only occasionally (if ever) notice all the good and beautiful in their lives.
In today's world, for those of us who want to progress in our spiritual growth, continuous focus on the negative in our lives stops our growth in its tracks. Staying focused on the question "What's wrong, right now?" leads to stagnation, which leads to broken dreams and potentially, outright depression.
Changing one word in that question can change your life:
What's RIGHT, right now?
How would your life be changed if you focused on the question: "What's RIGHT, right now?"?
Sure, you don't ignore what's wrong or not working in your life, but you don't focus on it. You notice something that isn't working, you fix it, and then let it go.
You focus on what's RIGHT in your life, what's good in your life, what's working in your life, and what makes you happy in your life. (Read more)
Critical Reading of a Beginning
Submitted by jlpowers on Wed, 04/20/2011 - 8:49amA friend is trying to sell her first book but not getting good responses from agents and editors, and she's getting very frustrated and depressed about the whole process. I read her book a couple times during the editing process, but I hadn't seen the version that she's shopping around. When she emailed me the other day that her new website is live, out of curiosity, I popped over to check it out, and I couldn't resist taking a quick glance at the first chapter she had posted.
When I read the first sentence, my thought was "It's no wonder everybody is turning her down, because I'd turn her down, too." Which is sad because she's a marvelous storyteller. But the sloppy mechanics of the beginning sentences of her book overshadow her fantastic storytelling ability.
So how does the begin? I'll give you the first paragraph (with the character's name and details changed)
Chapter 1
Montana
Thursday, September 2, 1908: Afternoon
George Martin ran with perspiration matting his hair and streaming down his face. He gave an impatient shake of his head to clear his eyes only to stumble over a stone and almost fall. Regaining his balance, he doggedly ran on. If he just could run fast enough, he might be able to get home and avert disaster. He might be able to keep the horriblness away, and so he prayed as he ran, the prayers bursting through his clenched teeth in disjointed rasps of desperation. “Holy Mother of God…dear Jesus…oh God please, please, please…dear God, please…”
and now, my thought process as I read it, so you can understand how a critical-reader (editor/agent) might process your story as they read it.
Montana
Thursday, September 2, 1908: Afternoon (Read more)
Editing Is The Hard Part
Submitted by jlpowers on Mon, 04/04/2011 - 9:06amFrom the email bag:
Editing is the hard part, and I keep trying to avoid it. It's easier to get on with the next book, but I'll never move up the ladder to published if I do that. Writing, getting that first draft out of your head, is just so much fun. The rest, editing, is painful, but challenging.
And yes, I understand completely about the "editing" part of the writing process. It's not fun. :-(
When the words of the story just pour out of you in that rush of creating the first draft, that's grand fun. When the writing is going great, there isn't a high like it in the world. Then the book is done, it's time to edit, and the let-down is awful.
The good news is that once you do learn to fix something in the editing process-- like an error that managed to spread itself across your entire manuscript, which I've done more times than I care to admit --you've practiced the fix so much that it has become unconscious and **drum roll** you never have to fix it again. (Or at least if it does sneak in, the fix is on a much smaller scale.)
So each book that you write requires less editing, because with each book you've edited you learned all those lessons so they are automatic in the writing process.
Look at it like you're learning a new skill, maybe playing the piano. It doesn't come automatically, you have to practice. And "editing" your manuscript is the practice part. (Read more)