2013 & Resolutions: Out With the OLD Ideas

Going out on a limb, here, assuming the majority of readers have, how many of you made New Year's Resolutions and what are they? 

As you probably know by now, I have not made resolutions. I haven't made any since I was in high school, when I learned most women made diet resolutions (this was the 80's, it was about dieting, not health!) and most of those broke them. It kind of stuck on me that if I didn't make them, I'd not break them.

Fast forward back to now (I know, an oxymoron): where has not making the resolutions gotten me? While it's true I've not broken my promises, I have also not really moved forward much. YIKES! Yet... it's the truth. 

If one aspires to nothing in order not to fail, one fails. 

I've failed. I've failed myself (and deprived all of you of my good works!).

My resolution this year is to make daily resolutions (AKA daily to-do lists). I want to write a page a day; I want to work on the YouTube account; I want to write and share my blogs; I want to train the cheerleaders to be the best personally they can be; I want the cheerleaders to win competitions; I want to have my business organized; I want to locate more missing children; I want to solve unsolved mysteries; I want to earn money; I want to secure my future. And I want to be in shape.

By year's end, I will have at least 365 posts on various websites and blogs, 365 pages written, a grant written, and $365 dollars left over after paying all the fees associated with TrueCrime.co.

Happy new year to all and blessings and success upon each one of us.

Last year's Waialua High School Bulldog's Varsity Cheer Team at OIA competion-Coach Ann Dellatan

Page A Day: 9/365

9/365
Lee Iacocca gave me something better than the Mustang: he motivated me to be like him and give it all I have; then play. Yes, it's true. Time off for working hard is a MUST. That doesn't mean "take the day off" or to skip a page each day. It means, write your page and then go off to do something else you enjoy. Psychologically, your mind will remember you reward yourself for such good behavior, which in turn makes you all the more eager to repeat it. It's a vicious cycle, but it's a GREAT and productive one.

Final Word
"If you want to make good use of your time, you've got to know what's most important and then give it all you've got." ~Lee Iacocca

Page A Day: 8/365

8/365

Page-count check! You should have at least 8 pages.  Do you have more? Less? What makes you work harder (or less hard) now? What is it that makes you work frantically (or procrastinate)? Figure out the answers to your relevant question and you’ll conquer all stumbling blocks.

Final Word

"If and When were planted, and Nothing grew." ~Old Proverb

Page A Day: 7/365

7/365

Are you stuck in a writing rut? Don't fret. Keep writing your page a day, even if it ends up on the cutting room floor. The main idea is simply: to write. One page.

Final Word

"Everything in the world exists in order to end up as a book." ~Stephan Mallarme

Page A Day: 6/365

6/365

Writing a page a day is great––if you are actually doing it. Are you? Many writers find being accountable to someone other than themselves keeps them on track. Do you need a push? A tugging? Pulling? Join a writing group and tell them what you are doing, why, and when you expect to be finished. Write them when you have a down day. Someone just may have the solution to motivate you to keep writing even when you do not feel like it. Check both on and offline.

Final Word

" It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen." ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Page A Day: 5/365

5/365

From whose point of view (POV) are you writing? Yours? The Almighty Third Person?  Know and understand WHY you chose this particular viewpoint, because it will show in your writing.

Every now and then, go back about twenty pages and make sure you’re consistent.  The right POV will flow naturally.

Final Word

"If the narrator's identification with the protagonist is strong

enough, it might make more sense to let the character tell the

story herself, in her own words and voice..." ~The Blue Quill

Page A Day: 4/365

4/365


"No, it's not a very good story—its author was too busy listening to other voices to listen as closely as he should have to the one coming from inside." ~Stephen King

Listen to your characters talking. Let them be true to themselves. Most of us need a character driven story. Allow them to drive.

Did you write yesterday? One page? Today (or tomorrow where you are) is page four.

      

Times of Stress

When you think about it - when is there NOT stress? Somehow, you must go on. I must go on.

For me, this week, the stress is one of those "it's not the first time, it's the last time" kind of things. That's when those five minute spurts work extremely well.

All energy is zapped. All motivation is zapped.  Out the window is everything I'd been planning to do - and it's replaced with things I'm now forced to do.

But my will power is strong. I will NOT let this completely throw me off track. For five minutes, I am going to write here in this blog.  I will take another five minutes and write my page a day.  You all know how I feel that business and exercise goes hand in hand, so I'm also taking a few five minute work-out breaks.  And five minutes to do a quick clean-up.

Lastly, five minutes to write out a list of what I hope to accomplish tomorrow. I'm including the hope of having a no-stress (or let-it-roll-off-my-shoulders) kind of day.

Did I mention that I sent in a book proposal?  It took less than five minutes to print it, address the envelope, and stick it in the mail. Who'd have guessed?

Page A Day: 3/365

3/365

Good day to all Page A Day writers! Thank you for staying with us, we are pleased and pray you are as well.

If the Page A Day turns out to be too much for you, try five minutes a day. You will be surprised how much five minutes a day adds up. If it still adds slowly for you, perhaps you will feel how I feel: "At last! I feel like I’m worth something once again. I've been writing daily and I have never felt better."

Avoid the Truth

There are "experts" who believe that in your writing you must please everyone. We don't. If you are too liberal, you will become stuck in a rut and, sooner or later, your work/writing will take second place and being politically correct will take first and is bound to get you into trouble at some point either way.

If you must, put a disclaimer in the front of your book, stating "for ease of flow in reading…" Fear of being a sexist pig is the number one avoidance, according to too many books and writers (thank you Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style).

Pick a pronoun and stick with it. That works and pleases real readers in the long run. If it works for you, it should work for them.

Final Word

If you are writing a page a day for a book, please do reply. Let us know: which day you started, if you have found it to be fairly easy, if you have hope this will work for you, and any tips and ideas you can share with others.

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Page A Day: 2/265

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FreeWriting is the action of writing, without premeditation, freely, as thoughts flow from your mind to your paper (or computer screen). A great way to bypass "writers' block" is via FreeWriting. If you stay on target with your book, all the better.

Set a timer for five minutes. Write ANYTHING until the timer goes off. Do this every day for thirty days until you have formed a new habit. Continue five-minute freeWriting during your entire year of a Page A Day (PAD) and watch the ideas and pages add up faster than a scientific calculator.

Final Word

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." ~Aristotle

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Page A Day: 1/365

Welcome to the second edition of Page a Day



Goal:  a complete book
Accomplishment time:  one year
Steps to reach goal:  write a page a day
Commit to bang out one written page a day (edited or not--these are your rules) and you will have a complete book in a year. It is so simple, you will swear you are cheating.

In general, we will share one short note here each day, written to remind and inspire you to sit down and write--just a page a day.

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Fantasy is not for paper only. Use fantasy to your advantage. Consider this: You are a real writer. Imagine it. Now fantasize you are a rich writer. Add to your fantasy that you are a well-known writer.  Lastly, imagine your writing changing lives for the better.  Makes you want to work, doesn't it?

... are you still hanging around?  Get out of here and write, will ya?

Final Word
Instead of MAGNiTUDE (noun) try:  extent, abundance, and consequence

Start Date: September 1, 2011
Pages:  1/365

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Please, if you are committing to a page a day, let us know so we can share your progress!