Just get started!

Have you ever looked back on your life and thought about all the projects you planned? You planned to do them but for some reason never even started them. For every one you never started you probably have 3 or 4 reasons as to why you never started.

So why have you never started any of these things really? In many cases it simply boils down to a lack of self-confidence. If this happens grab a pen & paper and write a list of reasons why you cannot even start the project.

If one of the reasons is "I don't know how to...". Well no matter what you are trying to do you can find resources on the Internet to get you going, for ANYTHING. Then there is the library, friends & family, paid training, and more.

I generally stick to the internet to find out how to do something and then I do it. Once I get some knowledge under my belt, my self-confidence grows enough that I can at least start a project and learn more as I go.

I would say you can find free help for ANYTHING on the Internet. It doesn't hurt to look and you will surprised how many giving people there are in this world.

If you are having problems finding resources leave us a comment about what you are trying to do and we will see if we can point you in the right direction.

Where does plastic come from

When the oil runs out what will our computers be made from? Right now and for 20 years into the future they will be made from plastic, but what about after that?
Plastic is after all, made from oil and when the supply dwindles the ability to create new plastic will too.

What else is made from oil you ask, well just look around you.
The foam cushions on your couch. The upholstery on the same couch

• Car interiors, some exteriors, and many many parts throughout
• All types of synthetic rubber
• Toothpaste
• Perfume
• Sneakers
• Paint
• Clothing
• And the list is almost endless!

Will we find a replacement for oil, NO we will not. Oil surrounds us.

In the near future we will find oil being held in reserve for military projects and other essential products

You could write book after book about what the world will be like without oil but you better write one quick before the glut of books hits the market and we start running out of trees.

Sorry for the brief post. I'm not feeling well.

Somtimes I'm sad

I have to admit sometimes I'm sad when I see and hear about the numerous ways people have to disrupt a decent and functioning society.

The hockey riots in Vancouver going on right now is one example.
Then we have random acts of violence. How many people get beaten in large city on given night? People killing, torturing and maiming each other all over the world. Wars, unemployment inflation a dwindling oil supply a failing economy, and the list goes.

Sometimes I wish the end of the world would just hurry up and get here so Earth can reboot and maybe, just maybe a new decent civilization will emerge.

The worst part of all of this is, we just sit by and watch and continue to let the world erode into total self-destruction. How did we reach this point? What is wrong with us that we are too afraid to get involved and stop the insanity?

There are no signs of any of this letting up, indeed it just going to get worse.

DEMAND ACTION NOW! Write your government, phone them, organize peaceful protests to demand change. If you see someone doing something wrong--Turn them in! Talk to your friends about what can be done.

Do not put up with the bullshit that is ruining our lives anymore.

Act now! Even if you just start by leaving a comment on this blog.

REMEMBER: We need to start somewhere.

Stuck in a rut

How often do feel as if you are nothing more than a robot programmed to carry out the same boring tasks day after day?
Many of us stuck in ruts that sap the energy from us. How could you possibly write when you feel so banal about life.

Writing will change your outlook on life when you are stuck in rut. Sit down (you only need a few minutes), write about something funny, scary, thrilling or entertaining. It does not have to be a perfect story, or even a whole story. Just jot down as much as feel good about.

When you written for a few minutes you should notice that that burnt out feeling has lifted, you will feel as if you can tackle another day. Most importantly you will have realized that even just a little bit of writing can bring you out of the daily run down feeling, and you will realize that it was so easy to do.

Continue doing this and very soon you will notice that you look forward to your daily writings. Let the amount you write grow daily, all the while not caring a whit about about spelling or grammar or anything else to bring you down. Right the only purpose is cleanse your soul of the grit and grime of daily life.

As you progress you can slowly start to check your spelling, grammar, etc. Eventually you will have established a daily writing routine and it will be time to tackle a short story, or if you feel great the beginning of a novel.

There is still a lot to learn about writing a novel but in my opinion you overcome one of the biggest hurdles without even realizing it -- Starting to write.

You have the right to feel good about yourself and writing is one of the best ways to attain it.


Write lots and have fun!

Positive Mental Attitude

Maintaining a Positive Mental Attitude (PAM) can be very difficult for many of us when it seems we are surrounded by negativity.

What you must realize is no matter what you see or hear, how you perceive it is totally up to you. If someone says something rude or nasty to me it could ruin my day if I let it but I choose instead to think of the flip side. Perhaps the offending person is just having a bad day or maybe someone was just rude to them, so I choose not to be offended by their behavior.

You see, I am in charge of my moods and emotions, no stranger from off the street is going to ruin my day. I decide myself at any given moment how to interpret the actions of others. Why would I give power to somebody else to decide how I feel.

A PMA is one of the few things that I have complete control over and I choose to keep my attitude positive, no matter what.
Yes at times this can be very difficult, especially when dealing with aggravated or obnoxious people. The best thing to do is to get away from the source of the negativity if you can.

At times I will think to myself, "That person just showed me the perfect way to describe a villain in my novel." Thinking this way does wonders to distance myself from another source of stress in my life. It works even better if I actually do incorporate some of the bad behavior into one of my antagonists.

I have chosen to live my life as stress free as possible and that means I will never let someone else ruin my day. Yes this does take practice but you can literally add years to your life by reducing stress and less stress means more energy for writing that novel.

What methods do you use to increase and maintain a positive mental attitude?

Fun Friday

Everybody needs to smile now and then. If you don't smile it can make days drag and merge together in a constant blur of stress. If you laugh everyday even better. So bearing these facts in mind I present the funniest joke of ALL time!


Q: How do you make paper babies?

A: You marry an old bag!

Hahahaaa, geez I am friggin hilarious!

You have to admit you it, you smiled didn't you.

My work for the day is done. Have a great day/night all!

Why you can't write - Part 3

Look at the picture; does it show how you feel after you have written a paragraph or maybe even a page or two. You'll have to trust me that that this dejected, lost and being useless feeling is far more common than you realize.

Feeling like our writer pal here is probably the number two cause of failing to continue writing. One reason for this is failure of planning. You sit down and start writing a story and very soon the story peters out.

Not everyone can just make up a story as they go and have it still make sense; at least not if it's even slightly complicated. Not to mention the fact that not everyone has a good enough memory to keep track of every detail in a full novel.

I have started a number of books only to very quickly give up on them because I felt totally lost in my own story. I gave up writing for a few years between each attempt.
This time I have three notebooks, recipe cards, sticky-notes and more. In these I wrote down everything I could think of about what should be in my story.

Now my work in progress (WIP) is at 25,000 words and growing. Every time I get that dejected, lost feeling I go back to my notes then back to my story to help keep writing. I have written about 24,500 more words than I ever have in the past and I have no inclination to quit.

Use your notes as a source to keep you fired up about the story, just remember to keep writing at the same time. Going back and forth will keep you going.

I hope this helps the many people like myself who can't write without a plan.
REMEMBER: You are not alone!

So get started and keep coming back here for more!

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! Please leave comments or e-mail me.

Why you can't write - Part 2

Writing, like any other thing we do in life takes a certain amount of self-confidence before you can even start. If you don't have faith in yourself you will not get very far. You may get a page or two written and then suddenly think "I can't do this.", "This is crap." or even "I'm too stupid to do this."
If it is a project you must complete you probably end up writing something that is mediocre at best.

Never forget you are not alone when you think this way. Every day thousands of people pick up a pen and paper or sit at their computer and either write nothing or a few words which are quickly deleted or thrown in the trash. Why does this happen?

Believe it or not the main reason is: the way we were raised. Were you encouraged as a child to write stories, or the value writing could possibly have on your future life? I know I was never given any encouragement by my family or even school for that matter.
If anything I was told to quit wasting my time writing stupid stories.

As we progressed through life we may have been told we were too stupid to write, or our grades in school were not good enough to know how to write. I remember English class talking more about dangling participles and gerunds and other weird stuff.

We never did much writing or if we did write I would write an excellent story but I would receive a "D" or "F" because of all the "weird stuff" errors. So even though I was excellent story teller I was knocked down, which left me feeling like an idiot. The thought of writing was soon put to death by a dangling gerund or something equally weird.

Don't get me wrong, we do need to know most of the weird stuff in order to be effective writers, but don't shoot yourself down because you don't understand all the rules of writing. You can and will learn the rules as you progress.

The most important thing is that you write. Why not start by writing about all the times you were told you were useless, or that you could not write. Read whatever you come up with and learn to laugh at how wrong everyone was about you. Laughter is saying "Screw you! I am perfectly capable of writing, and I will!".

Have a great day/night everyone!

PS I have not quite figured out my posting schedule yet -- 3 , 5, or 7 days per week. Please bear with me :)

Why you can't write - Part 1

People come up with many reasons not to write the book they have always dreamed of, such as:

• I don't have the time
• I can't write
• I'm not smart enough
• The kids are sick
• The roof is leaking
• My lizard escaped

Although many of these reasons are valid I think if you are honest with yourself you will find the main reason behind them all is lack of self-confidence. You can read every self-help book in the world, see psychiatrists, and more, but nothing will help unless you have basic self-confidence to begin with.

Writing requires a relatively high level of self-respect and belief in yourself if you wish to become a true author.

We are born with a very basic personality and many of our traits are included right from birth. You may say "I was born this way." which may be true but it is hardly the major contributing factor for whom we become. Our upbringing plays a far larger role in our self-confidence.
You may be born "shy" but good parenting, friends and schooling will bring us out of our shell.

Finally to get to the point of this post. In order to become a writer you must first begin with a sense of "I am worth it!". You must believe that you have the same rights as every other person on Earth. You have the right to express yourself as you see fit and what better way to do this than by writing.

So to begin every day and end every night with telling yourself "I am worth it!" in whatever form suits you. For example:

• I am worth being treated with respect.
• I am intelligent
• I can do anything I set my mind to
• I am capable of learning anything I wish
• I will banish negative thinking from my mind
• I WILL WRITE A NOVEL!

This must be done every day night and be patient, it takes time to change yourself.
Don't forget to change the phrases to whatever seems best for yourself, but no matter what you choose to use always remember one thing "I AM WORTH IT!"

I Look forward to hearing from you, please leave a comment.
Together we will grow and write.

What's coming up on this site?

This is a brand new Blog the focus of which will be; understanding why you can't write a novel due to self-doubt and poor self esteem, and/or lack of knowledge.

How many times have you started to write "the best book ever!" and given up after only one page or one paragraph or even just one sentence. Sound familiar? Stay with me as we discover--that you can and will write a novel.

This Blog will show you how to overcome your fears and become a successful author.

This Blog will be useful to people who just want to build their self-esteem, to writers that wish to improve their writing, and to people that have the desire to write but lack the the self-confidence and/or training.

As this is a new site there will be many changes to come, so please bear with me while I get things running properly. However the first of my posts about self-worth and writing will be Tuesday, June 7.

I hope to hear from you soon; Darcy.