This is the first time I’ve delved into producing video. I’d appreciate you providing me with feedback if you have the time to check out this short book trailer for Argentum, Book One of the Violet War series I’m writing.
The Importance of Chasing Rainbows
“Chasing Rainbows” is a phrase that describes someone who’s going after a dream that’s impractical and foolish. The phrase has often been used to describe writers who have unrealistic expectations of how well they can write and what they are worth. “He thinks he’s Hemingway, but he’s never published anything before. He’s just chasing rainbows.” “Can’t believe she thinks she’s going to make $100,000 off of her first book, she’s just chasing rainbows.”
No one can catch a rainbow, right?
We’ve all known writers who had unrealistic expectations. By “unrealistic” I mean that they expect to make millions of dollars on an uncompleted project or believe that they’re famous and everyone knows who they are — even though they’ve only written one short story for a free magazine. We’ve laughed at them, we’ve made snarky comments privately, and we’ve all rolled our eyes at them — up until one of them does “make” it. Then we wonder how the heck that happened. Was it luck? Fate? What?
The reason why I believe any writer finds that proverbial pot of gold at the end of their rainbow is not because they were lucky or because fate deemed that they were successful. It’s because they were persistent. Not only did they chase the rainbow, but they did everything they could to find that pot of gold by persistently improving their craft, submitting fiction and non-fiction, networking, etc.
We all know that being a writer isn’t easy, which is why our rainbows are so vital to us. Sometimes, when we talk about what could happen we allow ourselves to believe that it might. It’s up to us then to doggedly pursue those rainbows in the best way that we know how.
So the next time you think a writer is chasing rainbows, I encourage you to take a step back and find out if they’re really wearing rose-colored glasses. All writers need a rainbow, and as long as we’re actually writing? I’m okay with that. How about you?
Happy Valentine’s Day! Enjoy Your Love Haikus!
Happy Valentine’s Day! Today’s the day to celebrate all things love and I can’t think of a better way than to share with you the love poetry from Twitter.
Poetry is a great way to get those creative juices flowing, especially if you need to flex those “descriptive” muscles. Here are the love haikus from the event, and I hope you enjoy reading them no matter how you choose to celebrate Valentine’s Day. I linked to the Twitter profile of everyone who contributed as well, so if you’re on Twitter — be sure to check them out.
Enjoy Reading Love Haiku Poetry
@coffeesister careful consideration / opposing opinions offered / eros expressed
@coffeesister friendship found / communication deepens / love is born
@J_Dalgliesh blazing grass behind / they emerge from smoke and flame / handclasped and alive
@J_Dalgliesh brushed skin quivering / burning trails of wild desire / molten body yields
@J_Dalgliesh the back of his hand / gentle on her autumn cheek / their golden wedding
@kaliphonia My dear you’re the bomb / mushroom cloud of destiny / love’s a battlefield
@ldydisney Second time around – Deeper love, pure honest love – Love my Valentine
@debsoul Love ever present/Illusion washes away/Light filled brand new day
@bigbookofyou You are the pebble, In the Center of your life, The source of ripples (From the Big Book of You)
@kimfalconer Dark wings touch my face/ when a shadow flees the heart/ love has come at last
@carliepaiva The sweet lovers sigh / thumping hearts fill their ears / together as one
@coffeesister sun sparkles / hope joins in / heart warms
@mlvalentine Show a writer love / read a book today and smile / we love our readers
@madkane Love Haiku / St. Valentine’s Day— / One day each February? / No. Daily each year
@ielliott Come the day of rest // Saturday will have then passed // Did you show your love?
@tombedell Saturday, is it? // A day-long dip in the stream // Of raging currents
@music_notes fall in love again / music fills our hearts and minds / thanks to songwriters
@mlvalentine music of the spheres / angelic voices singing / faithful, loving hearts
@_justen_ crisp air, chilled wine / she is out with her best friend / this Valentine’s Day
@_justen_ so many roses, / candies, and expense to say: / I love you, baby
@slacey Noble tetanus // Oh where have your eyebrows gone? // Stolen by an attorney
@_justen_Oh powerful wind/ weathering worlds, lives, and hearts:/ terraforming love
@mlvalentine delicate, pale Spring / knocks Love’s door to awaken / slumbering lovers
@suburban_cat Crepe myrtle petals / Dance in the summer breeze as / Tears run down my cheeks
@mazzycat the familiar/comfortable feeling of/knowing each other
@mazzycat the sun in your eyes/a glance, a turning away/the slowest of smiles
Spread a Little Love with Haiku Day on Twitter! #littlelove
What is Twitter? And what the heck is a haiku? A haiku is a form of poetry that is really short. I mean, really short. This form of Japanese poetry is based on syllables. In English, a haiku would be written in three lines, with the first line containing five, the second seven and the third five.
Jane Reichold offers really great resources for reading and writing haikus on her website, if you want more detailed information and articles to read.
Twitter is a “micro-blogging” service that allows you to set up an account and follow interesting people. I use it for link-sharing, networking and friendship; one of its benefits for me is that it connects with my Facebook and LiveJournal accounts.
When you “blog” on Twitter, you are limited to 140 characters which can make some “tweets” quite challenging but can make for some interesting bouts of creativity.
After putting some initial feelers out there, many fellow writers were interested in my idea for a “haiku day” on Twitter. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought we could have our first #haikuday next week and have a love theme.
For those of you who are new to Twitter, when you put the “pound” sign on Twitter in your tweet, it allows other people to references your topic of conversation. Using #littlelove will ensure everyone’s haikus can be read, regardless of whether or not you are following that person.
First Haiku Day is Thursday, February 12, 2009
Join me in spreading a little love next week on Thursday by sharing your own love-themed haiku poems. If you aren’t already, I invite you to Follow Monica on Twitter. I don’t auto-follow new people because I’d like to get to know you, so be sure to introduce yourself and say “Hi.”
Here’s a sample 5/7/5 format using that love theme:
red flowers remind / cold, blue winter is melting / warm hearts all year round #littlelove
Let’s see if we can get the word out there so we can all get our creative juices flowing for a Haiku Day on Thursday, February 12th! In the meantime, I’ll definitely work on my haiku writing skills!
Guest Post about Goal Setting Success: Magic Checkmarks on Your Goal List
Today’s guest post about is brought to you by Elliott Kosmicki, the founder of Good Plum. Today, Elliott sits down and talks with us about how we can achieve the goals that we set down in writing.
Setting goals has been widely promoted for centuries as one of the most powerful methods to become successful. You’ve probably heard it, you probably have even tried it, and if you’re like most others, you’ve probably “failed” trying.
That’s a good thing.
Setting goals does not alone bring success, even though that’s the primary way it’s taught. The idea that simply writing a goal down will somehow make it come true later on sounds like wishful thinking. Impossible, right?
The question we need to ask ourselves then is “Why do some people think goal setting works at all?”
The answer lies in the examination of two separate groups of people. In one group, there are the self-help “gurus” who believe everything they’re taught and then simply pass that information along to you – with no real knowledge of WHY it works or doesn’t work. The other group consists of people who have found that setting goals DOES work for them. They know it, too, but very few of them actually know WHY it works for them. Even if they do know, they can’t figure out how to teach it because they don’t really know how to translate that mysterious process into something that works for you! Follow me so far?
Read More…