Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Hiatus

I wanted to touch base briefly rather than disappear with no warning.  Despite my inconsistent posting, hopefully someone would notice:-)

I am planning to take a brief blogging hiatus while I tackle a bunch of continuing ed for work that needs to be completed, much of which I can do with a few self-study programs that have been collecting dust on my desk.  I just keep procrastinating and am tired of it all hanging over my head so am going to take care of it all in the next few weeks and be finished.  I will then get back to regular (or more consistent) blogging.

Thanks for understanding and happy summer!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Habits

I was updating my daily planner this morning and found a section I didn't even know was there.  It discussed The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  I bought the book by the same name years ago and still have not read it all nor have I paid much attention to the daily habit lessons adorning the bottom of my calendar pages.  It sounded like a great idea when I ordered the calendar; however, it seems to get lost in the shuffle as each day rolls by. 

As I sat reading this morning, it made me really think about habits, both good and bad, as it applies to my writing.  Stephen Covey said, "Habits are patterns of behavior that involve three overlapping components:  desire, knowledge, and skill.  Because these three components are learned rather than inherited, effective habits can be learned and ineffective habits can be unlearned."

Makes sense to me...one has the desire to write, spends a great deal of time gaining the knowledge needed to develop the skill to do so well.  Each and every one of us has his/her own habits in terms of writing.  Mine continue to be hit-and-miss during these summer days and nights filled with ball games, tennis matches and softball tournaments; but I am always thinking of the next story and paying attention to all the happenings around me to shape into my next WIP.  Which leads me to the next tidbit I found interesting this morning. 

Covey's Habit 2 is Begin with the End in Mind.  In discussing this habit, Covey indicated it is based on, "imagination--the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes."  He further said that first one creates something mentally and then does so physically.  This spoke to the writer in me so much as this is what we do.  We get the inspiration from our imagination (or an actual life event) and "create" the idea in our mind before physically taking pen to paper (or hands to keyboard). 

So, now I am trying to focus on the imagination and mental creation of ideas for stories and articles in these busy summer times in hopes there will be a quiet moment sometime soon after to address the physical creation.

I'd love to hear what good (or bad) habits work or don't work for you if you are willing to share.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Know Yourself

So...it seems I am still inconsistent with blogging!  I log in, read a few blogs I follow but then run out of time before needing to take a kid somewhere or get to an appointment.  I always think I'll get back to it later that day and never seem to do so. 

This morning, I read a chapter of UNLEASH THE WRITER WITHIN by Cecil Murphey.  I was ruminating a bit on what I read while exercising and figuring out what I was going to post about once finished.  I had it all mapped out in my head then and viola...poof!  It's no longer there!  Such a surprise.  Perhaps I should keep a writers notebook next to my treadmill as well.

What Murphey was talking about in the chapter I read this morning was liking oneself.  He says, "If you learn to capitalize on who you are and appreciate who you are, you're on your way to becoming the best writer you can become."  He suggests there is a connection between our weaknesses and our gifts and further intimates, "...perhaps your weaknesses may not be the negatives you think they are."

This chapter made me think of all the things around me useful to my writing.  I do frequently write about various thoughts and feelings but, all too often, do not use all that I could nor explore as fully as I could.  I'm going to make a concerted effort to really look within, search who I am and analzye the environment around me to create various story and article ideas.  What a wonderful time summer is for this.  Perhaps I'll go into Fall with numerous manuscripts to submit or ideas to write.