New Year, New Goals!

I know I've posted goals on here before. But I think I finally figured out what I ought to be doing in the first place. I will still be writing quite a bit. I've got a few good stories for kid books, 1 mystery for grownups, and several articles in the works. I've also started an "irrational passion" blog called Dividend Investing Newbie. Yes, I know. But I figured if I'm compelled to write, then I should be writing about all the stuff I love. As the title of my new blog suggests, I have no idea what I'm doing. So, I might as well blog about that too.

I've also decided to devote more time to my Avon business. I mean, the whole reason I started was so that I could stay at home and do more writing. Now I don't run around making deliveries to peoples houses or anything. I do online orders only. Again, so I can have more time for writing.

The downside to being at home is that I'm never alone. I commend those people that can block everything out. I'm jealous of anyone who actually has an office or a dedicated writing space. Those are truly luxuries here. Now the upside is that my youngest will be going to kindergarten in the fall:) But I'm not really the patient type. I need to get the ball rolling on my articles. I want to have everyone enrolled in a summer program so that I can truly focus.

*Sigh*
All of my projects have the potential for providing a full time income. All I have to do is focus. Easier said than done for a Gemini with ADD tendencies.  

All I Needed Was to Develop Some Character

Lately, I've been back in my writing mode. I  have tons of ideas. However, I always get stuck. My stories fall flat and have no where to go. My characters end up having not have any real character. Boring! Today, I came across an article on Writer's Digest that addressed one of the main problems I've been having: What would my character do next? The article is called 5 Tips for Creating Characters for Kids. The author, Ann Whitford Paul, talks about developing your character first. Once you know everything thing there is to know about their personality, appearance, family, hobbies, and favorite color, food, etc., then you'll know where the story will go. It all depends on the choices that your character is likely to make.

I'm immensely glad I found this particular article. This isn't the first time I've come across this piece of advice. But I guess this has been the most helpful, the most detailed.My characters and stories are much more rich. I can see them, touch them. I let you guys know what I'm working on soon.

My Path to Greatness....Part 1

The other reason I have been out of sight for a while is that I've been working on my education. Recharging my brain with new knowledge and expanding on other ideas that I already had. I mostly spent time researching stuff I had been wanting to know for a while but kept making excuses and putting it off. No, I did not enroll in any traditional college or anything like that... just tying up loose odds and ends. I needed time to figure out my purpose, my path to greatness. Okay, it wasn't quite that romantic. I just needed to sit and think about what I wanted out of a home based business and what criteria it needed to fill in order to work with my lifestyle. Writing will still be my passion. My goal for this summer was figuring out where my skills lie and how I could capitalize on my style and personality. I'll keep you guys posted.

I'm Back!

I've been gone for a while as you can see. I took time out to take care of family stuff. I also took time out to do something else I hadn't done for a while...read. I hadn't realized how much I missed reading. Catching up on J.D. Robb series...you know the one with Eve Dallas, has been quite satisfying. Also on my reading list was "The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series. The HBO series is slightly differs from the book. The order of some events are different from the way they are originally written. Still, the TV version does the book great justice. I told my mom, (who didn't like the book very much), to check it out on DVD instead. She likes Miss Marple, Poirot, Monk, etc. This is right up her alley.
On another note, I've been rethinking my writing for income strategy. The most important criteria was the ability to keep earning for something long after I had originally written it. So not only will I be writing new articles be "revamping" the old ones as well. Be on the look out. There will be links to my articles on my blog. Please read, comment, forward etc.

Thank you guys so much for checking up on me and continuing to read what little I've been posting lately.

When it rains...

sometimes it pours. Not that it's really raining in my life, just a little foggy at the moment. However, I was under the impression that the rain wasn't supposed actually be inside my house. Here's what happened:

Yesterday, It rained all day. It rained all night, too.  In fact, it's supposed to rain today and tomorrow as well. This morning, the carpet in the living room and hallway were soaked. So I made a quick phone call to have someone come take a look. Well...they came they saw, they destroyed my living room. To their defense, they didn't have a choice. As I said earlier, the carpet was soaked. So, the carpet was peeled back. The gentleman then proceeded to remove padding. I watched as they carried the dripping wet masses out the back door. The men spent quite a bit of time vacuuming up the rest of the water. They left us with an industrial fan, which was later collected because other folks are also flooded and there aren't enough for everyone. Oh, did I mention that a moving company is coming over tomorrow to survey the house and give us an estimate?

I was supposed to be cleaning, trashing and packing today. But with my living room being taken over, I decided to take the opportunity to write while I wait. So here's to a productive day, even if it wasn't in the way I intended.

P.S. Thanks Adiaha

Due Diligence

The wonderful thing about living in the 21st century is the ability to create your own opportunities. If you need to know how to do something...you can look it up. If you need to know people, you can meet them on one or several of the different networking sites. Maybe you need info regarding a product or service. You not only have the option of checking out their site, but other's reviews and whether or not the company is legit. The only way you can go wrong is by not doing your due diligence.

This leads me to the whole reason why I've been writing here less. Yes, I know that's no excuse. However, there are just times when a person needs to just hunker down and get busy. There were a few things that I allowed to throw me off track. There will be more of course, but I refuse to let them keep me off track. I've been writing, of course. There are a few outlets that I'm very excited about. I have chosen to focus more time at these places because they fit with my schedule (or lack thereof).

EHow

Constant Content


I like these two. I can write about the topics I choose as they come to me. I don't have to wait for someone to order something. I know that eventually, someone will need one of my articles and seek it out. No, I don't really like to wait to get paid. However, I do believe in being ahead of the curve and ready for anything. I never know what my schedule is going to be like from one week to the next. Building a portfolio and letting it do the work even when I can't just makes the most sense to me. 

BTW- Constant Content is a referral link. Don't want to be in violation of any laws. Moms don't really have time for that sort of thing. lol

Planting the seeds

One of my favorite bloggers wrote an interesting post the other day. She wants to have the summer off next year. So she's going to spend the next several months writing articles and increasing her residual income. Well that got me thinking. Why can't I do that? Granted this lady already earns a nice amount...enough to pay some bills. Still, since I make exactly $o.oo in residual income, there is no place to go but up. It will be very nice to be able pay a bill. My husband certainly would appreciate this. Of course, there is a chance that I'll only make a few bucks here and there. Still...if I do this, there's a chance that I might become a better writer in the process. Learning the finer points of grammar, finding my voice, gaining confidence...priceless.

A famous artist may never perform one of my songs. My children's books could stay forever incomplete. However, in this day and age, there is no reason for me to be a "starving artist".

Learning to Research

I've always shied away from writing professionally or having to write in a non-creative way. Mostly because I never liked doing research. I never liked doing research because I never knew how. Sure, reports always turned out good in school, but I was never really sure if I was doing it right. There was always that feeling that it could have been better. I thought that if I knew where to look, then I'd have more and better information to put into my report. The report would be more complete and less juvenile sounding. While there was plenty of talk on how not to plagiarise, there wasn't much talk on what or how research should be done. So, here I am today, trying to teach myself what I wasn't taught before. Using common sense, Google and a few tips picked up along the way, I do small projects. For the past couple of days, I've been doing research for an article that I decided to write just be cause the topic interested me. Imagine that! It's not finished yet. I'll let you know when I post it. Until then, if you guys have any suggestions, post them in the comments section.

Writing: New Ventures... part 2

You know, it's nice to get paid to write. Letting other people pick the topics is a very different experience. I tend to be indecisive, so not having to decide what to write about is good sometimes. What's really great are the challenges that come with it. I'm learning to research better, pace myself and write faster. It doesn't hurt that they're impressed with what I've done so far. Yaaay, me!
I hope you guys are having success with your writing journeys as well. Let me know.

Excuses, Excuses

It's been way to long since I've written any stories. There are tons of ideas practically bursting out of my head. No more making up excuses as to why I can't write them down. I'm never really that busy. (Shh, don't tell my husband!) It's not like my brain actually shuts off or anything. A quick trip to the store will take care of my biggest excuse: paper. I'm almost out of stuff to write on

Rants

It's two days before my birthday and I'm sick.
My 2 yr old has a "goose egg" on her forehead.
I'm behind on my writing.
I'm home alone with a teenager and three children who can't sit still no matter how much I tell them that their life depends on it.
I'm sick and it's two days before my birthday.
People and clothes both still need to be washed.
I forgot about my dentist appointment.
My two year old refrigerator is making a weird noise.
Did I mention that it's two days before my birthday and I'M SICK!

Well that about sums up my Friday so far. How's yours?

Writing: New Ventures

Things have been going well lately. Writing, however, hasn't taken me in the direction that I thought it would. I find myself venturing into the objective writing arena. I'm excited, but also a little nervous. It's a new challenge for me. One I avoided because I didn't think I'd be any good at it. Good thing for me, this new client thinks otherwise. I got my first assignment yesterday. It's simple, straightforward and I will totally knock it out of the park. I'm really looking forward to this new relationship both with the client and my writing. I can't wait to see what they have in store for me.

My Blogging Journey, so far

You know, this is my third attempt at blogging. Clearly the first two didn't go very well. I think I'm finally getting the hang of things...sort of. I made this one an online diary so that I'd have an endless list of topics to write about. It takes the pressure off when it comes to writing daily. Meanwhile, I had to figure out how to make the blog look and work the way it's supposed to. That took a lot of trial and error. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get this thing noticed. Yes, I actually expect people to read and comment. What I didn't expect, the crazy over abundance of information on "getting noticed" and my new love/ hate relationship with Google. (Those guys really ought to include spam and b.s. filters as search options.) There are tons of "experts" telling you where to go. Then you have other folks telling you what your supposed to do when you get there. Let's not forget about the what NOT to do lists. Along the way I came across a lot of other stuff that to me, seems to differentiate the pros from the newbies: Which blog platform is best for your blog? To monetize or not to monetize? How to find your niche market and so on. The water got muddier when people started talking Web 2.0, SEO, CSS, Wordpress themes, etc..
The geek in me is dying to know how to do these things. The analytical side needs the whole picture so I can understand where and how each piece fits in relation to the rest of the puzzle. I want to know how to create a user friendly website from scratch with bells and whistles on it. I want to know how to make it so relevant, so irresistible and so in the right places that people will have to visit. The problem: I'm out of touch with some of my computer geek friends and the others are too busy. There's no one to point me in the right direction, no one to help me sift through all this stuff. I considered going to college but I don't have the attention span for it, really.
So, for now, I'll keep following some of the big names I've come across so far. They're pretty good at breaking things down for us newbies. They even answer questions, too. I'll learn as I go, no big deal. Learning the hard way doesn't just build frustration, it builds character.

I Wonder What My English Teachers Would Think

I started this blog as a way to get myself back into some good writing habits. I thought it would be a great way to force me to write everyday. Also, if I didn't post regularly, then I would be sure to hear about it. So now that I think I'm starting to get the hang of things, I'm ready for some feedback. Particularly I'm very interested in the opinions of my high school English teachers. I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to point out any grammatical errors. But I really want to know what they think. I've always had really good grades in English class partially because I like to read. However, writing assignments of any kind would always stress me out (and I think they noticed). I still stress about it today, but life without writing is unimaginable. So, it's time to do some digging. Instead of starting online, I'm going to start in my mother's basement. I'm embarrassed to say that I can't remember any of their names. Once I go through my yearbook then I'll be able to begin my search properly. Some of them may still be teaching at my old high school. Maybe I could visit. I'd really like to know what they thought of me as a student. Did they imagine that I would make a career out of writing? Is it any better now than it was then? What would you guys ask your teachers/professors? Would you seek their approval or go back just to gloat? Would you want to keep in touch or tell them where to get off at? As for me, I just hope they are all still alive. Nonetheless, I'll keep you all posted.

The Hardest Part About Writing

The hardest part about writing, for me, is the stress I put myself through. I spend too much time agonizing over what to write and when to write it. My least productive days are always a result of me over thinking the process. Then, I end up with nothing. This is a very hard habit to break. I find myself making excuses. I don't want to get up early, even though I'm usually awake. I'd rather not disturb my husband's morning routine, or worse, him disturb my routine with soap operas, morning shows, ironing requests and dare I say it... talking. Nighttime isn't a good time because there is still too much going on. That leaves the rest of the day for spurts of productivity squeezed between the needs and demands of two toddlers. When I think of it, this is actually a pretty good arrangement. Less people in the house means less human interaction. The real bonus is that I get full computer access (mostly interrupted of course). Kindergarten is sounding better all the time.