War Post: May 9th Mashup & ROW80 Goals

This was made by a fan before the movie came out.

So it would appear that the Avengers was a hit.  I was in my seat on Friday Morning at 12:01 cheering with everyone else in my theatre when it began.  If you haven't seen the movie yet, you have to see it!  It is probably the best piece of cinematic storytelling that I have ever seen.  Sure there are things they got wrong, but in a movie this size, those are easy to ignore.

Now that I've plugged Avengers, we'll move on to the Mashup.  Most of them are writer related today, just to let you know.

David Powers King shows us how to set up a villian in: "Tuesday Tropes: Kick the Dog."

Heather Adkins, a formatting Guru shares tips on how to format ebooks in: "Ask a Formating Expert: Answers."

J.A. Bennett shares a few great high school dating stories in "Pancakes, Blue Suits, and U-hauls."

Lisa J. Jackson talks about how she deals with super typing in writers flow in: "Grammar-ease – When the words outpace the fingers."

Donna K. Weaver shares something she learned on how to make better characters in: "Storymaker Conference Report - POV."

Shah Wharton has a great contest going for Storytellers you can read more about here in: "The Storyteller Writing Challenge."

Nathan Bransford had a really great article that helped lift me up called: "How to Keep Writing When the S*** Hits the Fan ."

Jay Noel shares some awesome music for writing to as well as why a person might use music when writing in: "Music to Write To."

Karen Sandler points out how the unimportant has no place in fiction in: "Give Every Scene a Purpose."

S.E. Sinkhorn teaches us all how we can use Pinterest to help us with our writing in: "Pinterest Tips for Writing."

Ingrid Schaffenburg as always shares some great relationship advice that everyone should remember in: "Lookin' for Love."

Kristen Lamb shares more her ideas about how Writers can survive in the new world in: "The Age of the Artist–Time for a Revolution."

Piper Bayard spreads sunshine and happiness in her post titled: "Making TSA Underwear Bomber Gropes Exciting."

Lisa Taylor brings it home for us today with sharing about Science and Writing in: "ScienceBucks and Scientific Writing!"

Now listen to Classical Spy Music.  Enjoy!

This is a local music group that I absolutely love.  Check them out!


Sometimes I get down on myself about my goals and the fact that I'm not making the progress that I think I should.  But it occurs to me that I shouldn't get down on myself too much seeing as in the past seven months I have written more than I have in the seven years before.  Writing is becoming a lifestyle for me and I am thrilled so much that you wouldn't be able to believe it.  But without challenging yourself, growth ends.  So I keep pushing hard to have growth, and I just get frustrated at how many little things get in my way on that journey.  So if I ever sound critical or negative of myself, just realize that I know I'm growing, I'm just trying to spur greater growth.  Now for the goals!
1. Finishing Chapter Two and starting Chapter Three of "Crimes of the Umbramancer by next week.     Yeah, I'm half way through Chapter Two.  Which is wonderful.  I've struggled because I didn't know what was wrong with certain scenes, but I'm figuring that out and I think it will be as strong as my chapter one once I finish.   
2. Write seven thousand words per week. (Between blog & fiction.)     I think I finished about four thousand this past week.  Much of my time was put into building a stronger relationship with our foster son, who was at our home all weekend long rather than with his parents.  It was a blessing to spend time with him and frankly it was more important than getting through the writing.
3. Exercise five times a week.     I made it out about three out of four days this past week.  And I'm grateful for the progress I'm making there.  Getting out and moving my body feels really good and it has given me a great deal of time to work out prewriting ideas so that my story will move along much more smoothly.  And it is really quite peaceful (once your legs are prepared for the pain).
4. Finishing up my school work from my last semester in College.

     I'm not complaining this week.  I'm still struggling with this goal, but you'll know when its done.  I'll probably post my essay on Pride and Prejudice here when I'm done.

5. Spending time everyday with a spiritual source.
     Morning and Evening is still a great resource and I'm working hard at making more time for prayer too.

6. Finishing homework from Group Therapy.
     Last week I finished my Homework for Group Therapy, and this week I'm running behind because my wife has been sick and our foster has been home a lot.  But I'm hoping to get through the rest of this today.  Therapy is tonight and when you don't have the work done, it is harder to share in group.

I'm feeling really good about this past week.  Don't ask me why.  I didn't meet my goals as well as I would have liked, but I feel like I'm in a better place in the journey than I was a week ago.  And perhaps that is the most important thing.  Thanks for reading and here's the link if you would like check out my friends in ROW80.  I'm Jayrod Garrett, the First OG.  Peace People!