War Post: 2nd June Late Mashup & Goals

Good Morning folks!  So this Saturday Morning I am finally getting to my Mashup for the week.  As I was getting ready for it earlier this week I had a lot of things that took place that kept me from getting to it any earlier.  Today is the second day of Camp NaNoWriMo & JuNoWriMo and thus far I'm keeping up with my goals for each day.  Todays Mashup is focused on things that might help folks to get through the next month of writing.  The community of writers is our greatest strength and we must help one another if we expect to make it.  Here's my contribution today.

David Powers King has a guest blogger by the name of Shallee McArthur this week and she's wonderful. Read on at: "Shallee McArthur: The Key to Writing a Deeper Book - Get Outside Yourself!"

Rebecca Hoffman also has a guest blogger who shares about her own writing experiences in: "Guest Post by Cynthia Ravinski."

Ellen Oh, an up and coming YA diversity author, interviews another author about why they write diverse fiction in: "What Diversity Means to Me - Featuring Zoe Marriott."

Angela Ackerman has a guest blogger  giving away a copy of their book Keep Calm and Query On.  Read on and register for a chance to win at: "Keep Calm And Query On + Giveaway!"

Anthony Dutson gives some solid advice about how to set up realistic goals in: "Reevaluating Your Goals."

Adam Gaylord talks about something that is worth thinking about, if you write sex scenes, in: "Who's Up For Some Bad Sex?"

Mary Ann, of the Prosers, shares a compelling blog on why flaws are necessary in characters in: "Even the Noblest Characters Need Flaws."

Jeff Hargett weighs in on the ages long battle of opinion between authors about: "Prologues."

Callie Leuck brings in the big guns with Jamie Gibbs to bring a bit more culture to her blog in: "Guest Post: Adding Culture To Your Fantasy World."

Morgan Shamy, The Redhead, helps us to see the difference between reality and fantasy in: "The Writer Community: Real or Fake?."

Donna K. Weaver has a lightbulb moment concerning how to do Show versus Tell in: "My Epiphany."

K.M. Weiland shares some great time saving resources in: "Resource Roundup: 5 Time Savers for Writers."

Nathan Bradford tells us all about the the war between Traditional and Self Publishing in: "Traditional vs. Self-publishing is a False Dichotomy."

And I'm sorry, I had to post this.  This is from Heidy Murphy sharing stories from soldiers for Memorial Day (And in my opinion, the most important blog of all of these to read).  Please read: "I Remember You."

And now for some amazing music.  If you have heard "Sexy and you Know It" and hated it, give this version a try.  It is amazing!

I told you it was amazing!

The thought that occurred to me is that I should make myself accountable for reaching my goals.  But I also realized that I need to do my goal keeping here in a method by which simplify what I need to do for goals.  In my group therapy we have the meat and potatoes of the program which are called daily's.   And I wanted a way to make certain I keep better track of my dailies.  I do well with writing, and sometimes exercise, but I struggle on day to day goal keeping.  So here are my daily's for the upcoming week.
Daily #1: Eat Three Times Daily.  This looks like an easy goal, but I actually struggle with this, because when I get caught up in activities, I tend to forget to eat.  And myriads of problems actually begin when I forget to eat, so I'm just focusing on eating at a regular frequency through the day.
Daily #2: Sleep Eight Hours each night.I am trying to keep this goal more and more often (except this week has just been terrible for this).  I know that when I get less than eight, everything is impacted negatively for the next day.  I feel sluggish,  achy, and dull and I am less likely to get proper rest the following night.
Daily #3: Write Frequently.This one I'm not aiming for daily on.  I need time to recharge my writing batteries so I plan on doing this one off and on (Even during Camp NaNoWriMo and JuNoWriMo).  I am a social writer so stuff like write ins and writing sprints help me a great deal.  Writing is one of the activities that grounds me and helps me to cope especially when I'm feeling angry or down.
Daily #4: Spiritual Time Daily.Once upon a time I was capable of reading from the scriptures daily and drinking from that fountain was enough to satisfy me.  I've grown a little since then and I guess I need more sources of spiritual food to help sustain me.  I decided to not make this goal about reading, and more about spending time daily thinking about things of a spiritual nature.  A few days this week I listened to gospel music, and today I plan on reading.  I don't know all of what I'll include in this, but I got to change this one up.
Daily #5: Helping out around the House.This is another mundane thing that keeps me sane.  I've started doing the dishes regularly and cleaning up around the house.  Funny thing is that as I do this my wife has become more supportive of my writing, and has started to enjoy more of the housework she does.  It makes all the difference to my healthy state of mind, and it's effects on my wife make this one that I need to keep around to help me.
Daily #6: Frequent Exercise.I've been getting out around three to five times a week for a while now.  I thought the best way to kick this up a notch would be to attempt to find a set time each weekday for exercise.  And I hope to drag my son with me.  He needs the help just as much as I do.
Daily #7: Reading Daily.This one has been struggling for months.  I just haven't been reading much of late.  I have several books that I've started, but none that I've finished for a while now.  So I'm going to set a half hour for reading each day.  I figure if nothing else it will put me in a state of mind where I have more ideas.
The list right now is incomplete.  I'm still trying to find out what things balance me and enable me to get through the more difficult times.  But I'm certain that if I keep at it I'll find my way.  This month, I'm focused a lot on the writing.  Because I am out to win Camp NaNoWriMo and JuNoWriMo.  I three to four hours set aside most days to get some quality writing done and my family knows during that time I'll be unavailable.  (And I won't waste it just to sit online and do nothing.)
That's all for this week folks.  I'll catch you again on Monday with another blog about writing.  Thanks for reading our ramblngs here.  It's really appreciated.  This is the First OG, Jayrod Garrett, saying that  hope you have a a beautiful week and go out and enjoy the sunshine.  And if you have any ideas for new hobbies I can take up, or things I can do to help me establish my new daily order.  Feel free to leave them in the comments.  Have a great day!  Peace!

War Post: May 16th Mashup and Goals

Another week another Mashup!  Good to see ya'll.  I hope that I'm able to deliver some good blogs and links for you all to be able to really enjoy.  This one will be a little long, because I'm focusing on not on blogs this week, but some good links to sites that can help you in your journey into the world of literature.  So without further ado I wish to introduce you to some of my favorite helps for writing more successfully!

Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Howard Taylor, and Hugo Award Winning Mary Robinette Kowal host a program called "Writing Excuses" that you got to check out.  I learn a ton from their weekly program and have begun using their writing prompts in my writing group.

"I Should be Writing" by Muir Lafferty is a great podcast that gets real about writing.  Some of her material is videos, other things are just sound advice for how to become a better writer.  It would do you good to check her out.

This chart does a lot for my own self esteem, I figure it might help you out too.  It is called the "Photographic Height and Weight Chart."  It has helped me to better envision characters and get their proportions right in my head without having to look at hundreds of pictures online to get the same idea. It also has changed my ideas about weight and what is heavy and what is not.  Give it a look.

This blog is run by a group of authors too numerous to share here, but they have some of the best material on the web about how to write better fiction and keep yourself sane while doing so.  Check out "Magical Words", you won't be sorry you did.

For those of you who are aching to put yourself in ridiculous amounts of pain during the months of June or August, I have news for you!  Camp NaNoWriMo!  We get to do 50,000 words while working with folks in internet cabins.  I've never the camp before, but I think it will be a lot of fun.  I'm prepping myself for it now.  Oh for the record, I will not be writing something new.  Its a chance for me to get way ahead on Crimes and let my family know what kind of writing atmosphere I'll need come November.  Join me!

For those of you getting ready to submit Query Letters a great resource to look into is "Agent Query."  It is a website with all of the agents who are in the business all in one place.  You can start your research into a good agent starting here.  It will help you to get familiar with names and what a agent represents and allow you to find out what they really like to read too.

Do you like free music?  Do you like video game music?  Do you like remixes of free video game music?  Look no further then than "Overclocked Remix."  They are a great site that has given new life to a lot of the songs from my childhood of playing video games.  It is really neat to see what people do to the music to make it bearable to listen to outside of a game.

I'll end the favorite's this week with something that might appeal to some mathhead out there.  This was a site my cousin showed me years ago, which has helped me immensely with my math.  It is called "Wolfram Alpha."  It works much like a calculator, only you can put into it complicated problems that would take you a while to solve and it will show you all the steps of how it is done.  I don't honestly know how to get the best out of it, but I figure if you like math, you'll figure it out.  Enjoy!

And for our video of the week, I couldn't think of anything better than Lindsey Stirling's trip to Africa.

This girl makes me long to hear my cousin's wife play the violin.  
This week has really been about starting to make time for my writing.  Sometimes even when I shouldn't be writing.  I've sacrificed sleep to be able to write this week.  And it has finally gotten me closer to where I really want to be.  I'm a big believer in the idea of projecting what you really want.  You might have heard the idea on the movie The Secret.  It's not that much of a secret really, envision what you want, work with all your might towards that goal, and be receptive to the myriad of ways that your dream can come to life.  You'll notice that trend as we work through the goals today.
1. Finishing Chapter Two and starting Chapter Three of "Crimes of the Umbramancer by next week.     Chapter Two is done.  And I love what has happened in this chapter.  I think it gives a nice introduction to my second character and enables me to bring her to life in a way that keeps the tension of the story.  I'm really looking forward to what will happen in Chapter Three now.  I need to switch back to the point of view of Sora, but much of the action will be around another character.  Excitement builds!
2. Write seven four thousand words per week. (Between blog & fiction.)     I fell short of this goal by about three thousand words again.  Some of that is due to the anniversary, some of it is due to just not working hard enough, but most of it is due to the fact that the goal is unrealistic for me.  I think I can handle four thousand words.  Seven is just too much with all that I have on my plate.  (Keep in mind the four thousand is only my words for the blog and my fiction, I do other writing I don't count here.)
3. Exercise five times a week.     This is one of the most challenging goals.  I made it out to exercise three times and I got a gym membership and found friends to exercise with.  As I've been working at this blessings have been consistent.  I might not make the goal of five times a week yet, but things are certainly moving in a positive direction, that much is certain!
4. Finishing up my school work from my last semester in College.

     Still not done with this one.  I'm making it my goal to be done with this by the end of the round.  I think that will make my teacher happy, and also go towards making the atmosphere of achieving goals a lot more cheerful!

5. Spending time everyday with a spiritual source.
     I've been doing really well with praying everyday.  To be honest I usually find myself getting to Morning and Evening about once a week.  I spend a lot of time reading it then.  I would like to get a morning ritual of waking up and doing spiritual study then, but I'm trying to take things slow.

6. Finishing homework from Group Therapy.
     I'm all done with the first six weeks of my workbooks for group therapy!  I'm really proud of myself for actually getting it all done.  It's been pretty hard and I've learned a lot about myself.  I'm hoping that I'm able to keep up the great work as I progress into the next phase of my program.

A while ago my son asked me, "Why do you talk about writing your blog as if it is a chore?"  And it got me thinking that I must be putting off the wrong kind of energy about the things that I'm writing and working on.  I don't want to do that, so I've worked at making my goals more positive.  And thus far it is working, I feel better about writing and I want to do it more.  Just have to figure out the right balance between writing and the rest of life.

This is Jayrod Garrett, the First OG.  I'll be back on Friday with a post about a significant difference between the way that men and women think in my opinion.  Thanks for reading.  Much love to you all!  Peace.

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!

War Post: May 2nd Mashup & ROW Goals

Today should be a Insecure Writers Support Group post.  But I decided to make it just a Mashup and Goals like usual.  Why you might ask?  Because I wrote something separate for the IWSG.  I realized that it needed to be separate, and it was a blog post all of its own, so check it out if you are into that kind of thing.  Let's rock this Mashup and Goals peeps!

Scott Ashton made my week when I discovered his blog about Brandon Sanderson's creative writing class.  Check it out at: "Write about Dragons."

Ava Jae wrote about the challenge of Finishing in: "How to Finish Writing a Novel."

If you ever wanted to find out how many millionaires are paying in a lower tax bracket than you check out: "The Buffett Rule."

Larry Correia shares a little about how ridiculous our administration can be in: "Freaking ridiculous, child labor laws coming to family farms." (And if you want to read more go here.)

At Spirit of Ilithyia a story about the way birth is handled in this country, tune in at: "How Birth One Hundred Years Ago Impacts Birth Today."

Stephen Foster Jr. shares the thoughtfulness of a girls father and the sensitivity of a radio personality in: "Rape Away The Gay?"

Martha Wells brings us back the past, so we can recognize the future in: "Erasing Women."

Bjorn Lomberg has great news telling us we have enough food to end world hunger, but we still need more in: "How To Get Food on Every Table."

N.K. Jemisin talks about a topic I never knew came to pass in SSF (and I'm thrilled it did) in: "Why I Think RaceFail Was The Bestest Thing Evar for SFF."

And Timothy Sexton wrote an article on similar topic in: "How Martin Luther King Kept Lt. Uhura on the Bridge of the Starship Enterprise."

And for our laugh of the day I thought, let's watch Leonard Nimoy be lazy for a day. 

This week has been so much more productive than the last several.  I'm so thankful for smaller goals.  However as I was about to do a lot better, I had a friend in the National Guard take his own life.  It kinda ruined the end of the week for me.  Still here's a taste of what I accomplished in the last week.
1. Finishing Chapter Two and starting Chapter Threeof "Crimes of the Umbramancer by next week.     I wanted to finish up Chapter Two, but unfortunately after the news I've become both depressed and busy.  Hopefully I'll finish up this week, but we'll have to see what happens at this point.
2. Write seven thousand words per week. (Between blog & fiction.)     Well counting what I write on Twitter, Writing Group, my Scene, and getting a Blog Buffer, I have managed to get at least seven thousand in the last week.  Which I'm very grateful for.
3. Exercise five times a week.     The end of the week I didn't make running at all.  Though I have managed to get a fair amount of walking in on Friday and Saturday, but it just doesn't get me the work out I need.  Still working this goal.
4. Finishing up my school work from my last semester in College.

     Ever have a professor tell you how hard it is to get students to do work after the semester is over.  It is true, because you have the multiple pressures of being in class, having friends with you, and most importantly, a grade that is hanging over you at the end.  But remove that and you can find yourself floundering.  I wonder if this is to all help me be a great college advisor?  I've gone through pretty much every bad situation you can think of while I've been in school.  Oh, but you didn't come here to listen to me complain.

    Nothing got done this week (Thank God for a merciful teacher).  And Pride and Prejudice is still kicking my butt.  I'll get through it though.

5. Spending time everyday with a spiritual source.
     One of my cousin's gave me a little book called Morning and Evening Daily Readings by C.H. Spurgeon.  Now I received this back around the time of my wife's grandfather's funeral, but I haven't read from it much at this point.  But I picked it up thinking, it has some really good insights, and I haven't been disappointed yet.  I've been reading since Saturday and it has given a shot in the arm to my spiritual walk.

6. Finishing homework from Group Therapy.
     I have a friend who has a motto in her home of "No Secrets."  And I love this philosophy.  But I also know that to keep such a rule you also must know how to keep certain knowledge within certain circles.  It changes what you mean when you say that you trust somebody.  So I thought I would test my own ability in following this rule and admit that I'm going to Group Therapy.  It has been wonderful because they are helping me to get through some of the challenges of my childhood in an environment with other folks like me.

Well that's everything for Goals for ROW80.  If you are interested check out the sister post to this blog for the Insecure Writers Support Group.  I'm Jayrod Garrett, the First OG and here is the ROW80 bloghop.  Look it up, comment, or join us.  There aren't any cookies, but there is certainly a lot of love, growth, and thoughtfulness in our community.  Peace peeps!

War Post: April 25th Mashup & Goals

It is another Wednesday and I'm so happy to be back folks.  It is interesting how just little things can change in your life and just suck the life right out of you.  As I look back the depression had inched its way into me over several weeks, but I'm "leaning into the pain" (even though to be honest I don't want to sometimes) and learning some new lessons.  Once upon a time I had a motto that I can do hard things, and I think its time I picked that back up again.  One of the hard things I plan on doing is keeping more goals and making them smaller so that I can accomplish them more frequently.  But first today, we are going to have a proper Mashup, cause let's be honest.  We haven't had a good one in a few weeks.  Let's do this.

Esther Inglis-Arkell tells us the truth we should have known about summer in: "The Physics that Explain Why You Should Wear Black This Summer."

I love Ingrid, she always finds great advice for folks like in this post: "To Type or Not to Type?"

David Powers King offers some awesome tips for how to actually make it in the writers market in: "Aspiring Advice: Selling (Being) Yourself."

My friend Heidi Thornock asked a great question in her blog and I hope that some of you might be able to visit and answer her at: "Why do we care about Grammar?"

The Wordsmith mentions some pretty good suggestions as how to get yourself writing when you don't feel you can in: "3 Steps to a Focused Writing Environment."

Kristen Lamb points out something I hadn't realized about Villians in: "The Key Ingredient for Dramatic Tension – Understanding the Antagonist."

Todd Hollingshead brings us news of the real Batman's technology coming to life in: "BYU engineers create Batman-like device for Air Force competition."

In ROW80 we have a guest blogger each week, and this week Gene Lempp wrote: "Why I Love Being a Writer."

Larry Correia tells us some reasons we should buy his book in: "ADVERTISEMENT: Hard Magic mass market paperback out next week!"  (Trust me this is funny.)

Kirsten de Bouter wrote an awesome post everyone's inner war in: "Most Wars Are Fought In Our Own Minds."

Natalie Hartford shares an embarrassing story and promos a more embarrassing product in: "Road trip life saver."

K. L. Schwengel reminds us of the options we have when we have stepped up the the edge in: "On the Edge."

Team Oyenyi talks about the challenges of learning a new language in: "Two difficult English language sounds."

Asrai, the Maven of Mischief, proves why Twitter can be awesome in: "twitter conversations with Zoe Winters."

I stumbled across Bryan Schmidt on Asrai's blog and I just loved the post so I thought I'd share: "Write Tips: The Power Of Diligence."

Last, but not least– N.K. Jemisin, one of my literary heroines, defends the strength of women everywhere in: "There’s no such thing as a good stereotype."

Oh and if you happen to like some of the writing posts here, check out Inkpageant for all sorts of writerly blogs.  I usually post there, but I've been "lazy" lately.  And after you're done checking them out watch what happens when girls become gamers.

Again I had to go to the drawing board and consider if I am trying to do too much.  I had to come to the decision of whether or not I wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo with a new book this year (Oh I'm still doing it, I just won't have a new book to work on at that point).  I've been trying to rush because I thought I should be done in a year with my novel, but that really isn't the case.  I have so much on my plate that I honestly don't think I could finish my novel that fast.  I need to be realistic and consider having it done by next year for my Senior Project.  It kinda makes me sad to come to that realization, but it is a healthier decision than trying to rush things and fail at reaching my goals consistently.  So if I look like I'm slacking off, I am.  Better to slack off and accomplish more, than to rush and accomplish nothing.
1. Finishing Chapter Two of "Crimes of the Umbramancer by next week.     I am currently a scene into Chapter Two.  The rewrite of this story has been immensely difficult because I am already changing chapters entirely.  My old chapter two and the storyline it had was one of the problems I had before.  Had I finished with it, well I would be another year in doing reconstructive surgery.  I'm thankful I followed my instincts (at long last) and began this rewrite here.  The story will be better and done sooner than it would be otherwise.
     My Japanese culture research for this chapter has been supplemented with research on Hispanic families because the heroine of these chapters is Hispanic.  I'm not sure exactly which culture I want to follow closely, but I'm thinking at the moment I'll work with Mexico and see where I end from there.  I would like to be done with this chapter by the end of next week (honestly there is no reason why I shouldn't be.)  And if I'm lucky, before next Wednesday, I'll be into Chapter Three working on an even harder series of scenes.
2. Write seven thousand words per week. (Between blog & fiction.)     I'm making better progress with this.  With blogging I get about three thousand per week at least.  And if I make certain to finish a chapter a week I'll be closer to six to seven consistently.  And hopefully I can get my buffer up and ahead.  I'm working a day ahead as it is right now. :D
3. Exercise five times a week.     You don't Juice Fast when you are losing energy and have no desire to exercise afterwards.  So I stopped and began with running on Monday.  I went running again on Tuesday.  And later today I plan on running more.  My legs are in pain, but it is necessary pain and I kinda like it.  I'll share more next week.
4. Finishing up my school work from my last semester in College.

     I'm enjoying Pride and Prejudice and I hope to be done with it by next Wednesday.  I should get my short report done by tonight on Life, the Universe, and Everything.  And for my short story I'll be working on that in tandem with Chapter Two.  I'm optimistic about all of that.  Even though the storytelling always gets harder.

5. Spending time everyday with a spiritual source.
     I struggle with this one, but I'm going to work on it.  I find I do my best writing after having done some spiritual study.  But I've gotten lazy and I don't feel like I have a lot of time either.  So instead I think I'm going to focus on spending fifteen minutes on my own in some sort of spiritual study and another fifteen with my family doing some sort of spiritual study.  It will help me in both my writing and the role that I want to play with my family.

That's everything.  Smaller goals I can handle and won't stress myself out with.  There's enough going on with my writing group, work, and my group therapy sessions going on I don't need to try and force more into my life.  And I'm certain that by doing this I'll gain more confidence because when you keep goals you begin to trust yourself.  And ultimately ROW80 is all about us as writers developing self trust.  Oh visit the bloghop to see more people in the journey of self trust.  For trust is the coin by which confidence is purchased.  I'm Jayrod Garrett, the First OG and here's a my question for you:

 

How do you think you can develop more trust in yourself?

War Post: 14th April's Mashup + Major Goal Revision

I have to apologize for the lateness of this post.  I wanted to get a little homework done this past week and but I've been on a Juice fast because of a movie I watched called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead."  One of the things the folks who were on the fast talked about was the fact that they had so much more energy.  For me it has been exactly the opposite.  No energy to do anything outside of work has been terrible.  The only reason I've been able to finish as much as I have today is because I took a nap.  Naps are wonderful things that enable us to accomplish so much more with our time.  So I'm going to cover bunch of the links of the past week and then show you how my goals have changed recently.  Lets go!

Raylene opens us up today with some things to say when we are angry in: "What is your favorite non-swearing swear?"

Larry Correia's wife goes off like a rocket about the real choices of women in: "Guest post: Mrs.Correia on the War on Women."

Shila Iris shows us Adrinka symbols in: "Adinkra Symbols."

On ROW80 the linky is up!  Check it out at: "The Linky" or "A Round of Words in Eighty Days."

Todd Bessinger shares a few tips on how to build a great title in: " Whats in a Name: How to Develop Your Title."

Nathan Bransford shares some editing rules in: "Ten Commandments for Editing Someones Work."

Teri Harman goes hoarse in: " Blood to Ink: Your Voice May Hate You, But Your Writing Will Thank You."

Becky Wright of the Standard Examiner shows a local woman's passion for art in: "Ghetto Life Fuels Artist's Imagination."

Finding something funny this week was a challenge.

Clean funny video suggestions are welcome.

This past week has been super hard on my goals and I have had to do some serious reconstruction of them.  Because I've had my head in the clouds about what I can do realistically.  So I went back to the drawing board and made some hard decisions about what I want and what I can do.  

1. Finishing Draft Two of "Crimes of the Umbramancer" by the 30th of April.1. Finishing Chapter Two of "Crimes of the Umbramancer by next week.
Let's be honest.  I haven't really achieved any writing goals for a while.  I have no end of excuses.  We had a second teenager move into our house, we started a new diet, I started a new job, I'm tired, and on and on.  Really its a lot.  Then you consider that my progress ended as soon as I found out that I had a problem in the plot, its super sad.  I lost my momentum, but I still care about the story.  So I'm going to revise my entire method of working through the book.  If it takes me longer than another year to get through this, it is okay.  This book needs to be done right, not fast.

So I started doing research on both Japanese culture (thanks to Eden) and now because of one of our teenagers I'm learning about Hispanic culture also.  I want my brand of fantasy to be multicultural fantasy and I think if I invest the time into making a world that is a blend between what we already have and the fantastic it can be something not only that people can relate with.  That actually accounts for some of the most recent changes to the blog.  I want to focus here more on cultural and political ideas and allow my fiction to be where I play with the ideas I present here.  Hopefully I can accomplish that.
2. Write seven thousand words per week. (Between blog & fiction.)I need this because I haven't been writing nearly enough lately.  I'm going to need this for not only now, but once I begin in school again.  This will keep me honest about accomplishing writing.  I plan on returning to four blog posts a week, but one of those will be the Sunday Micropost in which I hope to just state progress in goals once again.  But this goal isn't just about writing 7000 words a week, but beginning a buffer for my blog.  I don't like being late, but I don't think it is crucial for all my Mashup pieces to be absolutely current.  Instead I want to introduce folks to wonderful blogs and wonderful topics that can help people become better writers or people.
3. Exercise five times a week & continuing the Juice Fast.This did not happen this week.  My wife and I started a Juice Fast, which has been awesome.  (After five days I've lost five pounds!)  But my energy levels to do things have been so low it is not even funny.  It is why I'm super late this week with my blogging.  There literally has not been enough energy to do much of anything.  It makes me a little sad, but I hope to make all that better in the next week.  And get back to exercising then too.
4. Finishing up my school work from my last semester in College.

     I got the query letter done that I needed to do, but I still have a lot of other work for this that I need to get done.  Saturday and Sunday are dedicated to getting through all of Pride and Prejudice.  I must do that.  Cause honestly that is the hardest thing ahead of me.  Everything else I can get done during Finals week.  My boss at work would tell me, use this week to get homework done, cause I've finished hiring for the Student Literary Journal I manage and I told everyone else to focus on their work.  I figure its only fair.

5. Get myself some stories ready to get published somewhere.
    I didn't get the story rewritten this past week, but it will happen this upcoming week.  I'm hoping that I can capture the elements that it was missing before.  And maybe it will be good enough to do something in the Writers of the Future contest.  Realistically I'm competing against so many better writers than me, so I doubt I'll make it.  But what I'm hoping for is that it sharpens my writing skills so that I can make progress toward my goal of publishing soon.

That's really all I have.  It has been a rough week for me exploring sites and getting new content due to my weariness.  Next Wednesday will be better.  (Mostly because of the Buffer.  I hope to have next Wednesday's post mostly ready by Monday.  I'll just be updating goals.)  Thanks for reading my blog and all.  I'm still Jayrod Garrett, the First OG.  Peace.

War Post: April 5th, Mashup, & the IWSG

Howdy Howdy folks!  Welcome to another Mashup on the OG's blog.  Now mind you theres a lot in today's post so if I happen to jump around a bit understand that's because I try to accomplish a lot in a Mashup & IWSG day.  But I'll be short on the Mashup and long on the IWSG part.

On Letters of Note they post a letter from Kurt Vonnegut which is truly the real thing in: "I am very real."

Robinson Wells, an up and coming Utah writer (yes, I have all sorts of love for Utah Writers) shares with us some concerns in: "Ranty Ranty Rant-Face."

Susan Donaldson James shares with us one family's agony in dealing with legislation concerning Abortion in: "Danielle Deaver denied Abortion Even as Uterus Crushed Fetus." (More on this on Friday.)

Robyn Oyeniyi shares a touch of her memories in: "So it is Easter and school holidays."

Carol C. Rzadkiewicz shows us an awesome technique to use to make our writing better in: "Improve Writing Skills by Using Sentence Parallelism."

The Wordslinger tells us what not to do in naming children in: "Stop in the Name of... Terrible Baby Names."  (Obviously this woman is doing something right, study her to build a better blog.)

Jael McHenry turns oft heard advice on its head in: "Flip the Script: Write What You Don't Know."

Natalie Hartford shares a concept I'm too familiar with: "Urban Word Wednesday: Vacationitis."

Rainy Kaye shares a breath of fresh air with me in: "The Hunger Games, Rue, and a Meme in the Making."

As stated a short Mashup.  So you can watch this Ted Presentation.

Note: I'm not an Introvert, but I recognize this as a problem in our society also.

Let's be honest here.  I can cover my goals for the week in a few sentences and get on to my bit for the Insecure Writers Support Group more quickly.  


1. Finishing Draft Two of "Crimes of the Umbramancer" by the 30th of April.I got a great review back on a chapter of Crimes this week.  And I'm hopefully during the next 48 hours going to knock out about six thousand words of rewrite.  I'm learning a lot about my story as I start again, there was a flaw in what I wrote and I can't continue until I fix that flaw.  So the draft is moving along.  (Needs to move faster to make the end month goal though, but once Spring Semester is over I'll make more progress.)2. Exercise five times a week.I'm haven't gotten as much exercise as I was hoping this week, but I did have a great work out today and I'm looking forward to a great one tomorrow.  And I'm excited about my walk this Friday with my wife.  It is a great time to talk and just unwind.3. Finishing up my school work from my last semester in College.

     This weekend I'll be rewriting an older story and reading Pride and Prejudice.  It should be an interesting weekend.  But I got a query letter to also get done this weekend.  I'm stacking it high so I can get it all in by the end of the term.  I need to pass this class.
4. Get myself some stories ready to get published somewhere.
     The story I'm rewriting is one I plan on submitting to a few contests this year as well as sending it to the Writers of the Future Contest.  We'll see exactly how it goes when I do it.  I'm pretty excited.

So we are through with my goals and I can get to what I want to really talk about.  An insecurity.  This past weekend I had a really long talk with some of my family (the folks in Utah who are family are those I've adopted, because I didn't have one of my own) about my identity.  For the longest time I've always tried to hide by being extra religious a part of me that scared me.

I went through a lot of emotional abuse growing up, and while I don't sit here and blame my Mom for it.  I don't have much of a relationship with her either because there is a great deal of toxicity there that I'm not able to deal with well.  Between the darkness that I think was always mine and the darkness etched upon my soul through the abuse I find myself wondering who I am frequently.

And as I read I am not a Serial Killer and A Game of Thrones I've begun to think who I am is much more complex than I thought before.  That like the color of my skin the darkness that is within me isn't a bad thing, but instead a misunderstood thing.  Darkness isn't evil, because I can use my fingers to feel what it is, and my feelings don't tell me its bad, instead they tell me that its important.  This isn't to say that I plan on going out and killing anybody or using the F-bomb at every opportunity, but instead to come to grips with the fact that who I am, is much larger than who I've allowed myself to be.

An example of this can be seen in how I approach schoolwork.  I don't set aside time for schoolwork.  Instead I do it when I feel like doing it.  Sometimes that is right after I get it.  Other times it is right before the assignment is due.  As a whole it usually is done in such a way that I can fit whatever else is going on in my life around school.  And at one time I thought that it made me less of a person to be all about getting the work done one day and the next laissezfaire about when it got done.  (Did I mention I'm an A to B student most of the time?)

I'm the same way with pretty much how I approach life as a whole.  I'm either one extreme or the other.  I'm either full of energy or nearly falling asleep.  I'm either completely prepared or completely unprepared.  Super loud or completely quiet.  Terribly busy or crazy bored.  And I thought something was wrong with me because I was always like that.  Until one day someone said to me, "I think you are the most balanced person I've ever met."

That blew me away.  But it made sense.  Because while my personality is made up of extremes my views of the world are not.  I tend to have liberal values, but I temper them with a sense of what is right and wrong.  And while I might not agree with others I have been successful in sharing my thoughts in the manner of a philosopher that rather than wanting you to agree with him, wants you just to think a little deeper about the problem at hand.

I tend to think I'm a little like Mulan, who in order to find herself had to become someone that nobody, including herself, believed that she could become.  I'm Jayrod the writer, but there is something more that I don't think I'm really aware of yet.  But only as I continue writing, will I get there.  And that journey both thrills and scares me.

Well, I realize all the bits of the post today were short, but it has been a crazy week for me.  I will be back on Friday to discuss with you a subject that is near and dear to my heart: Abortion.  Yeah, I wasn't going to talk about it now, but I figure after seeing that video earlier that I should share my opinions and perhaps open up some minds by the sharing.  Until then I'm Jayrod Garrett, the First OG.

Do you ever get afraid that who you are is going to get in the way of who you want to be?

War Post: March 29th Mashup and PreROW R2 Goals

I try to be up with my postings pretty much monday or tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, or Friday or Saturday so that leave Sundays for me to work on my own writing.  Lately I've been bouncing between days a little more than I like and I apologize for that, unfortunately life has been more hectic around the Garrett House and we are trying to figure out how to make everything work.  But you didn't really come here to listen to me complain about my life.  You came for the Mashup.  And here it is!

Jennifer Simonson tickles our funny bone with: "Lines from The Princess Bride that double as comments on Freshman Composition Papers."

Malcolm Gladwell upsets the balance by showing the little guy how to win in: "How David Beats Goliath."

Eric Zadawski opens up about the bigness of noveling in: "One Draft Contains Multitudes."

Laura Simms shares with us a tale about the abandonment of the root of all evil in: "quitting money: crazy?  or free?  or crazy free?"

Breeana Puttroff shares the mysteries of the little blue bird in: "Twitter Tuesdays: Lists."

Peder Hill points out how we can be better parents to our children in:"Four Things a Parent Must Never Do When Angry."

Donna Newton shares with us a plethora of awesome writing opportunities in: "Classes, Competitions, and Writing Opportunities Round Up #30."

Dan Blank of We Grow Media shares an opportunity for writers to learn about platform in: "Free Webinar: Author Platform Makeover."

Tracy Hickman, one of my heroes, shares some advice to writers about how to make it in the business in: "Writer vs. The World."

August McLaughlin gives us new insights into controversy in:"Controversial Blog Posts: How to Make Them Work."

David Murton shares some important tips about how to get more comments on your blog in: "9 Ways to Get People to Post Comments on Your Blog."

Kate Conner tells young women everywhere some of the most important advice ever in: "Ten Things I Want To Tell Teenage Girls."

Linda Yezak reminds us of the behind the scenes work of writing in: "Dancing with the Words."

Donna Weaver shares a really important idea about energy in: "Personalities: Introvert and Extrovert."

Kevin Hiatt reminds us that defeat, and surrender are not the attributes of writers in: "Who am I?"

Karen Sandler gives us a scoop on diversity writing in: "Why writing Multi-Culturally is so much fun."

Karen McFarland gets down to the fundamentals of writing a character in: "Guest Post by Bob Mayer."

M.C. Eging gets a friend, Charlie Holmberg, to post for us on one of my favorite topics: "World Building for Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels."



And for some fine music to let the soul breathe.
Now as I am preparing for the Second Round of ROW80 I'm really thinking about how I'm going to push myself further than I did in Round One and I've decided that I need to in order to make my goals for my writing.  I love blogging, it gives me such an opportunity to share my thoughts, but I really need to focus on my fiction now.  I've found myself back in worldbuilding mode and while it is a wonderful place to be, I'd much rather be writing because I learn more from that than from anything else.  As for what I want to do for the next round here are my goals:

1. Finishing Draft Two of "Crimes of the Umbramancer" by the 30th of April.

     This will be a NaNoWriMo month.  I know where I am in this and I need to get through a draft.  No more playing around.  I know I can do this I just have to put my time into this rather than other hobbies for a month.  It means I won't a lot read next month, but seriously I don't think that is the most important thing for me at the moment.  But rather to finish this draft so I can figure out better how I will tie the culture I want into it.

2. Exercise five times a week.

     I'm actually doing much more in the way of exercise and I want this as an ongoing goal, because I just need to have it up here.  I've been getting in three to five times a week for a couple of weeks now and I think I can really focus on this for now.
3. Finishing up my school work from my last semester in College.
     I've been struggling with this because I just haven't felt really inspired to it.  So I thought I'd share this with our community and work my way through it with the wonderful energy you help me to develop.  I have to be done with this by mid April so I have a lot to get done, but I know that I'll be able to get through it with ya'lls help.
4. Get myself some stories ready to get published somewhere.
     This year really needs to be the one where I focus on getting myself published.  I think my writing is good enough, but I need to be validated by those who think I'm writing towards the audience I want to write for.  Editors and whatnot.  So I know during the next round I'll be looking for contests and opportunities to get my writing out there and get some publication things started.  Afterall I need enough rejection letters to say that I'm not good enough to justify the party I have one I get my first acceptance letter.

It is almost the end of our montly book giveaway of Tankborn by Karen Sandler and Dhalgren by Samuel Delany.  Both of these are excellent books and I'm giving them away this month to a lucky follower of the blog.  Cause I know that not everyone can follow my blog there are two ways to get entries.  One is to actually follow the blog this will get your name put into my hat three times, and the other is to leave a comment on the blog.  For each comment I receive on my blog during the month of March I'll put your name into the hat once.  I enjoy doing this because it gets me reading different books, supporting authors I love, and it allows me an opportunity to give back to you, my audience.

Next time we meet we'll be talking a little about Guns and Gun Control.  Until then, I'm Jayrod Garrett, the First OG asking you this: What goals do you need to make to achieve your dreams?

War Post: March 22nd's Mashup and ROW80 R1 End

I chose deliberately to be a day late, because I thought that the most appropriate posting day would be the end of Round One for A Round of Words in Eighty Days.  So here in no particular order is all the great links I have found in the past week.

Chuck Wendig reminds us that we must kill self doubt, while using vulgar humor to make us chuckle in: "Writers Must Kill Self Doubt before Self Doubt Kills Them."

Chris Hedges reminds us that America speaks in the language of violence in: "Chris Hedges speaks on Osama Bin Ladin's death."

Justin Rosario lets me know that if I had been raised in Wisconsin, I would have been abused by being raised by a single Mom in: "Wisconsin GOP to Battered Women: Don't Get Divorced."

Marc and Angel give great advice in both: "20 Things to Stop Doing to Others" & "30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself."

Danyelle Leafty is trying to do something special for kids check it out at: "Kindles for Kids Short Story Contest."

Christine Slaughter reminds us government starts within ourselves in: "My Personal Bill of Rights."

Carl Duzett opens our eyes to what Inception is really about in: "Inception is About Storytelling."

Kirk Cunningham of Jollyfish Press gives us valuable tips in: "The 7 Laws of Successful Social Networking."

MaryAnn Pope made the list because she talked about Prince Zuko.  Enough said.  Check it out at: "Antagonists: Depths and Motives."

J.A. Bennett reminds us in the crazy blogging we do of the impact of reading upon our writing in: "The Impact of Reading."

Erin Shakespear recaps a writing conference in Utah where our authors came and showed us how to write better fiction this past weekend in: "Writing for Charity Highlights."

Morgan tells what you can do with those funny looking trash talking trolls that might frequent your page in: "Trolls in the Writing World ... They're There."

Asrai Devin, the Mavin of Mischief shares about her acts of self forgiveness: "Acts of Self Forgiveness."

Alice Dreger informs us about the reality of giving birth in our modern era in: "The most scientific birth is often the least technological birth."

Phil Plait makes a great argument for why Science is so important in: "This is why we invest in Science. This."




After all the serious topics above I thought, "Lets have a good belly laugh."

Kait's Future Beach House

For this First Round of ROW80 I've had great success.  I joined up with ROW80, because I wanted to blog regularly.  Guess what, I blog three times a week because of them now.  I also joined because I wanted to find other people who write like me.  And I got that too!  On their Facebook page I am thrilled to be a part of it because I've met so many wonderful people.  Last of all I joined because I wanted to finish my draft of "Crimes of the Umbramancer."  I didn't get nearly as far with this goal as I would have liked.  I played Skyward Sword, I had weeks of no writing but for blogging, and I've read several wonderful books.  But guess what?  I'm writing more now than I ever have at any time before in my life.  And I'm becoming comfortable with my own voice in writing because blogs forces you to write raw.  ROW80 has been one of the best things for my writing that I could have ever dreamed of.  Kait Nolan, the creator of ROW80, should be given a beach house in the bahamas for such a great idea.

Here are the ending goals of Round One.

1. Finishing Draft Two of "Crimes of the Umbramancer" by the 30th of April.

     I've started the rewrite here and it is going slowly.  But in this rewrite I'm learning concepts that I missed when I wrote the first time.  It is slow going, because I've picked up on a lot of reading.  I've read three books in the past month and before the month is over I want to be done with book four.  But April is crunch time for "Crimes" and I will be doing little reading that month.  Just working out the rewrites I need to do and finishing the draft.  (Yes next month will be a NaNo-like month.)

2. Comment on ten blogs in ROW80:

     This was an epic fail.  I visited the blogs of folks in ROW80, but I don't think I commented on a single ROW80 post.  This is totally unlike me.  As a Sponsor I'll do much better than this, because I know how much a single comment often meant to me when I was starting this.  Often Gene Lempp kept me going when I might have stopped early on.  I owe him a great deal.  Thanks Gene.

3. Walking at least a mile five three times a week.

     ACHIEVED!  By gearing it back I've actually done better than three times a week.  I actually hit four I do believe and it has been awesome.  Glad to be doing this.  Next round I'll be in the middle of a Juice Fast to reboot my body... yeah that's going to be fun.  But totally worth it!

4. Going back to my writing ritual.
   This one is still a struggle for me.  I need to find a time of day that works best for this, and hopefully I'll find it soon.  But I tend to always do scripture study before doing any work on "Crimes."  And that usually makes me quite happy.

I finished this round with so many awesome things happening to me.  I've been to two writing conventions, joined several writing communities, started my own writing group, networked with several professionals, written over 70,000 words, read several books, and improved my relationship with my wife.  She's my Muse and one of the best sources of my ideas.  I don't recognize her enough for her support of my writing and the ideas she gives me.  I am overjoyed with how many good things have happened this round.

I'm still giving away our books of the month: Tankborn by Karen Sandler and Dhalgren by Samuel Delany.  Both of these are excellent books and I'm giving them away this month to a lucky follower of the blog.  Cause I know that not everyone can follow my blog there are two ways to get entries.  One is to actually follow the blog this will get your name put into my hat three times, and the other is to leave a comment on the blog.  For each comment I receive on my blog during the month of March I'll put your name into the hat once.  I enjoy doing this because it gets me reading different books, supporting authors I love, and it allows me an opportunity to give back to you, my audience.

As I've come to the end of this Round of Words, I'm not sure what I want to write about next time.  I'll just have to think about it.  Until then, I'm Jayrod Garrett, the First OG.  PEACE... Oh wait question time: What topic would you like to hear from me on next?