Beginnings–Harnessing Motivation
Harnessing motivation sometimes is one of the most difficult challenges you face. It’s hard to see the results that should be driving you forward. It’s not different with writing. The deadline, the blank page or the empty document can all create barriers–only if you let them.
I’ve wanted to devote more time to my blogs. Saying you want something and actually doing it are two different things. That’s where NaBloPoMo came in. For me, the drive to keep current with the posts came from joining NaBloPoMo. I wanted to do this. I wanted the sense of accomplishment.
The thing with writing is that you must stay in practice. It takes time to develop your voice, to start auto-correcting your own mistakes. A goal like NaBloPoMo can be the beginning of a good habit to keep you motivated. If motivation is a problem, perhaps finding a drive like this can help you get in the writing habit.
After all, the more you write, the more comfortable you become while you write. Don’t fret about the grammar and spelling. You can let spell check do the job or get a tool like After the Deadline to take care of that part. Let your words flow and feel your motivation take hold.
The New Face Of WordPress
Faithful readers will have noticed a change in my blog, namely that I am on my own domain using WordPress rather than Blogger. I made the change because I wanted more flexibility and control over my blog. WordPress delivers those options.
Now speaking of WordPress, a big change is in the wings with the release of v2.5. The look is changing as well as the navigation. The preview I saw tells me these changes are welcome. I thought so, anyway.
This was a good move for me. I adore this theme. It’s just the mood I wanted. Having WordPress made it possible for me, and for that, I am grateful.
More On Grammar
I signed up for a Google blog alert, using the search term, “writing tip”. Google BlogSearch allows you to receive daily emails on your keyword of choice. I did have to tweak my search term to get alerts about the blogs I wanted to read, but having used this for a few weeks now, I’ve learned a great deal.
One of the blogs that came up on my search today was about yet another troublesome grammar issue, the use of lay, lie, and laid. Usually when I’m writing, I gravitate toward what sounds right. I’ll lay the book on the table for you. I’m going to lie down. Still, this blog took things a step further to look at past tense and past participle forms. Worth a look.
Watching Your As and Us
This is the kind of blog I like: one that makes me think about my writing. For the most part, I think I do all right on grammar. I can spot a misplaced it’s about as good as anyone. It’s one of my pet peeves, actually. Seeing a sentence like, “it shook it’s head”, drives me nuts. I guess I can thank the nuns for that. The hateful ruler and the mighty eraser performed their tasks admirably during my tenure at Catholic grade school.
Since I’m at the polishing stage on my work, I find the reminders about grammar helpful. I am forced to scrutinize my work. It’s not too much further for me. I’ll be sending out those query letters in no time.
And if you’re still not sure about the difference between further and farther, listen to the soundtrack from Smoke Signals, “Father and Farther”. Or better yet, just watch the movie.
Or better yet, just watch the movie.Blogging Tips
One of my writing goals this year is to develop and maintain my blog. In just the short time that I’ve concentrated more time on blogging, I’ve discovered a wealth of information that I may not have stumbled upon before. I came across one such blog the other day, detailing a post on blogging tips. The post is good. Sure, many of the tips are common sense, but seeing and reading them again brings them to the forefront. They can then guide how you blog.
Take number three, for instance. That is my goal; keep up the writing. I made this goal not just for the sake of blogging, but of writing. That brings me to my next goal–writing every day. I’m reminded of a scene in Maltese Falcon. In it, Kasper Gutman (played by Sydney Greenstreet) is meeting Sam Spade for the first time. He asks Spade if he likes to talk to which Spade replies that he does. I’m paraphrasing now, but Gutman says that he likes talking to a man that likes to talk, that talk is something that must be done judicious and something about a man not in practice of talking saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.
That’s how I feel about writing and most things where obtaining a greater skill level is desired. One must practice to succeed. Class dismissed.
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