NHL All Star Game & Media

In today’s NHL All Star Game, Versus station has the goalie miked. In other words, the hockey broadcasters are talking to the goalie while he is working. This interruption of concentration on the goalie’s part caused a goal to be scored. As much as I love hockey, this move is taking the [...]

The NHL All Star Weekend

This blog will take a short break from book writing. Let’s put the book on the shelf, if you will.
It is the weekend for the NHL All Star Game. For hockey fans, it is just a fun time. It’s great to watch all the activities leading up to the All Star Game. [...]

Developing Excerpts

As more and more of my book’s puzzle is being put into place, something else is coming into play.  It is an item that can be used in a variety of ways to help promote and market anyone’s book.  That item is known as an excerpt.
The development of my book’s excerpts happens as subtopics are [...]

Developing Chapters

Having described why developing an outline is important to me, another benefit has come up because of it.  While writing subtopics and embellishing along with subsequent details, chapters have emerged.
Once these chapters have come into play, simply copy the text over into a separate word document. Make note on the outline that the applicable section [...]

Tip #1 – Keeping a Notebook

One of the suggestions many writers make is to carry around a notebook.  This is helpful for those times when thoughts “pop” into your head and need to be jotted down.
*Carry a small one in your purse or briefcase.
*Keep a small one on your night table.
*Carry a small one on your car visor, along with [...]

Opening the “Mind’s Vault”

As the bullet points and subtopics fall into place on my book project, other events come to mind.  Some events were pushed to the “mind’s vault” – as it is known in my vocabulary.  Life throws curve balls at us.  We learn from them, and put the experience into the “mind’s vault”.  When one is [...]

Taking a Break

Earlier today I received a request to write a light-hearted article for an upcoming nonprofit organization’s newsletter.  What a welcome relief from my book writing.  There was no research done, and it was just plain fun.
It is nice to have another avenue of writing as a diversion from my main book project.  To switch from [...]

Undervaluing the Writing Profession

While I am still writing subtopics in my outline, I thought I would mention the online writing world.  Writing has always been a noble profession.  It is a skill which needs to be continually developed and honed.  Not everyone has a good grasp of the English language (or their native language) and knows how to [...]

Organizational Stuff

Speaking of getting organized, what methods will I use to accomplish this? I have written blog posts, but what about when I am not online?
Let’s see…my options are: putting the times and tasks into my computer calendar or keeping a handwritten log .  Seeing that I’m from the “old school”, I’ll keep a handwritten log [...]

Writing Tasks

With each goal one wants to accomplish, various tasks must be performed. Tasks are used to fulfill the goal. Organizational psychology emphasizes this fact. Plus, the ever-popular motivational and success authors/speakers have been telling us about this for awhile….
A great way to stay on track is to set aside a specific time each day to [...]

Why Blog?

Why am I blogging instead of writing my book? Well, blogging serves a variety of purposes for me (and probably others). Here are some reasons I am blogging:
* it serves as a journal of my book writing project
* it is a popular way to get words into the public eye
* I find that by [...]

It’s Easier Said Than Done…

I am still working on my book’s outline. It seems as soon as I start a chapter heading, all kinds of items pop up as subheadings. I keep listing the items, and have more headings to write.  Bullet points work well for me when listing subtopics.  I like bullet points – nice and succinct.
Yesterday, I [...]

Open Office Writer vs Microsoft Word software

This is a no contest answer. Open Office has it hands down, in my opinion. Having used Microsoft Word for years, I was skeptical when I learned about Open Office, part of Mozilla’s open source software programs. My skepticism was due only to my ignorance.
Why is Open Office software so much better? Well…
* The [...]

Specific Goals

Part of the process of goal setting is to choose specific dates for accomplishing these goals. This serves different purposes, the main one to keep me on track. For my book writing project, I will follow these guidelines:
So, each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I will post to my blog.
On Tuesday and Thursday I will input [...]

Writing Goals

Maybe this step belongs as #1, I’m not sure. I know that setting goals beforehand, makes the project easier to complete. Goals also provide motivation (at least they’re supposed to), and will keep me on track.
My main goal for this book writing project is to take a daily step toward completing it.  I will break [...]

Chapter Titles

Having thought of my topic areas (chapter titles), I’ll put them as Roman numerals on my outline.   At this point, I’m not worrying about the order of events. I’m just thinking about different main areas that are important to me.
This step is mainly to get me thinking about the overall picture of my book project. [...]

Miscellaneous Stuff

I have come to the realization that I need to work on my patience level with this high tech stuff. (High tech stuff being online writing…blog posting…updating…etc.).
My laptop is new and I don’t want it to break when I throw it against the wall. Patience is a virtue. Take a deep breath.
P.S. I do not [...]