The Sound of Writing

Thanks to Terry Whalin of The Writing Life for sharing this video from You Tube.

Click and enjoy.

Pictures ARE worth a thousand words. I would like to be able to commandeer those words, wouldn't you?



Write it down,
Carma

Electronic Readers: Do You Have Yours Yet?

Electronic Readers are not new but the Kindle from Amazon is. It takes the ordinary electronic reader to a whole new level and possibly will reform the way we read books. That is according to Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com. In an interview with Newsweek Magazine, Bezos was quoted as saying “The vision is that you should be able to get any book—not just any book in print, but any book that’s ever been in print—on Kindle, in less than a minute.”

I am not going to write a review on the Kindle, I want to send you over to Jon Morrow at onmoneymaking.com and read his informative and compelling post on this amazing product. I found Jon at Success from the Nest where he wrote a guest post about how not to become a "Home Based Hermit" .

Before I found out about the Kindle, I bought a Sony Reader and my main reason for purchasing this $300 gadget is to download all my e-books and have them available for reading at the click of a button. (There are cheaper readers but I don’t know the brand names and for a $100 more I could have had a Kindle) Printing e-books from my printer is out of the question since many of them are hundreds of pages in length. The Sony Reader measures 5 x 7 inches and has a leatherette cover which gives the feel of a real book more or less. Approximately 160 books can be downloaded to this compact electronic wonder. You can easily drop it in your purse or brief case.

Although reading by adults has declined from 62% to 57% in the past decade I hope that an electronic reader will be able to bring that number up.

Honestly I had not considered using an electronic reader until I went to a book signing event at my local library hosting John Schembra, author of M.P. A novel of Vietnam and Priscilla Royal, author of Wine of Violence, A Medieval Mystery. Both authors touted the benefits of a reader. Writers are quite often on the go and it is the portable ability of the reader that is attractive to busy people, like writers.

That’s all I needed. Now I feel that I can reap the benefits of all my e books rather than let them hang in the ether's of my computer.

Has anyone else had experience with electronic readers? Am I the last kid on the block to know about these? If you do indeed use an electronic reader, what is your evaluation?

Write it down,

Carma

Open the Door to Possibility - Hire A Coach

Everyone needs the expertise of a coach. If it weren’t for coaches, some babies would never have been born, championships may have been lost and so on.

As you probably are aware, coaches don’t play the game, they KNOW the game. Coaches will answer your knock on the door of possibility and show you how to recognize your true self and abilities.

Your next question is “Where can I find one of these?”

Right here. Lisa Gates of Design Your Writing Life is expanding her coaching practice to include group telecoaching sessions.

That’s right. You can receive the benefit of Lisa’s coaching skill in the comfort of your home or office.

Lisa Gates is offering two free introductory calls in December so that you can experience the telecoaching process.

Tuesday, December 4 at 5 p.m. PST
Friday, December 7 at 12 Noon PST

Find out how to sign up for your free introductory class by visiting the Group Telecoaching info page.

Write it down,

Carma

The Fourth Thursday

The last notch on your belt has been abandoned and left to hang in exile.

Excessiveness borders on sinfulness.

Thanks have been given and received.

Tryptophan has taken over.

Promises to never eat this much again are too soon forgotten.

Nevertheless, it was good.

(Carma Dutra)

"Thanksgiving day comes by statute once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow." ~Edward Sanford Martin

Write it down,
Carma

Have A Little Soul

I ran across a wonderful website. Heather Blakely is the webmaster of Soul Food Café which houses Dailywriting.net and more. The Soul Food Café is a labyrinth offering a wealth of creative stimuli and a multitude of links from writing prompts, inspirations, stories, writing motivation, imaginations and much more. When you visit the Soul Food Café, you can read about its Seven layers.

This site is full of inspiration for writers and artists who are looking to revive their passion. It is an experience one must experience personally. It can take you deep into cyber space but you will not care.

It may take a long time to go through the amazing layers but you will not want to rush. Take your time. This novice blogger plans too.

Write it down,

Carma

Bumper Sticker Friday

I am declaring Friday as Bumper Sticker Friday. You either love ‘em or hate ‘em. Bumper stickers can reveal a great deal about the owner of the bumper. Some people display them to proclaim their philosophy on life. Like this one I spotted on a 1960 Ford pick up truck.

“Always Drink Upstream From the Herd”.

“Find Your Voice and Never Stop Singing” is my bumper sticker choice this week and the one that gave me the idea to start Bumper Sticker Friday. I love this sticker because it encourages positive thoughts. It also made me think about composing a list of things I want to do before I die. Number 1 – Take voice lessons.

Now, you say, how did I go from bumper stickers to making lists of things I want to do before I die? Well…life is all about ideas and words. Writers are all about words and thoughts, for starters. Where do writers get their ideas? Everywhere, so why not a bumper sticker?

Analyzing bumper stickers is also a great pastime while waiting for the light to turn green.

What favorite bumper sticker have you seen this week? I really want to hear from you.

Write it down,

Carma

Books and Memes: Memes and Books

My dear talented friend and coach, Lisa Gates at Design Your Writing Life has tagged me for a book meme.

People don't depend on hard copy books as much as they used to for obtaining information. Today with the Internet still in its infancy, new benchmarks are being made in the field of communication and education at a rapid pace.

We can download seven or possibly more books into an electronic reader weighing less than a pound and place it in our pocket book to carry around! However, electronic readers will never take the place of a hard copy book on a sunless rainy day....On with the meme.

What to do: Answer 5 questions. Tag 5 book lovers

Questions:
1. How many books do you own?
2. What was the last book you read?
3. What was the last book you purchased?
4. What five books are most meaningful to you?
5. What is your most obscure favorite book? Or, favorite most obscure book…

My Answers

1. Approximately 250

2. Currently I am reading 3 books simultaneously The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield; Escape by Carolyn Jessop and The Passion Test by Janet and Chris Atwood.

3. The Frugal Editor by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

4. All the books are meaningful to me but I would have to say that the last five I purchased currently hold that position. Blink by Malcom Gladwell; The Gift, by Shad Helmstetter, Ph.D; The Mandala of Being by Richard Moss, MD; 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Health, by David Riklan; The Cracked Pot by Jim Cyr

5. Anguished English by Richard Lederer

OK Now it is your turn all Book Lovers!

If you are reading this, consider yourself a tagged Book Lover .

Write it down,

Carma

Do Not ASS-U-ME You Need College

You have heard of the professional student haven’t you? He is the guy, or gal, who can’t seem to graduate because he/she keeps changing majors which require more education therefore a reason not to finish school. The problem with this type of indecisiveness is that the perpetual student is not capable of believing in themselves. A low self-image is a major factor in holding back a creative mind. Anyone encumbered by a low self-image may think it is not unimaginable that a job as a speed bump would be a step up from where they are now.

I am a believer in higher education and it has a particular allure to it. Learning is exciting. It is also true that a person does not need a college degree to be successful. Look at Vice President Dick Chaney who dropped out of college and who is among some of the richest men in the country. Bill Gates and Larry Ellison are two more hugely successful and rich people who did not finish college before they became successful in life.

The Success Principles by Jack Canfield states that 20% of America’s millionaires never set foot in college and 21 of the 222 Americans listed as billionaires in 2003 never got their college diplomas; 2 never even finished high school.

What people need is to believe in themselves.

Quit waiting for: that perfect time to act; the right person to come along; someone to change; the kids to leave home; absence of risk; someone to discover you; permission; the pain to go away.

Years ago I belonged to a multi-level marketing group. They were highly motivational and able to transmit that motivation to others. One of the ideas I took from the many seminars was to repeat this mantra many times a day. It was and is… “Do it Now”. When you are inspired…take action…Do It Now.

Write it down,

Carma

The Myth of Motivation

After a trip to the local library I came across this wonderful book “What To Say When You Talk To Yourself” by Shad Helmstetter, Ph.D. I was instantly inspired and became a fan. Helmstetter’s perspective on motivation and the definition of responsibility are quite enriching.

The term “The Motivation Myth” intrigued me and it answered my long nagging question “Why don’t motivational speeches and classes work for me?”

There are different kinds of motivation and different kinds of motivators. The most familiar type of motivation consists of an audience of anxious listeners, sitting entranced while a dynamic enthusiastic speaker weaves a web of pure magic, the spun gold of riches and success. For an hour or two (and in some cases days) the listeners are shown a new destiny, a grand new vision of their unlimited potential. All they have to do is believe. They leave the conference with new and uplifting, life-changing self-esteem. Tomorrow they will break all the barriers of defeat.

If you have ever attended a motivational meeting or conference, you have felt the contagious spirit a popular and experienced speaker can compel you to embrace. These speakers are like pied pipers and for the most part they do their job… They motivate, but it is temporary. It is external. External motivation works against us.

We may believe this external motivation for a time but the Motivator goes home and we face the next day alone, again. Our poorly fed internal motivator waits patiently for us to come down to earth and believe what we have fed it for years. “No!...you cannot (insert word).

How about being your own motivator? Take charge and put yourself back into control. You can do this by learning that the only kind of motivation you can depend on is internal motivation. Imagine being able to rely on yourself and never again need anyone else to prod or push you into activating your own best efforts.

Read about self-motivation. Then write about it.

One of Helmstetter’s self-talk mantras is “I accept the responsibility for living my life in a way which creates my strengths, my happiness, my positive, healthy beliefs, and for my past, my present and my future.”

If this is a little too lofty try “I like how I feel, and I like how I think and I like how I do things. I approve of me and I approve of who I am.”

Write it down,
Carma

You Might As Well Have Written Nothing

This is what Skellie, guest poster for Brian Clark of Copyblogger said when he brought up the point that readers need to understand what you write. Read the post in its entirety.

When you have an earth shattering idea the world needs to hear, it won't mean a thing if readers cannot understand it.

Skellie elaborates on five tactics to help you write clearly and expressively.

Another important detail to learn how to become a better writer is to follow Brian Clark's 10 steps. You will be amazed by the simplicity of it all.

Write it down,

Carma