How Positive is Positive Thinking?

A friend of mine shared the movie The Secret with me and lately it has been a hot topic on a couple of blogs. Jennifer Louden had quite a discussion about it and brought up some interesting points. Does positive thinking allow any room for self doubt? Of course it does.

We, as a people, cannot be void of self doubt or indecision, but that does not mean we cannot think positively and be better off for it. To me movies like The Secret and books by people like Napoleon Hill can boost our morale and help us with low self-esteem.

In The Secret, a woman cured herself of cancer and a man became wealthy all because their mind thought it. However, I don't think it is that simple nor am I against the power of positive thinking because "thoughts can become things". It is just that movies like The Secret can cause false hope in some people who may not realize that along with the positive thinking comes hard work.

You guys, Nothing, I repeat, nothing takes the place of hard work. Now timing is another matter. It may take some writers a few years and many, many attempts to write and sell their work and then one person will come along and BAM, sell everything they put out fresh out of the gate. You all have heard the saying (loosely paraphrased) "Man, she can fall in S and come out smelling like a Rose"

I think all of us have used positive thinking and have practiced a little bit of "The Law of Attraction" principles and they may have worked because positive thoughts attract positive actions just as negative thoughts attract adverse reactions. So my advice is DO NOT give positive thinking up. I haven't been around the blog world too long but I can already see how positive this blogging world is. What a special group.

Write it down,
Karma

Where did You Say that Road Lead?

Liz thanks for you thought provoking posts on March 4

When Liz Strauss posted her "Five Goals I Never, Ever Wanted to Pursue" on March 4, she really got my recall juices going. I guess I began to think about traveling roads, when I would sit in the front pew on Sunday morning and Preacher Dan with his bible open in one hand and his other hand raised in defiance would shout out "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

Right then and there I knew I would have to watch my step....literally. For years I dared not to set a goal or desire anything that seemed to rise above my then preceived lot in life. (Which I considered very low at the time) After all, if I could go to Hell for having good intentions, where then in heaven's name was I going to go for not having any intentions for my life. Hmmm?

I think I'll take a little time to revisit some of my roads that I have traveled and reevaluate.

Write it down,
Karma

Are You Doing Too Much?

As I was skimming a few blogs today I ran across Yvonne Perry of the Lieurance Group, where she talked about Too Much of A Good Thing. She pondered as to whether she was doing too much within her writing business and if she should step back some. Go on over and read what she has to say. You will be able to relate as I did.

Write it down,

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Safeguard the Web for Chidren

Harmony at Writer in the Making, has tagged me for a worthy cause and I am happy to step up and join the fight for protecting our youth. I have entered a comment on the Blogger Power website.

You Can Write, But Can You Speak?

You can write a great book but if you can’t talk about it in public, it will fail. There will come a time when communicating over email just ain’t gonna cut it.

Your book just made the New York Times Best Seller list. The Today Show has scheduled you for an interview. So far so good, huh? Just as the interviewer asks you that first question your tongue twists into knots and all that comes out of your mouth is something akin to the voice of Peanuts Cartoon Character Charlie Brown’s mother. 0ow—wau---ooo--uuhh—uhhhh—hmmm, shazzaam.

Just recently Neil Chethik, author of VoiceMale: What Men Really Think About Their Marriages, attributed his membership in Toastmasters to his success on the talk show circuit. “Unless I learned to speak in public, I would have never had a successful career as an author” he says.

I belong to a local chapter of Toastmasters and March 5, I am scheduled to give my “icebreaker” speech. This is a speech that will tell my fellow toastmasters a little bit about me. I say, what they don’t know won’t hurt them, but the idea is to learn to speak with confidence. Speaking is like writing, to get good at it you need to practice, practice, practice.

I am not a spokesperson for Toasmasters, but I think it would behoove anyone who has a tendency to clam up or get sweaty palms when talking to a group, to check out a local Toastmaster group. All meetings last only one hour and anytime you are around a group of people, this is a perfect time to get ideas for your writing projects and make contacts.

Write it down,

Karma

Ready, Set, 1 - 2 - 3 Write......

Screech!!!! Halt!!! Wait, wait. I just saw the latest software for writers who are just starting out on xyz website and it is a must. A manuscript cannot be written without it. I can't start writing until I have that in my writer's tool kit. I mean it is very important to keep track of my word count.

Oh, and while I was at the bookstore I just had to buy this book on how to sell books and articles. Never mind that I already have 10 books with all the advice that any novice writer needs even though I don't have anything written yet, but I know I will, so I need to be prepared.

I can't forget to subscribe to 15 magazines, websites and news papers and read 30 books before I put my first word on paper.

Now....What else do I need? Oh, what about that seminar?....oh, oh, dictionary, thesaurus, uh, ......just put it in the basket. I'll read later.

Okay, okay, you get my drift. As a new writer, blogger, etc, I have found myself doing everything BUT writing lately. Instead, I have gathered as many self-help books and articles on a freelance writing career, looking for THE secret. I have discovered that I have THE secret. It is in my fingertips right here, right now.

I realize I am not saying anything new to you veterans out there, but if there are any new writers listening in...run...don't walk to the nearest keyboard or note book and start putting your words down. Until that happens, you will never be a "writer" and any advice you receive won't do you any good until you put it to Action.

All of those things I mentioned above are very important but my point is that they do not stand alone and a writer can not learn by osmosis. I appreciate all the help that is out there for people like me and I shouldn't waste it by doing nothing.

To name a few of the important people who are here to help fledgling writers like me are Lisa Gates of Intrinsic life design, FundsforWriters, Writer in the making, The Golden Pencil and on and on. Please visit them.

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Plot driven or Character driven?

Which type are you? Suzanne Lieurance, the working writer's coach at The Lieurance Group, added some helpful comments during her teleclass about "plot-driven" writers versus "character-driven" writers. She reported that she learned she is a plot driver, which means her writing tends to focus on what comes next, how it happens, and how to move the story along without involving much of the character's personal lives or emotions. Dan Brown and John Grisham are "plot" men. Romance writers are most likely to be character driven.

Do you have a hard time "letting it flow" when writing? If so, it could be why non-fiction may be your expertise. Most people tend to over edit and criticize their own work. If you edit, format, and document sources in each paragraph before going to the next one, this can make it difficult to flow with the plot and characters as a fiction writer.

These are just a couple of ideas to come from the teleclass.

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