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WritersNotes.Net: Helping Writers Follow Their Dreams Through Information, Inspiration, and Encouragement!
If you have ever been tempted to give up on your dreams, as a writer or in any other area of your life, do yourself a huge favor and read this brief but powerful post: It's Not Too Late, by George Angus at Tumblemoose.com. It may just turn your life around.
'Nuff said.
Jeanne
P.S. Come back after you've read the post and share your thoughts with us. A few questions I've posted below might help you more easily share the way the post has affected you. Or simply post your own thoughts.
What sort of impact did the above post have on your outlook? Do you see yourself, your situation, your dreams, and your limitations in a new light? If so, tell us about it. We'd love to hear the insights you've gained from this incredibly poignant post.
Age of Conversation: 100+ Authors Write to Raise Funds for Children's Charity
Today's the day to join the concerted effort of a dedicated group of people from all over the blogosphere (and all over the world) to drive last year's Age of Conversation collaborative book project to the top of the Amazon charts! Why? To raise awareness for the soon-to-be-published Age of Conversation 2008 sequel*--and simultaneously raise even more funds for Variety Children's Charity. (All monies raised through the books' sales and referrals go to Variety's Lifeline Children's Project.)
Two Bloggers Take On a Monumental Task
Spearheaded, organized, overseen, and edited by bloggers Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton, the original Age of Conversation “brings together over 100 of the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers and creative innovators in a ground-breaking and unusual publication.” If you're interested in good writing, great wisdom on business and life, and helping sick children get well, please join this effort to bring the book the attention it deserves. As mentioned above, no one involved in this project will be making a profit from the book's production and sale: 100% of the proceeds will go to Variety Children's Charity (just as they will with the book's sequel).
Variety Children's Lifeline Program
Here's what Drew had to say about this charity in his Age of Conversation's Gift of Life post last year:
Lifeline's sole mission is providing medical assistance to children with treatable and survivable heart conditions in countries where the appropriate medical facilities, expertise or resources do not exist.
Today's Effort to Launch The Age of Conversation to the Top of the Charts Explained
Today's launch of the Age of Conversation Bum Rush is explained at Chris Wilson's Marketing Fresh Peel blog, in the following two posts: The Launch: The Age of Conversation Bum Rush and The Real Age of Conversation Bum Rush: March 29th. Please drop by and check out these posts. And if you feel this to be a worthy endeavor, consider joining these hard-working authors in helping to make a difference in the lives of sick children around the world by buying your copy of The Age of Conversation and encouraging others you know to do the same.
Please use the following link (or one of the specially designated links at other participating blogs) when purchasing The Age of Conversation. This will ensure that referral monies go to Variety Children's Charity, in addition to book sale proceeds.
Each purchase will only be counted once, regardless of how many books you purchase; so please buy each book separately (Super Saver shipping to the U.S. is free on this item)--and buy it TODAY--to help this charitable project gain greater recognition by rising to the top of the Amazon Best Seller List.
Hope you'll join us!
Jeanne
* While I wasn't among the authors of the original Age of Conversation, I will be on board for The Age of Conversation 2008--along with 274 other dedicated writers and bloggers. (What a wonderful way to use our writing talents--by helping others! I highly recommend it!)
INTERIM PROGRESS REPORT - 6 AM CST, MARCH 29TH: Between 2 pm CST, March 28th and 1:30 am CST, March 29th, the book's ranking rose from #102,282 to #16,879! Way to go, everyone! Further updates will be posted at Marketing Fresh Peel, in Chris's Launch post, and also on Twitter, throughout the day (info in the Launch post).
3:15 pm CST: AOC has jumped to #368! Keep up the good work, everyone!
AOC made it to #262 of all books sold at Amazon.com on March 29th. Not as high as we'd hoped, but not bad, at all! (At one point, it actually hit #33 in the Business/Investing category.) Great work, everyone!
Did you enjoy this post? Have anything to add? Which worthy causes have you loaned your writing talents to, and did you feel as if you'd made a difference?
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The Writing Life Can Be Tough
Are you having a bad day? Perhaps you’re facing writer’s block, rejection slips, noisy neighbors, whining children, demanding clients. You may be wondering how you’ll hang in there…how you’ll remain positive…how you’ll tough it out.
A Story to Inspire You Not to Give Up
The following story was sent to me in one of those inspirational e-mails that always manage to find their way into our inboxes, whether we want them or not. I have no idea who wrote it. (Do we ever?) But I do feel that it offers some valuable insights that can help us during those times when we wonder whether writing is really worth the trouble. Hopefully, after you’ve read it, you’ll view the challenges you face as you pursue your writing dream—and indeed all the other challenges you face in life—in an altogether different light.
The Story
I’ve reproduced the story pretty much as written in the original e-mail message, though I’ve made several minor grammar and punctuation corrections and formatting changes to improve the readability and layout of the piece.
Here it is:
READ THIS. LET IT REALLY SINK IN. THEN CHOOSE.
John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all the time. How do you do it?"
He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 'You have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood.
“Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
“Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.”
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.
"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."
I reflected on what he said. Soon thereafter, I left to start my own business and lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw him about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
He continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity.'
“Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’"
He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all, is everything.
What’s Your Attitude?
How do you choose to look at life? What mood do you clothe yourself in when you wake up in the morning? What attitude do you adopt when a tight deadline looms as you incessantly stare at a blank screen and words fail you? What response do you choose when editors reject your work, potential clients don’t call back, payments arrive late or don't arrive at all, difficult clients criticize and demand changes to your painstakingly prepared projects, job ads ask for the moon and stars and offer pathetic pittances in return which insult not only your intelligence but your professionalism, talent, and expertise?
Do you choose to be in a good mood…to refuse to be a victim…to look at the bright side of a situation…to demonstrate a positive attitude toward life…to view your circumstances philosophically…to work toward solving problems rather than complaining about them…to learn from your mistakes and challenges...to cultivate a sense of humor and a sense of wonder…to let your trials foster growth...to think outside yourself…and to make the most of the moment?
If not, it’s never too late to start; because attitude is a choice--a choice we make each and every day. And that's very good news; because it means that, no matter what attitude we chose yesterday...or even earlier today...we can choose a better one right now...and we can continue choosing a positive attitude tomorrow...and the next day...and the next...
May 2008 be the year that you choose to live fully each and every day—no matter what obstacles life might throw into your path! And may you enjoy a positive, productive, and prosperous year--one...day...at a time!
Best wishes,
Jeanne
Did you enjoy this post? Have any thoughts or experiences you’d like to share about this topic? We’d love to hear from you!
End-of-Year Assessment
As the New Year approaches, our thoughts turn to goals. We ponder the progress we’ve made over the past year. We assess our achievements…study our setbacks…and mull over the lessons we’ve learned from both. And we begin thinking about how we might turn those lessons into new and greater successes in the coming year.
Discover Your Deepest Aspirations
To inspire us to reach for lofty goals, I’d like to post a link to a list found on a very intriguing blog called To-Do List Blog, which posts scanned copies of actual handwritten to-do lists created by various people. This particular list might be considered more of a “to-accomplish list,” as it expresses the many and varied things its author hopes to achieve during the remainder of his life. My hope is that the enthusiastic optimism of its author will be contagious and that the refreshing spontaneity and almost wild abandon with which he approaches life will inspire you to search deep within yourself to discover who you really are and develop a new understanding of your true heart’s desires.
A Truly Inspiring List of Life Goals
Here’s a link to the list:
Things to do before I die . This is the enlarged version, which is the only one that's actually readable. If you'd like to see the list in its original post, though, you'll find it here: 110 Things To Do Before He Dies (written 1998).
Check it out. If this list of 115 items doesn’t spark your imagination and inspire you to reach for all that you’ve always wanted to do and be, nothing will!
As 2007 comes to a close, may you truly get in touch with the things that mean the most to you, and may your deepest aspirations be realized in 2008 and beyond!
To your future success!
Jeanne
P.S. #1: This list is part of To-Do List Blog's Craziest Lists Contest. (Details can be found on the blog.)
P.S. #2: Along the lines of our topic, To-Do List Blog has published a post called How to Take the Self-Flagellation Out of New Year's Resolutions, which makes some great points.
P.S. #3: Discovered To-Do List Blog while reading a post on another blog recently, but can't remember which blog it was. If you are the blogger who "referred" me to this most intriguing blog, please step forward and let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!
This is not a sponsored post.
Did you enjoy this post? Has it inspired you? Have any of your own inspirational thoughts to share? We'd love to hear them!
A Thoughtful Post That Strikes a Chord
Successful Blog's Advice for a Successful Life
Liz Strauss has a new post on her blog today called Positively Me, and it positively struck a chord with...me. In fact, it got me thinking about the amazingly potent effect that mindset exerts on all of us and how daring to break the mold of our past self-limiting thought patterns can be incredibly freeing.
This post describes a journey from limiting thought to freeing thought—a journey that every one of us is free to take once we've made up our minds that the place where we are today is not the place we want to be—or rather not the place we're willing to stay—but we're ready to move on. As Liz asks, "Do I have to keep listening to those ideas? Do I have to keep believing them?" The answer, I think, is "No." Here's my journey:
My Journey to Becoming Positively Me
Choosing Hurtful Emotions
I used to believe that other people—through their attitudes, actions, emotions, and words—had the inalienable right to dictate my own. Where that belief came from, I can’t really say. But, thankfully, I’ve learned a lot since then. Yet, I needed to walk that road just long enough to begin to see, with gradually increasing clarity, that my own attitudes, actions, and words—as well as my very emotions—were largely mine to choose, and that I myself had chosen the hurtful, destructive, and limiting ones over the healthy, nurturing, life-affirming, and freeing ones.
Absorbing Negative Energy
Prior to my “awakening,” my emotions were at the beck and call of anyone who saw fit to wreak psychological havoc on the closest vulnerable individual—who usually happened to be me. In those days, my entire day could be ruined by an unkind word, an angry glance, an “intentional” slight, or a sullen silence. My calling in life seemed to be to absorb and internalize the negative energy that others sent my way. (As I think back on it now, I realize that much of that negative energy wasn’t even intended to wound, but was simply the other person’s reaction to his or her own internal struggles or problems.) Yet, it rarely occurred to me to question the reason for it; I was far too busy embracing and reacting to it—far too involved in making it my very own.
A Turning Point: Refusing Negativity
When it finally came, the wonderful realization that I could choose my own response, that I wasn’t required to become upset, depressed, or angry when a hurtful word—or even a whole barrage of them—was aimed my way, felt like a cool breeze on a stifling hot desert. It freed me to focus on growth instead of nurturing resentment, depression, and anger—those incredibly destructive forces that suck the life from our souls and cause our spirits to shrivel. It allowed me to refuse that bundle of negativity that had been so unceremoniously thrust upon me—granting me permission to return it unopened to the individual to whom it rightfully belonged, thereby maintaining my own equilibrium amid the threatening storm.
I learned that it was indeed possible to rise above the negativity—to stop allowing it to become my negativity. By stepping back and looking at the situation as it actually was—recognizing it as someone else’s problem fast threatening to become my own—I was able to refuse it, retain my dignity, and restore my self-respect.
Learning to Forgive
Another amazing result of my new perspective was my growing ability to empathize with the troubled souls who, in their own weakness and inability to properly handle their personal problems, try desperately to give them away. In time, it even helped me to forgive and eventually reach out to those who, as a result of their own emotional ineptitude, had lashed out in different ways. Forgiveness is life-changing, and in human relations, at least, can be far more beneficial to the forgiver than to the forgiven—though both often benefit.
A Shift of Focus
I now realize that, back then, my focus was turned totally inward on myself—on my own very vulnerable emotions. I walked around in a state of hyper-sensitivity, effectively daring everyone to probe for the chinks in my emotional armor—my all-too-numerous points of insecurity—and amply rewarding them whenever they did.
But I have since learned that, by shifting my focus to the other person and attempting to understand the real cause of his or her negative attitude, I can effectively take control of—and thereby protect—my own emotions. I've discovered that, by not aggressively defending my emotions, I have quite ironically become far better at protecting them. In this way, I've learned to take charge of a situation that previously had always threatened to spin wildly out of control. I now experience far fewer feelings of defensiveness, insecurity, and low self-esteem. And while I’ve by no means eliminated these feelings entirely, I’ve come a very long way…and I fully intend to continue improving…just a little bit more…every…single…day…
How about you?
Positively happy to be me,
Jeanne
P.S. Why not use Liz's post as your starting point for a writing exercise of your own in which you explore one way your thoughts have changed for the better over time, bringing you positive growth.
This is not a sponsored post.
Did you enjoy this post? Have anything to add? Please feel free to share your thoughts!
A Truly Thought-ful Blogger
Just a Thought! is a fascinating compilation of David Woon's musings on life and truth. "And who is David Woon?" you may ask. That's a very fair question.
David Woon is an unusually insightful young man who possesses an uncanny ability to cut right to the heart of a topic and thoroughly probe its depths. But there's more. He also has the rare skill to do so with a minimum of words--a skill which rarely goes hand-in-hand with an in-depth look at a topic. This natural-born philosopher/blogger presents his words of wisdom via concise blog entries that get right to the point, discuss it briefly, using some truly original and fascinating metaphors, and then get out. There is absolutely no rambling on this blog, which I admire.
A Truly Purposeful Blog
David states the following about Just a Thought: "The blog contains my short reflections about Life in general which I hope would, in one way or another, serve as a source of inspiration for you..." He also hopes his musings might trigger "some thoughts of your own in the contemplation of the mystery that is Life." His ultimate goal for his blog is to create an atmosphere of mutual sharing between him and his readers, as he puts it, "so that we can all learn and grow together as we strive to leave this world a better place than what it was before our humble existence." What a lofty goal!
Truly Intriguing Ideas
Many readers--as well as bloggers--will be able to relate to his thoroughly altruistic aspirations, since we feel very much the same way he does. These readers will enjoy reading his entries about such topics as spending money wisely by designating certain percentages to each spending category, including donating to charity; enjoying better communication with others by using the "Golden Assumption," "backing up your life" in the minds and hearts of those you've touched and influenced, and becoming a better person through becoming "nobody-centric," rather than "self-centric."
David Woon shares some truly intriguing ideas at http://www.davidwoon.com/blog/, and anyone who will dig back into his archives (which go back to November 2004) will find a great many more philosophical treasures buried there!
Happy digging!
Jeanne
This post sponsored by ReviewMe.
Did you enjoy this post? Have any thoughts to share? Please don't hesitate to comment!
"King Lear": A Literary Masterpiece!
The following article is one I wrote some years ago. I've decided to resurrect it here for all the ardent admirers of William Shakespeare who may be among my readers. It is an in-depth analysis of the literary device of Inversion, as it has been so ingeniously used by Shakespeare to craft "King Lear" into the dramatic literary masterpiece that it has unfailingly proven itself to be over the centuries.
If you have never read this play, I highly recommend it! (To read it online, click this link: "King Lear" - The Free Library.) It is absolutely incredible just how deftly conceived and masterfully written this Shakespearean tragedy is! (As you read the quoted passages which follow, you will glimpse the power of Shakespeare's prose and the intricate weaving of the play's thematic elements into the overall storyline, enjoying a delightful preview of what you can expect from the remainder of the play.)
Inversion Sets the Stage
In the play's opening scene, King Lear sets the mechanism of Inversion in motion by dividing his kingdom between his evil daughters, Regan and Goneril, disowning his good daughter, Cordelia, and banishing his loyal servant, Kent.
In so doing, he "divests" himself of those persons who represent goodness, honesty, loyalty, and nobility (Cordelia and Kent--though Kent later returns disguised as Caius) and those things which represent dignity, power, security, and prosperity (his kingdom, rule, wealth, position).
At the same time, he "invests" his authority and substance in those individuals who symbolize greed, malice, insincerity, deviousness, insensitivity, disloyalty, ungratefulness, disrespect (Goneril, Regan, and Cornwall), and moral weakness (Albany).
The word "divest" is highly appropriate here, and is intended by Shakespeare as a very purposeful foreshadowing of the figurative nakedness that Lear unwittingly brings upon himself as a result of his impulsive and unreasonable actions. "Since now we will divest us both of rule, interest of territory, cares of state...” (1.1, lines 47-48).
His corresponding use of the word "invest" is equally deliberate and also very apt, expressing as it does Lear's "clothing" of his evil daughters with the "vestments" of power and authority, the willing removal of which is the cause of their father's pitiful "nakedness." "I do invest you jointly with my power, preeminence, and all the large effects that troop with majesty" (1.1, lines 129-131).
The clothing/unclothing metaphor is adeptly sustained through Scene 1 and slipped into Scene 4 as a reminder of Lear's humiliating predicament.
The divestment of his power and property is referred to in lines 216-217, in part, as a "dismantl(ing of) so many folds of favor" in regard to his loving daughter, Cordelia; and his investment of these is alluded to in Cordelia's declaration to her evil sisters that "time shall unfold what plighted (or pleated) cunning hides" (line 279).
The Fool also reminds us in Scene 4 that "E'er since (Lear made his) daughters (his) mothers [another example of Inversion], (he gave them) the rod and (put) down (his) own breeches" (lines 165-167).
Tragic Irony Reigns Supreme
In addition to his innate ability in the sustained use of metaphor, Shakespeare's lines are executed with poetic power and vivid emotional impact, which he skillfully utilizes to create and maintain the play's tragic mood and firmly establish its exalted character.
Lear's heart-rending oath to Cordelia is an excellent example of the sheer tragic power of Shakespeare's prose (1.1, lines 109-119):
"The mysteries of Hecate, and the night; / By all the operation of the orbs / From whom we do exist and cease to be; / Here I disclaim all my paternal care, / Propinquity, and property of blood, / And as a stranger to my heart and me / Hold thee from this forever. The barbarous Scythian, / Or he that makes his generation messes / To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom / Be as well neighbour'd, pitied, and relieved / As thou my sometime daughter."
The King's reaction to the inexcusable treatment he receives at the hand of Goneril (Scene 4, lines 256-260) likewise displays Shakespeare's powerful command of language:
"Detested kite! thou liest. / My train are men of choice and rarest parts, / That all particulars of duty know, / And in the most exact regard support / The worships of their name.--"
The rest of his angry diatribe--first over Cordelia, in remorseful self-recrimination for the way he's wronged her (lines 260-266), and then against Goneril, after finally recognizing her for what she truly is (lines 269-283)--and his new outburst, after losing 50 of his followers (lines 296-309--not quoted), are further examples of this power:
260-266: "O most small fault, / How ugly didst thou in Cordelia show! / Which, like an engine, wrench'd my frame of nature / From the fix'd place; drew from my heart all love / And added to the gall. O Lear, Lear, Lear! / Beat at this gate, that let thy folly in / And thy dear judgement out!--Go, go, my people."
269-283 (in reference to Goneril): "Hear, Nature, hear; dear goddess, hear! / Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend / To make this creature fruitful; / Into her womb convey sterility; / Dry up in her the organs of increase, / And from her derogate body never spring / A babe to honour her! If she must teem, / Create her child of spleen, that it may live / And be a thwart disnatured torment to her. / Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth; / With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks; / Turn all her mother's pains and benefits / To laughter and contempt; that she may feel / How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is / To have a thankless child!--Away, away!"
France's lovely and emotional acceptance of Cordelia (not quoted) also exemplifies Shakespeare's ability to express beauty and use language to elevate a scene above the mundane and into a more exalted sphere.
A World Turned Upside Down
Essentially, Inversion, expressed powerfully and with great beauty, is a key element in the play's first two acts. The following potent examples of Inversion indicate the strong part the literary device plays in this tragic drama:
-Children in authority over parent
-King ruled by his subjects
-Good punished-evil rewarded
-Flattery triumphing over honesty
-Greed triumphing over unselfish love
-Impulsiveness triumphing over reason
-Anger triumphing over mercy
-Cold rejection kindling ardent respect
-Fool becoming wise-King becoming Fool
Perhaps the most pointed (and also the most powerful) example of Inversion in the first two acts occurs in Scenes 4 and 5, when the Fool becomes the voice of reason for the King, who has unwittingly relegated himself to the status of Fool. The words of wisdom spoken by the Fool in this portion of the play represent prime examples of the inverted status between Lear and his Fool; and the Fool's manifold vocal jabs also evoke a poignancy born of his deep love, loyalty, and concern for his master (lines 207-210, 217-218, 224, 228).
Shakespeare has, in "King Lear," skillfully and systematically created a universe turned upside down--a topsy-turvy world fraught with injustice, irony, and pathos--a world by which only a "marble-hearted fiend" of the likes of a Goneril, a Regan, or an Edmund could possibly remain unmoved.
If you've never read Shakespeare, give his work a try! It is definitely writing of a most exalted kind--the kind you won't soon forget!
Dramatically yours,
Jeanne
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Join the Party!
Hello, there, fellow readers and writers! Come on in and join the party! This is Writer's Notes' 100th post, and I'll be serving up a luscious list of literary links to help spark the celebration.
Over the past day or so, I've been scouring the internet for especially sagacious 100-lists, in preparation for the party. So, take a seat, grab a tall, cool drink, and prepare to tantalize your intellectual tastebuds with this scrumptious spread of literary 100-lists, specially designed to satisfy your voracious literary appetite!
Links to Luscious Literary 100-Lists
Here they are, in no particular order:
From The Absolutely Weird Bookshelf/Stranger Books:
David Pringle's 100 Best Science Fiction Novels (through 1984)
David Pringle's 100 Best Fantasy Novels (to 1987)
From TIME Magazine:
100 All-TIME Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to the Present (2005)
From the BBC (British Broadcasting Company):
The Big Read: The UK's Top 100 Best-Loved Novels (2003)
From the MWA (Mystery Writers Association):
Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time (PDF)
From Guardian Unlimited:
The Top 100 Books of All Time (2002)
From the NEA (National Education Association):
Educators' Top 100 Children's Books (2007)
From Modern Library (Random House):
100 Best Novels (The Board's List & The Readers' List)
100 Best Nonfiction (The Board's List & The Readers' List)
Radcliffe's Rival 100 Best Novels List
From the National Review:
100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the Century
From Madison Public Library:
100 Best Works by Women Writers
From Martin Seymour-Smith:
100 Most Influential Books Ever Written (1998)
From the Independent Mystery Booksellers' Association (IMBA):
The 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century
From Sci-Fi Lists:
Top 100 Sci-Fi Books
From Columbia University Libraries:
Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century (2002)
From National Geographic:
Extreme Classics: The 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time (2004)
From Spirituality & Health:
100 Best Spiritual Books of the Twentieth Century
From Everything2:
Top 100 Works of Journalism in the United States in the 20th Century (2002)
From Mount Mercy College:
Webliography: The Literary 100: Children's Authors
Beneficial Blog & Book Links
Hope you've enjoyed meeting and mingling with all the literary and journalistic geniuses we've invited to this party--including all the famous ones you've met in the lists above! But the gathering wouldn't be complete without including a fellow blogger who generously offers advice to other bloggers on how making top 100 lists can help simplify and improve our blogging and our blogs.
From Productivity 501 blog:
Productive Blogger: Make a Top 100 List
And for all of us writers, whether or not we blog, the following book, available at Amazon.Com, can give us a whole slew of ways--100, to be exact (how appropriate is that?)--to help make our writing everything it can be.
From Amazon Online Reader:
100 Ways to Improve Your Writing, by Gary Provost (book)
Hope you've enjoyed the party! Thanks so much for helping me celebrate my 100th post at WritersNotes.Net! It's been so much fun!
Thanks again for dropping by!
Jeanne
Did you enjoy this post? Don't leave me lonely--Please comment!
I have always said, "A writer must write!" And I still believe this to be true, for this is a natural part of who the writer is. This almost obsessive desire--nay need--for self-expression via the written word is firmly embedded in the deepest recesses of the writer's being--insistently spurring each of us on to share our innermost thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and insights with the world around us. It's as natural as breathing.
Sometimes this may take the form of poetry, as in my own personal poetic glimpse into emotional growth:
Vistas
by Jeanne Dininni
Gazing down the corridor of time, I see a memory.
I strain to touch the innocence of youth, with fleeting ecstasy.
For lurking not so far beyond that realm of sweet naivety
The tears and pain wait silently...so patiently...majestically...
Hanging in my consciousness, like strains of haunting melody,
The image slowly dissipates and drifts into eternity.
And through the mists of joy and pain, the dawning of maturity
Breaks forth on near horizons in a blaze of gentle agony.
Or, it could take the form of prose--either lofty or utilitarian, fiction or fact. It could be mere musings, or it might be critically important concepts which could one day save the world! But, whatever it is, it is inherently ours--or rather inherently us! And this is what makes it special...unique...irreplaceable!
This post is dedicated to all my fellow writers, who pursue their craft with the fierce loyalty born of a passion for self-expression, who faithfully follow their life's calling, their heart's dream, with perseverance wherever it may lead--despite all odds, despite all disappointments, despite all setbacks--knowing deep in their hearts that out there somewhere, at the end of their rainbow, awaits a pot of gold.
To this end, I promise to do my very best to provide you, over the coming months, with all the resources at my disposal to help make your dream come true! While these resources may, at times, be somewhat limited, or possibly somewhat inadequate or inappropriate to your particular needs, I hope you'll bear with me, as I seek the widest range of information possible.
Whatever may at any particular time be lacking in the hard data I am able to amass on your behalf will be more than compensated for by my firm belief in you and your ability to succeed at your craft if you are determined enough to do what it takes to follow your dream. And through encouragement, camaraderie, and a spirit of supportiveness, I hope to help you keep your belief in yourself alive and growing!
Fellow Writers, I salute you! Though as different from one another as night is from day, you are, every one, a special breed!
May many 'Vistas' open before you, and may the inner growth of which my poem speaks come to you gently, softly, providing a shining entry into everything that you can be!
And as you gaze out over the horizon of life, may your future break forth before you in a blaze of radiant glory!
Your friend in the writing art,
Jeanne
P.S. Here's a link to a website with many helps for freelance writers, including grant and contest info, a newsletter, links, and other resources. It also pays $35 per article ($10 for reprints) for work which helps other writers earn money writing. The site is called Funds for Writers...
And here's a link to a site seeking articles about writing and paying $15 per article. If you have any interest in this type of writing, check out Misti Sandefur's Call for Articles to find out what she's looking for. You'll also find some interesting writing-related info and resources on her site, as well.
Did you enjoy this post? Don't leave me lonely--Please comment!
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