Category: English

I abandon this blog, not because I didn’t wan to write it, but because I need it to figure it out what I was trying to get out of it.
This blog, is my pace for write about my journey as a writer, my love for productivity, technology and once in a while personal stuff. I don’t know if later I may need to open another place to write about more specific projects, or I will just mix it here with everything.
In the mean time, this is what it is.
Now let’s talk about NanoWrimo 2009 and NanoWrimo 2010. I won NanoWrimo 2009, my novel, that is almost done, let’s clarified it is all finish, all my drafts are done, I wrote it in NanoWrimo, put it in the trash, write it again, put it in the trash again, and the third draft had been re-write 3 times, this last version I like, and I hope it works, now is in the hands of my pre-editor and later will be in the hands of the test readers. So I will be spending NanoWrimo 2010 on a new adventure, and maybe I am lucky and took me less time to finish it, and with a better quality. A writer can hope.
Beginning tomorrow, I will begin posting my word count for NanoWrimo, plus I am planning to use this as a launch platform for more information on my Writing Career and adventures.

I can’t agree more with JC Hutchins, I may be a fossil too.
I have always been a reader, for years I carry books with me, even, there was a time in my life that I wasn’t allowed in the School Library on class hours. I use to get there, hide and read. I got kick out of class for read books instead of paying attention to class.
I remember at that time, that if a book smells was a bad thing, if you will have said then that the book you were reading was smelly my mother would have told me to put it on the sun so it loose that smell.
I read my first ebook from Peanut press around 1997-1998, and I have been reading e-books since then, more than 90% of my annual reading is electronic, and I love the fact that I can carry many books, and read many more without any additional weight, additionally there is no smell.
Since the boom of e-Books people that is afraid of this new technology has been talking about the smell of the books, people apparently now cares that the book smell, and a book that smell is a better read.
I should say, that I continue thinking that books that doesn’t smell are better, but who I am to say that.
My question to all that people that suddenly need the smell of books, it is really the image of the library full of books, like the one I dreamed I would had someday, or it is the fear of the new technology, the fear that you might like the fact that you can bring with you all those books you have want to carry all your life.
Amazon, or Sony or Apple may end up designing an e-book reader that produce the mystic book smell that people is referring too, in the mean time, I continue expecting from the book I am reading that has no smell but instead a great content, I continue hoping to felt in love with the pages, the story the characters, I continue to be able to get captured in the story, smell free.

I am happy to say that I am on the chapter 6 of the second reading, and things are looking good, I continue in time with my personal deadline, and most likely will be on the hands of my private group of readers before the personal deadline.
I used to live in Colorado and part of this novel happen there, and had bring so many great memories, it has been actually a treat to remember how much I love Colorado.
I notice this last week something interesting, writer do certain things really well, like get into other stuff instead of writing, many times we called it research, other times we blame it on writers block, in many cases even that we are not willing to admit it the reality is that we are afraid of not have anything to say, or worse, have too much and too many dumb things to say. In my case I have been reading more and writing less, sound good, better than TV, I never call it research, but the fact is I reduce the amount of writing, including this blog and the other blog I write on Mind Like Monkey. The good news is that I discover that, and I am trying to go back to the discipline, in the way it works when I was in school, I can only read after my writing is done. When I got out of school, I though that discipline wasn’t going to be needed it again.
For now this is done, my word count for the day is not even close, but I better start, since I want to finish Catching Fire from Suzanne Collins.

Regardless what you do in life, change is one of those things that most likely you aren’t going to be able to avoid. Change is inevitable, grow is optional, someone once said.
I am working into some heavy duty changes, and I have been dealing with a lot of fear, the good news is that I have been embracing my fear, I have been choosing to grow out of this fear, continue moving forward and get to the place I’m going.
Today, I had a great conversation with someone else dealing with a similar change, and a similar fear, the cool thing was this person was looking forward also to grow, this person had choose the hard path.
Are you choosing to grow, choosing to embrace change or are just choosing to paralyze to the fear of change?

I have work really hard for years in learn to count my blessings, the good things, the things I am grateful for, the things I am happy that I have made. I made the decision years ago to be happy, to see the positive side, to see and count my blessings.
It is easy, especially in this economy to focus on our lacks, the decrease of our discretionary income, or the income, or the lack of sales, or commissions, the hard climate, make your choice, or choose to count your blessings.
The interesting thing is that one moment or other we all go to that pity party, we count our lacks, the stuff we can’t do anymore, or we feel we are loosing, and we begin stressing about it. The problem with that while you are celebrating your lacks you close the channels to see your blessings, your health, your family, your friends, your people, and instead of move forward you just sit in the corner missing the opportunity to enjoy all the blessing around you.
It is important for me to say, that I have been on many of this parties, I have create and invite myself to many of this parties, and require a lot of work on my side to end the party and noticed my blessings. Today continue been as hard as the first time I stop to contemplate my blessings instead of my lacks, and continue giving me that incredible feeling, every time I do it.
So what are you counting?

Telling a story is a challenge, when I am writing, that challenge is evident, how you tell the story and how you refined is usually a different thing, because when you tell a story, things change, they way you tell the story evolve. One of my readers have been asking me for the next version or the manuscript of the novel I am writing, and I am exited about it, because means there is something on this story worth to read, but as in any story, you need to remember that there are things that the first time you tell the story you include and after you read it again, you discover tell too much or too little or tell things that should not be exposed.
Telling a story is a challenge, is about make the the heart of the reader beats, is make the reader alive, is about bring the reader inside your words, make them feel the fear, the happiness, the sadness, and the excitement.
If I tell you:
Susan is running as fast as she can to survive for the killer, most likely you will read that sentence as fast as you can.
Instead read the following sentence:
Little Susan was breathless, but regarding of that she knew that he was close, she had seen him kill other people, and she knew that if she stop to take some air, he may catch her and kill her.
Same story, most likely the first one is the original telling, the second one is the revision version.
I have been learning that writing the first version is easy, building the second one is a challenge, and that is the challenge I am facing as a Writer.

Writers, like me, are a terrible breed, we procrastinate, struggle, and need something additional to kick out our rears to get us in movement. If I would have write a word every time that I sit to contemplate I will have the novel done. The good news is that the novel is moving forward, and I am getting back into writing on this, my blog.
I try to spend time writing and reading daily, honestly I do better the second one than the first one. Not because I am not a writer, not because I don’t like to write, but because I love to read so much, I love to write, to tell to explain, to create, but more often than not, I doubt my own style, my own writing, my own creations.
In a way, I remember those great moments, when I was a virgin writer, I didn’t believe on many things and I was sure this was the path. Then the dark cloud of doubt came, people was able to seed my fears, to feed my doubts and I simply decide to stop writing, to forget about the life I originally choose, the life of the writer.
So I went to Law school, and begin writing and researching law, so In order to avoid the writing I went and got an MBA, got into sales, and I have done during the last years many things in witch I am very good, the problem with the things you do really good, is that stop you and distract you for the things that you are really good, the enemy of the great is all those things that you are really good. I am focusing more and more effort into those things that I am extraordinary and less on those that I am simply good, in other words focusing more on my writings in a way to walk the path.

I have been a like missing in action. Sadly, I have not been writing as much as I should, I have been busy with things that should not entertain my head, but do, things that bring me to a dark place, a deep place that it is hard for me to get out.
I get the fear, the lizard, the resistance, writers block, doesn’t matter how you call it, the fact is that is a place that slow you down little by little until you simply freeze.
I have been in that place for longer that I am willing to admit, (see my last post for ideas) and this time has been harder to come out of this place, the reason, more fear, a bigger lizard and a lot of resistance, I am afraid, not what will happen if I failed, but what happen if I am successful, what happen if the success take away the time to do what I enjoy, or worse, that take so much time that I will don’t have time to do the other stuff.
I am confronting the fear, and I am working on get myself out of the deep and dark place, I hope you can see me tomorrow here, and little by little celebrate with me the getting out of this place to the new place I need to be.

If you have never read Stephen Pressfield Book, ‘The War of Art’ stop reading, go and read it, then come back.
My friend Tara recommend this book to me, and I am eternally grateful for that, I have read the book at least five times, and is a great testament of the War we constantly have with what Pressfield called ‘Resistance’ with capital ‘R’
We all suffer from Resistance, the difference is how we confront and act in front of this Resistance, you can act as an Amateur or as a Professional. I am a writer, I am also a Sales Person, on my day job, I act as a Sales Manager.
I have been a Professional Sales Person for the last seven years, I make sales regarding of the economy, how difficult it is, regardless if it is saturday, sunday or holiday, I learn my product, I observe my competitors, and I try to get the most out of every opportunity, and honestly, I am good at it, I am a professional and my hard work over years has bring me here. Until recently, I was an Amateur Writer, I want it to be a Writer, but I had not turn Pro, the Resistance and the fear was getting the best out of me.
I have join a MasterMind Group, as well as work in this issue for over a year, and I begin writing, and then stop, and begin again and stop.
Recently, I happen to listen to the War of Art while driving to work, and for the first time I got the change from Amateur to Professional, and I turn the switch. I am now, also a Professional Writer. At the same time I decide to begin publishing in Twitter my daily count, even if I don’t write, I need then to Tweet Zero Words Down Today.
What has change from the amateur to the professional is that I am showing up everyday, regardless of weekends, holidays, or any other type of excuse, i am showing up to write regardless of any excuse I have, I am investing on improve my craft, in the same way I continue learning business and sales books, I am trying to be patient with the art as well as my self, and I am acting in face of fear, regardless how terrified I am on this, I am writing everyday. Finally, I am not afraid to failure, but I will finish this novel.
I had over the years begin three novels and two business books, and the fear of failure, and starvation has always stop me. This time “The Novel” will be finished and revised. If it is terrible too bad, we will write another one, and if that one is also bad we will write a third one.
Around the same idea of this novel, I had wrote two manuscripts, this is the third one, and I think I make the mistake of not work hard enough on revise the two I had wrote before, and the Resistance is telling me to go back and revise them, and we will (me and the Resistance) but not know, in the next months we will write everyday “The Novel”, after that, my dear friend Resistance, you will be more than welcome to revise the other ones.