Day 137: Focusing In

I've had a bit of trouble focusing in on one project this month. I've bounced between book ideas and screenplays and I've never really locked onto one I've wanted to stick with. Then again, today I started a novel idea that is truly promising, called Identity Interrupted that could be a cool sci-fi detective novel. I'm going to try to write this one through to the end and then I'll pick back up the pieces of some of the recent failures to focus. That being said, I think Sheepish will be pretty awesome when I finish it.

Today, I will be fighting back against a tiny bald spot on the top of my head by getting some nutritional supplements. I asked some questions to myself about my condition in a blog post I wrote today called the balding writer. I'll let you know if these natural methods do anything to fight off the potentially inevitable!

Day 136: Tom Hopkins

One of my favorite quotes that I make an effort to live by every single day is Tom Hopkins' Golden Dozen from his book The Official Guide to Success. The quote goes as follows:

"I must do the most productive thing possible at every given moment."

Now, does this mean to work yourself like a dog 24/7? No. Because sometimes, the most productive thing you can do is spend quality time with your partner or to simply relax. But when you absolutely need to put your nose to the grindstone, are you able to live your life by this quote? How often do you waste time reading something unnecessary online or responding to some silly Twitter or Facebook matter? I'm nowhere near living my life by a quote as steadfast as this, but I think by keeping it in mind, I've definitely pushed myself to a higher level than I was at before hearing it.

Make your relaxation productive, your loving moments with your partner productive, your enjoyable activities with your friends productive by doing them all well and focusing on getting as much out of them as you can. Don't go out with your friends with work on your mind, go out and enjoy yourself fully! Likewise, don't go to work hating every moment of it, wishing you could be somewhere else. When you're there, kick some butt so that you can later get to a higher and better position. Push yourself to the front. Great words by Hopkins here. Do what you can to follow his example.

Today, I worked on Sheepish and wrote a post about the importance of profound silence. Happy Wednesday everybody!


If you are interested in finding out more about my work, check out my author page on Amazon, on which you can check out all of my books. If you have a book blog, I'm currently looking to do a blog tour starting later this year. Feel free to contact me at my Build Creative Writing Ideas website. Thanks!

Day 134: The Golden Globes

Why were the Golden Globes so boring last night? I watched the entire telecast from beginning to end (minus the red carpet, not something I'm interested in) and while I think that Ricky Gervais did a bang up job as the host, I feel like a giant televised gala should be at least somewhat interesting. I liked the personal speeches and clip reels of the 10 best picture nominees. The thing that really took the show down a notch was the speeches. Usually there are a few speeches that turn into a "thank you" list, but it seemed like every single speech followed the exact same pattern. My girlfriend was practically lulled to sleep and stopped watching the entire second half while I toughed it out. How should these award accepting folks improve their speeches? Funny you should ask, I wrote a blog post about that very subject :). It's called how to write an awards speech. I plan on following the tips I lay out to the letter when I win an award some time in the future :).

I also worked on my new screenplay Sheepish, which I'm extremely excited about. Today was also my first day with my friend assisting me. Hopefully some day I can be like Amanda Hocking and hire a full-time assistant. Oh how much easier life would be :).

Day 133: Passion Project

The other day I found myself struggling to push forward on one of the books I was writing. I realized that, in part, it was because I wasn't all that excited about it. I searched through my Rolodex of ideas and came upon one I hadn't completed but was really excited about, my animation screenplay, Sheepish. I had played around with ideas for it, but I never pushed forward on it. I think I believed it would never come to be and that since I couldn't really publish it, it wouldn't end up helping to increase my income. Unsurprisingly though, I cranked out 2,000 words on that sucker within an hour and a half today. If you can pick a passion project to write on, you will be much more likely to get your writing goals completed. Love what you're doing or start writing something you love. That's the best way around writer's block I can think of :).

I also wrote a blog post today about diversifying your goals.