4th of July

Today we in the United States have the day off from work to celebrate the 4th of July. This is an important holiday in the history of the United States as it marks our independence and freedom. A lot has changed since that day so long ago but the core believes still holds true. We are a nation built on the ideals of freedom, perseverance and determination and yes we are a nation built "under God" as it is stated in so many of our most historical documents.

We, as Americans, should take a moment today and remember the sacrifice made to establish our Nation and the ongoing sacrifice to protect our Nation on a daily basis.

What does this have to do with writing? Nothing really unless you pay close attention to the elegant words, that were handwritten, used in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Nicolas Cage said it right in the movie "National Treasure" when he said "people don't talk like that anymore."

Enjoy this holiday and if you are living somewhere outside the States enjoy your weekend.

Be safe and happy writing.

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Writing Hiatus

Have you ever heard the saying "to much of is bad for you"? What about "don't get spread out to thin or you will burn out"? Do these two sayings hold true with writing?

How many of you have taken a little hiatus from writing lately? It doesn't matter if you went on vacation, work got a little to hectic or life just threw you a curve ball at some point in time we will take a hiatus whether we want to or not. When we come back from that hiatus have we lost our writer's edge? I believe this is the big question for today's article.

Why do I ask this? Life has thrown me a few curve balls lately and I will be the first to admit that I have not been writing like I should be. At times I get a little worried wondering if I will have problems getting back into the flow of the manuscript and pick up where I left off. Will I be able to remember all the things I wanted to write? Will I be able to find all my notes?

In my opinion, how you spend your time during that hiatus is very important. We know that we can't focus on writing all the time and during a lengthy time away from writing it can be even harder but if we focus on our manuscripts for even a short amount of time each day we keep the ideas fresh. I think this is something we should remember especially if you are like me and have moments of worry. I have been thinking about my current manuscript and a future project I have in the works daily and the itch to write is really growing.

I also think that a little time away from writing is a good thing much like time away from anything we do on a normal basis. This time away allows us to recharge the batteries and I believe this will help avoid and/or relieve writer's block. I have not suffered from writer's block and I plan to keep it that way.

Nothing takes the place of sitting in a chair and writing away but we must always remember that life is going on around us and sometimes we get pulled away from our writing. Don't panic or beat yourself up about it. This is all normal in life. If we use that time in the best possible manner then we should be able to dive right back into our manuscripts. Until we do though make sure those ideas keep spinning in your mind and the story stays fresh in your thoughts so you'll be ready.

How about you? Have you ever worried about your writing after a long period away from it?

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Clutter Can Be A Good Thing

Life is the greatest teacher of all. Take a moment and look at the things we have learned from everyday life. We learn the lessons of love and loss. We learn how to be civilized men and women. We learn the joy of the little things this world has to offer. But life has more to teach us about so many different topics. Writing is one of those topics.

As I said before during my move a few things stood out to me that reflected brightly on writing. Painting the walls was the first and today's topic is the other. It is amazing the amount stuff a family can collect in a short period of time. That is never more evident then when you are moving. Once all the boxes were here and we started emptying all of them in their proper rooms I realized the amount we owned and it was A LOT! There was clutter everywhere. I was flabbergasted as to where we would put all these things. Of course some of the stuff was thrown out or donated but that seemed like a small percentage. Most of the clutter had value to us as some of it expressed our personalities and some had past memories attached to it.

A home is a larger extension of yourself much like your manuscript is. You begin with an empty shell full of blank walls and clutter all over the floor. At first it can be very overwhelming as you wonder what colors to use and where in the world all these things will go. But we find a beginning in one room and we start putting things together. We paint the walls, move furniture in and start placing the little things where we want them. Mind you we don't put everything where it should be as we are still thinking about a few things but we do enough to get the feel of the room. Once that is done we move to the next room and the next room until the house is painted and the majority of our things are put away. Later we may purchase something new to add such as a painting and we may rearrange a few things until we get everything just right.

This sounds a lot like writing. We start with all these thoughts and ideas strewn around our minds until we start. Each room is a character as we give it a personality and little items that add depth and detail to those characters. When everything is complete and we walk through our homes the paint flows together but is different in each room which is similar to the flow and pace of our story in contrast to our characters. Those little thoughts like items scattered all over the house will find a place throughout until they compliment the flow of both story and home.

I think the really good writers have honed their skills at finding the right place to put the small details at the right time. They know the color of the walls and what furniture will look best in the room.

Can you pick the right colors and put the right furniture in the rooms?

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Friday + 200th Post = PARTY!

Today is a really good day here at the New Author. Not only is it Friday but this is my 200th post! To celebrate this occasion I have a few things planned. With the 4th of July holiday right around the corner I thought we could get into the spirit of things early with our own fireworks display so make sure your speakers are on, turn up the volume, push play and enjoy.

Now what would a celebration be without a party? I believe we should have fun today and meet people here in the New Author community. With that said I invite all of you, including the lurkers, to leave a link to your blog, twitter page, facebook or any other social networking site you are a part of in the comments so we can visit you. Just copy and paste this code with your site address(s) along with your comment:

Feel free to add to the party and invite others. The more the merrier. Now let the fun begin!

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