WCMarchese

Recently my desktop crashed--be it an update that did it, or it was just the PCs time. So I had to pick up a new one. And my wife wanted one, as well.
For the holidays one year, I had got her a Surface Pro 2. She never really liked the size. So on another occasion I bought her the desktop dock. It turned it into a desktop well enough, but she never really liked it.
So when I gave her the full PC, she said I could have the Surface.
I quickly redid Windows to factory and began the fun journey every geek loves, adding all my apps and documents to a new device. This task was unbelievably easy due to the cloud.
I've using the Surface Pro 2 and it's wonderful. I still love my Lenovo Yoga 2 (which is sitting on my night table, probably jealous) but this device--as I'm sure is the case with the newer Surface devices--is so choice.
It's a tablet when you pull off the keyboard, which sticks to it by magnets. The charger is also magnetic, which is something I prefer, in case someon…

That thing. 

It's not defined. You can't put a name to it. But you know when you have it. 

You can loose it, but it can come right back. 

Is it like a muse? 

Sort of. 

A little. 

But what is it? 

Well, we're all trying to find out. 

I suppose you can build it up. Reading and writing on a regular basis can feed it. But I'm finding it's not necessarily something that can be seen, or measured. 

It's inside you and it consists of a lot of things. 

Sometimes it can make you feel wonderful, like you can conquer the world. And sometimes make you feel like the world is caving in on you. 

It can make you want to pick up the pen and paper, or typewriter/laptop and get right back at it, or it could kick you in the pants and make you say uncle. 

Whatever it is, it's there. To harness it is the goal. And that time will come, with practice and persistence. 

Until then, enjoy the mystery of it. 

WCM

In comparison to big names like Stephen King and Dean Koontz, who say they received many rejections before they were accepted, I found a strange thing. 

The authors who are coming up, sending out to "Indie" publishers, are getting accepted fairly quick. Some are harder to get into, but for the most part, if you're persistent you can have stories placed without piling up rejections. 
And that's good. 
It's a confidence booster. It helps those publications build their roster of authors and magazines, and is a great building block to hone your craft (as is said everywhere in literary mags." 

Also, as those magazines grow, and the authors grow, they can say, "I started with so and so way back when." 
But what about those big time authors who said it took them long, many rejections, cork boards plastered with rejection slips galore? 
Well, they were submitting to different places. Harder places to get into. 
I was thinking about this and realized that they wer…

The brightest flame burns quickest. Or like Lao Tzu said originally "he flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long." 

Sounds about right. You push too hard and you burn out. There you go. Burn. Candles. 

Get it? 

Well, it's true. Pushing yourself to achieve a goal is a good thing, but to over exert one's self is not. 

It's not only disaster that can take place, but total burn out--and then it's just not as fun. 

A little extra work never killed anyone, until you take it too far, you neglect your family, life. 

Yes, you're doing more, but now your spouse despises you. Your kids don't know you, and you may be getting sick. 

Now it's too late. You've gone and pushed yourself to the limits. And in the interim you've neglected a lot of things. Probably even your health. 

Now you're sick, about to cash in your ticket. And you look around. What did it get you? 

Your kids are grown a bit, maybe spouse left you. You never got to enjoy any of it…

I just read a post by a buddy of mine who runs Deadlights magazine. He posted about an online program that takes all the editing features out of writing. So you can't go back and edit. 

Everything that comes out has to stay out. 

Then it got me thinking. There are points to this that would actually work. 

I imagined myself just typing out the story, not looking back to fix things, but maybe to remember something. But continuing to move on. 

Some things don't work, but I can't delete. 

I can't EDIT! 

Then I thought about how much we delete out of our stories. How any scenes that could have worked--that could have propelled the story to the inevitable ending--I may have deleted. 

I also realized that if you keep typing, just keep going, don't look back, eventually an ending will come. 

Now when you go back you can edit, but you'll see exactly where you want to go. 

I think this can really help a lot of people. It's one thing to say you won't edit, or delete words,…

The changes I had wrote about before are already starting to take place. I feel it inside. 

It has been a long time coming, and I knew that they had to happen. 

Of course, nothing stays exactly the same forever. 

Changes happen. 

Sometimes even big changes, or total makeovers. 

There is nothing wrong with that. I just see that the format and other methods can be tweaked, or I'm not comfortable any longer with the way I'm doing things. 

I always wanted the blog to feel natural, like I was typing down the thoughts as they came from my head. 

I struggled with posting updates on Twitter,  because really, who am I? 

Granted, there are those on YouTube and blogs who ask the same question after their channels, or blogs, blow up with many fans and such. 

But still. 

If those people are asking this question, imagine someone who doesn't have all those followers? 

And the Mon, Tue, Friday format can be a bit nuts, too. 

For one, feeling like I have to keep up with that schedule. 

Sometimes these …

This post is about restarting back on the goal. 
My goal. 

Your goal. 

I basically want to restart what I'm here to do. 

Write. 

It's easy to become bogged down with gunk and grime, like an engine that needs a good cleaning. 
I have a few projects that need to get done, and every time I sit down to get to it, time is eaten away by distractions. 

I enjoy the YouTube show, and this blog, and have gotten better at producing them, but I have to buckle down and focus on the writing. 

Social media takes up a lot of time and energy. And while it's a necessary evil, it's also one that can really become an energy consumer. 

Checking notifications and retweeting until the cows come home. 

This year--in terms of submissions and acceptances--has been extremely slow. I'm working on a couple things, but not as much as I wish I was doing. 

I also want to get one of my novels finished before the winter, so I can start looking for an agent. 

On top of the day job, these things can become near …

I want everyone to enjoy my stories and thoughts. My YouTube videos and the show I do with Gary Buller. 

That said, I am trying to figure out how to get my content out to other countries. Other nations who may want to escape their daily grind, or just life, for those precious moments. 

And I would be grateful to be allowed into that time. 

I've been sort of studying the phenomenon that is YouTube and even blogs, where the viewers or readers continued to come back to a favorite entertainer. 

I have found that there are a few that I have become fond of. It's almost as though I'm visiting an old friend. Strange as it may seem, there is a warm feeling associated with this. 

It's similar to a favorite television show, and if they post regularly, all the more this similarity shines through. 

One great addition on these forums is the ability for consumers of the content to interact directly with the creators. 

It's a great feature, and most of the time the gracious artists commu…

Perspective. It can really make you think--see things from totally new eyes. 
In fact, there are almost limitless ways to imagine all the different points of view and examples that can be put together. 

Each one  opens up your mind to different possibilities. A new way to understand something that perhaps was a bit perplexing. 

It is wise to view things this way, to understand that things aren't always just one way, from one mind or one way of thinking. 

It can open one up to understanding new cultures and other people's ways of seeing the world. And even if their minds haven't been opened, at least they feel something, know that there are other perspectives other than their own out there. 

This is also a good way--for those who like to get into more controversial subjects--to show their message. Or it could simply show there are many different ways to go about subjects. 

It can also help a writer immensely. Because you can come up with a scene, and then look at it from many dif…

Thoughts can weight you down and cramp creativity. I've been thinking about that extra weight. 

I wonder how much I could get done if I didn't worry about this or that, or had less on my plate. Running a blog, YouTube channel, art work and writing in the spare time isn't an easy feat. 

Throw on top of that I still have a day job. 

I'm just gonna have to figure a way to be more streamlined and get the blog things done in a certain amount of time and with the same quality and attention to detail. 

It's not that hard, because it's supposed to really be my thoughts. Nothing really edited. The art to go with it brings the challenge, however. It will have to be done within an allotted time, as well. 

Random YouTube videos are whenever, but the Sunday show takes up most of the middle of Sunday. 

I'm also thinking about questions and other things for the guests. Putting a poster together for that, how I'm going to advertise it. And how I'm going to make it more e…

When you write, do you really feel what you are writing, or are you just going with the motions? 

We can't always be in the mood to write. Sometimes we may just go with the movements and try to get into that mood.

Coming home from a busy day of work may push you further from this feeling of connecting on the story. 

But you have to get some writing done. 

You've been procrastinating and putting things off and soon you run the risk of moving too far away from the characters or feeling that made you want to write this in the first place. You might have to scrap everything and start over, or come from a different angle. 

When you sit down, though, exhaustion may be so complete that you look at the computer and start posting on Twitter, or Facebook, or answering friends in a group you're in. You may check out YouTube videos and become absorbed in the content because your brain needs much needed relaxation time. 

And that's understandable. But should you still go through the moti…

I was thinking about how creative people in general shoot themselves in the foot without even knowing--emphasis is on the without even knowing part. 

I've seen countless times a writer/artist who can't see their weaknesses. I worry about this sometimes, because it really can happpen to anyone. 

A family member says their work is great. (One of the reasons I haven't really introduced my family on my personal Facebook to all my postings and such, yet.) 

And that's fine, nothing wrong with a supporting family. There are other reasons I haven't merged the personal side of life with my writing side just yet. 

But to get back to my thoughts, what makes taking advice from loved ones bad is when you can't see they may be saying it as someone who loves you and would say that about anything you create. 

That may be more detrimental than they may think. 

And friends can fall into this category, as well. 

Where I grew up, they called it being gassed--basically having air pumped u…

Isn't it funny how you seeing something can connect you to another time in your life?
Sometimes when I drive this happens, especially if there's an overcast sky. I remember as a kid, when my mom was sick with cancer and my sister and I would visit with my cousin upstate. We'd go to a pool and it would be a wonderful sunny day.
There were times when it wasn't sunny. Where by the time we were leaving (and we were probably leaving because of the change in the weather, but as a kid you don't realize these things) we'd run to the minivan and the outside air would feel different.
Charged.
The atmosphere smelled different, too. These days it's what some call ozone. But back then it meant lots of rain was about to pour down. 

And possibly even a fascinating thunder storm.
I loved 'em.
We'd get into the vehicle and drive off, sitting on towels, or feeling numb from sunburn brought on by playing in water all day. We'd were carted off to a restaurant, or to …