When You Can't Get Out of Bed Because of Christian Bale

WHO WANTS TO GO TO SLEEP?

My creative time is early in the morning.

I'm talking 4:00 am early.

Which means I have to get out of bed--frequently when I don't want to.

I have to plan ahead. Getting up early actually starts with going to bed early the night before. Sometimes that's a lot harder than getting up.

For example, I really shouldn't have stayed up late watching the Christian Bale movie I discovered at 10:30 pm.

Only I hadn't seen this one....

RESCUE DAWN

Who can resist Christian Bale?
I know... I'm weak.
It sucked me right in and didn't turn loose until it was over.

So.... as I have many times before, I slept through my alarm clocks. All three of them.

I need something bigger.

Dragons and Girls #3

DRAGON IN LAVENDER

Portrait of a Wax - Dragon by Kyena

Creating Time

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Wanting more time seems to a common theme among writers, and probably everybody else as well. All the comments on my last post were about wanting more time.

I found this awesome post by Michael Hyatt on creating time.

Stephen Covey tells the story in First Things First of attending a seminar, in which the instructor pulled out a wide-mouth gallon jar. He sat it on the table next to some fist-sized rocks.

“How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?” he asked.The students made various guesses. The instructor then proceeded to fill the jar with the rocks. It looked like it was full. He asked the class, “Is this jar full?” Everyone looked at the jar and agreed that it was indeed full.

He then reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He then dumped the gravel into the jar. The gravel went in between all the little places left by the big rocks.

Then he grinned and once more asked, “Is the jar full?” By this time, the class was on to him. “Probably not,” several of the students said.

“Good!” he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He poured it into the jar. It went into all the spaces left by the big rocks and the gravel. Again, he asked the class, “Is this jar full?”

“No,” the class shouted.

He said, “Good!” He then grabbed a pitcher of water and poured almost a quart of water into the jar. Then he said, “What’s the point?”

Someone said, “If you really work at it, you can always squeeze more stuff into your life.”

“No,” the instructor responded. “That’s not the point. The point is this: if you hadn’t put these big rocks in first, would you ever have gotten any of them in?”

I would make an additional point. The big rocks are a metaphor for the important stuff. If you don’t make room for the important stuff, it will be overwhelmed by the less important stuff." Michael Hyatt - Creating an Annual Time Block

Hyatt then goes on to say how he blocks out his year so that his important stuff gets scheduled. He says, "Make sure you schedule time for the things that are important to you. If you don’t, you will find yourself scrambling to find time for the things that are important. If you are not careful, you will wake up one day and discover that you have spent your life living for other people’s priorities."

Only I'm thinking...

SCHEDULE YOUR DAY -- Don't let your writing time get lost in all the other things you need to squeeze into your day. The rest of time will take care of itself.

Buy Your Manuscript

I FOUND THIS ON THE INTERNET

No kidding.

I'm-not-going-to-give-out-this-site.com is a library of over 70,000 essays, term papers, book reports, biographies and articles spanning over 190 categories. Members have these benefits:
Full essay details (size, grade, level) Essays rated and commented Exchange private messages & chat w members Up to 100 new essays added daily Comprehensive search engine	Immediate FULL access Independently verfied Privacy guarantee We WON'T spam you Fast customer support

Note the misspelled word *verfied*.

Why write your own stuff when you can buy it. If I could get my next novel out of a vending machine, all my struggles would be over. Just put in the coins, punch the button and voila... manuscript ready to ship to the nearest agent.

But why stop there? How about a vending machine for pets?

Or the next great idea for personal transportation.

How about more IQ points?

What I really could use, though, is a machine that sells genius talent.

David Wenham - Happy Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID

Born 44 years ago on 21 September. We want to wish him a happy birthday.

Wenham worked as a bingo caller and an insurance clerk before becoming successful as an actor. We think the change was a good one.

Never Give Up - Picture of the Day

IN THE INSPIRED WORDS OF GALAXY QUEST

Step Up Your Game

RAISING THE BAR

We keep hearing the agents and publishers out there are going through some hard times. As writers, we hear that with mixed reactions.

How can their hard times even compare with ours? All they have to do is pick something to publish. We have to write it.

They don't lock themselves up for days on end, fighting with words hour after hour, dragging characters and stories out of the keys in front of a glaring screen. They don't pour their hopes and dreams into a work they then send out for others to accept or dismiss as inspiration or hackneyed drivel.

All we want them to do is give us a chance. Look past the queries we sweat over because for some reason they're harder to write than a 13 volume epic. They're not as good as our novel. Just give us the benefit of the doubt.

We know there's more competition at every stage of the book business. There are fewer editors at fewer publishing houses acquiring fewer projects. Bookstores are ordering fewer books. The agents are getting more queries and submissions than ever before. It's tough out there, and it's not the time to complain.

Both the agents and publishers are on our side. Honestly. They can't do what they do without us. They want to see our submissions sparkling because right now they have to look for perfection.

It's time to step up our game! This means everything--our queries and our submissions need to be absolutely 110% perfect.

Then we need to understand the bar will never go back down. Yesterday's best writing isn't as good as today's. Tomorrow's writing has to be even better than today's. It's this way because there are so many writers out there trying to get the same contracts. Only the very best will stand out from the avalanche of material pouring in.

It's a good thing. Really.

I have to tell myself this. Stop fretting and put that hungry drive to work and write the best thing you've ever done. Then when you're finished.... do it again. Go for 120% perfect.

What's In a Name?

IF SOMEONE ASKED
"DO YOU KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE?"

Can you say yes?

Do you know where to find them?

Do you know who created them?

Is your question the same as mine?

How do I create a name like one of these?

While you're here, scroll down the side bar and take a look at a promo video by Lori Cunningham. I'm sure you'll like it.

Dragon and Girl #2

I couldn't find the original source for this picture.

While you're here, scroll down the side bar and take a look at a promo video by Lori Cunningham. I think you'll like it.

Remembering 9/11/2001

WHERE WERE YOU?

NEVER FORGET

David Wenham - The Return of The King - Sixth Post

LORD OF THE RINGS

The Return of the King

David Wenham as FARAMIR

"I'm sure that there is a jealousy from Denethor towards Gandalf of that friendship of Gandalf and Faramir. And it manifests itself in a frustration with the youngest son by Denethor and an obvious preference for Boromir. Fortunecity.com

Since the loss of Boromir he does the duty of two sons.

Faramir caught in Denethor's madness.

Never living up to his father’s expectations, he fights and rides like the best of them

Eowyn and Faramir

Faramir gets a happy ending when he falls in love while recovering from his wounds. Considering Eowyn trades in a King for him, he must have something pretty special going on.

David Wenham - First Post
David Wenham - How can this be the Second Post when I was so wrong
David Wenham - The Two Towers - Third Post
David Wenham - The Two Towers Extended - Fourth Post
David Wenham - The Two Towers - Take Three - Fifth Post

Runelord #8 Revised Bookcover

IT NEEDED A NEW NAME

The new book was ready to print. It's cover looked really good with the title BERSERKER LORD boldly stretched across some impressive artwork. The release date, October 13, only a few weeks away.

The Problem?

Due to another author having trademarked the word "BERSERKER" for use in fantasy and science fiction novels, David Farland needed to re-name his novel.

He had a little over thirteen hours.

So he opened up a contest. Got some really good responses. In less than a day he renamed his novel CHAOSBOUND.

Pretty cool, even if it isn't his first choice. (You know -- with fewer letters the title is bigger and actually stands out better. IMHO)

Release date - October 13.

Can hardly wait.

Guest Blogger -David Farland - Part One
David Farland - Part Two
David Farland - Part three

The Coolest Bridge Ever

THE WORLD'S TALLEST BRIDGE

The Millau Viaduct (French: le Viaduc de Millau) -- large cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the river Tarn near Millau in southern France.

The tallest vehicular bridge in the world, with one mast's summit at 343 metres (1,125 ft) — slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 38 m (125 ft) shorter than the Empire State Building.

Picture of the Day - Labor Day Weekend

Building Faith in your Dream

STRUGGLING TO LIVE THE DREAM

So how DO you build faith in yourself?

Lack of belief in oneself is a career killer.

I keep shifting gears in what I'm doing because I second guess myself every time I sit down at the computer.

Is this THE ONE? If it isn't--should I really put all this valuable time into it? Time doesn't repeat itself. There's only so much sand in the hour glass. What if that other book is THE ONE? The one I haven't plotted out yet. Or--maybe I should drag out one of the others I left sitting on the shelf waiting for a rewrite.

Scores of motivational speakers and writers pretty much all say the same thing...

* Think of your dream and imagine yourself reaching that.

* Stop thinking of what you can’t do but begin to think of the things that you can do. Be a “yes” person. At least to yourself.

* Think BIG, believe BIG. Just concentrate on soaring upwards.

I've tried the early morning affirmations, but looking at myself in the mirror doesn't inspire me to say over and over, "You can do it, you're a success."

All I see is a face that really needs some makeup.

What I need is a good slogan that says SUCCESS.

Ummmmm...

HOW ABOUT A POEM?

'Tis a lesson you should heed.
Try, try again;
If at first you don't succeed,
Try, try again;
Then your courage should appear,
For if you will persevere,
You will conquer, never fear;
Try, try again.