Roland Yeomans's Blog, page 74

Want to Know the Truth About BLOGS?

Recent studies have found people take about three hours and sixteen minutes to write a blog post. 


That's a 26 percent increase 
over the same surveys last year. 
However, the studies also found that “twice as many bloggers are now spending 6+ hours on their average post.”


THAT'S QUITE AN INVESTMENT.
ARE WE GETTING AN APPROPRIATE 
RETURN ON IT? 
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Research shows the average blog is dead 
after a mere 100 days.
OUCH!
That number also means that the average blog 
that launches in the next couple of weeks will already have died by Christmas!
Yes, that’s a depressing thought.


But don't quit!


Make connections where you can.
Look for forums related to your topic. 
Look for active Twitter chats about blogging.

As I've found writing my novels ...
 a funny thing begins to happen as you continue doing something you enjoy, 

even when no one else is watching quite yet: 
 you get better at it. 
The quality of your content improves. 
Then, as people slowly do find you, 

you have a growing body of work that’s getting continually better, 

which encourages those first-time readers to become multiple-time readers.
 It’ll take work, and it’ll take longer than you expect to get noticed.
But it’s worth it when it happens.

What do you think
of the return on
your blog efforts?

EVEN WHEN YOU THINK YOU KNOW - YOU DON'T

EVEN WHEN YOU THINK YOU KNOW YOU DON'T
    Remember junior high and high school?  You thought you knew about your parents, about life, about your friends.      Then came college or the job(s) and/or marriage with or without children -- and you went:
"Oh, man, I had it all wrong.  This is what life is all about."     And you were wrong.

  “Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life.
It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.” ― Joseph Campbell

     Old Joe has a point:     We bring the meaning to each stage of our journey.  The paths ahead look without number.  When at the end, we look back, we will find only one.      That path, good or bad, will be the result of our many life choices.
  “To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson , Familiar Studies of Men and Books



   You may think you know the meaning of your book.  You are wrong.    The meaning of your book is the one the reader assigns to it as you assign the meaning to your own life -- but it will change as the reader and you change.    The you that you are and the reader that the reader is at the start of your book will not be the same person at the end.
 “There is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we each give to our life,
an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.” ― Anaïs Nin , The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934



   You think you know why you started your blog.  But the why of its origin is not the why of its continuing. 
   John Steinbeck, in his journey across America in 1960 described in TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY (his giant French poodle) seemed always lost.      Yet, where he ended up usually held more truth and meaning than the rare times he actually arrived at his stated destination.    Gary Sinse, by the way, does a haunting performance of the book in audio.  Do yourself a favor and listen to it: https://soundcloud.com/#penguin-audio/travels-with-charley-in-search    “However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.” ― Stanley Kubrick


 That light for me, besides the Great Mystery, is the caring others I meet in this life.  Each soul casts a light of its own. 

As Samuel McCord says in DEATH IN THE HOUSE OF LIFE:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HIU5O38 
Each of us is a walking shadow.  The people in our lives are lights, varying in brightness and color. 
As they pass by us, our shadows move and change with each light, becoming something different with each one. 
We become a living dance of light and shadow with the people entering our lives … and leaving them.
I guess maybe we all become different people in response to different times and places, different duties. 

Maybe in a lifetime we become a small number of different people, when, in fact, we could become many, many more –

 if only life moved us around more.

COURAGE TO BE YOURSELF

  “To be nobody -but-yourself —  in a world which  is doing its best,  night and day,  to make you everybody else —  means to fight the hardest battle  which any human being can fight.”  - E.E. Cummings


Most of us really know in our heart of hearts 
that our constant focus on cell phone/internet communication 
deprives us of having real human interaction.
 Even more importantly, 
this kind of communication may keep us from having meaningful communion with ourselves.

Being alone allows you to drop your “social guard”, thus giving you the freedom to be introspective, to think for yourself. 
 Know that line from Jerry Maguire,  “You complete me"?
I know it’s very romantic but what does it really say? 
That we’re not complete  without another?
Being alone allows you to think the thoughts that shape you into a complete human being.
You need to be a complete person before you can support a healthy relationship with someone else.

Even though you may want to be in a relationship, 
could you be in a meaningful relationship with yourself if you had to?
Our world is noisy and loud,  The noise is always there, even at night.
The wail of ambulances,the rumble of car engines,
the  laughter or curses in theapartment next door 

The Song of the City


As soon as most enter their residences, they turn on the TV, radio, or Blue Tooth.

Most Can’t Stand to Be Alone  With Their Thoughts.
Can You?
Why?
Why not?
WHAT DOES IT TAKETO BE A WHOLEHUMAN BEING?

Write What YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW

Tonight, the exterior of Meilori's resembled the LaLaurie Manson, 
the site of the gruesome torture and murder of countless slaves by their owners, 

Delphine LaLaurie and her physician husband.

Perhaps that is why the shadows around me had sharper than usual teeth 

as I brain-stormed how to promote my new collection of short stories, 

A Sampler of Shadows

Any of you want to help?  
I have a couple of ideas on how to do it, but I need a little help from my friends.
{Courtesy Allan Warren}
Since Meilori's exterior was what it was tonight, 

I was surprised when the ghost of James Baldwin sat down opposite me at my rune-carved table.

Maybe I shouldn't have been since it was his birthday two weeks ago.

Besides, Mr. Baldwin never shied away from confronting racism 

as the New York waitress who refused him service as a teen found out 

when he threw a glass of water at her, shattering the mirror behind her.


He said, "Wilde speaks highly of you.  

He suggested I speak of writing to you and those who drop by this little platform you have."

{Courtesy Carl Van Vechten}
WRITING IS DISCOVERY
"When you’re writing, you’re trying to find out something which you don’t know. 

The whole language of writing for me   is finding out  what you don’t want to know,   what you don’t want to find out. 
But something forces you to anyway."


SO MANY LIE TO YOU;  DO NOT BE ONE OF THEM 
"Self-delusion, in the service of no matter what small or lofty cause, is a price no writer can afford.

 His subject is himself and the world and it requires every ounce of stamina 

he can summon to attempt to look on himself and the world as they are.

No one knows your name ... not even yourself if you are honest about it."


DO NOT BE SELF-BLINDED
 "One writes out of one thing only: one’s own experience. 

Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience the last drop, 

sweet or bitter, it can possibly give. 

This is the only real concern of the artist, to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art."


DO NOT LOSE YOUR COURAGE
 "I find writing gets harder as time goes on. 

I’m speaking of the working process, which demands a certain amount of energy and courage (though I dislike using the word), and a certain amount of recklessness.

 Every form of writing is difficult, no one is easier than another. 

They all kick your ass. None of it comes easy."


TOUCH ONE HEART;  CHANGE THE WORLD
 "If there is no moral question, there is no reason to write. 

I’m an old‐fashioned writer and, despite the odds, I want to change the world. 

What do I hope to convey?
 Well, joy, love, the passion to feel how our choices affect the world . . . that’s all."


TRUTH IS YOUR COMPASS
"You want to write a sentence as clean as a bone. That is the goal.

 I certainly can’t imagine art for art’s sake . . .

 that’s a European approach, which never made any sense to me. 

 I think what you have to do, which is the difficult thing about a writer, 

is avoid slogans. 
You have to have the guts to protest the slogan, no matter how noble it may sound. 

It always hides something else; the writer should try to expose what it hides."


 REMEMBER HEMINGWAY

"Write.  Find a way to keep alive  and write. 
There is nothing else to say. 

If you are going to be a writer there is nothing I can say to stop you; 

if you’re not going to be a writer nothing I can say will help you. 

What you really need at the beginning is somebody to let you know that the effort is real.

 I consider that I have many responsibilities, but none greater than this: 

To last, as Hemingway says,  and get my work done."

HAVE YOU EVER?

Have you ever been at work on a novel when an idea you'd been toying with
 seized you and would not let you go until you started writing it into life?
IS THAT ALL THERE WAS? 
 seized me yesterday night after having slept all day to recover from the work weekend.
Even with doing the obligatory chores and paying of bills, I've written 2700 words so far.
Most of it takes place in 1959 which was quite a pivotal year:
(Image in Public Domain)

Fidel Castro comes to power in Cuba after the revolution.
The Dalai Lama is forced to flee Tibet.
 The Barbie Doll is launched.
Alaska becomes the 49th State and Hawaii becomes the 50th state, 
St. Lawrence Seaway is completed. 
(Public Domain Image)

NASA introduces America's first astronauts to the world including John H. Glenn Jr, and Alan Shepard Jr.
US Launches first Weather Station in Space.
Spookier, 
the Soviet Union crashes the Luna 2 spacecraft into the Moon, 
making it the first man-made object to reach the Moon's surface. 
OF NOTE 
Average Cost of new house $12,400.00
Average Yearly Wages $5,010.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 25 cents
Average Cost of a new car $2,200.00

Movie Ticket $1.00
Loaf of Bread 20 cents
Kodak Movie camera $67.50
Ladies Stockings $1.00 


NORTH BY NORTHWEST premieres 
which is fitting since the nine year old protagonist of my story finds himself 
beset by intrigue, betrayal, government corruption and not being who he is thought to be.
He knows better than to tell anyone the truth: 
His body may be nine years old, but his mind is that of an old man from a future he dare not let happen.
I do not know if my tale will be a short story, novella, or novel.
Only time will tell.
HAVE YOU EVER SWITCHED FROM ONE TALE TO ANOTHER?

READY FOR A SUMMER ROMANCE?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M00G4T3/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06ZZVPTZR?
 All through August, Heather McCorckle is offering 2 of her Emerald Belles series for 99 cents each!

COURTING THE CORPORAL
The Civil War has ended, but for Corporal Patrick “Rick” Fergusson the battle rages on. 
Still haunted by what he witnessed on the battlefield, the earnest Irishman is heading west, seeking only to be free of the past. 
His services are in high demand; wealthy East Coasters in need of escort clamor to join him on the journey. 
But one client, a beautiful lady named Cat, disturbs Rick’s newfound equilibrium.

High society widow Catriona O’Brian is anxious to get to California, even if it means traveling with the handsome corporal who seems to dislike her so. 
Cat no longer seeks marriage; she has pinned all her hopes on making it to the west coast and starting her own winery. 
Between the elements, wild animals, and hostile natives, however, everything seems to be conspiring against her. 
Time and again, Rick comes to her rescue. And soon, the independent lass discovers that her biggest obstacle may be the longing of her own traitorous heart . . .

DEIRDRE'S TRUE DESIRE    She married rich, but not well. 
Now, with the Civil War ended and her husband gone, Deirdre must make her own way in the world. 
The golden, untamed valleys of Sonoma County beckon, a land ripe with promise. 
But her dreams of building a home and starting a winery are thwarted by locals who don’t want to sell to a spirited, independent woman—much less an Irish one.

Two very different gentlemen aid in Deirdre’s quest. 
Kin O’Leary is tall, dark, and oh-so-charming. Owner of Sonoma’s most successful inn, Kin is one of the wealthiest men in the county, 
and Deirdre believes this makes him an ill-advised suitor. 
Complicating her circumstance is Dylan O’Reilly, the strapping young cattle hand who stirs her passion to life but hides some dangerous secrets.

With Deirdre’s dreams hanging in the balance, the forthright young widow faces a difficult choice.  
Will she have the luck of the Irish when it comes to love?   
WHO DOESN'T NEED A BIT OF ROMANCE THIS SUMMER, RIGHT?
AND AT A BARGAIN PRICE, TOO!

REVIEWS

IWSG post: HOW TO MAKE PEACE WITH THE SHARK OF REJECTION

YOU CHOSE TO SWIM IN  SHARK-INFESTED WATERS

We all did when we became writers.

You don't step into the ring unless you can take a punch

But you will be knocked down more than you will win.
That's just the nature of the business.
The key is to find the strength and grit to get back up.

In 1923, Babe Ruth held the record for ...
HOME RUNS in a season
HIGHEST BATTING RECORD
and
He STRUCK OUT more times than any otherMajor League player that season.
He said:
"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up."
"Every strike brings me closer  to the next home run."
"Never let the fear of striking out  keep you from the game."


Ray Bradbury started out young as a writer --at 12,writing on the only paper available:Butcher's Papersince it was the Great Depression.

He kept on getting rejected. 
 He promised himself that he would quit if he could not sell a story by the 500th rejection.
You guessed it: 
he sold a story on his 500th attempt.
"You have to learn to take rejection, not as an indication of personal failing, but as a wrong address."
Ray Bradbury said:
"Man has always been half-monster,  half-dreamer.
Once you understand that, then you can write a full story."


Writing is not a sprint.
It is a marathon.
And you win a marathon by always moving forward.
And enjoying the race doesn't hurt either.
Listen to the wisdom of Ray Bradbury and grow as a writer:

AWEN RISING Makes Reading Long Books Fun Again

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VMYYS4J/
With a long book – 
such as Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, 
you immerse yourself in a world that is enveloping, absorbing, that takes you on a long journey.
You get your money's worth.

More and more, long books in print use tiny fonts. 
But not Awen Rising.Its font is large and readable.
The trend is to read books around 200 pages: something you can complete in an evening.

That's hardly worth the effort of turning the pages!  
Game of Thrones taught us the pleasure of immersing ourselves 
in a complex, magical world of conflict, ambition, and dueling strong-willed characters.
Want dragons? 
Awen Rising has them.  
And reptilian adversaries on par with the danger of the White Walkers.
Emily Mayhall is an overwhelmed woman few, especially Emily herself, 
would think of as a champion for a world bruised by natural disasters and supernatural attacks.

A Druid heritage and supernatural beckonings are insistent Destinies that refuse to take NO for an answer.
Set in a time only a decade or two from now, O. J. Barré's tale is one that will catch you up and not let you go.
Only $3.99 for the Kindle version
and
free on Kindle Unlimited.  
Give it a try. You won't be disappointed.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR BOOK A PAGE TURNER

A book is a journey we do not have to take.  We must be persuaded to do it.
Usually it is the set-up that does that for us: a unique or intriguing situation.
But once the book is picked up, 
it will be the characters who will tug us along to find out what they will do and say next. 
Do they make us laugh?  Do they make us root for them?
As humans, we are driven to seek an understanding of others,
for in understanding them, we come close to understanding ourselves ... 
and perhaps we will not feel quite so isolated, alone.
HOW TO ENGAGE THE READER
1.) EACH STEP MUST TAKE YOU SOMEWHERE 
As I've said: each book is a journey.  Characters, descriptions, or dialogue ... must move that journey along ...
or you are making the reader simply jog in place!

2.) TONY STARK ON A ROAD TRIP
Wouldn't he be a hoot on a road trip to anywhere?  Your characters must entertain in some form or fashion
or your reader will opt for more enjoyable companions.

3.)  WHERE IS THE DARTH VADER OF YOUR TRIP?
Success conceals; adversity reveals.
Is he looming like a storm cloud on the horizon?
Or is she sitting, smiling like the false friend she is, right beside your hero?
Does his motivation make sense to the reader or does he exist merely to be the Big Bad of your story?
Your reader should see that he/she is just one bad day away from becoming that person.

4.) WHERE IS THE TICKING BOMB?
Imagine a tense company board meeting: 
the founder is being betrayed by his best friend in a hostile take-over.
He is bravely, intelligently fighting for his dream while the Judas is smugly smiling.
Unknown to them both, but known to the reader, a terrorist bomb is ticking beneath the table ...
right in plain sight should someone just bend down to pick up a fallen pen.
Tick ... Tick ... Tick.
Can you see all the various ways that could play out?
Your hero staggers out of the board room, having lost it all as his wife rushes into his arms ...
just as the bomb goes off, killing all those within the office.
The Judas in betraying his best friend ends up saving his life.

5.) WHERE IS THE WONDER, THE MAGIC?

It does not have to be literal magic but the wonder has to be there to draw your readers in and keep them.
SAME OLD, SAME OLD plots can become riveting if you spin them.
Robin Hood is the villain; 
the sheriff is the valiant, misunderstood man of honor 
trying to keep peace in order to prevent the King from ordering mass executions of the peasants.
A simple view out of a stagecoach window can become magical if your protagonist describes it so that the reader views it with new eyes.
My tagline to the front page of THE NOT-SO-INNOCENTS AT LARGE is

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in acquiring new eyes.”
– Samuel McCord
Hope this has helped in some small way, Roland

SHOULD YOU QUIT SOCIAL MEDIA?

There are many issues with social media, from its corrosion of civic life to its cultural shallowness.

I won't go into the dangers of sharing your political opinions on social media 

since all of us have been bruised by waves of bitter attacks on supporters of both political parties on FB and Twitter. 

As polarizing as politics are currently, I can see employers passing over those job seekers with opposing political views, 

 or current employees being passed over for increases in salary.

 We’ve been told that it’s important to tend to your so-called social media brand, 

as this provides you access to opportunities you might otherwise miss.


 In this culture, the market rewards things that are rare and valuable. 

Social media use is decidedly not rare or valuable. 

Any 16-year-old with a smartphone can invent a hashtag or repost a viral article. 

The idea that if you engage in enough of this low-value activity,

 it will somehow add up to something meaningful in your success seems to be highly dubious. 

 Steve Martin used to give this advice to aspiring entertainers: 

“Be so good they can’t ignore you.”

The ability to concentrate without distraction on hard tasks 

is becoming increasingly valuable in an increasingly complicated society. 

Social media weakens this skill because it’s engineered to be addictive. 

The more you use social media in the way it’s designed to be used:

persistently throughout your waking hours,

the more your brain learns to crave a quick hit of stimulus at the slightest hint of boredom.


Once this mind-set is solidified, it becomes hard to give difficult tasks the unbroken concentration they require, 

and your brain simply won’t tolerate such a long period without a fix.

 There is this fear that these services will diminish our ability to concentrate:

the skill on which we make our living.

NaNoWriMo illustrates this for me:

We are unable to motivate and concentrate on writing a novel 

unless we make it a group social media event.

If authors or other creative people cannot make writing or creating a daily habit, 

their focus and creativity will wither within them.

Writing, or any other creative endeavor, is a solitary affair.  

Neither Leonardo, Mozart, nor Hemingway created their masterpieces by committee or in a rush.


WHAT DO YOU THINK?