Everly Anders's Blog, page 3

Cool Offices That Inspire Creativity

[image error]Everyone has a "Dream" folder. You know, the folder in your brain that catalogues all the cars, boats, or houses you will one day have when you hit the jackpot. Well, I went a step further. I have been collecting picture for my, "Dream Office." Since we are all writers here, I thought you might enjoy ogling over some of my favorites. If you like one, steal it and tuck it away in your own folder.

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Where to Blog

[image error]Deciding to start a blog is one of the most exiting things you will ever do. A million ideas about content and design race through your head. Then, you go online to try to choose where to blog and it becomes daunting. It can be extremely confusing and stressful. Never fear. I have been through this and understand that every persons needs are different.

While I love and use WordPress, I know it is not for everyone. I like it because it is the most flexible, but it is definitely not the most user-friendly.

So, here is a list of the top blog hosting sites, plus the pros and cons of each. Good luck and may you find the best match for you and your awesome blog.

Once you have gotten your blog up and running, come back and check out my article on attracting readers to your blog.

[image error]WordPress is the standard by which all other blogging platforms go by.  Part open source initiative, part blog host, WordPress is a massive, rich platform whose scale and scope few other services can match.  But with that richness comes bloat, and WordPress sites are also renowned for being quite slow.  If you need an incredible amount of flexibility, WordPress is your solution.  There's a plugin for just about anything.  But if all you want is a quick, sleek site for hosting you words, this is not it. 
Pros

Very extendable
lots of themes, coding tutorials, etc
Very active community
Based on open source software


Cons

WordPress is fairly slow
Quite complex 

[image error]Tumblr is the hottest blogging service out there right now.  It is fast, it is easy, it is social, and there are a ton of themes.  You probably already know people who use it.  And sharing photo albums, samples of music, or video couldn't be simpler.  Just keep in mind that Tumblr's take on blogging is a bit different from most.  They don't even include a comment system by default.


Pros

Incredibly simple to use
Super social
Focused on content, not comments
Makes managing multimedia easy
Easy to customize, easy to find free and commercial themes


Cons

You can't separate your code into files
Comments are handled through a third party, if you enable them

[image error]Blogger, also known as Blogspot, is one of the oldest blogging platforms on the net.  Google has kept this product alive, and it has remained a good choice for those looking for a simple way to set up a blog.

Pros

Simple and free
Tested
Supported by Google


Cons

Not very professional
Not very customizable
Posting is done through an outdated text editor that makes rich posts difficult

[image error]For having such a great domain name, blog.com is a fairly small entrant into the blogging space.  That doesn't mean its bad, though, and it features beautiful themes and easy posting.

Pros

Beautiful themes to choose from
A sane-sounding URL
Integrates with other services seamlessly


Cons

Undistinguished
Doesn't host all media types
A little slow

[image error]Squarespace isn't strictly a blogging platform.  Rather, it is a full-fledged web host with a blogging engine.  Of all the options, you can do the most with Squarespace because of this very reason.  But don't think that the added features mean that it is difficult to use.  In fact, Squarespace has managed to create an incredibly compelling website creation tool that is drag and drop.  You can make an entire site from scratch with little trouble, and it will be gorgeous.

Pros

Very powerful
very easy to use
Fast
Flexible


Cons

You have to pay for the service
May be overkill for many blogs

[image error]Movable Type is an older entrant into the blogging field, and happens to be based on open source software, just like WordPress is.  Like WordPress, it offers far more than the basic blogging functions.  It has a large library of plug-ins, an active community, and decent coding examples.  Movable Type and WordPress are roughly interchangable.  Movable Type has a slightly prettier admin panel, but in my experience that's about the extent of the differences.

Pros

Very extendable
Plenty of themes
Active community
Corporate hosting, with added functionality


Cons

Slow
Lots of menus to navigate
Complex, may be overkill for many users

[image error]TypePad is actually based on the same code as Movable Type.  But rather than focus on adding tons of features, Type Pad aims to make setting up a blog simple for non-techies.  And it does a beautiful job of it.  In addition, many major companies, like ABC, CBC and the BBC are using TypePad for their blogs.

Pros

Like Movable Type, but simpler
Powerful
Integrates with other services


Cons

No free option
Fairly small selection of themes
You can't update your CSS/HTML without Unlimited plan

[image error]Posterous aims to be more like Tumblr than WordPress.  It is a super simple blogging platform  that still manages to make your stuff look good.  It's not as focused on community as Tumblr, but it does have comments.  One thing to worry about: right now, Posterous is fairly insecure.  Someone can post to your blog without your permission simply by sending an email.  So it may not be the best choice for those who want a secure blog.

Pros

Easy to use
lots of themes
Post from anywhere


Cons

Not secure
Pretty much Tumblr, without the security

[image error]Penzu is a bit different from the rest of the blogging platforms on this list, in that it isn't focused on blogging.  Penzu instead bills itself as a personal diary and online journal.  While you can share your thoughts with others, Penzu tries to make itself as much like an actual journal, meaning that the service defaults to keeping everything private.

Pros

As easy to use as Tumblr, but more powerful in some ways
Makes keeping a journal easy
keeps everything locked up tight with strong security


Cons

Themes are premium
Only invited people can see your posts
Focuses on journaling, not blogging

[image error]Livejournal is the granddaddy of the social network blogging services.  Long before Tumblr was around, people had Livejournal accounts.  The service has lost much of its luster as the years have gone by, however, and the service isn't as actively developed as it once was.   The service hasn't held up as well as it might have, but it is a solid solution for those wanting to do some light blogging.

Pros

Easy, simple blogging
Social
Customizable blogs


Cons

The community has gone downhill in the last couple of years
Development of the platform has slowed

What is a Troll, & How Do They Effect You?

The "trollface", first appearing in 2008, is often used to indicate trolling in contemporary internet culture. Modern usage of the word itself dates from 1980s.

Trolls are not just little creepy men who live under bridges anymore, they have now evolved into creepy little men who live in their mother's basements and have Internet access. Do they use this newfound Internet access to do productive things like buy soap or look for a job? No. They use the Internet to stroke their egos by putting other people down. They do this on sites like YouTube, Blogs and unfortunately Goodreads. The more time you spend on the Internet, the more chance there is that you will come across them. They go around putting down other people's work and ideas, in order to build themselves up. Some of them might even be emotionally disturbed and find that they need to rant incoherently about nothing at all. While these people are usually easy to spot and stay away from in everyday life, on the Internet they can be stealthier. They say everything from "You suck and so does your mom" to "This idea is completely stupid and you obviously don't know what you're talking about, so shut up". This can be extremely shocking and upsetting to the totally normal people who frequent the Internet to meet people and share ideas.

They say everything from "You suck and so does your mom" to "This idea is completely stupid and you obviously don't know what you're talking about, so shut up".

I bring these people up because I recently had one join the group I moderate on Goodreads. He just kept going around saying rude and negative things. I blocked him as soon as I could, but the damage had been done. Many of the people in the group had thought that they had said something wrong and had offended him. If you don't know these people exist, then you might think that and take their attacks personally. I know I did when I first came across them. One man made me feel so humiliated it brought me to tears. Luckily my husband runs an Internet business and has had dealings with these kinds of people all the time. He is the one that introduced me to the term "Troll" and told me not to let their comments bother me. "You don't let every weirdo who yells on the street effect you, right? So don't let these guys either. They're the same thing, just looking for attention and an ego boost by tarring others down."

 "If you let them and their comments get to you, then they win".

I also wanted to bring this up because so many of us have blogs. The bigger your blog becomes, the more chance you will have a troll leave a comment or two. Don't let it get to you. Just realize, "Hey my blog is getting so much attention that even Trolls have found me. I must be doing something right". If you let them and their comments get to you, then they win. You need to slough them off and keep going. And, whatever you do, don't engage with them as it just makes it worse. Now lets just hope this post goes viral and even I get Trolls commenting on it.

What is a Publisher

[image error]You are an astute writer and have put together a timeless masterpiece that would rival Tolstoy novels, yet you are unable to find anyone to publish your book due to financial constraints or other hurdles that publishers may throw at you.  Does this mean we reach across the desk and backhand the man that just told you he expects your book to flop? I think not.  Instead, we'll look off into the distance and imagine a day in the life of a publisher, what they go through, their pay, and try to show compassion for their positions.  Perhaps then we can see why publishers tend to be hard-nosed in acceptance of manuscripts.

 

Before It Hits The Publisher's Desk

Hopefully you were smart and sent your manuscript off to be edited professionally before considering publication; publishers would prefer that books ran through their system are an instant success (like Dianetics, that quirky L. Ron Hubbard book), although some may incrementally grow into New York Times best sellers instead of getting immediate raves.  Once you have your final piece and have a few publishers lined up, it's time to beat down their doors, one by one, to sell the finer points of your piece and get some sort of deal struck.  You may want an agent or corporate lawyer with you to help weed through legal brouhaha and get to the numbers.  Because, yes, publishers are numbers people and care nothing about the fact you're 6 months behind on your lease or have starved your poodle due to your authorship.

 

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 "Once in the publisher's office, they will toss a contract in front of you for an initial run which will consist of 15,000-20,000 books and offer you 10% royalties from the sales"

 

What The Publisher Does

The publisher is the first-line person you deal with in a book publishing company.  It's his or her duty to take your hopefully edited manuscript, go over it with a fine-tooth comb, and decide if a deal can be made due to historical trends in your chosen niche.  Expect to drop off your manuscript or mail it in to the publisher to review, getting a yay or nay within a week perhaps even two.  If they are convinced they can turn a profit from your work, they'll bring you in for the deal – this is where the experienced agent or lawyer comes in handy.  Once in the publisher's office, they will toss a contract in front of you for an initial run which will consist of 15,000-20,000 books and offer you 10% royalties from the sales (yes, the publisher makes 90% of which a share of that goes to the printer unless done in-house); Since books are generally set at six times the cost of production, we'll assume that your hardcover will begin at $20.00.  So, you'll nab $2.00 a book of which 15% of that is standard for an agent, leaving the author with $1.70 per book which is also considered taxable income.  Now, if your agent possesses some moxie, they will get you an advance of your royalties, at the 50% standard, to give you $15,000 to $20,000 up front. After letting your agent pluck their percentage, you'll be left with a taxable income of about $13 to $17,000.  Reality says that you're efforts are worth more than that yet sensibility tells you to take it and run before the credit card company finds out you have money now.  However, don't spend it all in one place – if your book doesn't sell out the first run, you'll be indebted to the publisher for the difference and they will aggressively collect even if they have to send Bruno to your house with a Louisville Slugger.

 

Now that the deal is done, the publisher will grab your manuscript and take it to the press for your first run.  You, of course, will receive the second copy off the press (publisher needs their trophy) and you'll need to self-promote your book while in press because, unless you are a proven author to that particular publisher, they'll put little effort – if any at all – in marketing your book.  Once the press run is done and your book is sent around the country, you'll want to keep in close contact with your publisher because they will have your running sales statistics. Publishers will keep your book under a microscope until the numbers get up there high enough to think about a second run, which is where writers now begin to really make some money because your agent will come back and get a higher royalty, the second run will be larger since the publisher is convinced you are good.  The publisher will more than likely sign a multi-book deal that is even more lucrative than you'd imagined possible if an author's book makes it to a third run and stays off the bargain tables.  Because, no, writers make zilch from bargain book tables while publishers make mere pennies and make nothing when it hits the dollar bin.

 

 "Publishers are accountants, salesman, judges, and authors all wrapped into one, possessing one of the most painful, joyful and sometimes infamous jobs in the world of writing."

 

Definitely Not An Easy Job

As you can see, publishers are accountants, salesman, judges, and authors all wrapped into one, possessing one of the most painful, joyful and sometimes infamous jobs in the world of writing.  A true publisher will never make an author pay to read a manuscript as they know they'll make theirs in the end regardless.  They are judgmental, by all rights, because they know the industry well enough to give authors an idea of where their book will fall on the book ladder's many rungs.  Publishers do make a substantial salary, yet it's completely merited as their skill set in the English and business fields needs to be substantially better than a college-grade English professor.  The next time you decide to author a book, have it edited and send it to a publisher, keep these things in mind before you head to their office and threaten bodily harm or slash their tires for refusal to accept what you thought was the best manuscript on the planet when, in essence, the publisher is just doing his or her job in telling you 'not this time'.

Jobs as a Writer

[image error]If you have mastered the craft of writing in any niche or style, you have more talent than you probably realize; should you lack any formal direction to point your writing prowess, however, you're probably sitting in a darkened room dreaming of what others are making in various writing fields while wondering where you can fit your skills into the mix.  Have no fear, my writing guru: we have done the footwork for you in a seamless fashion and the current jobs you can find in writing appear below in no particular order.  Finding these jobs is relatively easy, provided you have the patience and drive to secure your place in the writing job market.

 

Copywriting

The job of a copywriter is basically what the word suggests: writing copy.  A copywriter can writer virtually any kind of content for newspapers, websites, publications, magazines, eBooks, and anything else where written goods are needed.  Possessing perfect grammar, punctuation and understanding how to appeal to mass market audiences is a part of the copywriter job description; the ability to collaborate with others in a given department – or clients if you're freelancing – is a huge must as well. The expected pay for copywriting, with some experience, can usually begin around $.02 per word if going alone in a freelance world; as you gain trust and experience, the pay can hit the $.10 per word with ease.  On a salary level, you'll make $25-$35,000 starting out with increases commensurate with overall job performance.

 

Editing

Do you write so well that you can help others critique their writing projects? Can you spot grammatical errors from a mile away? You'd make an excellent editor, no matter in a publication office or in 'commando' while in your bedroom.  Editors are in huge demand because authors and other general writers may have the content down pat, yet need a little English guidance or sentence correction from time to time. Editors, also, are the final line of defense before a publisher would take a book to press; therefore, if you can secure an editorial position, you'll definitely be in the money.  On a salary scale, editors tend to hit the $40k mark their first year and quickly move up as they gain speed and experience. If you prefer to edit while watch Oprah at home, you can start out at $5 per page and work your way up to $15-25 per page, with a 'page' being defined as 500 words.  This is a lucrative position to hold; if you bag this job, keep it forever.

 

Journalist

If you possess both skills above, love to stay on top of stories around the globe, and fell in love with famous people like Anderson Cooper, you'll fall in love with your job as a journalist.  No matter if you wish to write for newspapers, magazines, online newsletters or the local farmer almanac, journalists have the distinction of succinct writing, travel perks, interviewing all wrapped up with editorial connotations to boot.  Most companies needing a journalist will pay full travel expenses to nab the hottest story on the planet while giving a generous $35-$50k starting salary to start.  The better your news coverage turns out, the quicker you'll receive notoriety and quite possibly land a dream job at CNN as a journalist.  Freelance journalists can get $50-$200 for something new and interesting and expect to pay their own travel expenses to nab the story 50% of the time.

 

Academic Writer

Much like the normal writing jobs, academic writers are expected to put forth high-quality content and deliver it error-free; however, academic writers are highly needed for their educational writing skills as they'll be writing anything from professional dissertations, master's level essays, pre-grad theses, course work, and any other publication that could appeal to the grade school through Doctorate levels of curriculum. Since these writers are needed for research and writing, you can expect academic writers to begin at $50,000 or more a year presuming the education level is no less than Bachelor's level for lesser grade levels and Master's for high school on up.  Freelance academic writers can expect – with proven experience – no less than $20 per 500 words without blinking with some extremely experienced academic writers pulling in $100 per page.  If you are writing coursework, you'll nearly always receive retribution in the book should it go to press regardless if you sign copyrights over to the new owner.

Virtually every possible writing job on the market is going to fall into one of these four categories and, conveniently, they appear in skill level order.  If you know you can write yet lack the experience of an editor, you may want to get a few great samples together and present them to your local paper or even guest post for free on some websites for a month or two before putting yourself out there as a freelancer.  Since content is in such high demand across the board, finding writing work is simplistic as long as the desire to research correct methods of finding writing work.  Freelancer portals such as Freelancer.com, oDesk.com and Elance.com are excellent for beginners to make some good money while polishing their writing skills and, as your experience grows, you can bring a large portfolio of your work to companies that may put you in a salaried position in your writing niche or even as their chief editor.

Academic and journalistic writing jobs are slightly more 'clandestine' and require some deeper research or, at least, the guts to approach companies or universities.  Don't have fear if you possess tons of proven skills; just because companies, schools or colleges don't advertise their needs, it doesn't mean they don't have needs. Make a point of contact at your desired locations and, at the very least, you could make a friend or a networking point.  Skilled writing personnel are a hard find in our plagiaristic world; put yourself out there for others to see and I guarantee you'll be writing yourself all the way to the bank in no time.

Free Nook Books

[image error]It may be true that there is no such thing as a "free lunch". The good news is that there is such a thing as a free book on the Nook. Yep, you heard me, free. I for one am very wary of people who say something is free. So I decided to do a little research, and bring you some really great links to free books for the nook. Remember that even if you don't have a nook, you can download the app onto your smart phone or ipad and take advantage of these deals.

One of the major categories of free Nook books, are timeless classics which you probably heard about when you were growing up or might have been read to you a long time ago and you possibly forgotten. Take the free section on Sci-Fi and Fantasy books for example, where you find great classics like H.G Wells' "The Time Machine", Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels".

It's not all about books written by writers from ages past. There are newer authors on all sections of the free Nook books. You could run into some exciting books from writer James Patterson in niches such as Fiction as well as Sci-Fi and Fantasy or even the Mystery niche.  The novel "Cross Fire" is one of Patterson's most popular titles in the free books section of the Barnes and Noble website.

If you're someone who looks down the bridge of your nose at people who like something as frivolous as fiction, don't worry we have you covered. The Biography section contains a lot of books by newer authors including a popular bio to the young female artiste Nicki Minaj. The History section is also a great place to check out all sorts of interesting books such as "Mussolini's Rome" , "Where Were You the Day Camelot Died" by Robert Chapin is also an all-time favorite for free eBooks in this category.

The Religion and Inspiration section is another favorite with the serious minds where you can pick up a copy of holy books such as the Bible or the Koran and even read up on Buddhism as well.  Don't forget the much loved Romance section. Romance, is one of the fastest growing sections on eReaders, and therefore has a lot of free titles. You might even run across some classic romantic titles in this section, but you'll have to explore to discover these literary treasures for yourself.

When you consider the bulk of free Nook books and titles available via the Barnes and Noble website you realize that if keeping yourself busy is your goal for owning a Nook you'll find yourself over-occupied with the selection of free titles that they have available for download. If you want something extra however, you'll be pleased to discover that they also have a number of cheap eBook titles which you can purchase and read in the event that a specific author or book you want is unavailable in the free section, like mine for example (Elle LaPraim Nook Books). Yes, that was a shameless plug. Happy free reading everyone!

Every Authors Worst Nightmare, & How to Fix it

[image error] You've been sitting at your computer for days on end writing the next New York Times best-selling novel. Now up to 80,000 words, you are motoring right along until your computer freezes up, shuts down, and takes you through the rebooting process. After logging into Windows, you notice that you cannot seem to find your written masterpiece. Quizzically looking at your monitor, you contemplate slamming the entire fifth of Jim Beam you've kept onto all year for night caps because the pain of losing that work is overwhelming to the point of tears. However, my fearsome writing beast, you have many more options at your fingertips in recovering your possibly lost manuscript than you realize; below we'll touch on some first initial checkpoints for your data.

Locating Auto-Saved Data

First, before you decide to heave your laptop through the bay window, we'll check for the possibility of your word processing program leaving an automatically saved copy of your data; granted, it may lack a few thousand words yet it certainly fairs better than losing the whole shebang. In checking for this auto-save in Microsoft Word, a few different ideas can be incorporated depending on the version you have. If running Office 2010, simply open up Office, find the 'Recent' link on left, and view every document that was opened in the available window to your left. In the window to the right, you'll see folders you may have accessed or opened recently as well; check each folder in case you may have saved a copy in one of them and just forgot. Finally, as a last solution in Office 2010, there will be a link just below the split windows in the 'Recent' tab named 'Recover Unsaved Documents'; this link will take you to a folder on your hard drive where any open files – saved or not – that were created prior to the crash will be displayed; if you didn't name it, the name can sometimes default to the title or first few words in the document, so go through those documents to retrieve your lost manuscript which will, magically, be there. This is the good news; the below is some 50/50 news.

If you are using Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007, the process becomes a little bit tedious; we'll put this in bullet points below so you can minimize this article window and try it out. Below is the process to find out if you have an auto-save in older Microsoft Word, Open Office, or other word processing formats:

On your desktop, you'll see a 'My Computer' icon (also can be found in Start Menu) that is usually two computer screens mashed together. Click on it.
Next, you will see a list of hard drives, CD Rom's, and other connected storage devices. Click on Local Drive C: (or, some computers may list it as C: only)
Once clicked, you will be taken to a list of folders. You'll be looking for 'Program Files'. Once located, click on that folder. You'll be taken to a list of program files available on your computer.
You are now looking for Microsoft Office (or also Open Office or whichever word processing program you are using). Once the folder has been located, you'll click on it and get taken to the next set of subfolders for Microsoft Office.
Once inside the subfolders look for the Office Tools folder. After locating it, click on it and now you are finally inside the folder that contains an important program you'll run.
Now that you are in the final folder (for the moment), you'll want to click on Microsoft Office Application Recovery. This handy tool is now going to walk you through a process that will reveal every single instance when your Microsoft Word was opened and when and can retrieve an accidental window closing such as that which can occur during a sudden freeze or crash.
In Open Office, the item you'll want to look for (using the same method) is a document folder that may have a temporary saved document. If you cannot find the file, it was lost or never automatically saved.

These steps will recover your files if Microsoft or Open Office has them stored in folders. If you cannot find them using these methods, a freak accident occurred and it was purged from your hard drive on accident and, yes, that means it went to File Number 13 for good. The recover tool, unfortunately, will also not work if your hard drive was roasted during a power surge, otherwise called an 'electromagnetic surge', or if the hard drive was intentionally erased.

Prevent Losing Valuable Manuscripts

Again, as one that has lost several large works in my time, I now understand the value of making copies and saving often; in other words, trust technology loosely since it was a man-made system with human error not factored in very well. The precautionary measures below will prevent this issue from haunting you again in the future:

Get into a habit of saving your work every ten minutes. When saving, put a copy on a small 'jump drive', or, USB keychain drive (you can get these at Walmart or anywhere for under $15 for a 8GB, more than sufficient for several novels over 1,000,000 words). The drives come auto-formatted so you just need to plug it in and save your documents.
At the end of each day of writing, email a copy of the document to yourself after saving. This way, you have a remote copy you can access at the library to print or continue typing.
Get a good surge protector and don't plug too many other devices into it; just use it for a computer and perhaps a printer so the surge protector doesn't get overworked and cause your computer to act up.
If using a laptop, get a cooling pad to set your laptop on; the batteries get sizzling hot really quick and, over time, can cause internal problems since each laptop only has a small built-in fan. If you are using a desktop, keep the area relatively cool so the casing of your computer doesn't get any hotter than it already gets.
Run minimal programs while typing your work. Do you really need to listen to streaming radio online, talk on Facebook and shop while typing in your word processing program? Turn on a radio or television if you need some distraction to make your thoughts flow without hesitation as having too much of your computer's memory occupied doing other senseless deeds can cause freezing to occur and, yes, even crash your drive.
Avoid gambling sites, porn sites or downloads, hijacked programs sites or any type of adverse site; you'll contract a virus or some unwanted visitors from afar if you allow them to peek into your hard drive or have a crack at your internet connection.

Yes, it does stink that you lost a few years of typing all in one swipe and, inevitably, you'll have to attempt to get your writing back to what it was. After trying the aforementioned ideas to revive your document and failure occurs – and you feel optimistic that more can be done – pay that little bit of money to get a tech guru to dissect your computer and try to find it. Spending $100 on a guru to play MacGyver with your data is a lot better than sitting at your desk, beating your head on an oak surface or drinking yourself to a stupor.

How Do You Spell Dyslexia?

[image error]I have always been special. No, I was not a piano prodigy at age four. I can't yodel or speak seven languages. And, no one has ever compared me to Heidi Klum. What I mean is that I have always been "Special". The kind that comes with air quotes and whispers when I leave the room. I had no idea that not being able to read at age ten was "Unusual", as my teacher put it. So what if I was so terrified of doing a math problem that I had dreams at night of being strangled by fractions. To this day, I would still rather fill out your tax returns than do your kids' long division homework. Turns out I was dyslexic, and still am actually. Dyslexia is a common learning disability, though apparently no one told my college professor that because he looked me up and down on the first day of school and announced that "I didn't look retarded", when I told him of my situation.

In fifth grade I had to leave class when everyone pulled out their math or English textbooks. All eyes were on me as I grabbed my little red folder that shouted, "This is my hall pass to the Special class" and left the room. My parents tried to be supportive, telling me that Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill and Tom Cruise were dyslexic. I don't know why they thought that having anything in common with Tom Cruise would make me feel better. As if school wasn't bad enough, I had to spend two hours after school everyday sitting in a tutors' office, just to squeak by in my classes.

The only good thing that I learned in school was that I could tell a darn good story. It usually went something like this. "Hey, don't look at the F I got on my pop quiz, let me tell you about the time I rode a Camel who mistook my red toenail polish for berries. It's amazing what they can do with prosthetic toes these days." My parents say I lied all the time as a child. I like to say I was a born a storyteller who perfected her craft, due to the unfortunate circumstance of having to go to school for 22 years of my life.

My father's career advice was always, "find something you like to do and figure out how to get paid for it." Well, I liked to write stories but that was clearly not an option. Being Dyslexic meant I spelled like I watched, too much hooked on phonics. I couldn't quite grasp the necessity of paragraph breaks and I used punctuation like it was confetti; throw it up in the air and see where it lands. Still, I wrote.Alone, in my room, like a dirty little secret. I didn't want anyone to know. It was a ridiculous dream. It wasn't till my husband found my writing journals shoved in the back of the closet like dirty magazines, that I finally confessed. "I love to write," I said. His brows furrowed and I waited in anguish for what I was sure would be a full on laughing frenzy. "Then, why don't you become a writer?" he asked. I reminded him that it took an hour to decipher the cute little love notes I left around the house for him, and that spell-check was not just a handy tool but a necessity like food and water. "So, that's why you hire an editor. Coming up with the idea is the hard part. Let someone else take care of the mechanics."

It was a light bulb moment for me. A light bulb moment that took 26 years, a fantastic husband and three journals shoved in the back of a closet to figure out, but that moment changed everything.

Now, I am not saying that I would go back and do it all again knowing that I would someday be able to live my dream of telling stories through writing. I would rather be forced to listen to Paris Hiltons album on repeat for a month straight than go back to school. I will say though, that if I hadn't been born Dyslexic and therefore need to develop a rich imagination and ability to tell a story, I might have ended up a rocket scientist. And how boring would that have been?

Why are we so afraid of hard work?

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It takes years of hard work to become an overnight success.

I recently read a book by the acclaimed finance guru Dave Ramsey. He said something that really struck a cord with me. In a chapter where he was discussing the idea of success, he said that it took him fifteen years of hard work to become an overnight success. I thought about how true that was for most people. We, as a society, tend to think that people just wake up one day and say "I am going to write an award winning book today" or "I think I will become a famous painter". We cling onto the stories of people like Stephanie Myers and J.K Rowling, both of who became internationally successful from their first novel. We watch countless interviews with them and put pictures of them on our wall and say, "Why can't I be successful like them?" But, why don't we ever say, "I want to have two failed businesses, loose eight elections and suffer a nervous breakdown, so that I can build enough character to someday become the greatest president this country has ever known, just like Abraham Lincoln". We never say, "I want to be like Robert M Pirsig and receive rejecting letters from 121 publishers, so that when I go on to sell more than 5 million copies of my book, I will really appreciate my success".

We live in a world of instant gratification, where you can upload a video to Youtube on a Monday and be on the Today show discussing it by Friday. We don't want to work for things anymore. We are not interested in staying the course, building character or perfecting our craft. We are just interested in money and a fan base. Even people, who do work hard and struggle for years end up being called an overnight success. Take two very successful self-published authors, J. A Konrath and Amanda Hocking as examples. Both have been ridiculed for writing a crappy book, slapping it up on Amazon and just "Getting Lucky". What people don't know is that J. A Konrath has been submitting his work to publishers since the early eighties. That's longer than a lot of his naysayers have been alive, but we never hear about that. People put down Amanda Hocking for being a young girl in her early twenties who "Got Lucky" writing a book while working a fulltime job as a caretaker. No one ever mentions that she has written books her whole life and completed 17 novels before she ever started self-publishing. How many people can say that? Plus, everyone likes to breeze over the fact that while most of us sit on the couch channel surfing after work, she was up all hours of the night writing books and going after her dreams. Never mind that the so-called "Crap" they write has been loved around the world by millions of adoring fans. Lets just put them and their work down to stroke our own ego's, while we stair longingly at J.K Rowlings picture on our wall.

What I am saying is that it takes hard work to be good at anything. Usually long hours, tireless determination and a thick skin in order to take all the eye rolling from friends and family who don't understand why you don't give up and get a real job. Yes, there will always be the few exceptions to the rule, but we need to see them for what they are; exceptions. Don't we remember the old saying that anything worth having is worth waiting for? So lets stop idolizing the expiations to the rule and start comparing ourselves to the people out there who put the time and effort into their craft and make something wonderful. Someone hand me a pushpin, I have some new people to look up to.

Is coffee good for writers?

[image error]Considering that people throughout the world consume more than 400 billion cups of coffee each year and it is the second most traded commodity in the world, coffee can hardly be considered a secret. There has been plenty of research done on the subject of coffee. Some of the earlier results would suggest that coffee is bad for our health, more recent studies have suggested it has many benefits including but not limited to: improving our mood and waking us up.

Most people will not argue that coffee can help someone wake up when they are ready to go to their office job, work from 9 to 5 and do the same thing the next day. But what does coffee do for us on a creative level if anything? Is coffee more than just a boost that wakes us up? Could it also be used for writers to be more creative? In order to determine that, it is first important to understand how coffee stimulates us.

 

The effects of coffee on our brain

Our brain has a purine nucleoside called adenosine. Without getting into too much of a chemistry / biology lesson, the important thing to know about adenosine is that it only wants to be around adenosine receptors. When adenosine and adenosine receptors come together, the chemical reaction is that it sends a message to the brain that you are becoming drowsy.

 

Once you drink coffee, it travels to your stomach, our liver processes the coffee, and the coffee enters our blood stream. From here, it goes directly to the brain where it passes through the blood brain barrier. The caffeine in our coffee attaches to the adenosine receptors. Once the caffeine is attached to the adenosine receptors, it means that adenosine cannot do the same. This is why only caffeinated coffee gives us that energetic feeling

 

At this point, our pituitary gland notices that the adenosine receptors and adenosine are not attaching to one another and it believes that there must be an emergency that needs to be dealt with. It responds by having the adrenal glands pump extra adrenaline into our system to deal with the presumed 'emergency'. The resulting adrenaline produces what we recognize as the desired "caffeine high." This enhances our performance and encourages heightened mental alertness. Or does it?

 

Are we being conned into believing coffee does more?

A recent study from the University of Bristol in the UK suggests that our entire idea of a caffeine high may be nothing more than an illusion. Their studies suggest that if we consume coffee on a daily basis, the introduction of caffeine brings us back to our baseline levels of alertness instead of allowing ourselves to reach above them. In fact, the only reason that coffee perks up those participants according to the study from the University of Bristol, is that they were suffering from acute caffeine withdrawal. The coffee reverses those fatiguing effects and people feel more aware.

 

Other benefits of coffee

So while people may debate whether or not coffee does in fact impact our 'awareness' level, there is evidence that a cup of coffee does provide other benefits as well. For example, a review of nine studies done by the Journal of the American Medical Association did demonstrate that consuming several cups of coffee daily decreased the participants risk for Type 2 diabetes by almost 30 percent. Coffee also is shown to reduce the risk of several common medical illnesses and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

 

Whether or not it helps

While there is no evidence to suggest that drinking coffee is going to stimulate us as writers, especially creatively, it does provide us with a  better mood and provides a boost if we already consume coffee on a regular basis.

 

Combine that with some of the health benefits that are proven as a direct result of coffee consumption and you will understand why coffee remains a popular choice. It does not appear to provide liquid inspiration as some may have hoped, especially if you are facing a writer's block. Nevertheless, that does not mean drinking coffee will not affect your work rate in a positive manner. If you are in a better mood and a better place mentally, you may be more encouraged to write.