Big Prayers - Daily Inspiration

Wow! Someone must have been praying for me big... I mean, BIG! I sure got inspired, but I was inspired to write a totally different story. A fiction story, a mystery of sorts. Plus, I've already gotten the first chapter written. I have posted it over at my Edge of Danger blog. And you can see it there. I even made a cool graphic for it. Check it out:

It's funny how quickly inspiration can hit. And I'm so happy to be inspired. But I need some more specific prayers. I need inspiration to write more Creative You Inspirations. Come on, guys. I know you can do it. Sock it to me!

Prayer does work. I've seen it happen with my father when he was in the hospital. I mean, they said he was a gonner. In 2003, he was hit by a car as he was walking across the street in our town. He ended up with a busted spleen, but that wasn't discovered until nearly a week later. But we didn't accept when the doc told us that he had done all he could do. So, what did we do? We prayed BIG. 

And sometimes when you pray BIG God says YES! I want that for you too. Thank you for asking.

And yes, there are times when God says, no. He has the plan and he keeps that stuff close to the vest. But if you can, pray BIG.

Is there something you really want like we did? Keeping dad alive was a pretty big YEAH in the win column. Go ahead and pray BIG for your dreams. All He can say is no. So, why not give it a shot. There may be a BIG YES in your future.

Blessings.

Being In Flow - Daily Inspiration

Have you ever just come up with an idea off the top of your head? I did that today. I was perusing mystery books on Amazon.com and suddenly the idea for a novel came to me. Murder in the Choir Room - An Off Key Mystery. I know it sounds horribly awful, but I couldn't help it. The stuff kept spilling out of my mind. I had to open my TextEdit program and start typing the stuff, getting it down on paper.

I now have two complete pages of characters, character interactions and possible motives. Although, I haven't yet decided who's gonna be dead and who is gonna do it, it as fun to just play with the possibilities today.

Have you ever done something like that? Has inspiration struck just out of the blue? If it has, capture it today. Write it down and run with it.

When something like that happens to me, I call that "Being in Flow." It pours out of my mind as quickly as you pour water out of a pitcher. And if you don't catch the inspiration immediately, the vision you've created could be gone and down the drain.

I pray you become inspired today in the way that makes your heart sing with joy. And don't forget to thank the One who gave it to you.

Blessings.

I Heard A Funny - Daily Inspiration

Do things ever strike you funny? Have you heard a truly "out there" claim and you're just not quite buying it. Although, it makes you think... how in the world is that possible?

That happened to me this week.

I heard a story second-hand that spoke about a person I know who has never blown their nose. Can you imagine? Isn't this something you learn as a child? Blowing your nose should be one of those things you learn when you're tying your shoelaces for the first time. It's not something you should struggle with as an adult.

This person just sniffs, and sniffs, and sniffs, but doesn't blow.

The more I think about it, the funnier it becomes.

Do you ever hear things that just strike your funny bone? Laughing is good for us. It helps us to release tension and just makes us in an altogether good mood.

What funny stories have crossed your path today? Let the belly laughs roar and thank that person for making you "release the tension" from your day.

Blessings.

Choose Peace - Daily Inspiration

Have you ever had something so annoy you that you thought about it all day, all night and part of the next day? I know I have.

But did you know that you don't have to give those things that annoy you power? We choose how we react. We choose to let these annoyances upset us.

So, today, why not choose peace instead of anxiety, fear, frustration, or depression. Just make the decision that you will do this. And the next time it happens, remind yourself that you're not going to let this upset you. 

Now, it may take a few times to get it right, but eventually, you will be able to let go and let God take the situation. 

Today choose peace.

We all deserve it.

Blessings.

Live The Life You Want - Daily Inspiration

Your only job is to know what kind of life you want to live most. And find those things in your life that bring you the most joy. Then, keep your mind on those things.

Know what you want, and ask for it, then receive it.

I think the problem sometime stems from the fact that people don't feel they deserve the wonderful dreams they have been conjuring for themselves. They think things never work out for them.

I say, that is pure poppycock! Everyone deserves their best life. No matter who you are. Decide today to believe in the power of your dreams. God gave you those dreams. So, go out and write that novel, build that boat, get that great relationship.

Hold fast in your mind that dream you want. See yourself in your mind's eye getting that dream. Feel how it feels to accomplish your great desire. And keep doing that over and over.

The saying goes, whatever you focus on and put your intention on comes to you.

So, make your intentions great today.

Blessings.

Make Today Count - Daily Inspiration

The last few weeks have been sort of hectic for me and thus I haven't been consistently writing on my blog here. I think I might be over-thinking exactly how much I need to write for an inspiration. Some days all I have are tidbits. And other days I have novellas. 


Here is my tidbit for today:

Be here, in this moment. The now. Don't live in the future. What you do now will give you a glimpse into what is to come. Make your now count. 

As you've probably gathered from other blog postings, I've been working on my novel. I'm almost afraid to call it a novel. Makes it more real, I suppose. And all I was focusing on was the end result, that image of my book on a shelf. And thinking about that is GREAT. Don't get me wrong. But in all my future-thinking, I forgot to consider the now. What did I need to be doing right now to get THERE. To that big vision I want to see come into fruition? 

Of course, that's an easy answer. I need to be putting the time into fixing the errors in my book and nailing down the plot to flow in an easy to read manner. I need to work on characterization, making all those imaginary people I spend my day with seem even more real to me.

And I don't have to do this all at once. I can take baby steps. The other day I was reading up on plot and making index cards of plot points I wanted to consider. And that is not a wasted day by any means. That is just one baby step closer to my goal.

What is a goal you want to accomplish? Are you too afraid to pursue it for fear of being ridiculed? If God has put this desire into your heart, then forge ahead. Take one baby step. Work today to make that vision you want to accomplish come to be.

Make today count. Be in the now.

Blessings.

What If Plotting - Daily Writing Inspiration

I started reading this great ebook by Holly Lislie all about outlining your plot. It's truly great. I LOVE IT. And it's only 99¢ over at Amazon.com.

One of the concepts she refers to is how the Internet Public Library classifies plots. She says that these are not plots but conflicts. And your character should go through about five of these conflicts per story. I've copy and pasted the info from the Internet Public Library's website. They have three different sections about basic plots. 

7 Plots

7 basic plots as remembered from second grade by IPL volunteer librarian Jessamyn West:

1. [wo]man vs. nature
2. [wo]man vs. [wo]man
3. [wo]man vs. the environment
4. [wo]man vs. machines/technology
5. [wo]man vs. the supernatural
6. [wo]man vs. self
7. [wo]man vs. god/religion

20 Plots:

Tobias, Ronald B. 20 Master Plots. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 1993. (ISBN 0-89879-595-8)
This book proposes twenty basic plots:

1. Quest
2. Adventure
3. Pursuit
4. Rescue
5. Escape
6. Revenge
7. The Riddle
8. Rivalry
9. Underdog
10. Temptation
11. Metamorphosis
12. Transformation
13. Maturation
14. Love
15. Forbidden Love
16. Sacrifice
17. Discovery
18. Wretched Excess
19. Ascension
20. Descension.

36 Plots

Polti, Georges. The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations. trans. Lucille Ray.

Polti claims to be trying to reconstruct the 36 plots that Goethe alleges someone named [Carlo] Gozzi came up with. (In the following list, the words in parentheses are our annotations to try to explain some of the less helpful titles.):

1. Supplication (in which the Supplicant must beg something from Power in authority)
2. Deliverance
3. Crime Pursued by Vengeance
4. Vengeance taken for kindred upon kindred
5. Pursuit
6. Disaster
7. Falling Prey to Cruelty of Misfortune
8. Revolt
9. Daring Enterprise
10. Abduction
11. The Enigma (temptation or a riddle)
12. Obtaining
13. Enmity of Kinsmen
14. Rivalry of Kinsmen
15. Murderous Adultery
16. Madness
17. Fatal Imprudence
18. Involuntary Crimes of Love (example: discovery that one has married one’s mother, sister, etc.)
19. Slaying of a Kinsman Unrecognized
20. Self-Sacrificing for an Ideal
21. Self-Sacrifice for Kindred
22. All Sacrificed for Passion
23. Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones
24. Rivalry of Superior and Inferior
25. Adultery
26. Crimes of Love
27. Discovery of the Dishonor of a Loved One
28. Obstacles to Love
29. An Enemy Loved
30. Ambition
31. Conflict with a God
32. Mistaken Jealousy
33. Erroneous Judgement
34. Remorse
35. Recovery of a Lost One
36. Loss of Loved Ones.

Here is the link if you want to visit the actual page in the Internet Public Library: "Basic" Plots in Literature - Frequently Asked Reference Questions

She had an exercise where you focused on your main character and picked five of these conflicts (IPL version of Plots).

Then she asked a simple question. What is an interest that your main character has? A hobby, something they love to do. So, she picked ice skiing.

One of the plots she picked was Murderous Adultery. Another was [wo]man vs. the supernatural. Then she went into what if mode. What if one character, her antagonist, was a ghost. That would make her dead. And what if she was murdered. What if the main character went to the lodge at Green Mountain on the one year anniversary of her friend's death. 

Then she added Supplication (in which the Supplicant must beg something from Power in authority). And what if the husband of the murdered gal tried to kill the main character while she was up at the lodge. But she doesn't know who is out to kill her or why.

And the story keeps on going like that.

I find this to be quite an exciting way to plot. And you can just keep adding conflicts until you are happy or the story is concluded.

I hope you will check out Holly's book. It a keeper for sure. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Plot-Outline-Mini-Course-ebook/dp/B007QW2CZ6/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341595035&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=holly+lislie+professional+plot+outline

Hope you have an amazing day plotting your story.

Blessings.

Web Series Writing Month — Daily Inspiration

Are you a writer? Do you like to create web serials? Well, if you do, I have the perfect plan to help you steamboat your way through your next few episodes. Over at EpiGuide.com they are gearing up for their 6th Annual Web Series Writing Month. It's sort of like National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) but just for web serials/series. I participated two years ago and came up with a ton of good stuff for my web series', The Legacy, Trouble With UFOs and Shattered/The Trust (A Legacy Mission).

I invite you to join in. Kira over at the EpiGuide would love to have anyone that wanted to boost their writing quota over the month of August.

Here is an excerpt of the email I recently received about WeSeWriMo:

Just wanted to drop you a note to let you know we're all gearing up for WeSeWriMo, the EpiGuide-hosted annual writing marathon, now celebrating its sixth year of challenging online writers to create their own ambitious goals throughout the month of August. 

As always, we also offer the latest news and discussions in the world of web-based entertainment, including webfiction, webseries, audiocasts, and lots more! 

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6TH ANNUAL WEB SERIES WRITING MONTH

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August is WeSeWriMo -- Web Series Writing Month -- and there's still time to sign up to participate! Visit the official site at http://www.wesewrimo.org to learn all the details, and sign up in the official registration thread at http://www.epiguide.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17203. The deadline for signing up is August 1. 

Please join in! The benefit of WeSeWriMo is that *everyone* is welcome in this project that's flexible enough to suit every varied form of online writing: serialized novels, ongoing video, audio or text-based webseries; webcomics; hyperfiction; microfiction; you name it, someone writes it!

Even if you can't participate this year, please do spread the word to your fellow writers if you have a blog, twitter, or tumblr account. The more the merrier!

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FOLLOW THE EPIGUIDE ON TWITTER

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Get all the latest webserial site news and updates via @epiguide on Twitter: follow us at http://twitter.com/epiguide to get the latest news blurbs. 

It's a pretty cool thing to be involved in. I may try it again this year. I hope  you'll come and join me.

Blessings.

Rethink that Thought - Daily Inspiration

You know how when company comes over, and you look at your house and go "UGH!" Well, my mom did that last week. She knew my brother and his family were coming over for a visit, along with my sister and all of her family.

So, mom gets up on the edge of the bathtub and tries to clean a spot that probably would have gone unnoticed if anyone else had been in there. But Moms see everything in the bathroom. "It must be clean" was her mantra. Then up she went and seconds later down she came. Kersplat! Right on the floor of our shotgun bathroom. How she landed so perfectly onto the carpet is amazing. She could have easily hit her head on the sink or knocked into the toilet. But she just landed on the floor and knocked the wind out of her. Oh, yeah and she BROKE HER RIB or at least fractured it. She's getting x-rayed up today at the doc's office.

So, if you feel the need to clean some spot so high up that you must climb onto the bathtub to do it. STOP! Rethink that action today. You don't want to end up like mom, in massive pain and miserable. 

Today is the day to stop, to take a breath and reevaluate your decisions. You may be happy you did.

Blessings.

Inner Bell - Daily Inspiration

I have to apologize for missing the last few days of blog postings. Work has been a bit crazy, at least for me. Plus, at night I've been pouring over this new ebook I purchased called Holly Lislie's Plot Outlining Mini-Course. It' all about, obviously, outlining your plot.

And that has been taking a lot of my focus at night. The lady who writes this is an plot expert. I feel grateful to have even found this book. Not to mention, it's only 99 cents on Amazon.com.

She has an easy going writing style that draws you in and teaches you all at the same time.

So, that's what I've been doing in leu of writing my blogs lately. I call it listening to my inner bell. When something rings true for you, that is the path you must follow.

Maybe you should do that more often too. Listen to your inner bell.

What rings true for you?

God gives us all gifts and talents. I pray you find yours today.

Blessings.