How Positive are You?

This question came up for me when, upon looking at a Harris Poll listed in a Malaleuca booklet last night, I learned that only 33 percent of the American population considers themselves happy.

What?

I slunk back for a moment, to my earlier days, when (not surprisingly) I believed that what was happening on the outside of my life - jobs, money, appreciation, etc., directed my happiness. Only later did I learn (and believe) that happiness comes from the inside.

It really didn't matter the job I had or the money I made, or quite frankly, who said something kind to me (or not) that directed my thoughts about life, it was all about what I thought about life - all of the good I saw in it.

I am a writer because I love it. Is being a writer always easy? Of course not, but that's one of the reasons writing and publishing and marketing is rewarding to me. I love to write and I love to help others write. When I'm having a negative day, it's simply because I've lost my focus on how beautiful, and unmistakably wonderful life is.



Being positive isn't something we keep in our jacket pocket. It isn't something we wear like a badge or a business icon, it's at the very heart of who we are and what we think. It's a change we make within ourselves.

We will grow as a writer as we choose to think positively about ourselves, our gifts and talents, and the direction we are traveling. If traveling on inspiration, we will quickly find that we are where we are for a reason. That nothing can ever be an accident. And that the best thing we can do for our lives is to live it with joy.

Here's to a joyful day!

Kathryn

Keep Positive: Sometimes it's hot out there

I don't know about you, but sometimes I find it difficult to remain positive in the midst of hot temperatures, hot blooded people, and an endless supply of scorching news.

But rather than getting mixed up in the heat, why not use it to your advantage?


Use the current setting, including its temperature, in your current novel.



And that hot blooded person, who bugs you to high heaven or lower earth? Write them up in your next short story. Sure, change a few things like hair and eye color, but use your thoughts and feelings to really get the word out. Negative news, or any news for that matter, can be used in whatever you write, from a journalism piece to your next teen novel.

Ask yourself, "What do people care about?" and you'll get a good idea of what to write next.

"What do I care about?" is also a terrific question, because what you truly care about, whether that truth be places or people, can't help but be reflected in the book or short story you write.

Happy Writing!

Kathryn

Positive Attitude Attracts Like Readers or How to Have a Successful Book Signing

The other day I heard this quote:

"I want to match what I'm going to meet."

I like it. And I agree with it. Not only because I believe those I connect with in life are living lives with similar goals to my own, but that people in general, who connect with me, may just decide they love what I write even if they haven't read any of my work yet.

How do I know this?

I have experienced the change that happens when the potential reader and I connect. It's like, suddenly, we've been friends for years.

Granted my positive attitude helps. I know that what I have to share is worthwhile and it reflects in what I say; what I share. My positive attitude shows not only in my voice; my tone, but in my presentation itself. I NEVER sit behind a table, hoping someone will walk up to me and begin a conversation. I stand in front of the table. I pass out postcards. I smile. I talk to people.

Sure, it may be that the person is broke, strapped for time, or simply doesn't want to try out a new book no matter how good the book looks, or how wonderfully you've connected with them, but be assured they will remember you, and when the time is right for them, they will buy your book.

Readers are just like you, with the same hangups, the same challenges, the same joys. If your attitude on the day of your next book signing is less than positive, expect that you will also meet like individuals who may not be intent on getting your next "positive"  Christian novel.

Remember, if you're more intent on "selling books," and less intent on "connecting with new readers" you may sell very little anyway, because people can sniff out snake oil salesmen from miles away.

Sure, your book has to be good, but it also have to fill a niche for your potential readers. That's why it's so important to be positive about your work, and to take the initiative to connect, rather than expecting others to do it for you.

If that means you need to change your attitude, you simply must do it.

Are You Ready to Give Up?

As a writer we have daily "opportunities" if you will to either keep going or to give up.

We might receive a poor review, a returned manuscript, a harsh critique, but if we are wise we'll keep on going.

No writer is perfect. We all make mistakes, have things to learn, and must continue forward despite the way life dishes out the dirt.

I really love dirt.

When I was a kid I'd make tunnels in the moist stuff and take my little cars on adventures. I had superb garages, endless roads and a thousand mud particles underneath my fingernails, but it felt so good to be a part of it.

photo by goat_girl_photos, courtesy of Flickr

Ever make a mud pie?

Just add water.

How I love mud pies!

When I got too dirty outside my mom would make me wash up, but I was always out the doors again for some more dirt.

Today, consider washing up as a sort of 'looking at the dirt that has just been thrown at you.' See it on your hands, inside your fingernails, up your arms, and as the warm water washes the stuff down the drain, see your clean hands ready to keep on creating. 

If you're ready to give up like I was a couple of days ago--don't. Sit down right now and write. I mean it. You'll feel a lot better.

Kathryn

Ready, Set, Write!

I'm not one for races, either running in them or watching them, but I do like to read stories about athletes who have beat the odds; say they have lost their leg and now have a prosthetic one, or they fall on the track and still manage to finish the race.



Photo by: sophiea, courtesy of Flickr

Writers are really a lot like racers. They get ready for their event by doing some research and practicing their craft, they get set when they sit at their computer and get their computer screen on and their fingers reading to type.

Ready, set, write!

It's often easy to get distracted from writing, especially if you have so many other things to do, and who doesn't? But I'd like you to know something.



Photo by: vancouverfilmschool, courtesy of Flickr

Writing doesn't just take talent it takes movement. That means each and every day a good writer who wants to become great at what he/she does must get ready, get set, and write, even if he/she doesn't want to. Even if there doesn't appear to be enough time. Even if other folks, meaning friends and family, don't GET IT.

Especially then.

I write every day, without fail. Even if I don't feel like it. Even if my back hurts (and it's hurt a lot lately) even if others are telling me that I spend far too much time on the craft.

I do it not only because I LOVE it, but because with each experience, each writing opportunity, I get to know myself that much better, and I get to share what I love with you.

Ready, set, write!

Here's to your success!

Kathryn

When Lying is a Good Thing

Yesterday I was with a group of fine women. We were discussing my book, "Conquering Your Goliaths," and had come to the third stone, "Optimism."

I asked, "What does optimism mean to you?" I got varied responses, including "being positive when you feel like crap."

There are days I feel like crap and when someone asks me how I'm doing I want to spill it. You know what I mean. All of it. Of course, I know that most folks are only saying "How are you doing?" because they expect you to say "fine", and not have you dish out a half an hour of straight talk--negative stuff they really don't want to hear.

But the comment made me think. What if, when I felt like crap and someone asked that question, I said, "I'm wonderful," "I'm fantastic!" "I couldn't be better!"

What if I...lied?

Okay, usually lying is considered a bad thing, something you do to protect the feelings of others or secrets that enter your soul to protect yourself. Lying may even be considered to be a sort of black swarm swimming inside your soul, a swarm you don't want anyone to know about.

But in this case I'd like to think that lying will do something for you. Something for your view on life. Something for your character. Something to lift your day. And if you say it often enough to enough people, you just might discover that you feel terrific after all.

And what sort of lie is that?

Rejection Slips Revisited

It's another day of writing. Have you ever considered what your life would be without it?

When I have moments when I think I have nothing to share, or nothing valuable enough to share I remember the successes in my life already obtained and the constructive criticism I have received.

Before I sold my first article, I successfully wrote every day. After my first sale I was even more motivated to write every day. When I received my first rejection slip, some 8 years before my first sale, I was offered an opportunity to continue with my craft--or quit. Every rejection slip after that (and I'm still getting them) gives me the opportunity to reevaluate what I love; and what I love is writing!

Quit? No way! There is too much to learn, too much to offer. I have often called writing free therapy and it is! I can write what I need to get out and get on with life. God is the best listener on the planet anyway and I can write to him and he will listen. There's nothing better than a coach who never takes a nap.

Don't let rejection slips get in the way of your life as a writer. Use each and every paper as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Save them if you want. I know of a writer who has saved every rejection slip she's ever received and has laminated them. You should see the long roll! She rolls it out when she gives a speech so that other writers can see that even though she has written and published multiple books, she has also received many rejection letters.

These rejection letters have done her some good.

Get Smart!

Get smart about your writing! Take yourself seriously!

When I was a beginning writer I should have had business cards made up to promote myself as a writer! Instead, I snuggled under my down comforter and wrote my heart out. I didn't see myself as a writer then, just a writing fanatic. I wrote whenever I got the muse and this satisfied me. My husband knew that I was a writer, but I didn't share my dream with others.

This was a mistake!

Today I tell my writing clients to create a business card with "writer" written on the top, talk about their writing to anyone who will listen, take writing classes where they can meet other writers and get their work seen, start a blog; in other words, get the word out!

The best way for others to see that you're a writer is for you to believe it first. If you have to write it up on paper for you to say every day, do it! If you have to look in the mirror and say, "I am a writer," fifty times, do it! No more excuses for you today. Today is the first day of your "get smart" writing career.