PenTwist

The Time Thief

I’ve heard almost every excuse given for not reading, most boiling down to their packed daily schedule.  
When in actuality reading anything beyond the mandatory daily regimen can be:

*  Time consuming
*  Intimidating
*  Considered Nerdy
and Considered a waste of time.

Even the busiest of entrepreneurs, graduate students, and housebound moms read.

Reasons to read:

*  Mental Stimulation
*  Stress Reduction
*  Vocabulary
*  Memory Entrainment
*  Exercising Analytical Skills
*  Improved Focus
*  Improved Concentration
*  Better Writing Skills
*  Better Understanding of Others
*  Increased Social Skills

Books published this year (as of November 2016):  2,218,018
Current number:  New Books Published This Year!

Finding Time:

*  Media Regret – Open Facebook or Twitter for “ten minutes” and an hour later you’ll rub your eyes and wonder what happened.  Social Media has ripped out the very souls of those caught in its trance.  It takes, but gives nothing in return, usually leaving its audience tired, frustrated, and alone.
*  An Audiobook can fill the void during the morning and afternoon commute to work or class.  It may even save you an expensive ticket if you find yourself caught talking on your cellphone in a school zone or after an accident!

Remember, you’ll never know if you like a particular genre of novel unless you open the pages and try.  You’ll never know how reading will bless your life until you start.

Pick up a good book today and read.

…..

“I am the wrath of God. Your sins must be great, for if they were not, God would not have unleashed a plague such as me upon you.”

—Genghis Kahn

Making Time to Write
suggestions by David Pyle

The first thing you should settle in your mind once and for all –
Am I a Writer?
If there are any doubts about where your passions and talent’s lie, writing will always be a struggle for you.  However, if you have that minor hurdle behind you, then there are many easy prompts you can add to your daily routine to help solidify your productivity.

Make writing the first thing you do.  
I already hear the excuses ejecting from you.  I have a life, I have children, I have a demanding job, I have home chores, I have bills to pay, I have…
For those of you who have other demands – Bravo.  You fall into a category many others who have-not would trade you for.  Daily life only adds to the treasure and quality of your personal resources.  Don’t see these demands as hindrances, because without them, your fictional characters would have no substance or link to reality.

Choosing the right time for you to apply yourself is critical.  Many writers choose to place themselves before a laptop or computer late at night, after all the other items have stopped nagging for attention.  Face it, you’re tired.  All the creative mini-bursts you enjoyed throughout the day have faded into a dreamlike vapor.  You consider a fresh pot of coffee at midnight just to rekindle the dozens of ideas you tried to take note of during the day.

If midnight is the only time you can claim, then be a note taker – literally.  Also, take note of those nudges and when they occur – an idea to spice up a character, a plot detail that will cause your story to explode, a location, a scent, a sound.  Those nudges could be an indication that you should schedule that very portion of your day as your quality creative time to write.

Speaking of fictional characters (above) – choosing the correct subject and genre for your efforts can be just as important as the muse you entertain.  Think back to when you were a child and were allowed a trip to the school or public library.  Which sections did you run to immediately?
Fiction Adventure History World Events Nature
What you currently love to read is likely the spark needed to open the floodgate of your creativity.  That floodgate will inspire time to write and cause your writing to be inspired.

Final thoughts – Set goals, keep a writing journal, read, and never settle for second best.

Write on…

“The great materialistic progress which we have venerated for so long is on the verge of bankruptcy.  We can no longer believe that we are born into this world to accumulate wealth and abandon ourselves to mortal pleasures.  We see the dangers and realize that we have been exploited for centuries.  We were told the twentieth century was the most progressive that the world has ever known, but unfortunately the progression was in the direction of self-destruction.”

–Manly P Hall

Take a walk into the mind of The Underworld  in CAGED MINDS...

Also take a peek at the complete Book Gallery!

Of Cats and Curiosities
(by D.P)

Sticks and stones will break your bones
     and put you in the ground…
Those hateful words that followed you
     can make you stick around.
If poisoned darts or hidden trenches
     can’t snatch you in their snare.
Sugar and spice, with a smile so nice
     will catch you unaware
So beware the legs inside those jeans
     that make them fit so tight.
Twined promises of pleasures now,
     will trap you in their vice.

For the rest of the story, get a copy of –

Click Here to Preview at David Pyle’s Amazon Bookstore

……

I rip through books, scour websites in search of important tools for new authors / writers.  I’ve fallen short of that mission lately due to the final stages of publishing a new novel.  So in the light of rendering help – below is an excerpt from a fellow author’s blog to confirm the need for quality reviews:

………..
By Chuck Sambuchino

6. Leave a review on Amazon or BN.com or Goodreads or all.

Reviews are still very important. Think about it. If you come by a new book and see it has 2.0 stars on Amazon, would you buy it? On some level, that silly rating does affect me and my decision — and my guess is that it affects you, too. So it’s crucial that, when you read a book and enjoy it, you leave a review on Amazon or BN.com or Goodreads or all. Those first 10-20 reviews really matter and can set a book on the right path. (Note: You can leave the same review on all sites to save time.)

……….

Follow the link on Chuck’s name to read the entire list.

Write On!

David

What inflames an audience?
New tech-savvy graphics can lure with eye-candy, musical scores with pop-culture repetitive chimes, but the true audience retention is in a combination of writer imagination and actor prowess. Your playwright, manuscript, or novella, can be amplified to escalating proportions by incorporating a little restraint.

Meet the professionals – The Matadors of Literature.

With a few well-placed attacks, a seasoned matador can quickly and easily dispense with a violent young bull. However, the true crowd pleaser will restrain from ending the contest between them and the angry beast. A lingering contest of skills, however inhumane, will always hold a crowd at bay, while a quick kill hardly gives the audience their money’s worth.

Creative, lingering, and taunting life and death struggles between protagonist and antagonist will forever hold audiences spellbound and give quality actors scores of trophies to brag about. Unfortunately, a ‘quick kill’ scene would likely be construed as a thirty-second blurb on the evening news, whereas associated quotes such as ‘Make my day’ and ‘I’ll be back’ will be remembered for an entire generation.

Remember to build tension in your fiction until your protagonist is walking a tight-wire for that next breath while your audience is holding theirs.

Write on!

David Pyle