Writing involves transferring thoughts from the mind to paper

Reality: Writing can create ideas and experiences on paper which could never exist in the mind (and possibly not in the "real world" either). Thoughts are created in the act of writing, which changes the writer just as it changes the paper on which the text is produced. Many authors have said their books know more than they do, that they cannot recount in detail what their books contain before, while or after they write them. Writing is not a matter of taking dictation form yourself; it is more like a conversation with a highly responsive and reflective other person.

Writing is permanent, speech ephemeral

I got a BlackBerry Curve for Christmas and I've done a little bit of writing on it. It's a bit slow but it's nice to have a small little typewriter for those times I am out and about and have an idea I want to jot down.

The Curve comes with a Memo Pad that you can use, and then you can email yourself the contents when done. You can also get Microsoft Word for your BlackBerry, but that costs extra.

There is also a Voice Memo capability, so you can record your thoughts into the BlackBerry. I have yet to use this. I am planning on getting more storage space for the BlackBerry (you can add up to 16 gigs with a Micro SD card) and when I do, I plan on using the Voice Memo a lot more. Great for being in the car and recording your thoughts when you drive!

Here it is, the 6th day of April, and I'm blossoming, just like the tulips peeking up from the earth. It's the sun that pulls me from my winter's hibernation, and gets me back on track. The months since the last of the leaves had fallen from the maple tree in our yard have been harsh. I am a soul of the earth, but apparently fickle one; I loathe ice and snow but fully welcome the even smallest hints of spring. I should live in a tropical climate, rather than the Rocky Mountain region.

But, back to blossoming: I have been making small steps toward being the writer that I am meant to be. The hardest thing is to say it out loud: "Hi, I'm Peggy, and I'm a writer". Sounds like I'm completing the twelve steps - but then again, I guess I am.
1. Admit who you are, really. I'M A WRITER!
2. Make writing a habit - do it every day.
3. Eliminate distractions and don't procrastinate.
4. Commit to your craft: it's part of you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_Statute_of_the_International_Criminal_...

Article 6
Genocide
For the purpose of this Statute, "genocide" means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Article 7
Crimes against humanity
1. For the purpose of this Statute, "crime against humanity" means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:

I've taken a bit of an extended hiatus from many of my online writing gigs. I could claim that it's because I was busy or something, but the reality is that I pretty much just stopped writing much of anything of substance. Call it laziness if you like, but I think I'd be more inclined to call it boredom. I mainly just got tired of writing, because there was nothing new to write about.

This isn't to say that I haven't seen interesting things; there's still plenty of oddities about Seattle that I could be writing about, for example. But most of my writing was all on the same topic, and I got tired of that. This tiredness crept into the rest of my writing life, and slowly, I just stopped.

I'm not sure if I'm back or not. I know that I should be writing. I know that it's good for me. I just don't know if I can make myself do it.

No one will be surprised by the fact that I never could commit to NaNoWriMo, now will they?

It seems to be a tradition for me to start my efforts on a new writing site with some statement of "hope" about-- and well wishes for-- the site and its administration. Specifically, the hope that the inevitable "MySpacification" that seems to plague the web will "not happen here."Could be that's no more that wishful thinking, of course, since MySpace and its ilk probably represent precisely why ANYone would start a web site: "Let's do this and make lots and lots of money!"I used to have a specialty retail store-- and it was very "specialty," trust me-- so I know well that there's often a conflict between trying to do something very specific, and the intent of making money. And few people get into business for altruistic reasons. And thus, few people have the nature to accept making "just a little" in service of staying true to their idea, when "making a lot" could be accomplished by adding a sprinkling of generic "plastic widgets."

This blog post is for myself. I am setting goals for this day, and I am posting them here to force me to be accountable to myself.

Today is the halfway point in NaNoWriMo. The halfway point in days. If I were to be halfway done with the goal of writing 50K words, I would be at 25K today. I am far from it. I don't even have 5K done yet.

I need Christmas money. I don't go into debt for Christmas, so if I don't make the money, I don't get to shop. I need to write some articles that I can actually get upfront money for. For the next two weeks, I really need to push out those articles.

So here are my goals for today, Thursday, November 15:

1. Get to 7500 words on my NaNoWriMo novel.

2. Submit 3 articles for upfront payment.

3. Make that layaway payment at Kmart today (lol)

4. Don't forget to eat.

5. Go to bed before midnight so I can do it all again tomorrow.

I've already registered for the Fall semester at community college. Classes are as follows:

1. Newspaper (I'm Editor in Chief)
2. Art; Color/Composition
3. Short story writing
4. Literary Magazine workshop

Some questions arise.

1. Can any of those subjects actually be taught?
2. If they can be taught, can they be learned?
3. Will I die of exhaustion?
4. Is creativity (and thus brilliant work that will earn me hordes of cash) going to come because I'm forcing it, or am I just going to fail 12 credits worth of classes?
5. Why did I feel a need to register so early?

Hmmm...

I have decided to write a "column" of sorts and publish it on sites like this one to promote my website at:

http://www.feelgoodgirl.com

I am in holistic healing, well-being, spirituality, etc. I am trying to find the right tone that brings out the best side of my personality...and also so the column isn't too boring and generic.

I'm trying to come up with a general theme and title...something along the lines of spirituality, positive energy, healing, alternative health, etc.

Comments and feedback appreciated.