April 26

Success is failure with the dirt
brushed off.
–Mamie McCullough

Success comes in all forms. People
are different, and success to one
person might be totally different than
that of your friend or neighbor.
You couldn’t get anything written
today. To some that is a failure, to
others, they focus on what they did
do instead and count that as a
success.

The writer may feel the rejection
letters he is receiving is the ultimate
failure, but the writer in another state
feels an exhilaration with each
rejection, knowing he succeeded in
sending in his work.

Today: I will succeed, by changing
my feelings about the incident that
just happened.

April 25

It is important to know when to assist
people and when not to.
–Sanaya Roman

Some people feel others owe them.
Whether it’s helping them move,
taking them places, or loaning them
money, it all takes its toll on a
friendship. You can only do so much
for them without getting bitter.

They wouldn’t know how to survive
on their own and we are enabling them
to never help themselves. Be
especially careful when loaning them
money for you may never see it or
them again.

People who help you in return are the
best friends to have.

Today: Know the difference.

April 24

The bravest sight in all this world is a
man fighting against odds.
–Franklin K. Lane

Persistence pays off and gets you to
the end result. No matter what the
odds, if you have a deep enough
conviction, you will complete your
writing project. The odds you have to
fight against may be the publisher, but
often times it’s the person who’s the
closest to you— your spouse, a friend,
your parents, siblings, and yes, even
YOU.

A lot of the time we sabotage
ourselves and our own progress. We
give up and don’t look back because
of the pain of deeming ourselves a
failure.

Don’t let anyone, anything, and most
of all you, yourself, get you down.

Today: Keep fighting.

April 23

Oh! The old swimmin’ hole!
–James Whitcomb Riley

Do you long to go back to the “good
old days,” take a trip down memory
lane and drive to your old hangouts? It
could be the park, a favorite
restaurant, lake, or a friend’s home.

Drive past the house where you lived
when you grew up. Go to where the
corner grocery store was located.
What’s in its place now? Write about
your past. If you have no desire to go
back because of the pain, then journal
about it and heal from it.

Today: I’ll think of the good places
I’ve been in my life.

April 22

“He, in his developed manhood, stood a
little sunburnt by the glare of life;
While I, it seemed
no sun had shone on me”
–Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Are you hidden from life or are you
sunburnt by the awesomeness of a life
well lived? Writers tend to stay inside
away from the sun, the storms, the
weather in general. We huddle in front
of our computers, and if there is no
window to look out of, the weather
basically does what it wants without any
direction from us.

Is there a place outdoors where you can
sit, contemplate, write? Observing a
storm from the front window, while we
write about the wind, the turbulence, the
rain pelting down on the once brown
grass, and the sun which has produced
the rainbow at the end of the storm is
easy research.

Today: I will be out in nature so I can
write more accurately of what happens,
how the sun or rain feels on my skin, to
make it believable for my readers.

April 21

Anger is an integrity-producing
response to the invasion of your
personal boundaries.
–Gabrielle Roth

When our boundaries are violated, we
fight back to protect ourselves. If
someone gets too close and asks too
many personal questions, we may
become uncomfortably quiet.

On the inside we are ready to explode
at the person or the situation, then we
find an escape. Like anger.

I will protect my boundaries in a kind
manner and remind others what those
boundaries are.

Today: I will guard my boundaries.

April 20

By faith you can move mountains; but
the important thing is,
not to move mountains,
but to have faith.
–A. Brock

Is your writing project a mountain that
you feel you can never conquer? The
mountain climber drives to the base of
the mountain and starts climbing.
There are challenges along the way,
but he perseveres until he reaches the
top.

You sit down at your desk and write
every day, and like the mountain
climber, you will run into
complications, and problems but, you
keep writing no matter what. The
outcome: The climber gets to the top,
and you, the writer, finishes your
manuscript. A pleasant feeling for
both.

Today: I will start the climb on my
writing project.

April 19

Life is what happens to a writer
between drafts.
Damon (aka Dennis R. Miller) who
spent 25 years completing his novel,
“The Perfect Song.”

Do you write one day and wait a
month before writing again? By then
the characters are not really clear in
your mind. You think you are writing
from where you left off, only to realize
your character performed that action in
the previous chapter. You write his
eyes are green. Then you remember
that, in the first chapter, his eyes were
a deep ocean blue.

How long have you been working on
your manuscript?

Today: It’s time for me to work on
that unfinished project every day, so
my characters are consistent
throughout my story.

April 18

I get up in the morning, torture a
typewriter until it screams, then stop.
–Clarence Budington Kelland

Do you get up in the morning and feel
it’s torture to write? But you keep
going until your time limit. Just one
more paragraph, one more word,
twenty more minutes? Do you feel
better after you stop writing instead of
feeling the joy while you are writing?
When you’ve stopped writing, the
good feelings should be of
accomplishment not of drudgery.

Do you re-read what you’ve written?
Does it sound good to you or strained?
This would be a good time to decide if
you write because you enjoy it or
because someone else wants you to
enjoy it.

Today: What do you want to do?

April 17

I believe talent is like electricity.
We don’t understand electricity.
We use it.
–Maya Angelou

People do things they know they are
good at. Some sing or play an
instrument while others who can’t read
music or carry a tune, refrain from
wasting their time on things for which
they have no talent.

They may be talented in graphic
design, drawing, and so the list
continues. When asked, “How do you
do that?” they hesitate because they’ve
always done it, and don’t know how to
answer.

You probably have those same talents,
those you’ve always done, and don’t
realize they are gifts other people may
not have.

Today: Find your electricity.