Whatever I Think Of!

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

How to Deal With Critics

When you’re trying to achieve something great in your life, you will deal with critics. The thing is, you can let those critics tear you down or you can use them to motivate you. You’ll always have the choice.

Your greatest critics might come from your friends and family. Understand that success changes people. If your friends or family are acting negatively towards your dreams, you need to stop surrounding yourself with them. It’s hard enough trying to become successful on your own let alone when you have people bringing you down.

If you listen to the doubters long enough, you’ll doubt yourself. When that happens, you might as well be finished because there’s almost no way to come back.

The only way you can deal with critics is to take action. Put your head down and continue to work. They can say anything they want about you, but they can’t take away your work ethic.

You will get critiqued no matter what you do. People will always have a stark comment about you. Don’t let this get to you and control only what you can control. You can control your work ethic but you can’t control what someone says about you.

You need to learn the difference between someone who is being mean and someone who is giving you feedback. There’s a thin line between them. I used to think any comment about myself was mean before realizing some people are genuinely providing feedback for me.

Sometimes you need to embrace your critics because you can learn a great deal from them. You can learn what you need to work on. Always remember though, only take advice from someone you’d be willing to change places with.

When someone gives you criticism, take a few seconds before responding. This will allow you to have a clear head and relinquish you from making any comments you wish you could take back later on.

The next time someone critiques you, use it as fuel for motivation.

Yes, I am aware I will be faced with this if I let others see what I have written so far. I know to expect this just from letting a relative see what I have written. Many say you should get people you don't really know to read your work, but I am having problems finding someone who will do that. I did get the memoir teacher to read my story, instead of taking her advanced memoir writing class. And getting family to read my stuff has been nearly impossible lately. Some I know would not be interested in doing so. But mo matter who reads my stuff eventually and give criticism, I will keep going as suggested.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Writing By Hand

In 2016, I posted the following on my blog: Pen and Paper? Or All Digital? In it, I said that at the time, I didn't think I could afford a new computer anytime soon, but that fact changed later on in 2016. But at the time of the blog post, I had decided that writing notes for my memoir was a temporary solution until I could get a new computer. Even though that part has since been solved, but I still find myself in the habit of writing stuff down by hand, as I have been doing with the 1980s-set diary novel I have been working on. I had been slacking off on that and on writing in general for a few days, but last night began writing more notes for that story in the bright-pink notebook I bought for that reason. Sometimes I get my ideas while in bad so having a notebook to write them down comes in handy in those instances.

Here is one list of reasons why people should still write by hand:

Once you leave school, there’s rarely a need to write by hand. Work correspondence happens on computers, as does social networking. Except for the occasional grocery list, there’s no particular need to break out your messy handwriting; typing is so much more efficient, right? But there are proven benefits to writing by hand. Here are four reasons you should dust off that pen and paper:

1. IT ACTIVATES THE BRAIN.
A 2012 study of children who couldn’t yet read found that writing letters by hand activated a circuit of neurons in the brain associated with reading. Tracing or typing the same letter, however, did not. This extra processing in the brain regions associated with literacy “may facilitate reading acquisition in young children,” the researchers write.

2. IT IMPROVES SPELLING.
A 1990 study found that having kids write words out improved their spelling abilities compared to typing on a computer.

3. IT HELPS YOU REMEMBER.
A 2014 study that compared the memories of university students who took handwritten notes to those who took notes on laptops found that writing longhand better helps you learn new information. Those who wrote out their notes processed more of what was being said during their lectures, probably because they had to condense information to keep up, rather than mindlessly type the speaker’s words verbatim. In subsequent tests, handwriters recalled information from the lectures better than typists.

4. IT HELPS YOU THINK FASTER.
In a 2009 study of elementary and middle school kids, students writing by hand were found to write more, and more quickly, than those who typed on a keyboard. “Children consistently did better writing with a pen when they wrote essays,” the study’s author, psychologist Virginia Berninger, said in a press release at the time.

I agree with most of what is begin said above, and as I said, writing stuff out by hand is easy to do at night when I feel inspired to do so. Also, often what I write down on paper doesn't always get transcribed verbatim. Most often it's just a series of notes and a guideline for what I really want to write. And of course, it's always best to do what works best for you.

Friday, February 9, 2018

Do You Still Listen to or Buy CDs?

Ever since news broke out this week that Best Buy will stop selling CDs starting this summer, I began pondering a few things. I tried to remember when I last bought a CD and can't seem to recall exactly when. I know I was still buying some at the beginning of the millennium in 2001, but am not sure how many I bought during the remainder of that decade. And I began to realize how often I tend to listen to my ancient stack of CDs, which still are holding up after more than 25 years. I got my CD player in 1991 and it still works. I seem to mostly use it now to listen to audiobooks on CD borrowed from the library or purchased at thrift stores (though mostly from the library).

The CD has been hanging on for life for years now and I have been reluctant to give mine up, despite how frequently I listen to them. But I have never gotten into the idea of music downloads. If I feel like listening to some song I don't have on CD, I try to find it on You Tube to listen to it. I can bookmark the video clip and watch/listen whenever--no need to pay.

As for vinyl, I was never really into that format. I was a more of a cassette listener in the 1980s, but never was into the Walkman. I had one or two that quickly died out on me. As such I never got the CD version of the Walkman or the MP3 player out of fear of these devices dying out on me. Read this post on my blog from 2011.

I can't seem to recall if I ever bought any CDs at Best Buy. I have gotten DVDs at the location nearest to me. My new computer screen and my printer were the last two things I bought at the popular electronics store, in December 2016 (the computer itself came from Fry's Electronics). The Gilroy, California location has only been open since 2003. It was the first one I ever shopped at. And the only one.

Like many online, I have had mixed feelings about Best Buy's decision to stop selling CDs. I rarely buy any now, and now wonder if they are really going to disappear for good. But I still am reluctant to give up those I have, despite how frequently I even listen to them.

I'm not going to freak out just yet on the fate of DVDs. I'm still buying those (though none in recent months), and renting them from Netflix.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Quiz: What Symbol Candy Heart Are You?

"You Are a Peace Symbol Heart"

What Symbol Candy Heart Are You?

Blogthings: 100's of Fun, Free Quizzes!

Monday, February 5, 2018

What You Can Learn From Other Writers

From Writerlife.org:

Many writers see writing as a somewhat solitary pursuit. It’s true that we might spend much of our writing time working alone. However, other writers are a genuinely vast and unending resource, and not tapping into that is foolish!

Communicating, befriending, and helping and sharing our work with our fellow writers can bring so many benefits. Many of which help improve our writing and our make our writing life better too.

So what are the great lessons you can learn by getting involved with the writing community? Here are just a few of them.

Honest feedback

Your fellow writers all know how important it is to get honest feedback for your work. It can be very disheartening receiving rejection after rejection without knowing what you are doing wrong. From cover design to synopsis to the actual content of your book, your fellow writers can help you try to figure out what the problem might be - and because they’ve been through it themselves they are more likely to do it in a helpful and sensitive way!

New ideas

Reading the work of other writers is a gold mine for new ideas. Remember that it’s practically impossible to have a truly unique idea, and therefore don’t be ashamed about being inspired by your fellow writers or being influenced by them. There, of course, is a line that no writer should cross when it comes to ‘borrowing’ other writers work, but the more you read, the more you are likely to find new ideas that you can adapt and change to make your own.

Dealing with setbacks

Every writer goes on a journey, one that might be filled with many setbacks along the way. Writers are fantastic at supporting one another and sympathising with one another, as well as offering words of encouragement and motivation when things aren’t going your way. Remember if you are feeling down, are doubting yourself or finding it hard to recover from a setback, it’s important to try and get over it as quickly as possible. Reaching out and learning from other writers can be a great way of doing so.

Useful contacts

Your fellow writers are also super helpful when it comes to finding the best in the business regarding editors, book cover designers, promoters and so on. Getting recommendations from those who have used the services before can make all the difference when it comes to finding a reputable company to help make your book the very best it can be.

Writers really can be an invaluable source of help and comfort to one another. So when you are struggling with anything from inspiration and motivation to the more practical aspects of getting your book together, remember that your fellow writers are there to help!

This is one thing I'd like to get more of, but as I've said, it's hard to find other writers nearby without driving 20 or more miles. And I too would love to be able to read other people's works. Some of those to whom I had emailed my first draft nearly two years ago never responded. And the writers group that is said t exist in my town never seems to do anything. Why bother having it? I've been more eager to let others see what I have written, but can't seem to find anyone to let see it. I have shown it to others who don't consider themselves writers, but I think their feedback is just as important to me. But as this article says, you can learn from other writers and is what I would like to be doing. I feel I've learned from other writers just by reading what has already been published, but reading works-in-progress would be good too. I guess you can learn from other writers wither way.