Welcome to Day 157...
A new year beckons...all the possibilities...all the surprises...all the successes are just around the corner.
Wishing you and your family much peace, happiness and blessings in 2015!
Here's Today's Takeaway Lesson...
"Tomorrow Is The First Blank Page of a 365 Page Book. Write a Good One "
Here's to Being All In,
Maggie
Follow me on Twitter @AuthorMaggie #busywriterslife
Welcome to Day 156...
I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm off this week from my day job.
My week of me started out wonderful...a trip to NYC with my daughter...great meals...some much needed family time.
And then it all went horribly wrong.
My husband and one of my sons got sick with the stomach flu. And then there was an unexpected car accident with the newest driver in the house - my other son. He's fine thank God. The car? Not so much.
So for the past 24 hours I've been dealing with sick men, accident reports, a sullen son, insurance companies and a dizzying array of emotions,
I'm beginning to feel the weight of the world on my shoulders in this week of me.
So while I'm doing what I can to stay on top of everything - phone calls, emails, follow up...I've also been buttoning down my own hatches - so to speak - by finding quiet, peaceful, and escape-from-it-all solace in my writing.
And while managing that escape I've been listening to the hauntingly beautiful songs from Once the broadway musical soundtrack.
So when the world goes bad, it's good to be able to escape into something you love.
Here's...hoping tomorrow's a better day and...Today's Takeaway Lesson...
"When Something Bad Happens,You Have 3 Choices. You Can Let It Define You, You Can Let It Destroy You Or You Can Let It Strengthen You"
Here's to Being All In,
Maggie
Follow me on Twitter @AuthorMaggie #busywriterslife
Welcome to Day 155...
Thanks to his classics like 1984, Animal Farm, Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell is a legendary writer.
So what does this master have to say about the craft of writing...
Well in Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language" he shares the following...
For every sentence, a scrupulous writer, will ask at least four questions:
- What am I trying to say?
- What words will express it?
- What image or idiom will make it clearer?
- Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
The writer should also be curious to know...
- Could I put it more shortly?
- Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?
And Orwell offers the following rules....
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
It's always a good day, when you're learning from a master...
Here's Today's Takeaway Lesson...
"You Must Learn A New To Think, Before You Master A New Way To Be " Marianne Williamson
Here's to Being All In,
Maggie
Follow me on Twitter @AuthorMaggie #busywriterslife
