Dis – What Was I Talking About?

Distractions! Nothing stops progress more than interruptions. Most often, the greatest appetizing diversions always occur when you’re facing a deadline, or the finish line, of a huge project.  However, failure to meet our goals is not the fault of the diversion.  WE are accountable, WE are in full control of our choices, and WE are the one responsible to make the decision to allow, or reject, the distraction.

Not all distractions are bad.  Some are a welcomed reprieve; a change of pace to re-store energy, re-charge and re-focus.  A vacation, an afternoon nap, a celebratory evening are all good examples of good distractions.  However, just as important is the discipline to return to the tasks at hand.

Examine your latest goals, and then try to identify the biggest distractions that have kept you from reaching that goal. 

Go ahead, do it now.

So?

Now that you know what they are, use your creativity and wisdom to manage them.

You still there?  I hope you weren’t distracted.

Till next time,

~T.L. Gray

Becoming Our Own Biggest Fan

Artists spend a great portion of their time creating their masterpieces, and then an even greater amount of time promoting and marketing them.  Like any relationship, the beginning of this process is filled with excitement and much zeal, but after a prolonged period of exposure, that enthusiasm begins to fade.

As artists, we need to make sure that the ‘love’ of our art doesn’t wane with the decrease of excitement, but solidifies to an even deeper degree.  The millionth time we meet a new fan, we must have the same degree of excitement for our work as we had with the first hundred. The only way this can happen successfully, is that we must become our own biggest fan.

One of the first things I learned in my college marketing class was: If we don’t believe in what we’re selling or promoting, neither will anyone else. If we’re not excited about our work, who else will be?  Not only does this excitement affect the way we market our products, but it greatly affects our stamina, determination and devotion. We must continually inspire ourselves in order to be an inspiration.

One of the basic laws of the human condition is: We want what everyone else wants.  A good marketing strategy is to create desire and demand.  The greatest tool to do just that is by becoming your own biggest fan.

Till next time,

~T.L. Gray

Character Development

At the end of your story, no matter whether fiction or non-fiction, did your characters go through a transformation?  I’m not talking about a temporary change, but a transition – a passage from one state, place, stage or form to another?  Or are they the same as they started?

If not, don’t worry you’re not alone.  However, that really makes for a poor character and a poor writer. In fiction, we get to make up ‘most’ of the universe in which our characters live, but without development, the characters will remain one-dimensional and risk being un-relatable.  Are you the same person you were 5, 10, 15 or more years ago?  I do know that for some people, that answer will be yes, but for the majority of us, it will be no.

You couldn’t pay me enough to be 15, 20, 25¸or 30 years old again.  I felt way too much on my road to self-identification.   I could never go back to the state where every feeling, every decision, every hope and every fear was magnified to the millionth degree.  Perhaps it’s because I’m older, but I choose to no longer live in the extremes.  I don’t get carried away in the excitement of my hopes, but I also don’t fall apart under the mountain of my fears. 

I still believe that all things are possible, but I don’t let my hope in those things define me.  I don’t feel like I have to put everything on the line to make the dream possible.  I already believe the dream is possible.  As long as I keep it alive, it will happen in its own time; at its own pace.  I quit trying to control it – to force it to happen.  I learned that all my efforts didn’t change anything – just my stress level.  I also don’t feel I have to save the world from itself.  I’m not God.  It’s not my job.  I just concentrate on me, and let the rest of the world take care of its’ self.  Again – I learned that all my efforts didn’t change anything – just my stress level.  I can’t change anyone else but me.   I used to try, but I discovered it was useless. They have to want to change for themselves.  I still believe there’s evil in the world, but I don’t allow my fear to control me.  I’ve learned to be sensible and take rational precautions, but I can’t guard against tragedy.  While I don’t let my hope move me ahead too quickly (making choices based on my feelings), I don’t allow my fear to stop me.  If you knew me 10 years ago, you wouldn’t recognize the person I am today.  My character developed. 

So, as you consider characters in your book, ask yourself a few simple questions – did my characters learn anything, did they change their hearts and minds about something, did they develop?  Or are they the same from Prologue to Epilogue?  

Till next time,

~T.L. Gray