Tyler Perry or Bust!

Famous playwright, author, and writer, Tyler Perry inspires me greatly as a writer. I love his plays, his movies, and his sitcoms, Meet The Browns and The House of Payne.

Mr. Perry often shares his testimony of going from poverty to financial prosperity and fame. In it, he discusses the power of hope, forgiveness, and persistence. While I don’t want to do the exact type of writing as Tyler Perry, I do admire the things he has done to become successful at his writing.
Tyler has the:

• Ability to write
• Passion to write
• Passion to meet people where they are and solve their problems through writing
• Wisdom to use his past experiences to shape his writing projects
• Power to overcome adverse situations
• Tenacity and commitment to complete his writing projects
• Maturity to ignore his haters
• Boldness to accept and enjoy his success

If we all can follow these attributes, we will see our writing explode and touch the lives of our reading audiences nationwide and maybe across the world!

One Size Doesn't Fit All!

Do you ever remember purchasing an outfit or an article of clothing labeled "One Size Fits All"?

You take the item home only to find out that you are not included in the "All." Maybe your arms are too long or maybe the robe is just a little too snug for you. It's disappointing to say the least.

What happens when you don't seem to fit the mold of the "typical writer"? Maybe you're not sure what direction to take, or maybe you're not apart of the writer's group everyone is raving about. To make things worse, you've just received a boatload of rejection letters for the manuscript you worked months to perfect. Because of these situations, you begin to question your ability to write and you wonder if you still need to write at all.

Wait! Before you close your laptop or retire that pen, understand that every writer has a different pathway. Take some time to ask yourself some questions, so you can reevaluate your situation.
Consider the following questions:

• Is this the best time for you to write?
• Are you writing in the proper genre?
• Do you have a specific target group who needs to read what you're writing?
• Are you passionate about what you're writing?
• Do you need to start with smaller projects?
• Have you had someone to edit your writing?

Now step back. It may take a few days to answer these questions about yourself. Once you've taken some time to answer these questions honestly, I'm sure you'll see the writer in you reemerging with a vengeance.

Just because one size doesn't fit all doesn't mean you can't keep searching until you find the right fit for your passion to write!

Sticky Situation: Lebron James Must Win Every Game!

I was very cynical lastnight as I watched the game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic. As always, the Cavaliers start off strong in the first and second quarters, only to fall short in the last two. It happened again. They were ahead and then lost momentum in the third quarter.

In my mind I gave up, but...the Cavs pulled it off. They won the game 112-102! I was impressed, but now they're in a sticky situation. In order to win the Eastern conference championship and move on to the NBA championship, they must win the last two games. It's pressure to say the least.

You writer might find yourself in a sticky situation: You may think you lack the time, the skills, and the influence to write. But just like the Cavs, you've got to take it one step at a time. How?

1) Recognize your potential through your experiences and passion to write.
2) Write at least a paragraph a day.
3) Refuse to stop.
4) Don't listen to haters and naysayers.
5) Like Lebron, get the eye of the tiger!

While the Cavalier's victory to the Eastern Championship is not certain, you can make your writing destiny a surety if you possess the passion and the confidence to see your writing go to publication. Just do it!

Don't Divorce Your Writing

To me, marriage between a man and woman is one of the greatest institutions God created. Although the media tries to downplay the value and benefits of marriage through soap operas, sitcoms, and movies, marriage does work. However, even when you marry the right person, the ups and downs of life can threaten to steal the love and romance from your relationship.

Writing is similar to marriage. You make a choice of what type of genre you want to write. You become excited and fall in love with your writing. As with marriage, you also find yourself committing your time and effort to it on a consistent basis. But eventually, your writing takes a pitfall. People become discouraging, you hit rejection city, sickness may come, or your schedule may become more hectic. You begin to lose motivation and the romance you once had with your writing begins to fade.

What happened? Will you ever restore your passion for writing or will you chuck your writing up as a hobby and push your well-crafted words under your bed to collect dust?

Wait! Before you completely shut your writing dreams away, pull yourself together and renew your passion and romance for writing. How?

• Remind yourself of why you loved writing in the first place
• Recommit yourself to writing
• Write a recommitment statement for your writing, and include 3 writing goals
• Recite it everyday
• Take action and work on one of your goals by writing for at least 10-15 minutes everyday

While your love for writing will seem to fade, you can renew it by refocusing and writing again. Refuse to divorce your writing!

I'll Do It Tomorrow!

The Winans sing a song called "Tomorrow". It speaks about person who procrastinates in making a decision. However, refusing to make a decision today and putting it off until the next day can be a dangerous thing.

"Procrastination" Did you know that procrastination is one of the biggest stumblingblocks for writers. We try to say we don't have enough time or we don't know what to write. Maybe it's fear or a lack of passion, but as a writer I say: JUST WRITE. It may not be your best writing, but something is better than nothing.

You can do it, but you must hunger to see your words in print. If you're serious about wanting to write, then here are some great points for warding off procrastination:

1) Know when the best time is for you to write (morning, afternoon, evening).

2) Write consistently.

3) Create a web and write down some deas even if they don't make sense to you.

4) Edit later.

5) If you've written something, and you don't know what else to do with it, put it down for a week or two and start something else (You should go back to it, though).

It's important to write today because tomorrow may never come!

Sincerely,
The Resource Writer