Celebrate the Small Things: Don't Believe You Can't Achieve a Goal

Stepping out of your comfort zone? Afraid you took on a goal you could never possibly achieve? This may be the video you need to hear. Three times now I've listened to its message, and three times I have found the words helpful.  

I found some inspiration this week listening to speakers at the SCBWI Writers' Conference in Spokane, WA. Saw some old friends so all was good---loved it, but writing a new draft to completion remains difficult for me. Maintaining focus has always been a challenge, and I have a stack of unfinished drafts as evidence. This time, however, the luxury of time shouldn't be taken for granted. I have a book sequel to complete, so it's back to the 100-Day Challenge after taking two days off....and this marvelous video. 

  

Sorry I'm late posting a Celebrate post this week. It'll roll over into Friday later this week. Wishing you all the best, and if Weekends are your time of rest, by all means DO that. But as this video emphasizes, DON'T BELIEVE YOU CAN'T ACHIEVE A GOAL, because you really can. YOU REALLY CAN!


I'm headed back with my characters to Mersing and the South China Sea this week. Just visited Singapore. Not in real time of course, but you get my drift.....


Author of THE SHELLS OF MERSING
Check out my New Goodreads REVIEW 

"Come celebrate with us" 

To join "Celebrate the Small Things, visit Lexa Cain's blog

Co-hosts are: L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge 
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing

IWSG - March: In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

The Insecure Writers Support Group meets online every first Wednesday of the month. Founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh, IWSG was created to support and encourage writers in every phase of their work, from writing to marketing. Click here to join, and for information, writing tips and more. 

Co-hosts today are Lauren Hennessy, Lisa Buie-Collard, Lidy, Christine Rains, and Mary Aalgaard! 

Hi! Well, if yesterday was any indication of that old adage for the month of March, "In like a lion, out like a lamb," I have proof! In one of our usual hour-long trips out of town, doing errands, taking care of eye appointments and vehicle needs, etc., we decided to take the truck so we could purchase cement blocks for a small garden wall we are building. All went well: Costco for warehouse purchases, a short stop at Winco for those Asian sauces I love, and Lowes to purchase our cement blocks. 

While at Lowes we also discovered arborvitae on sale and decided to buy ten. So, with the truck fully loaded, we headed home about eight o'clock last night. Whoosh!! Thirty minutes down the road a wild wind came out of nowhere like a lion that nearly took off with our shrubs and groceries. The tarp we had tied down broke lose and was flapping in the wind like a loose sail. With the roads narrow in spots and limited shoulder, all we could do was slow down, and hope the drivers behind us had enough sense to pass. We didn't want things flying out and landing on their windshields. Thankfully, none did.

We finally found a save spot to pull over to access the damage. The shrubs had rolled to the back of the truck bed, but they were now protecting our purchases. The tarp, however, was shredded where the rope ties had been. Sitting on the roadside, deciding what to do (we contemplated waiting out the storm), we put our sailing knowledge to work. We untied all the short ropes and used sailing knots to tie them together. We also found extra rope in the cab. Crisscrossing these over the bed, Vince managed to tie everything down, enough to get us safely home. It's amazing we lost nothing. Utility lines were whipping around and one we passed was hanging precariously low over the highway. Vince had a well-deserved beer when we got home. Home sweet home felt pretty darn good. 

As to the contest between Vince and me--painting his airplane vs. publishing my novel, we have good news. Vince is hours away from finishing the paint project. I remind you that this is the plane he built in our garage over a period of 12 years. It's so beautiful and I share the almost finished plane below. Bear in mind it was gray aluminum before. I've joked before that it felt like we were flying in a tuna fish can. Now this little plane can hold its propeller high when it flies in. We're thinking of names: Blue Bird, Bird on the Wing, Blue Jay.... Any suggestions?

Vince's RV8. The canopy on top is still being painted (vinyl wrapped).

I'm thrilled to give the final win to my husband, even if it means surpassing my goal. I'm still waiting. I haven't submitted to any publishers yet. Seeking an agent first has always been my goal, but I'm in a quandary, as none have expressed an interest. This has been my goal from the start and I spent hours perfecting the 'perfect' query letter. I finally quit submitting, after a group of agents never replied at all. I reworked my novel some and added a prologue. Actually, it's a scene from the middle of my novel, and one that readers had liked in particular, because my main character experiences a new culture for the first time. I knew I could never start with that scene, because the prior buildup was essential to the story, but as a prologue it works. Nevertheless, the 'redoing process' kind of 'undid' any energy I had had to get this book published. I found myself in a slump and eventually put the ms down....AND the new project. It was that old love/hate feeling returning again, and a huge part of me was struggling to take my writing seriously. 

"Why am I doing this?
It's not as if I'm incapable of succeeding in other areas."

SO, I diverted my creative energy to areas I felt successful in and that made me feel good about myself. I know how to make things grow. I know how to landscape a new property and design the interior of a home. I make blankets for the needy. I'm on an interview board for teens running for Distinguished Young Woman. I do our taxes every year. I've been a food engineering editor in the past. But as an author/writer of fiction, I still crave 'professional' affirmation. I need a reason to take my fiction seriously.  

Then, yesterday, an agent replied after nearly four months. Again, it was a nicely written form reject that encouraged me to keep trying, but her words of respect for me as a writer and my hard work spoke to me the most. Her kinds words were enough to rekindle the flame. REALLY. It made me realize how fragile my feelings about writing really are. I wish I didn't need such affirmation to continue, but I do. A thoughtful reject helped me take my writing seriously again. A small voice inside started singing again. "You CAN do this. You ARE going to do this. You WILL do this." So I'm 'sort of' on track again. But considering it's gardening season and the A-Z is almost here, I have some competition ahead. 

One word I have consistently heard in agent rejects is that the selection process is  "subjective," and I'm trying to bear that in mind. I need to find my audience, the one that was clearly in my head when I wrote this novel. My audience is out there somewhere. So it's back to the submission process. I have a small publisher in mind too. Perhaps there are more. I'm whittling down all the options before I consider self-publishing, a whole different learning curve. I need to be patient and not rush things. Maybe the book will get published by a small quiet publisher, like a lamb, and then roar with success like a lion, OR the other way around. 

Oh, why not? Let's face it. Anything's possible!!   

 

Hopeful in 2015

Mt. St Helens and collapsed crater on right 
after eruption in 1980. You can see Vince's 
reflection through the canopy.

Not a good year for completing my novel. Moving didn't help, but I am tired of making excuses. I had hoped I could start another manuscript when I arrived. Instead, I
have unfinished business. 

Is it fear that keeps me from finishing? The other day I wondered if I had a creative bone left in me to work with. Apparently I do. I sat down to try some flash fiction, and out came the opening scene to another book I am anxious to start. It was so much fun, and uses my new setting here (we live in the desert on a runway!). At any rate, I have been caught in the revision process far too long. It's time to wrap things up, fear or no fear. 

JUST IN CASE IT IS FEAR, I have given myself a visual reminder, a recent trip to Mt. St. Helens in my husband's home built plane, an RV8. I have never been comfortable flying in the mountains, as there is no easy place to land, and weather and all kinds of things can go wrong.....or so my white-knuckled reasoning goes, even though I could not be with a more conscientious pilot. 

But all fears were unfounded. It was a perfectly beautiful day to fly, and THE SCENERY WAS AWESOME. By the way, Mt. St. Helens is Washington State's famous volcano that blew its top in 1980. We lived in Pullman, WA at the time, in a small college town, and the region was covered for miles with a talcum powder-like ash for weeks. Incredible. I still have a jar of ash as a souvenir.

You can see the reflections (my husband's) on the canopy in the photos. Photoshop can remove these, but I like that they are proof we were there. We did a clockwise flight around the mountain and landed in Packwood for lunch with our friends (they were flying an RV7) .

You can see a section of the wing in front. It appears blue 
in the sunlight, but it is really unpainted (bare aluminum).

Up close. (Mt. Adams is in the distance)

Safe and sound on the ground in Packwood, WA

Celebrate the Small Things: Wishful Thinking

Ever slip into wishful thinking, where you need a good kick-start to get you moving again in your writing or other goals? Is it a problem with the goal? A motivation issue? Some of the arguments I have with myself border on the ridiculous. It goes something like this.......

"Okay, 'little quacks', listen up. I can't move and you can't move.

All the staring in the world isn't going to change anything!"

There are days I cannot budge. I stare at the screen, my fingers frozen over the keys, my mind locked in time and space on characters I have never really met before except in my mind. Yet they are real . . . REAL as the people I sometimes hear talking in my dreams at night or playing out in my mind during the day.

 

"But I like hanging out in the loft," a small voice says.

"There are no pressures there. No agents or publishers to

worry about, no critiques to fret over. No queries to write or

that synopsis I need to rewrite. Safe, comfy and warm."

 

 

"And besides, I can just dream and dream . . . and dream."

(Some days I'm Ferdinand the Bull, lost in wishful thinking).

Timing can be a bit strange when it comes to fulfilling dreams. As is typical in the arts, fulfillment sometimes comes posthumously. I read in the paper this morning of a local woman who has self-published her deceased husband's novel. He was 84 when he died. The article showed a sweet picture of the couple and emphasized their years together. It was done is such a warm manner, I would argue that his dream of publishing a novel was fulfilled in a better, grander way, for he gave his wife a reason to go on with her life.

So where do I stand on the dream-fulfillment meter? Writing has been the focus of my life for the past two-plus years. I had no idea I would love blogging as much as I do. In fact, I had no idea, I would gain confidence as a writer in sharing my life interests and dream of publishing a novel. I will get there, God willing, and if the world doesn't end tomorrow. And when I do, you will be the first to know!!

So.....celebrating holding onto my dreams this week and also the

big A-Z blog hop this April. I hesitated at the huge time commitment there, but last year's experience was so incredible, I just couldn't pass it up. Did anyone else sign up?

Weekly Recap: Touching the Stars

For me it is a pretty full plate this January. I no longer work outside the home, so some of you may just roll your eyes with envy. Juggling family, writing, and other passions with an outside job is demanding, no question. Done that, been there before! I do have a part-time editing job, but it so part-time it hardly counts. 

Started my Master Gardener class yesterday and excited I can finally do this, as there was never enough time before. Homework, lectures, and online exams will keep me busy through mid-April and I am meeting a great group of like-minded gardeners. Still determined to submit my novel by the end of this month. Worked on it almost 17 hours last week toward that end. Later this month, I will be attending a regional SCBWI workshop (Spokane, WA) called "Building a Following: How to Grow Your Author Platform Before and After Publication." Working on one book review, but (darn) missed my 'read one book a week' goal last week, so need to think about that. All in all, it's lining up to be a month of learning. Hope your week is going well. Is it?

Below is a quote from a book called The Treasure Chest, a high school graduation gift to me from my parents many years ago. I cannot tell you how often I have read and enjoyed this collection of quotes and poetry over the years. I will read it my entire life. Today's quote about 'touching the stars' seemed so applicable to the goals I am seeking and the frustration I sometimes feel. I love how it ends. I could not help but think of blogger friends like you and others in my life :)

"You Can Touch Stars"

Stars have too long been symbols of the
unattainable. They should not be so. For
although our physical hands cannot reach
them, we can touch them in other ways

Let stars stand for those things which are
ideal and radiant in life; if we seek sincerely
and strive hard enough, it is not impossible
to reach them, even though the goals seem
distant at the onset.

And how often do we touch stars when we
find them close by in the shining lives of
great souls, in the sparkling universe of
humanity around us!

(Esther Baldwin York)

  

Happy New Year 2014

Hi. Just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful 2014......in all your pursuits, whether it's writing goals, improved relationships, or some personal quest. We all deserve a fresh start. 2014 is the year!

Some of my accomplishments in 2013:

--The blog. Last year was a huge learning curve for me as a blogger, debuting with the A-Z in April and deciding what I wanted to do with my blogger life hence forth. It is still a work in progress, but for now I am zeroing in on what drew me to blogging in the first place, my fascination with American culture and a desire to establish a web presence for when I finished my novel. I wandered about but have returned to these two goals, so progress there.

--The novel. I wish I could say I have a completed novel. I DO have a polished draft, with the exception of the first and last chapters. I realized at some point that these two chapters needed to reflect each other, so I have been working on linking the two. I have written an action-adventure with elements of mystery and romance, so I have had tons of plot details to check as well.

--Gardening pursuits. Gardening and landscaping a new yard (5 years now) has been ongoing. I'm excited to finally have an apple tree, and a vine maple. Brick edging was also installed and ten shrubs planted. I do most of the work, but my husband is always willing to help with the heavy work. 

--Exercise and weight. Since August I have lost 17 pounds thanks to my treadmill and Weight Watchers. I credit WW a lot, but I have never belonged to this organization, except to use their cookbooks and calculators--all available on line for purchase. I also designed a table for my husband and me to record our daily points and weekly weight. My husband has also lost 17 pounds, but on his own had lost 13 pounds since January, totally a whopping 30 pounds. With results like that, we are committed now. We also use Wii Fit Plus, mostly to weigh in and see our progress on the Wii graph. It's really instructive, and also a fun way to exercise. When the weather improves we'll start biking again.

Peace of Mind. I have been working on several issues, mainly where to live in retirement and what to do about my lovely family who lives all over the U.S. We have decided to stay put for at least a year. We both work part-time at the university and since our insurance health policy is good, why rock a sound boat? Meanwhile, I am working on using the telephone more, open to using Skype (connection is poor right now), and connecting more on Facebook. Facebook is NOT my favorite form of communication but so many people love it. I have prayed about all this, and on a spiritual level, I am in a much better place. I seem to be on the right path.

Goals for 2014:
(In general, more of the same, but I do have a few specifics).

--Finish edits and submit novel this month (I will drop off the grid for a while if necessary). 

--Start a new novel.

--Research other places to submit my writing (ones that actually pay something). An article, a short story? Not sure about this one, as I'm not sure this market exists anymore. So many people write for free these days. The goal would be to submit once a month. Any comments?

--Read one book a week.

--Attend Master Gardener's class and obtain certification. I'll be in class once a week, January through mid-April.

--I also add being a little kinder to those around me. In my busyness, I know I sometimes neglect the moment. So I share the following quote:

Do it that very moment.
Don't put it off--don't wait.
There's no use in doing a kindness
If you do it a day too late.
(--Kingsley)

That's it for me. I hope your goals are firming up and giving you new direction. Thank you for supporting my blog efforts. You mean a lot to me.

All the best in 2014!!

 

Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl

Celebrate the Small Things: Just Two Goals

"Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and keeps pecking away until he finishes the job he starts" (Coleman Cox). Ha-ha. I read this today and had to laugh. It helps that the woodpecker has a stout beak for doing the job. However, Cox makes a good point. When do we apply our smarts (or that of others) when trying to achieve a goal?

All of us are self taught to some degree and some of us are more brilliant than others. I am hardly the latter! For the vast majority of us, there is a high learning curve. There are plenty of 'self-help' or 'how-to' books available for learning how to achieve more, be more, and do more. Goodness. An entire profession has been devoted by some on instructing in the various fields: writing, art, psychology, health, and religion, to name a few. I have read my share.

A huge motivator for me in the past in pursuing such instruction has always been a basic unhappiness or an unmet need...... I read avidly about the various faiths (mostly Christian), until God finally shook some sense into me and I saw how 'unworthy' and then (surprise) 'worthy' I was as a child of God. I pushed to finish a college degree rather late in life, alongside my adult daughter and son. After graduation, I took on two 'work for hire' projects for two publishers (I also had an editing job) and worked so hard the back of my neck actually swelled. I can be stubborn and persistent sometimes. 

Funny thing though is now that I am older, I am no longer as driven, which is a real handicap when you are trying to finish a novel. Is it laziness? A bad habit? Have I decided the original goal is not worth the effort? Perhaps the goal has evolved into something new, I have reasoned. For instance, I love blogging about family and things unrelated to the writing profession. I love letting a friend share her experience as a nurse on the Africa Mercy. I love that I now exercise regularly. (Health issues forced me to take exercise seriously and now I am ten pounds lighter). But truth be told, and here's the bottom line....I still want to finish the book!! So, in the left hand column of this blog I still record my (pitifully small) writing output and exercise (so proud of that).

Last but not least, my plate is rather full right now, but in a good, happy way. Vince and I have been exploring retirement options and the possibility of a move, and you can just imagine the reading material available on the topic. Next year is the year! We keep asking, where do we really want to live? Near our out-of-state children? Near our aging family? For that matter, staying here is a viable option, too. These are serious considerations that will determine so much of what happens to us in the future. We have spent hours discussing our options, a debate that will no doubt continue into 2014.

Like the woodpecker, I (we) will keep pecking away at the stated goals: finish the novel and decide where to live in retirement. When I look at it that way, it is really just two goals to accomplish. So today, I am celebrating the lesson of the woodpecker, who knows (in a small way) how to get the job done, one peck at a time!

How do you handle goals? Has your experience been similar?

Fantasy or Reality?

Clay vases author purchased in 
Kota Bharu, Malaysia

Happy New Year! I wish I could claim credit for the following inspired thoughts. I heard this discussion on talk radio a long time ago, took notes and posted it on my bulletin board. While cleaning up my office recently, I discovered my notes and thought how perfect for the start of the New Year. It goes something like this . . .

There are four stages in the transformation of an idea . . . into reality:

1) Fantasy Stage (dream an idea). This is the soaring stage where you let your imagination go the limit. It sends me running to my computer or notepad to jot down an interesting character, a plot or funny incident before I forget. No editing, nothing pretty--just get it down. Sometimes it's a newspaper clipping, a picture, something someone says, or even a dream I've had that inspires me. 

Enjoy this phase and only share it with fellow dreamers, for only they will understand. This is your creative time.

2) Clay Stage. Ask yourself, what are the things that need to be done to develop your idea? What are the things I can feasibly do today, tomorrow, and this year? Seek the advice of others but only from helpful entrepreneurs. This is hard butt-busting work, but I love this stage. This is where I take a serious look at an idea, expand it into possible chapters and characters, and begin to work out the intricacies of plot, conflict, character development, and theme. I enjoy the research and the process.  

This is where a dream takes shape, like clay in a mold. 

3) Firing Stage. This can be scary. Here your dream is finally put to the test. Be brave and courageous. You may find yourself returning to the clay stage, but always keep your eyes focused on the dream--the ultimate goal. Inch forward (if that is all you can do).  This is where I finally bare my underbelly to fellow writers to check my progress. It is the hardest stage of all for me. Did I do what I intended to do? Do they like what I've written, or is it back to the drawing board to edit, revise and try again? For me the temptation is to stay in the security of the clay stage. 

Don't give up, because the next stage is just around the corner. 

 4) Finishing Stage. The submission stage . . . another challenge for sure, with query letters and finding an agent or a publisher, but this time you have a product in hand!


I'm in the Firing Stage and ready to submit my book to my writers' group for review (next week), but it's not the first time this book has been critiqued. I believe it is close if not ready for submission. I am so close to the Finishing Stage, I can taste it. How about you?
 

Copyright 2012 © Sharon Himsl

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing