I have completed my second draft of the Tree House. I’m running into some snags in my writing style. I have corrected some of the “age” issues that I identified earlier. You can go back and reread The Tree House 01 and see some slight differences. Upon another couple readings, there wasn’t really much wrong, more likely, I needed to clarify some things rather than let them be so loose. Read the rest of this entry »

one might think that I have again left the blogosphere.  Not so.  I have been consumed of events of late, and by the time that I get to the computer screen, I have nothing to say, nor the energy to say it.  I am drowning in busy-ness and it is frustrating.  I feel like a plate spinner at the circus.  There is a lot of tension, a lot of tasks and a lot of thoughts.  work life, home life, parenting, side job, church.

I’m tired and yet I must press on.  I must press on.  soon I will make some deadlines for producing some more writing, but there are still some other things that must be addressed in our personal and business life.  Once I attend to those, I hope to return to regular writings, especially through the accountability of my fellow encouragers.

I hope to be here soon.

tom

I am not really ignoring this area.  I’m just really busy.  We are preparing our taxes and getting the final collection of docs for the photog business in.  I am looking at some different technology pieces of software for taking our cool web slideshows and making DVD’s for our clients, which has been a popular request.  I am dealing with being sick, again and my kids being sick, again, and it is all tiring and draining.  I’m making albums and cards for clients.  I’m backing up the last of 2007 weddings to DVD (anyone have some good backup schemes for massive amounts of photography data?), I’m chasing children around the house.  I’m trying to have conversations with my oldest child.  So much stuff.  And I’m trying to make sure I keep things in perspective and prioritize.

One thing I’m not getting lately… quiet time with God.  prayer time.  time in his word.  It’s still go, go, go from morning to night.  This must stop.  I have to get that time, it will impact the rest of my life, especially where I am falling down in parenting and husbanding, my two most critical roles.

soon the sun will come out, the weather will warm and health will be restored.  I hope that I can figure out how to carve up my time to make sure that God is a part of.  If I believe, truly believe that is critical, then I should truly work to make it happen and make it a priority.

And then, after all that… there are things to write about.

good night.

tom

I am currently employing 3 tools that may be of interest.

One is TaskFreak  which is a ph/mysql app that helps a person or multiple persons get and track tasks and their progress and due dates.  It has been great for our photography business since there is often so much to do and hard to keep track of what needs to be done when.

the other tool is something I have used for quite some time, but just pulled out of the closet again to start thinking about The Tree House.  FreeMind is a mind mapping tool that is also free and available on sourceforge.  It helps you visually (I’m a visual person) lay out ideas and thoughts and arrange them graphically.  Then you can turn your map into an outline or text doc and start filling it in.

One more tool, Ywriter, is also helping me organize my docs.  It is a new tool, so a little confusing, but it helps you keep track of all sorts of things for writing books and organizing your story.  See Sean’s post on SeanDareOnline concerning Ywriter.

I’ll let you know how these tools work within the writing environment.

I’m really wondering what to do. I have had some interesting responses to my essay entry. I’m kind of torn, since I’m not really a fiction writer. At least I don’t consider myself one. Yet I had fun with my short essay assignment. I again put the blame on Sean Dare. But now, I’m trying to figure out how and where to go with my story. It unfolds in my mind, but I also want to follow some sort of storytelling rules. I don’t know any. Other than don’t mess up. Which has been a crippling motto of mine. It has been an issue for me that causes paralysis on all sorts of planes. I often don’t do things or launch out because I might fail and for some reason, I’ve determined that failure is not an option. dumb I know. Well, not dumb if you still try and try til you succeed. But dumb if you don’t do anything because you might fail. Read the rest of this entry »