The Inked Pages of My Diary

No Form of Life

2010-06-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

She opened the door and ran straight up the stairs to the bedroom. She stopped in the middle of the bedroom and looked around. No form of life. Everything was where she had left it, but no one was there. She hesitated, and for a moment she felt all hope was lost. A light bulb went off and she quickly left the room and ran to the kitchen. She searched around but no form of life was there either. Dishes were still in the sink and food was on the table. "Hello, hello". She cried out, but no answer. She left the kitchen with her head hanging low, walked into the living room and plopped on the couch. She was alone and obviously not happy. She was right back where she started and she would have to rebuild everything from top to bottom. After several minutes she found energy to go back up stairs to her bedroom. She walked over to her desk and opened the drawer. Picked up a brand new red diary and her favorite pen. She sat down at her desk and began writing. She spent an hour in the room at that desk, and soon life filled the house again.

Networking and Coffee

2010-05-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Diary,

Today I went to one of my usual spots (Barnes & Noble) to sip, write and think. I was browsing through the magazines when a lady bumped into me, knocking my bag off my shoulders. She quickly apologized and we both laughed it off as her clumsy mistake. After choosing 3 magazines I went into the Cafe' and took a seat. I sat right next to the lady (clumsy). I began flipping through my magazines when the lady noticed we both had chosen the same magazines. They were magazines about writing. I was super excited to meet someone with a similar passion as mine. She seemed to be happy to meet me as well. I asked if she was a writer, she followed up by saying yes and telling me a little about her freelance career. She had been writing for a total of 12 years. And of course she had a few tips for me that I was more than happy to receive.

She told me to find my niche and stick with it. Often times freelance writers can dabble in several different areas, never finding and perfecting their niche. She also said that regardless of what others may say there's plenty of money to be made as a freelance writer. By the end of our conversation she gave me her info and told me to call her if I had any other questions. I gave her my info as well, she's definitely one person I'll keep updated in my contact list.

Sincerely,

Joi xoxo

prnewswire.com

mediabistro.com

Grocery list and Goal Setting

2010-04-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

I was on the phone talking with one of my friends the other day and I came up with a great analogy about goal setting. Setting goals for yourself is like making your grocery list. Just listen there's more. You feel so much more organized when you go to the store with a list. If you don't have a list when you go to the store you end up all over the place. And sometimes you may walk out of the store forgetting the essential items you left the house for in the first place. Why go through life without a list?
When you set goals for yourself you're less likely to walk past your aisle of opportunity. You walk into the store of life each day with a mission. You know what you need out of life; you have a plan and a timeline to get it.

I would advise any and everyone to set goals. They can be daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, short term or long term. They can be different or all tie into one another. Well I have my list together now let's go shopping.

Query Letter 1st draft

2010-04-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Diary,

Today I wrote the first draft of my query letter. I'm pitching an idea to a magazine about dieting. I've done some research on query letters and I know more now than I did a month ago. My letter needs to stand out among the pile that sits on the editors' desk. With that in mind there are many articles out there about weight loss; so I have to figure out a way to breathe new life into the subject. That's the current challenge. In my query letter I guess I should include some facts and statistics about dieting and women's health. Hmm, this might not be such a major challenge after all. I could do some research on dieting to find a creative spin.

One blog I read spoke of how query letters is a "numbers game". They say the more letters you write and submit the better your chances of getting noticed. If this is true I know my first query letter probably won't get selected, but I'll be super excited once I mail it off. This is all brand new to me and that alone will be an accomplishment.

Sincerely

Joi xoxo

Panic Attack

2010-04-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

Oh No my pen just ran out of ink! What am I going to do? I have to write, I just have too.

If I can't write I can't think straight and all my thoughts are cloudy. If I can't write how will I express myself to the world. How will anyone ever hear what I have to say if I can't write.

If I can't write I'm just superficial with no depth to my surface. I need to write like I need to breathe. I need to write like I need to think. I need to write like I need to sleep.

Writing is a real part of me, so give me a new ink pen. I have to write, I just have too.

OMG! OMG! OMG!

2010-04-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my BLOG. I'm so excited, I'm yelling as I type. Can you imagine that. Well let's get started here.

To some people starting a blog maybe simple, but not for me. I thought about this day for a while. What would my blog be about, what would I say, how would I design it? I thought so long and hard to the point I didn't get anything done. Procrastination and fear had completely set into my mind. I compared myself to everyone around me and thought, I'll never measure up. This morning I woke up and said today is the day. Today is the day that the self sabotaging behavior gets thrown out the window. Today is the day I set goals for myself and work towards accomplishing them. Today is the day I open the pages of my Ink Stained Diary for the world to see.