The last 100m...

In June, I set out writing the first draft of my non-fiction manuscript.  I felt that my final word count would be around the 80,000 to 85,000 word range (though, with only one full novel manuscript behind me, it was still more like just a stab in the dark amount to aim for rather than a proper guess at what the word count would be).

Well, now, just short of two months later, after working on the manuscript close to every single day, my word count has now grown to a couple of hundred words short of 70,000 words.  And, with what I know I still need to write, I'm thinking I did a very good job with that original estimation!

I feel as though I am a track and field athlete. A runner who is running a 400 metre race. I got off to a strong start but now, as I approach the last bend in the track, where the finish line will soon come into sight, I'm tired and energy depleted and am looking to draw upon my reserves to give it my all, to hold my winning position, and bring it all the way cross the line.

I can hear the crowd in the stands cheering, urging me on.  Now, I can feel that burst of energy starting to kick in, right as I want and need it...

Wish me luck... I want to see that finish line any minute now!  It will help. Greatly.

Capturing Ideas, while they strike

As a writer, I always take a pen and small notebook with me in my handbag wherever I go. I have pens and paper within easy reach in various parts of my house too, like my coffee, dining and bedside tables; so I am always able to jot down ideas and or take notes when those ideas come to me. I have a smart phone that has a voice recorder on it, which I put to good, frequent use too; in the middle of the night, I can get back to sleep so much quicker if I just sleepily voice record my idea with my eyes shut rather than having to wake up and turn the light on to write the idea down.

But, my real claim to being 'strange' or 'a writer' is that in my kitchen I have two magnetic whiteboards adhered to my fridge, and marking pens close by on the bench next to the fridge. That way, I don't have to waste precious time to dry or clean my hands when an idea strikes while I'm washing up, or am cooking. 

When I first got those (free-gift) whiteboards a few years ago (almost the size of an A4 sheet of paper, from my local doctors and an expo), the kids and I used to just create our shopping list, and or write important messages to each other in case we missed each other because we all seemed to be on 'different shifts'.  Now, as it is mostly only my Bubbygirl and I at home (and we just send each other free SMS or Facebook messages), we still use the topmost whiteboard to write up our shopping list... and the spare whiteboard didn't get much of a work out, until I started writing again.

Now, I am amazed at how often great ideas and sentences come to me while I am washing up the dishes (I'll get around to fixing the dishwasher, one day!)

... Actually, I'm in the middle of a current writing project... and I'm wondering where I can get another magnetic whiteboard! My handwriting is quite large, and there isn't always enough room to write down everything. 

As soon as I find another one, I'll just have to go and dirty up a few more mugs and some dishes so I can give it a decent workout...

Feeling like I might actually get to 'The End' this time!

After numerous attempts to write a training course and getting part way into writing it, then coming to a grinding halt because I felt like I was waffling far too excessively, I changed tactic.


I downloaded a Mind map and dumped my ideas and thoughts into the freebie program in short and concise statements that I knew I would understand later. 


At the end, I switched the mind map over to Outline view, but the program wouldn't allow me to print out the outline, only the actual mind map. *Sigh*  So I painstakingly hand wrote into a fresh spiral notebook each of the bullet points in the outline (though I altered the list to only have a two step hierarchy on paper than the however many hierarchy created by the program).

And that, my friends, changed everything.

I typed each of those bullet points into Microsoft Word (using the outline view mode) and in less than half an hour I had the structure all set down.  Then, starting with the last entries (using normal mode), I inserted Section and Page breaks, until just the skeletal outline was on about 30 pages instead of 2.

With great determination, the next day I deliberately started working on writing Section 30.  I knew it would be my hardest part of writing the content, so rather than putting it off and starting on all the easy bits (which was really tempting, and, to be honest, mostly already done at first draft level), I forced myself to start with the hardest parts first.

That first writing session took me five hours, and the words took a while before they started to come out, but by the time I was finished, I had 1. missed having lunch (not good, I have diabetes) and 2. had increased my word count from 2,712 words to 6,799 words!  I had got through that hard last section, and then moved straight to another hard section (I think around section 24 or so) while I was on a roll.

Anyway, it is now two weeks later and my word count has grown to  35, 268 words.  I still have a long way to go to get everything out of my head and onto paper, before I can then chop out unnecessary points and to rewrite, edit and polish the manuscript to a readable (by another person) level. 


And it has been a FUN journey this time.  Once I cracked that 10,000 word mark, something inside me just knew it would be different this time - this time I wouldn't be going back to the drawing board, this time, I will actually get to writing 'The End' (Though, that will be the first two words that I will then need to edit out).

23 Minute Recovery time needed

I heard an interesting fact while listening to a podcast last night, that writers take 23 minutes to get into the flow of writing.

The point being discussed in the podcast was that when a writer is disrupted it takes another 23 minutes to get back into that flow.

I've been working on writing a course for jobseekers, and yesterday was extremely frustrating for me because my phone kept ringing right when I had the house to myself for a few hours and could 'get into it'.  And, with annoying frequency, the damn phone rang.  Each time telemarketers despite my being on the Do Not Call list.

Anyway, I am really enjoying Jonathan Milligan's 'Blogging Your Passion' podcasts since I discovered them less than a week ago. 

How you can create unique images for your blog using Microsoft PowerPoint

Especially handy when you don't own or know how to use Photoshop!

As a blogger, you understand the necessity to include images with your blog posts and the importance in making sure that the images you use are free of copyright restrictions. I know, I have accidentally included images that I thought I was permitted to use, only to realise a few months later that I was mistaken!

Since I discovered my monumental mistake, in the interests of not wanting to be sued for infringing upon other people's copyright, I now create my own images using Microsoft PowerPoint. I actually have Photoshop installed on my computer - my son purchased a student version when he did a Digital Media course - but although I have it, I find the program too confusing to use, and I don't have the time to do a course in order to learn how, so I needed to find an alternative way, and I realised I could utilise my Microsoft Office suite to greater usage than I'd previously given it.

I'm not the best image creator by any means, but I'm not the worst you can find either.  Check out some of my recent creations, each of which supported the blog post I was writing for my resume and jobsearch training blog:

"Fonts" accompanied an article about the types of fonts to use and not use in resumes, cover letters and applications.

I started by making the PowerPoint slide background the lilac colour you see, and then adding a white rectangular Shape over top. Then I added a Text box, and wrote the word 'fonts' before changing the font for each letter so that I used a few different styles: serif, sans serif; scriptive, decorative and commercial.  I used a darker shade of the lilac for the 'o' and later added the star shape over top.

I added a Glow effect to the word 'fonts' and arched it too, then added another text box with my blog details and so that the original works, if shared, remained attributed to me as its creator.

Because I have found that PNG images seems to have more durability when used on the different social media sites, and JPG often loses some of the images sharpness, I 1. Save the PowerPoint presentation as a PowerPoint presentation - so that I keep the original in case I need to go back and make changes to the original (after learning the hard way that I had to start from scratch one time when I didn't) and 2. Save the Image, usually with the same name, as a PNG image, which Blogger allows me to upload.

With this second image, I used it for a post aimed at giving advice to returning to work mums.

Once again, I used a standard size default slide and changed the background colour, and I found the image in Clip Art. I added a Text box and wrote the words 'Interviews Here today' and then angled the text box over the bus sign or whatever used to be underneath.  I wanted the sign to look like that it had been stuck up over top of an existing signage - like a lot of employers stick up in their offices to tell people things like 'come this way' or 'lift out of order' etc.

This road map took me hours to create. I used the freehand drawing tool to create a couple of squiggly lines and then formatted the lines so that they became as thick as they are and then copied the original narrow line and pasted it as the dashed yellow or white lines over top of my 'tar' road.

I added lots of clip art, text boxes and shapes to create the water, trees and map markings.  I saved the files again as a PowerPoint presentation and as a PNG file and then I found the cute little guy in the sports car and just had to go back and add him starting out on his journey, at a point before he could 'do it right' or take a wrong turn (as a subtle reiteration of the blog post).

Not all graphics you create have to be time consuming though.  I created this resume graphic to advertise my business on a Facebook group, and this image generated a lot of enquiries for me for a couple of weeks, as members who had seen me comment on people's posts suddenly realised I offered paid services that they were in need of - despite my mentioning that I am a private resume writer and jobsearch coach frequently. This simple graphic was, again, a standard slide with background changed to one solid colour, with a Text box that was later angled and colours changed to make it look like a sheet of office paper.  In hindsight, I could go back and make the background be a wood texture, so it looks like a resume lying on the desk of a hiring manager!

What I love about PNG images, is that in PowerPoint you can place other images over top of it, so you can build a unique image by creating 'layers' just like you would using Photoshop.

As you can see, if you are able to Insert and Format Shapes and text boxes in Microsoft PowerPoint, then you are able to create some decent looking original images - and that way, you will never be without an image for your blog posts ever again.