If you are currently writing a novel and have trouble seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, don’t give up.  It took me 10 years to finish Bebokia.  Even if your book never sells one copy, it will always remain a part of your personal history.  Your children will read it, your grandchildren will read, and it will remain alive long after you’re gone.

The cast: a beautiful white guy, a handsome black man, and a blond bombshell.

The play begins with two gentlemen competing for the affections of the lady.  The audience soon sees that the marriage between the black man and the bombshell is already shattered.  Both parties are extremely unhappy. During the course of the play the narrator, the white guy, would show a scene and then tell the audience that it may not have happened exactly that way.   You have to choose your own truth.  *Annoying*

What completely ruined the plot for me was that at some point you find out that the husband, black guy, was in cahoots with the lover to get rid of his wife.  He “traded” her to the lover to get his valuable baseball card back.  Huh? What?  Makes no sense.

The characters remain the same from beginning to end; broken.  So, the lady replaces her angry black husband with a nicer bigoted white guy.  And?  Her two brown children will suffer for it, rendering her right back to where she started – miserable.   The white guy will be a racist now “forced” to raise two black children.  Talk about making your own hell, right?  The black guy will still have mother issues and will still be angry, only with an empty house.

Unless you want to see a play that goes nowhere, I can’t recommend this.

Anyway, cool article and a good read for writers.

Unless you have a deadline, don’t rush your ideas.  It takes time for good writing to happen.  For beginners it takes a little longer but once you’ve finally gathered your thoughts together, the actual writing will flow naturally.

24/7 –  24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week

AA –  Alcoholics Anonymous

AC –  Air Conditioning

AD –  In the Year of Our Lord

AKA –  Also Known As

ASAP –  As Soon As Possible

ATM –  Automated Teller Machine

B&B –  Bed and Breakfast

BC –  Before Christ

BCE –  Before the Common Era

BLT –  Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato

CC –  Credit Card

CST –  Central Standard Time

CSV –  Comma Separated Value

DIY –  Do it Yourself

EOD –  End Of Day

EST –  Eastern Standard Time

ETR –  Early to Rise

FYI –  For Your Information

GC –  General Contractor

GM –  General Manager

GMO –  Genetically Modified

ID  – Identification

IQ –  Intelligence Quotient

ISBN –  International Standard Book Number

MO –  Modus Operandi

MTD –  Month To Date

OJ –  Orange Juice

PB&J –  Peanut Butter and Jelly

PDA –  Public Display of Affection

PHAT –  Pretty Hot And Tempting

PI –  Private Investigator

PIN –  Personal Identification Number

PMB –  Personal Mail Box

PMS –  Premenstrual Syndrome

POA –  Power Of Attorney

PR –  Public Relations

PS –  Post Script

PSI –  Pounds Per Square Inch

PST –  Pacific Standard Time

PTO –  Paid Time Off

Q&A –  Question and Answer

R&R –  Rest and Relaxation

RBG –  Red, Blue, Green

RIP –  Rest in Peace

RPG –  Role Playing Game

RSVP –  Please Reply

SOP –  Standard Operating Procedure

SOS –  Save Our Souls

SPF –  Sun Protection Factor

STET –  Let it Stand

TBA –  To Be Announced

TBD –  To Be Determined

TGIF –  Thank God It’s Friday

TLC –  Tender Loving Care

UPC –  Universal Product Code

VIP –  Very Important Person

YTD – Year to Date

May 12th
10:00 a.m.  Very difficult not to start my day by reading email and online news.

10:55 p.m.  Happy I made it through the day.  The temptation to turn on my computer was stronger than I thought it would be.  The next 13 days will be difficult.

May 13th
8:26 a.m.  Feeling anxious without access to a computer.  Calm myself by looking at photos.

10:47 p.m.  Depressive unproductive day; not sure if it was caused by the computer restriction.  I did manage to write a poem.

May 14th
8:08 a.m.  Good feeling about today.  Had a great work out and plan to get a lot of writing done.  Who needs a computer?

10:45 p.m.  Wanted to look up a synonym for the word conspicuous but couldn’t because I don’t own a physical dictionary.  Got some writing done but not as much as I thought I would do.

May 15th
11:00 a.m.  I dislike talking on the phone but have been forced to rely on it since this experiment.

10:26 p.m.  This is the dumbest idea I’ve ever had.  Don’t think that I’ve ever felt this lonely – this stranded.

Here’s how:

Manage ==> Export ==> Download Export File ==> Save

After you have saved the file to your computer then email it to yourself.  This allows for extra security.  The file will be especially safe in a google or yahoo email account.

I wanted to take a few minutes to give myself a big pat on the back for a job well done.  The site looks great, don’t you think?

Urbis lets a writer post their work, have it critiqued by strangers with the qualifications of the writer’s choice, and gives said work exposure to publishers.  The site works with credit and debit points.  You earn credits by reviewing the work of others.  These credits can then be used to unlock the critiques that other users have given you.  This is a perfect system that allows everyone to get an equal amount of attention to his or her submission.

The one complaint that I have about Urbis is that people are allowed to critique the critique that you gave to someone’s work.  I find this infraction all kinds of anal but it’s worth overlooking due to the site’s degree of excellence.  Steve Urbis, founder of Urbis.com, is half genius.  I’ll promote him to full genius once the little bugs and annoyances have been smoothed out.

GoodReads is more for readers than writers but the site offers a small place where anyone can post their own written work.  These works can then be voted upon by other users.  This website also gives already published authors a way to promote their book.  I, however, can not evaluate this feature of GoodReads because I was only able to use the site as an unpublished writer.

Facebook has many groups dedicated to writing, publishing, and the literary arts.  This site is a great source of information.  It’s also a great place to connect and network with other writers.

My Writers Circle is a big discussion board.  You’re allowed to post your work for review, ask questions, or just hang out and enjoy being in the company of other writers. There are several drawbacks.  This site does not have a system that encourages reviewing the work of others thus longer works don’t get the same attention as shorter submissions.  The site is not aesthetically pleasing and navigation is a bit clumsy.

These are my favorite four but I’d love to know where other writers go for support.  Tell the readers of Jenue’s Journal where your favorite writing hot spot is by leaving a comment.