2voices1song.com

Hello there, readers--

I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten you, left you out in the cold, or slipped away without leaving a forwarding address.

Wrong! 

What I did was get a website where everything I do can come together in one place. Meena Rose and I now collaborate on a website labeled Two Voices, One Song.

Over there you'll find Claudsy's Calliope, Claudsy's Blog, and much more. The rooms there are spacious and attractive. We can branch out into fiction, reviews, profiles, inspiration pieces, poetry, travel, etc. It's like a department store for readers.

Why did we do this? We both felt the need to expand and test our wings in other skies. We also had some fun doing it.

Right now we're coming out of NaNoWriMo. For those who've never done it or seen the insanity it brings, know this; very little else gets accomplished during November. Couple NaNo with the November PAD Chapbook Challenge over at Poetic Asides and you have manic novel writing episodes leavened with poetry created to someone else's tune.

We've moved into the bigger holiday season, which means we'll be posting more regularly than during November but not as often as in months previously.

There are also other reasons for the slowdown. We've both got major projects in the works right now and the push is on.

We so enjoy having friends and neighbors drop in for a look-see. Please come whenever you like, stay as long as you like, leave us a note if we're not home to let us know you popped in for a visit. We certainly don't mind. We do return the favor and visits.

Now you know why you see nothing new here. Several of you have stopped by to see me here and found me gone. I hope you'll move your viewing pleasure to the new digs. I've missed seeing all of you. I think you'll like what you see there as much or more than what I presented here. Try it. You may really like it. 

The address is: 2voices1song.com/  You can't miss it. It's the big place on the corner of Dreams and Motivation.

TaTaForNow

Claudsy

May Days to Submit Work

When the call to challenge rang out on May 1^st, many of our PAD and MNINB group members paused, took a deep breath, and sighed. I think it would be fair to say that few could believe what they were reading. “Submit at least one piece of work each day for the entire month of May.”

Yep. You saw that right. Some of the group simply can’t comply due to more critical situations at home and at work, but for the rest of us, we’re gamely attempting what seemed like an impossible feat just a few short days ago.

This is day four of this last minute challenge that none had contemplated. We each post on the group sites what we subbed and to which publication, whether online or print, contest or blog, and watch to see who else took the plunge that day.

I have yet to hit the send button today. I have three possibles on the starting line, waiting for a shove into the chute. I have a children’s story that can go out any time. It’s been polished to within a paragraph of existence. I have poems coming out of my ears that can go in nearly any direction. And I have a couple of polished and professionally edited essays that can go out on their own.

There’s a coin I’ve been saving for just such an occasion as this. I’ll do a three-way toss to see which item goes out today. That gives me plenty for the next few days. Who knows? I might send more than on submission out per day and really scare myself.

For those that are timid about subbing and worry about those nasty rejection emails, don’t be. Take a page from my post today on Claudsy’s Blog. Make that rejection your best friend. Embrace it. Plaster your wall with it and its friends. Proudly show that wall to family and friends and declare “See how much work I’ve sent out!”

If you’ve chosen to accept such a challenge as this, comment here. Tell me about your personal submission challenge. If you don’t have one, but want to try it, feel free. Post a comment here each day you’ve braved the “SEND” button and sent out a piece of work. I’ll gladly help you show the world how much you’re working on the craft.

Until later, keep writing while you enjoy the process,

Claudsy

Writers Are Marathoners of a Different Sort

Becoming an author is a bit like training for a marathon; not that I’ve run any marathons, unless dancing counts. The two do have a many aspects in common, including a finish line.

Runners make friends with other runners, participate in the same events during the year, train in similar methods to up their running game, and count themselves lucky. Along the way, they find a kind of happiness they find nowhere else. They are only themselves out on the track; no other roles need apply.

Writers do the same thing. We congregate on forums with other writers, discuss projects, problems and needs. The road to authorship is strewn with obstacles, just as runners’ abilities to tackle longer venues encounter injuries and setbacks, weather and personal needs. Writers train every day, if they want to be authors; coursework, submissions and rejections, social media platforms, and other obstacles that build and keep their writing abilities toned.

Within the framework of these career labels, stand three words that signify the relationship between these two careers; preparation, goals, and execution. If goals aren’t set by either the runner or writer, no progress is made. If proper preparation isn’t made, goal execution cannot move forward. Execution marshals the preparations necessary for each goal and advances the career onto the field.

Success on the field depends on one’s objective. A new marathoner might only desire to finish the race. For her, that spells success. For the veteran of the track, the triathlon is the goal each year, with faster times as a signal of improvement and success. For a new writer, the primary objective may be as simple as finishing a long piece of fiction and getting it to a polished state. Or, the objective for the established writer might be the development of a series that could get her a three-book deal.

Two tracks, two careers, similarities in each. As each type of marathoner ages in her career goals change, preparations come easier, and execution becomes a matter of habit. Over the length of the track there is time for the participant to think, evaluate, and decide about the next race, the next field. Nothing a consequence is firmed up at the starting line. Only the experience of the race can grant perspective.

Acknowledgement

During this month those who signed on for Robert LeeBrewer’s Author Platform Challenge stood at the starting line of a great field event. He promised to instruct all of us in what it takes to create a successful Author’s Platform. So far, he’s kept his promise.

We’ve learned about apps needed for everything from Time Management to Social Network updating. We’ve learned how to catch the eyes of those search engines everywhere and what to do in our blogs and on websites to increase traffic and comment numbers. Through it all, members of the field are cajoling each other, giving encouragement, and offering help to those still struggling with tech, time, and temperament.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank Robert. He’s gone out of his way to see that we can stand on our own once we’re through this. But, more than that, he’s built a writing community that allows us to talk amongst ourselves. He’s put together a support structure that many will be using for a long time to come.

Thank you, Robert, for having patience with all of us and our questions and insecurities. You’re doing great!

Until later,

Claudsy

NaBloPoMo

Yes, folks, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. There is yet another challenge for the writers who just can’t stand going without one.

I found this particular one when I joined the BlogHer Network a couple of days ago. The challenge is to write a themed blog post each day for the given month, in this case, February.

BTW, this should in no way intimidate or discourage any writer from picking up the gauntlet of that have beaten back many a writer. After all, there are many writers and other bloggers who already post each day. I know, because I used to be one of them.

According to the BlogHer challenge, February’s theme is “Relative,” meaning that each post must have something to do with family in one form or another.

Now, having redefined what constitutes “family” many times across the span of my life, I don’t seriously feel challenged as to topic. I have entire state’s worth of pseudo-family to draw from.

What might concern me, if I allow myself to think about it for more than a nanosecond, is the fact that I have three blogs—not counting an inactive one in the UK—which might, technically, fall under the auspices of this challenge.

Should I be held accountable for only one of my blogs each day, or, do I have to include all of them in the challenge?

That’s a big question and one I have only a few days to answer before beginning the keyboard shuffle.

I’m counting on all of you to help me with this decision. Am I supposed to do all three—that includes Trailing Inspirations on Wordpress—or can I muddle through doing only one of them? And if only one, which one—Claudsy’s Calliope on Blogspot, or Claudsy’s Blog on Wordpress?

Comments are encouraged, indeed, required on this one, peeps. HELP ME DECIDE!

Claudsy