Is aspiration the only requirement for success?

Is motivation the only underlying theme we need

for our inevitable victory?

Sometimes I think that's all it takes.

We just need to want it badly enough. Reach high and

somehow you will achieve greatness.

Other times, I think that's a load of crap that my second

grade teacher, Mrs. Courren, started telling me.

"You can do anything you set your mind to."

"Believe in yourself."

"Dream big."

And all that other bologna, these overly-encouraging

teachers shove down their ignorant students' throats.

I mean think about it. I could say that I aspire to be an Olympic

athlete. I mean, c'mon, who doesn't?

I would love to receive a gold medal in marathon runnning.

Again, who wouldnt?

But just because I want this or dream about it doesn't

exactly make this possible. A 5'1'' little white gal who averages

an 8.5 min pace and has to take 5 strides for every one of yours

isn't exactly "olympian" material.

Right? Right.

Today I got my first short story back. B. I can't think of a worse grade.

To me, B says "average, ordinary, eh." That's not exactly something

I want my teacher to be thinking after reading something I put so

much time and energy in.

So immediately following class, of course, I had a mid-college

"What-the-heck-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life" crisis.

[The best pick-me-ups I have found consist of Cane's chicken

and Glee music. Put together for best results]

I want to be a writer, an editor for a large publishing house.

I have an internship. I read all the time. I frequently practice writing.

But is that enough?

Is this aspiration, this dream all I need?

At what point do we stop "dreaming" and start "seeing"?

I think I need a strong dose of realism from time to time in order

to keep myself from wanting too much.

I don't want to be like the 8-year-old I nanny, who desperately

wants to be an NBA player. Sure, it's cute. But it's not going to

happen. I mean, take one look at him and you'd agree.

I sound a bit pessimistic, don't I?

I guess I'm just trying to put things in perspective.

Sure, I'm "working" toward my goal. I'm not just audibly saying that

it's something I want to do like my silly Olympic dream.

But, even with all this hard work, who's to say that it won't all

be in vain? Who's to say that I could work the hardest, be the

most diligent and most emphatic about wanting this to occur...

yet it still may never happen for me.

I guess the answer is to be a mixture, a "reamer" if you will.

We shouldn't stray away from our dreams, yet we should

have a proper perspective for our possibilities.

After all, what are we without dreams and goals?

I guess I just don't want to be blindsided. I don't want to look

up from my the pages of my life in 5 or 10 years and wonder

why it didn't work out the way I hoped, the way I planned.

I want to dream big, but in a realistic sphere. I want to be

a reamer.

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers

of the dream. Wandering by lone sea breakers, and sitting by desolate

streams. World losers and world forsakers, for whom the pale moon

gleams. Yet we are movers and the shakers of the world forever it seems.”

Practice Makes Books?

My first story was due Monday.

Needless to say, my weekend was basically non-existent.

I sat in my red, plush sweats on my unmade bed,

stuffing wonderful Valentine's Day chocolate and Orange

Juice down my throat, staring at my computer for hours

and hours and waiting for some stroke of brilliance to occur.

You would think after all that work, all that time, effort,

and sweat - you would be at least a little pleased with

your finished product.

No sirreee.

I've decided that crafting fiction is just not my thing.

It's something I wish I could do. I wish I could pull wonderful,

fascinating worlds from my buns and cause my readers to

empathize and truly care for my characters.

But no.

This is a very difficult thing to do. And I just haven't quite

mastered it yet. I realized this weekend that I may never will.

I think writers aren't given enough credit. I mean it's one thing

to come up with an initial premise and be able to say, "Hey this

would make an awesome story." It's another thing entirely to

actually create something that people would want to read, a

real page-turner.

I guess that's somewhat obvious.

One of my dreams in life is to be on the Barnes and Noble

shelves some day. I want to write a book that people will

choose to read, flipping through the crisp, new pages,

glancing over the back cover, thinking "I can't wait to get

home so I can read this!"

That's usually how my buying-books-process goes anyway.

There's no real formula to it. I tend to gravitate to the really

pretty covers with exquiste fonts and elaborate pictures.

Or, I lean toward the most atrocious ones.

There's simply no room for "ordinary" on my reading list.

I can't decide whether I want my book to have an

awesome or hideous cover... but I guess I'm getting

ahead of myself.

Maybe someday I'll be a household name

like Nicolas Sparks or James Patterson (although let's

pray I have better technique than them).

Maybe someday people will wait up all night in front of

B&N in the freezing cold just to get their grimy hands

on my next novel. JK Rowlings and Stephanie Meyer can

relate.

Maybe, Maybe.

I guess until then I'm stuck with practicing, which can be

real hard. Writing a Novel is going to kill me in the fall.

I guess it's a good think I like what I do :)

Aspiring Zealot.

My boss has graciously let me try my hand at conceptual editing this week. Since this is exactly what I want to be doing post-graduation,

I couldn't be more thrilled. It's quite the challenge, I must say. A copy-editor's mind is completely different. Polar opposite, actually.

They look for simple flaws and tediously strain to fix the grammatical inconsistencies, misspellings, punctuation squanderings, and so forth.

A conceptual editor, however, looks at the whole work. Does it flow? Is it, well, readable? Does it make sense? Do your characters lack depth,

or a legit reason for appearing in your story? Is your plot plausible within

your story's realm? Is your dialogue draining? Etc Etc Etc.

My book is about leadership, a non-fiction work. I'm thankful my first

will not be a fictional world where people and places are created and

fashioned from theauthor's mind. I'm excited for that part of editing,

but I'm not quite ready yet.

This book isn't necessarily quality writing, but I love the message.

Leaders influence. They aspire to be great and help make others great!

It's been an eye-opener, for sure.

I don't want to be someone constantly sitting on my bunzippitydodas,

always waiting for "my big break." Those that succeed and inspire others

to thrive are consistently and passionately seeking knowledge, striving to

make themselves better within their specific field of interest.

They practice. They read. They talk to people. They listen.

That's how I want to be.

With a mission, with a purpose.

Zealously seeking to make myself better and acquire more

knowledge about books, writing, editing, and the wonderful

world of publishing.

I make a point to read outside of work, outside of school.

This book has encouraged me to take this even further, challenging my

mind and breaking through various genres.

Aren't we blessed to live in a place where this is possible?

We CAN be great. We CAN achieve success. We CAN motivate others

through our example and purpose-driven life.

... We just need to get off our buns and do it.