Obstacles are everywhere, and I am facing one right now. Yep, I'm looking it square in the eye, trying my best to look mean and nasty, but somehow not fazing said obstacle one bit.

This particular obstacle has come to visit me often, whether I want it to or not. It just saunters in, acting all cool and stuff, as if it lives here within me. And the sad part of the whole thing is that it does!

What obstacle am I talking about, you might ask? It's called pr... pr... (heavy sigh) okay, just say it already. Procrastination. There, that wasn't so hard now, was it?

Actually, procrastination is really working overtime on me. I have so much I have to do in the writing aspect of my life, and I just sit here thinking of a ton of other things to do. I know that once I get started with the writing, I can do it and stay with it, but what the hay. I could be surfing the web, or organizing my to-do list, or a dozen other little things that take up precious time. I'll get to the writing projects later.

The problem is, later sometimes doesn't come around for days. And here I am, dealing with the project deadlines, requests from people to hurry up and write another chapter, as well the "need" to just sit down and write flowing through me - and all I can do is give into the devious monster named Procrastination.

I have to tackle this monster. I need to find a way to win the battle. What I really need is to ignore the dang thing and sit down to work on the projects I really want to work on.

With that thought racing through my mind, I'm going to arm myself with ammunition. If I'm going to win this battle, I will have to learn to stand strong and just say no to procrastination. And I will do it! With the help of my friends, Determination and Deadlines, I will conquer the enemy and show it who's boss around here. I will build up a stronghold to keep the monster at bay, and I will push it out of my life so that I can get things done. Nothing will stop me from my goal of writing the essays, stories, novels and poems that are swimming around in my mind, and I WILL tell procrastination where to shove it!

Procrastination doesn't stand a chance. I'm going to really show it who's boss... just as soon as I update both blogs, run a load of laundry, and oh yeah, I still have to catch up on my email...

 

My first entry. What do I write about?

In keeping with my original thoughts on what to do with this blog, I think I will start out with my impression of Writing Dot Com.

So far, I have not found anything negative to say about this community. This is not saying a whole lot, as I generally look only for the silver lining in anything I venture into. But after only a month, I have found treasures buried inside the cyber walls of WDC and I am grateful to have stmbled onto this site.

The biggest treasure is the honest, critical advice and ideas I have received in regards to the written entries I have in my portfolio. I cannot express how important that is to me. I want nothing more than to improve my craft and so far, the critiques I have received already have me looking into working on avoiding the passive voice, as well as researching various techniques I had no idea even existed. This treasure alone is worth more than the price of an Upgraded membership.

Another treasure I found lurking inside this massive community is the wealth of knowledge within the people who reside here. I am amazed at their willingness to share that knowledge through their own works, reviews and through their responses to direct questions.

And I definitely cannot forget to mention the groups that were created to help others. I only joined two of them (and secretly writing a book for another one), but the advice and encouragement I received from just those two are invaluable. If I had the time, I would join every last group in this community. It's amazing how helpful others can be.

I'm sure there are other treasures buried deep inside the community, and I can't wait to find out about them!