Be Kind

12 Unexpected Reasons You Keep Procrastinating — Author Don Massenzio

Originally posted on Novelty Revisions: 1. Distractions that don’t really feel like distractions. 2. You have yet to master the art of an effective “writing break.” 3. You have commitment issues. (Sorry!) 4. You work better under pressure (great!) but take it a little bit too far. 5. You’re not sitting down to create at…

via 12 Unexpected Reasons You Keep Procrastinating — Author Don Massenzio

Bullying: It Hurts

Today I watched a show where a sweet, quiet high school girl committed suicide because of constant, mean, nasty bullying and harassment by a group of girls. They did this because this girl started dating a boy one of the other girls liked. They called her slut, bitch, whore, and other horrible names. And now that the internet and social media are part of everyday life, they were able to post cruel memes, offensive photoshopped pictures, and senseless videos all over the internet to ridicule and shame her. And thanks to phones and computers these days, the kids in their school and thousands on the internet saw these posts and laughed at them. They got enjoyment from her pain and heartache! These horrid girls did everything they could to drive her completely over the edge, and they succeeded.

When I was a junior in high school, a group of girls began to viscously bully and attack me, because a boy one of the girls liked, liked me instead. I was constantly called bitch, slut, whore, and other horrible names by these girls. When I walked down the halls at school, I was shoved against lockers and pushed into walls. I was kicked, punched, tripped, and spit on. They would savagely yank my hair from behind. If more than one of them caught me in a hallway or a restroom by myself…well, let’s just say, it was scary.

One night, while I was walking down my street after visiting my friend, I was attacked and beaten up by one of the most malicious of these girls. She was taller than me and out-weighed me by at least 70 pounds, so it was kind of hard to fight back while she held me down and pounded my head into the sidewalk. I cried a lot that night.

These girls would wait for me after school and then they’d block the way so I couldn’t get past them. They would threaten, taunt, ridicule, and shove me around. If they were in a car and they saw me walking or riding my bike, they would pull up next to me and yell obscenities and throw things out the windows at me. It got to the point where I couldn’t go anywhere around town by myself. And the longer the bullying went on, the worse it got. My mom and dad began to fear for my life. So, we finally packed up and moved.

The one thing I am just SO thankful for, is that the internet and cell phones didn’t exist at that time, because what those horrid, HORRID girls put me through would’ve been a thousand times worse if they would’ve had today’s technology and social media at their fingertips. Maybe they would’ve sent me completely over the edge, and I wouldn’t be here, writing about this dreadful and painful experience that even now, when I think about it, upsets me so very much.

So if you know of any kid or teenager who is being bullied and/or cyber-bullied, please don’t ignore it. It could mean saving a life.

Rattle the bars of your cage

8 Best Ways To Gain Followers For Your Blog

Lay Or Lie And How Easy It Is For Everyone To Get Them Wrong – by Derek Haines…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Just Publishing Advice:

Why do we get lay vs lie so confused all the time?

These two verbs cause so many problems, even for proficient English speakers.

The cause of the misuse is in the grammar. Isn’t it always?

Well, let’s get the technical stuff out of the way first and then look at some examples.

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Novel Writing: What if it’s all for Nothing?

Uninspired Writers

Good morning, creatives and creators. I hope you’ve all had a good week.

Mine started slow and has ended better! In the earlier stages of the week I was having some bad writing days, and some major writer’s doubt. But I’ve tried to be kind to myself, to relax and give myself a break. As such, I’m now back on track.

But one thing was nagging at me, something that I’ve seen many other unpublished writers worrying about to. This awful question, after years of working hard on a project, rewriting, revising, studying; what if it’s all for nothing?

It stems, I think, from a fear of rejection a worry that our works will never be read or appreciated. And with that in mind, I wanted to share some thoughts with you all, including ways to stop that question from taking over.

1. It’s never for nothing
I’ve put…

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Real Writers Never Write Anything In All Small Letters – by Derek Haines…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Just Publishing Advice:

youre not a writer if you write in all small letters

i get a lot of emails and messages from writers and authors

i also get book submissions along with book descriptions

but i get so annoyed when i get them written in all lower case letters with little or no punctuation

its not only lazy its impolite

Continue reading HERE

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More truth

Adventures and Musings of an Arch Druidess

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Book Promo – ‘My Vibrating Vertebrae’ – by Agnes Mae Graham…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

In remembrance of my Mum on her birthday.

16 Verified Purchase 5 Star reviews for My Vibrating Verebrae:

These are stories or narrative poetry centered in Ireland written metrically with rhyme. The language flows well. Even when the stories seem dark the author’s heart shines through to light the way. For example, in “Ulster’s Shame”, a dark narrative with “blood stained footpaths and bullet spattered walls” we are not left with “screams” and “terror” but a resolution: “What matters is the depth of God’s sighs.”

She describes the people around her with kind brevity. The ending of “The Brownie Pack” states her love and humbly leaves it to God whether it is returned.

She describes the joyful and sorrowful mysteries of life. In “Tender to Touch” an old man buys a medicine from her. In his confusion he rubs it on his pained stomach rather than drinking it. Nonetheless, he’s…

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