Jessica Ferguson

Author, Writing Coach, Speaker

Insecure Writers Support Day: Favorite Quotes

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Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds

 Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

The awesome co-hosts for the September 4 posting of the IWSG are Beth Camp, Jean Davis, Yvonne Ventresca, and PJ Colando!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post.

September 4 question – Since it’s back to school time, let’s talk English class. What’s a writing rule you learned in school that messed you up as a writer?

The question is always optional and today I choose not to answer it, not because I don’t like it. I just can’t think of anything to say about teachers. I’m not sure any teacher messed me up as a writer. There was one in college, a hateful journalism teacher that didn’t like my writing at all. He told me I was on an ego trip. Go figure. I was in his class to learn, even though I’d already worked as a contributing editor for an in-flight magazine. We should never quit learning, right? I do think of him periodically and wonder why he didn’t like me. Lookie here, I answered the question after all. 

My intention was to post a few of my favorite quotes. Who doesn’t like quotes? Don’t they make you think? Do you have a favorite quote that speaks to you? Share it!

“Your legacy is every life you’ve ever touched .”   Maya Angelou  

The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”—Thomas Edison

There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never know quite where they’ll take you.” -Beatrix Potter

 If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison

Half my life is an act of revision.” – John Irving

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”  – Sylvia Plath

 

Isn’t IWSG the greatest?!

I wish you all good writing!

JRF

IWSG – Encouraging Quotes

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Today is IWSG day-the first Wednesday of each month. IWSG stands for Insecure Writers Support Group and was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Our purpose is to share and encourage.  You can follow other IWSG members here or on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG. We also have a Facebook page.

I thought I’d share some encouraging quotes today. Maybe these ten will give you something to think about.  If you find one that speaks to you, share how and why.

1) No masterpiece was ever created by a lazy artist.~ Anonymous

2) You can do anything, but not everything. ~Anonymous

3) Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. ~Dale Carnegie

 4) Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning. ~Robert Kiyosaki

5) Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. ~Jim Rohn

6) It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. ~Anonymous

7) If you want to achieve greatness stop asking for permission. ~Anonymous

8) Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out. ~John Wooden

9) To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. ~Anonymous

10) Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. ~Maya Angelou

I’m afraid numbers 4 and 9 really say a lot about me. Way too often, I give in to my fear and let it control me. I need to get a tattoo that reads lose the fear! Unfortunately, I FEAR needles!

Do you have a favorite quote that says a lot about you? Share!

From the Slacker …

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It’s easy to get out of the habit of blogging. I’ve really been a slacker, haven’t I? In  more ways than one. Hopefully, that will change with the first of the new year. Yes, I’m still alive, and tomorrow I MUST finish up my Christmas shopping–whether I want to or not.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes. Anything here you can relate to?

The author or speaker from whom you learn the most is not the one who teaches you something you didn’t know before, but the one who helps you take a truth with which you have quietly struggled, give it expression, and speak it clearly and boldly. ~Oswald Chambers

You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you’re working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success–but only if you persist.  ~Isaac Asimo

The more we fear starting a project, the more difficult the project becomes in our mind. This is self-defeating. ~Rob Parnell

Sometimes, when it’s going badly, she wonders if what she believes to be a love of the written word is really just a fetish for stationary. The true writer, the born writer, will scribble words on scraps of litter, the back of a bus ticket, on the wall of a cell.   ~David Nicholls

Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good. ~William Faulkner

My Christmas stories are featured on  Pamela Thibodeaux’s blog on Tuesday. I hope you’ll visit and leave a comment.  
Is everyone ready for Christmas?

Q is for Quotes (and family tales)

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As you know, I love quotes and post them on my blog often. What you don’t know—and might think a little odd—is that I collect quotes and funny stories from the lips of my family. I wish I had my little notebook of family quotes but since my dad’s death and my mom going into a nursing home, I’ve been a little lax with organized recording. Now I jot things down on slips of paper that float around my purse and eventually get lost.

But I have some favorite tales I want to share:

Once my entire family went to the cemetery to put Christmas flowers on my grandparent’s graves. My mother was always very dedicated about doing that and she’d shop for hours to find just the right ornament. On this occasion, she’d selected white crosses. Because the earth was so hard, she’d brought a hammer to pound each cross into the ground. Now, you’d have to know my mom: she’s a perfectionist—a fine-tuner. Once she gets something ‘finished’ she inspects everything around it—regardless of what it is—then fine-tunes her own project one last time. This time when she finished arranging flowers and cleaning up other gravesites, she came back to the white cross, hit it with the hammer and broke it.

“You just had to hit it one more time, didn’t you?” said my dad.

All of us broke into uncontrollable laughter because he’d nailed it with his comment. She was and always had been the hit it one more time mama. She used to go over my homework papers—crossing my Ts and closing the circles of my Os, Bs, Ps and making my periods a little darker. Hitting my paper one more time.

Yes, it drove me crazy.

The quote, “Just had to hit it one more time,” is a favorite and we use it often when one of us tries to over-do.

Of course, my mom has several quotes she uses consistently: She’s fond of saying, Ignorance gone to seed, Nuts gone to seed, There’s nothing crazier than people, and Can’t get away from those genes.

She loved telling everyone that if my brother said, “Let’s hang Mama,” my dad would go get a rope.

My young nephews were always fun to listen to. Once, a young Russell (the one in the red cap)climbed into the car after a grocery shopping trip. He was so glad to be going home after spending an hour in the food store that he was jumping up and down, and running across the back seat while the young sacker helped my mother with groceries. The sacker asked Russell, “Do you need to go to the bathroom?” to which my nephew responded, “No, why, do you smell something?”

A hilarious exchange and I think of it often, especially when someone asks if we need a bathroom. I suspect the young sacker called himself reprimanding Russell, but I love Russell’s quick, naïve reply.

One summer day, while the cable TV man was adjusting my dad’s television, my nephew Kyle (white cap) charged through the front door yelling, “We found a dead skunk back in the woods. You want to go smell him?” Needless to say, the cable guy declined.

My daughter (purple sweatshirt) was sitting in the back seat while I drove one day. Daughter was always a chatty little girl—asking questions and often supplying her own answers. On this day, I was telling her how her dad and I had prayed for a healthy little girl and that God had blessed us with her.
She replied, “Good. I always wondered who my family would be.” Yikes!


 

I’m sure you have favorite quotes and quirky sayings and stories from your family too. Want to share some of them?

N is for Negative

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Note: The A to Z Challenge is really a challenge for me this year and I’m behind reading your posts and leaving comments. I have a lot on my plate but that’s no excuse. I’m sure you all do too. I hope to catch up in the next day or two. For readers not participating in the A to Z Challenge and don’t understand it, you can learn more here and explore everything from A to Z. There are 1,758 bloggers participating in the A to Z Challenge. You may want to try it next year.

Today, I’m taking a look at being negative.
My dad was a quiet, shy, pessimistic/negative person. Look at his picture at the right–you can tell by the way he’s sitting that he’s shy and uncomfortable being the center of attention.
I’ve been accused of being more negative than positive. I used to be more shy than I am now, and of course, since I love blogging, I must thrive on attention. Right?
As for the negative trait? I’m not sure I totally agree but we often see ourselves the way we want to be—not the way we really are.
I admit I’m guilty of looking at what could happen if I did such ‘n such. I not only look at today but I look at tomorrow, the next day and a week from now. Unfortunately that affects my actions when I want to send my work to publishers or agents. I over-analyze and try to visualize the outcome: If I submit ABC story to 123 Magazine, I might be making a mistake. Would 456 Magazine be better? We’re supposed to choose the best publisher, but I usually stall and send to no one. Is second-guessing akin to being negative? Yeah, somewhat.  Especially when we let imagined consequences keep us from doing anything.

Negative means: bad: unhappy, discouraging, angry, or otherwise detracting from a happy situation; pessimistic: or tending to have a pessimistic outlook.

 Mmmm, is that really me? I’ve been told I’m a great encourager to others. I sure hope I’m not a drain on anyone’s goals and dreams.

Honestly, I don’t think I’m negative, but if I am … I got it from my dad. And he inherited from his mom who … well, that’s as far as my personal experience goes when it comes to pinpointing.

I’m posting a few quotes from Brainy Quote about negativity. They really speak to me. I’m terrible about letting others influence me. If you read my work or hear my pitch and raise an eyebrow in my direction, you’re watering my doubt and insecurity. It grows. Are you the same? I hope not. It’s a miserable way to be.
GREAT QUOTES:

If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.~Michael Jordan

Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power. ~Shirley MacLaine

Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results. ~Willie Nelson

 Which one speaks to you? Do you battle negativity? How? Looking back at family members, do you think your negativity was inherited or something you learned from a parent? Talk to me… and don’t be negative!

F is for Family

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F is for Family, of course.

I thought I’d leave you with some quotes that have to do with family.  They were taken from the Brainy Quote site. If you aren’t familiar with Brainy Quote, check it out here.  

People are pretty forgiving when it comes to other people’s families. The only family that ever horrifies you is your own. ~Doug Coupland

 Share something about your family. And have a great weekend!

The Writer’s Devotional by Amy Peters

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I like devotional books –any kind–and I have quite a few. I especially like devotional books that pertain to writing.  

A few days ago, I came across such a book in Barnes & Noble called The Writer’s Devotional, 365 inspirational exercises, ideas, tips, & motivations on writing by Amy Peters.

Each day of the week highlights an aspect of the writer’s life:

Monday – Writers on Writing.
Tuesday – Motivation
Wednesday – Writing Class
Thursday – Editing
Friday – Biography
Saturday – Books Writers Should Read
Sunday – Writing Prompts

This book is phenomenal. One could teach a class–each page is a lesson plan–using the tips, prompts and motivations.  If you’re looking for a gift for a writer friend, this is the perfect gift, but you’d better purchase two copies because once you get home and browse through A Writer’s Devotional, you won’t be able to wrap it up and give it away.

Set up in the traditional devotional book format, it’s impossible to read one devo per day. I’ve gobbled page after page after page each time I sit down with it. The great thing is that this book can be read over and over again. Hats off to Amy Peters for a beautiful, useful writing tool that inspires, instructs and motivates. This book is a writer’s treasure.

Let’s Dance!

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Let’s take a look at our dreams and goals and act on them, tweak them, do what’s necessary to get us to the next level… or at least, closer to where we’d like to be. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one’s own sunshine.” Isn’t that true? Open the blinds in your office and get out of your own way. Use those dust particles that we only see in the sunlight for inspiration.

Ray Bradbury said, “You can’t try to do things; you simply must do them.”

Must. Do. Them.

Open that desk drawer, pull out your list of goals. Choose one. Do whatever it takes to get started.  Shove that ball downhill and watch it roll. My own way of saying, get that first word, sentence, paragraph on paper then allow your characters to take you places. 

I love the quote by H. Jackson Brown Jr. “Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor.” You don’t need a partner. Get out on that dance floor. Every day is a new beginning. Every morning is a new opportunity. Let’s dance.

Q is for Quotes

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I love quotes and like many writers, collect those that speak to me. I even collect some that are so silly I’ll never forget them. Like this one by American Idol judge, Stephen Tyler. He told one contestant, “Crows crow and hens deliver the goods.”  Yeah, ‘nuf said.

Last night Jennifer Lopez said, “Part of being an artist is bearing your soul.”  I went to the library in Yukon yesterday, picked up a book by Stephen James (I’ve never read him) and as I read several pages, I thought: this author really cares; I can feel it. I guess he was bearing his soul.

Other quotes I like:

“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”  ~Kahlil Gibran

I’m trying to keep this in mind since the wind is constantly blowing in Oklahoma.

Don’t let a single day go by without writing. Even if it’s garbage, if garbage is all you can write, write it. Garbage eventually becomes compost with a little treatment. ~Anonymous

“[The writer] knows he has a short span of life, that the day will come when he must pass through the wall of oblivion, and he wants to leave a scratch on that wall – Kilroy was here – that somebody a hundred, or a thousand years later will see.” ~William Faulkner (1897-1962)

Everyone is gifted – but some people never open their package. ~unknown

 The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true. ~John Steinbeck

Put weather in.  ~Joseph Hansen

Do you have a favorite quote that stays in the forefront of your mind as you write or live your life?

Something To Think About

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I love quotes. Here are a few I found today that made me think, wonder, shake my head.

Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

I remind myself often that I have exactly the same amount of time as Stephen King. I’m always a little shocked by the thought. 

Talk uses up ideas … Once I have spoken them aloud, they are lost to me, dissipated into the noisy air like smoke. Only if I bury them, like bulbs, in the rich soil of silence do they grow. ~Doris Grumbach
I have a friend who used to share with me every detail of the novel she planned to write. Color of the heroine’s hair. Dimple in the hero’s cheek. Plot points, conflict, black moment. Minute details. And then she’d sit down and write the book. She sold about eight or nine Silhouette Romances before she quit writing. I wonder if she was ‘verifying’ her story before she committed it to publication.

Just get it down on paper, and then we’ll see what to do about it.  ~Maxwell Perkins
And when I do this, I have the biggest mess. Revision has turned into a real challenge for me–at least with the book I’m working on now. I think it’s because I’ve taken a Christian romance and tried to change my characters for a secular audience. I’ve quietened their prayers and they aren’t too happy about it. Then again, maybe I’m not skilled at revising. I’m doing more than revising. I’m adding scenes, twisting, turning, manipulating. And I’m not accomplishing anything.

Why shouldn’t truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.  ~Mark Twain
This quote actually makes me angry. I hate that fiction really does have to make sense.

Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.  ~ Cicero [106 B.C. to 43 B.C.]

This is hilarious.
 What’s your favorite quote and how does it speak to you? Share.