To my valued Subscribers: Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification Since the only purpose for this post is to complete the MyBlogLog Verification process, please ignore this one. I respect each and everyone of you too much to waste any of your precious time with meaningless posts.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Add comment January 17th, 2008
Last year, my wife, KWiz, and I watched the movie “Freedom Writers.” This year, we watched “The Great Debaters.” Both are unforgettable films. If you’re an aspiring writer who needs a reason to finish writing your book, please don’t wait to see either of these films. Both are amazing examples of the art of story-telling.
It’s true! Everybody has a story to tell. Some of you are extremely talented, gifted writers who can effortlessly employ the power of the written word to tell your stories. For me, writing is a struggle, which is why I started blogging last year. Have you ever wondered if there’s some secret formula or writing technique that will make one book sell better than another?
Can “talent alone” ensure the success of the books that authors allegedly choose to write? Who or what enables prolific writers to repeat the meticulous process behind the creative chaos that made your book a success? Does the timing of a book’s release play a significant part in its author’s ability to emotionally connect with one generation and not another? Do you believe that book sales, or the lack thereof, are an accurate indication of the perceived success or the failure of a book?
According to prolific author Paulo Coelho’s profile, “Slow initial sales [of The Alchemist] convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time.
Have any of you ever pondered the possibility that the part you played did little to determine the success of your book? Did God’s sovereign will and perfect plan have anything to do with the success of your book? If yes, does it really matter whether or not an author chooses to employ “urban street teams” or “main stream” marketeers to promote a book that’s destined to become a national best seller? As writers, what part do we play in the books we author?
Do books choose their writers or do writers choose the books they pen? I had no desire to write a book before I began to pen Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness. I believe the book that I birthed chose me. I can still recall waking up in the middle of the night to write the first page of my big dream. Once I began writing it, I couldn’t stop. Whenever I felt inspired to write, I didn’t sleep much. I didn’t eat. I didn’t talk. Since I didn’t have anything to distract me, I just wrote. I constantly canceled or rescheduled appointments until the words stopped flowing from somewhere deep within the heart of my soul.
Am I crazy or has this ever happened to any of you? What did you do initially? Did you look around the room to see if you were all alone? Did you ignore the words you heard or did you heed the still, small voice that inspired you to believe that you could achieve something bigger than yourself? Did people laugh at you, ridicule you, and reject you when they heard about the genesis of your big dream? My mother and my wife stood by me at a time when I needed their love and support the most.
Writing Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness was an act of faith for me. I wrote on anything and everything I could get my hands on as evidenced by all the cardboard boxes still stuffed with the hastily scribbled notes that I stockpiled over the years. During those difficult days when I had no place to lay my head, I didn’t have time to feel sorry for myself. For reasons that still escape me, I refused to give up after the fall I survived.
Nevertheless, trusting God when nothing made sense wasn’t easy. To challenge myself to keep getting up and showing up for my street fight with Adversity, I started writing poetic essays. Writing literally saved my life after my business failed and I was forced to file bankruptcy. Because of the vision that God gifted to me, I had a plan that I could believe in. God’s unchanging love gave me hope during my darkest days. It’s true! Without a vision, people with no reason to hope will perish.
For reasons now known, “But by grace still go I” is not just some empty Christian phrase that I casually toss around to sound spiritual. If you’re a published writer, did your book choose you or did you choose your book? I hope this post has encouraged somebody to rise to your feet and inspired you to honestly believe that you can beat impossible odds with God’s help. If so, please let me know.
Copyright (c) 2008 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.
Popularity: 35% [?]
5 comments January 14th, 2008
“I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”
–Picasso
Guess what? My blog is “broken.” Why? Because I broke it during a failed attempt to fix a possible security risk that upgrading to WordPress 2.3.1 is supposed to resolve. Quick question. How many bloggers have not attempted to upgrade to WordPress 2.3.1 because you’re afraid you might fail? As evidenced by my “Home Page,” my efforts to finish this arduous upgrade have failed.
Why is failure and failing perceived as a bad thing if one learns more by failing to “do something” than by succeeding to “do nothing?” Does failing and failure frighten you? If not, share your “success story” by letting us know what you’ve done for the “first time” during 2007. Before you post a comment, think about how you’ve been programmed, conditioned, and taught to define “success” and “failure.”
What have you done for the first time this year? For the first time, I’ve published a blog. Did I fail to write perfect, error-free posts? Most Definitely! Did I fail to achieve all the goals I set out to accomplish thus far? Most definitely! But I’ve learned so much and met so many beautiful bloggers because I stepped outside the boat of my self-imposed limitations. Steppin’ outside the boat of what gave me a false sense of security and launching this blog was truly an act of faith for a person like me with perfectionistic tendencies like mine.
Because my site is not monetized, I sacrificed my blogging goals as a blogger to birth my big dream by finishing a literary project that began before leaving Los Angeles, California in 1997. For the first time, I’ve “successfully” written, designed, and produced a 272 page book that has taken me over 10 years to complete. Only by the grace of God is Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness finished.
But because I’ve failed to write a post for this blog as frequently as expected to become a successful blogger, am I a failure in the eyes of my peers? Does anybody know who wrote the rules that govern bloggers and blogging? Who sat down and wrote the formulas and algorithms that determine “Page Rankings?” Did they succeed or fail? Does money earned determine who becomes a successful blogger?
How many of my prolific peers in the blogosphere will vilify me, ridicule me, reject me, and think less of me because I’ve failed, fallen short, and missed the mark set by a few professional bloggers? How many of my “subscribers” will stop supporting my relentless efforts to make a difference by abandoning my community because I’ve failed to rise to the level of your expectations? How many of you still believe that nobody loves a “loser” as much as everybody loves a “winner?”
During your quiet talk with God in your secret place, ask yourself, Does failing and failure frighten you because you still fear ridicule and rejection? Think about your answer before posting your comment.
Copyright © 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.
Popularity: 24% [?]
15 comments November 26th, 2007
This blog is currently experiencing technical difficulties due to a required WordPress upgrade. Some of the features and pages are currently missing or not functioning properly. Nevertheless, I choose to remain hopeful that we shall prevail over Murphy’s Law.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Add comment November 25th, 2007
Our current DSL provider has not been able to solve this perplexing dilemma to our satisfaction. For almost a month now, our home’s DSL service has been so unstable that it is now completely unreliable.
Customer service has been out-sourced to a call center housed outside the U.S.A. At times, it’s rather difficult to understand what the help desk technicians are saying. It always sounds as though they’re reading from a script.
Based upon a few heated conversations, I don’t get the impression that our current DSL provider cares about the level of “customer service” they provide as much as they are concerned about extending or renewing existing “contractual commitments.”
Fix my “existing” technical problem “before” trying to “up sell” an unhappy customer a “new” contract.
If you can read this post, maybe the other previously written posts will also appear before my DSL link goes down again. If not, please visit my archives until I can locate another DSL provider and get caught up.
Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.
Popularity: 10% [?]
3 comments August 6th, 2007
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