Tag: Being yourself

Friday Morning FYI – 2/22/2019

Ron Delaney Jr2 Comments

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI (something-like-a-year-since-the-last-one-of-these edition) – my chance to share observations/rants in short, easy-to-consume form.

I recently had a short story published (*shameless self back pat* – won 1st place) in a new annual anthology competition called The Bould Awards. It’s a small thing in the grand scheme and came after years of submissions, but it let me create an Amazon author page, which is kind of cool.

That got me thinking about all the paths to publishing available to writers today. It used to be that you’d type out your work (good god, how did people write anything without BACKSPACE, Cut > Paste, etc.?), somehow get the name of a publishing agent, stick your work in a yellow envelope, hand it to a smiling neighborhood postman, and pray. Now we’ve got blogs and online profiles, email, content-formatting submission forms, Twitter contests, live-pitching at conferences, small press open calls, Wattpad, hybrid publishing, a hundred forms of self-publishing, etc. This is good and bad, of course. With availability comes opportunity, but also mountains of content for decision makers to weed through and for your work to be compared against. Still, what a world!

That brings us to this week’s FYI:

The only thing worse for your art than comparing your work/struggles/achievements to someone else’s is assuming there’s only one path to whatever you define as success. Everyone’s golden ring is different. If you have one book in you, there’s options. If you have ten books in you or a bunch of short stories or fifty pieces of flash fiction or a poetry collection, same answer. Don’t get hung up on someone else getting picked over you for a contest, writer friends around you landing agents or selling short stories, or whatever. Focus on you and your art, craft it as best you can, and learn from every new sentence/paragraph/page/chapter/story. In the end the most important thing is to persist along your path, not trace anyone else’s.

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

Friday Morning FYI – 1/13/2017

Ron Delaney Jr2 Comments

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI (internal darkness edition for Friday the 13th) – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

This week, I sent a story to some writer friends whose opinions I value. The responses were all positive, each picking up the cold and sinister vibe I was going for (serial killer-y goodness). One response was an observation on me, which is great to get, and made me think. It started:

“Sh!t, dude, you’re dark!”

Here’s the thing: I am dark (insert sinister laugh). I’m also very positive, light-hearted, and an all-around decent human being. I love ridiculous, over-the-top deaths in horror movies, and give to various charities. Seeing someone fall down makes me grin (unless they really hurt themselves, but by the time I learn that the grin is already grinned, if I’m honest), and I do yoga and meditate. Like most people, I’m multi-layered. That brings us to this week’s FYI:

One of the great advantages to being an artist (yes, writers, you’re artists) is having an outlet to express all the sharp angles of you. If you keep hearing your characters all sound the same, you’re holding back. Maybe it’s fear of what people will think, or maybe you just don’t think you have “that” in you. Nonsense. We’re all capable of imagining (there’s the trick – going to places in your head is not the same as acting) joy/sadness/mania/horror/relief/loss/etc.. We just have to be willing to type it out and see where it goes.

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

Friday Morning FYI – 9/17/2016

Ron Delaney JrLeave a comment

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI (it’s Saturday and there’s hockey on so WOOT! edition) – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

I have a friend who’s going to deliver a presentation on self-education with a focus on the idea if you want something, you have to motivate yourself to go get it. What a great topic! So great, I think I’ll steal it (remember, writer) for this week’s FYI:

I hear people complain about not-having enough time to do stuff all. The. Time. Forget for a moment how much time they’re wasting complaining rather than doing something productive, the sentiment is just nonsense. If you have something you want, you’ll make it a priority, simple as that. If you want it, go get it! Don’t say you don’t have time to lose weight as you wash down your cream cheese covered bagel with your iced super-giganto caramel macchiato. Don’t say you don’t have time to get a degree when you’re planning to go home and watch five hours of the Real Housewives of What-f*ck-berg. Find time, or admit that thing is not a priority. It’s OK, really. No one’s going to stone you if you don’t ‘finally’ rebuild that old car engine or take-up Tai Chi. It’ll be fine, I promise.

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

Friday Morning FYI – 8/26/2016

Ron Delaney JrLeave a comment

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI (hey-look-I’m-only-a-day-late edition) – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

Have you ever had one of those 48-hour periods where you keep having the same conversation with different people? In the last couple of days, I’ve talked about doing what’s right for yourself with no less than 3 people, each raising the subject themselves. I can’t ignore a sign from the universe like that, so that topic is this week’s FYI:

There are going to be times when you face the choice between doing what you believe to be right for you and what other people are saying. This could be something as simple as getting a tattoo or something as life-impacting as changing careers. While ignoring everyone else’s advice is not something you should do flat out, ultimately you succeed and fail on your own. You’re the one who knows whether or not you’ll put in the time, you’re the one who knows whether or not you have the stamina, and you’re the one who knows whether or not you’re capable of achieving your dreams. Own that, and know if things don’t go as you’d hoped at least you went for it and lived the way you wanted to. Most people can’t say that.

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

Friday Morning FYI – 7/1/2016

Ron Delaney JrLeave a comment

Welcome to your Friday Morning FYI – my chance to share observations/wisdom/rants in short, easily consumed form.

Last week I wrote about a friend who was hoping to land free tuition to a holistic coaching education program. She didn’t get it (which is bullsh!t in my never-humble opinion) but wasn’t disheartened. “I made a fun, creative video in a really tight deadline. That’s pretty cool, regardless.” (in your head, hear that quote in a New Zealand accent to make it even better) Yes, she did. Even though swinging the tuition on top of  her normal bills will be tough, she didn’t let getting shafted (as her friend I can be bitter for her) get her down. That’s this week’s FYI:

People say how you deal with adversity is up to you. I agree with that, but there’s more to it – starting with always doing your best. When you do, at least you have that, which no one can take away. We writers know this all too well.

 

Thanks for reading,

{RDj}

PS – Speaking of writing, I’m late this week because I spent every spare moment yesterday finishing the front story for my new book. A few bits of backstory and this bad boy’s first draft will be done 😀