Holiday Chaos...

First, I would like to thank everyone for at least their kind words and support. I raised a little over 100 dollars to release some of that burden off my parents' shoulders financially this Winter. My dad is still having problems working his ebay business and people are jerks and keep asking for refunds when he says it might be a few days until he can ship things out. I do not understand how urgent people must want things that they cannot wait a couple extra days. If they need something so bad, I do not think relying on ebay in the first place is all that wise. That is just my thoughts, though. We are holding on to the hope that he will get better and the cancer will go into remission. Right now they are saying the average is 16 months left to live since he was first diagnosed. That's a huge difference from the 20 years I was still hoping to have left to spend. AT LEAST.  But miracles happen. He is staying positive, and I am trying to do the same.

After making a little bit over 200 cookies this past weekend, I have finally sent out all my cookie tins (mostly). Now I can finally relax a little bit and hopefully get some writing done before taking a trip out to Colorado. I've seen a lot of interesting contests going around and hoping to try getting back into the swing of things. I need practice. I desperately want to become a better writer and not sure exactly how to be a writer people would actually pay to hear or read. I have a lot of inspiration here on this lovely site but reading their works also makes me feel a bit discouraged thinking ("Oh man, I could never write like that!" "Oh wow, what an interesting way of looking at things... why can I never think of anything original?") Not the best thoughts in the world but they are there currently so it is an obstacle I have to get over. I've seen a lot of clubs that I think would be cool to join but am so frightened by people and rejection that I always end up running away. So if you have any ideas on where I should plant my butt to learn some good fashion poetry, please point me in that direction.




A question: How do you get inspired? How long do you poke at a piece until it finally feels right? What's cliche? What's overdone? Ok, so this is more than one question. Mostly, I just want your thoughts about what is "good" and what is "bad" in terms of writing.


I want to make some guidelines for myself because the year 2011 is the year I make a name for myself (hopefully).



Thanks for spending your precious time reading my journal And thanks even more if you respond!