A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

  Finding The “Write” Path   Pour yourself a second cup of coffee. I'm giving you, my readers, the inside scoop. I have been residing in a strange place in my writing for a while. I love to write stories. I love to see characters come to life on the pages of a book. I like the entire writing process. Yet these past months I have struggled with the craft.     I’ve been praying about it for several months. I totally renovated my office. I created spreadsheets for my works in progress. I talked about the books I have brewing in my head.    In many ways, it seems I have been glued to my computer without results. Okay, that isn’t exactly true. I have boosted my score in several word games and logic games as well as an online version of Yahtzee.    I’ve kept my blog up and running even when I have to pull an all-nighter to string enough coherent sentences together to qualify as a post. And I have resorted to a few “themed” posts when I had to trave...

Cauliflower, Cabbage and College I am working on a contemporary novel set in the fictional town of Longneck, Indiana. My main character is William Morganthaler, a young wounded warrior starting his own business. It is a suspense novel.     I was looking for a proverb or saying of some sort that might hang on Will’s office wall. Several about success came to mind. Those sounded appropriate for his tool and die operation, but I wanted something a bit more vague or something he could call on for inspiration when he faces down the antagonist. I haven’t reached that place in my book yet, but you get the idea.   So like any good author, I set out searching the internet for interesting sayings.  I soon found myself probing into the words of Mark Twain. I’m not sure any of his quotes will make it into my book, but they were so entertaining, I decided to share a few of them here. Some are simply humorous, others poignant.    And as you read through these, keep ...

Last week I woke up and started the day with joy. “Ah, Yes!…Friday!”  I was totally disappointed to discover it was only Thursday and I had a full plate of things to accomplish before the weekend. Fatigue? Brain Fog? Anxiety? You thought those were symptoms of “Post COVID-19 Syndrome,” right?    Yes. And no.    Many who have not contracted any form of the coronavirus are actually experiencing those same symptoms.   Some relate it to Zoom Fatigue. And yes, Zoom Fatigue is real. Many of us still struggle to remember the day of the week. Others write it off as the “new normal.”   So what is going on and how can you combat it?    For over a year we changed the way we live, work, and interact with others. It was a time of uncertainty. It was a time when we stopped vacationing, eating out, and throwing parties. We ate at home, played at home, worked from home.    Some of that was fun. For a while.  And while work may have been more ...

  Lend Me Your Ear   Have you ever known someone to be “half listening?” I’ll confess. I’ve been that person. We’ve all done it. I have actually been known to look directly at someone and instead of listening to what is being said, I’m busy thinking about some clever comeback.    Even the Bible admonishes us to “…be quick to listen, slow to speak…” James 1:19.    It reminds me of the old adage, “If it had been intended for [man] to talk twice as much as listen, [he] would have been given two mouths and one ear.”   Listening. It is often considered a lost art. Listening requires engagement. No, not that “nod the head” kind of engagement while you actually do something else. Listening involves eye contact, paying attention, understanding, and sometimes…on occasion… responding verbally.    Kelsey Grammar’s character on the television show,  Frazier , used the tag line “I’m Listening” for his radio talk show.    If only we could al...