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Dream the Impossible Dream

By on October 19, 2013 in 4. Writer’s Life, Inspiration and Life Coaching, Encourage Me!, Life Coaching, Nurturing Creativity, Nurturing the Soul, Writer's life, Writing Life, Writing Life Coaching

You just thought of Man From LaMancha, didn’t you? What a beautiful message. Did you know that song was recorded by artists that ran the span of genres. Jim Nabors, Elvis, Andy Williams and Frank Sinatra just to name a few.

Why? Because it is powerful. It speaks to going for it, no matter how the odds may be stacked against you. It instills the courage to face whatever challenge that stands between you and reaching your goal.

We’ve seen a lot of changes in the publishing industry this year. It’s enough to make a writer think they’ll never be a published author. It makes you want to sing, “Gloom, despair and agony on me…”

Your dream of being a writer is too important to remain unlived. You’ll face challenges, market nightmares and critics who would rather write bad reviews about your book than to go through the time and trouble to write their own.

You’ll have moments when you feel you’re attempting the impossible. Here’s the truth. You have the absolute right to and should dream the impossible dream. Besides, it’s just a word: I (a)m Possible.

Lots of people have lived impossible dreams. You can, too. Hard is hard and impossible is not as difficult as the world makes it out to be.

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What Are You Harvesting?

By on October 12, 2013 in 4. Writer’s Life, Inspiration and Life Coaching, Encourage Me!, Life Coaching, Nurturing Creativity, Nurturing the Soul, Writer's life, Writing Life, Writing Life Coaching

Right now all over America, farmers are hard at work bringing in the harvest a year’s crops have yielded.

If they planned well, did their diligence and were fortunately enough to avoid severe storms, they most likely have a bumper crop.

Just like Farmer Brown in Iowa, you are harvesting as well. Maybe you’re not picking the last of the tomatoes but you are reaping the writing seeds you sowed way back when you began your year.

Hopefully, you decided on what you wanted to harvest right about now and planted the right seeds. You worked on that craft and made sure you got in your weekly word count.

Things come up just like on the farm. Perhaps you’ve dodged more than your share of early spring snows and late summer tornadoes. But what did you do after the storm? Did you care for your writing crop or did you throw in the towel?

The answer to that question determines what you’re reaping at this moment. If you are a farmer, you always farm. When things get rough and don’t go your way, you farm. When storms come across your crops, you still farm. When the tornado leaves, you pick up the pieces and, well, farm.

Writers—true honest to goodness committed wordsmiths—write. When things are good, they write. When things are bad, they still hammer out word counts. When the storms of life cause waves of despair to crash over them, they still write.

Why? The farmer can answer that better than I can. Right now—today—he’s very glad he kept farming because his silos are being filled, his cupboards are being stocked with food for the winter and his bank account is busting at the seams. He’s reaping what he sowed.

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It’s About the Journey, Not the Destination

By on September 28, 2013 in 4. Writer’s Life, Inspiration and Life Coaching, Encourage Me!, Life Coaching, Nurturing Creativity, Nurturing the Soul, Reba Hoffman, Writer's life, Writing Life, Writing Life Coaching

Almost daily I speak to writers who pine for publication. They figure once they get there, they will have arrived. They’ll be where they always wanted to be. Sadly, I also know published authors who look back with an emptiness that haunts them. Why? They were so concerned about the destination of publication, they forgot to enjoy the trip.

It reminds me of a bicycling event in central Florida I rode once. The route took riders right by the space shuttle on launch pad 39-A at Cape Canaveral, as well as the largest known eagle’s nest in the United States. The roadway was cut right through coastal marsh land, providing a natural home for the alligators, snakes and countless water fowl.

At the end of the event, I listened as a group of riders standing close by recounted their trip.

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Don’t Forget to Breathe

By on September 14, 2013 in 4. Writer’s Life, Inspiration and Life Coaching, Encourage Me!, Life Coaching, Nurturing Creativity, Nurturing the Soul, Reba Hoffman, Writer's life, Writing Life, Writing Life Coaching

As you read this, the MBT staff is hard at work at the ACFW conference (if you’re there too, stop by the MBT booth. I’d love to say hi!!). I’m sure you’re hard at work as well. You’ve been repeating your elevator speech a hundred times, not realizing it was to the hotel staff. When you finally got across the table from your dream agent, you forget everything… even your name! Conferences are enough to make you feel you insignificant. Like you’re a little tadpole in a great big ocean. If you’re not careful, you let some things go that really need to be attended to. That’s why I want to encourage you to stop! Relax! And… don’t forget to breathe! Whether you land that contract or not, you’re writing […]

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