Happy new year Diana!

I’m trying my best to change my attitude about Twitter and perhaps I haven’t really put it to use, but I will not reject it. Yes…time management is so difficult for me right now, especially with so much on my plate. Right now, just writing 1-2 weekly posts, commenting on a hundred+ blogs and working is really bogging me down. I’m not making excuses, I’m just trying to stay afloat…lol! I took the last few days off…whew I needed the break.

The way I see fictional plots is that there is really no such thing as a truly original plot structure–or that all plots regardless of originality are unoriginal, no matter how original they seem–someone has already done it . . . somewhere. As long as the story is interesting and the characters are interesting, the plot becomes unnoticeable and you’re just drawn into the story–never noticing any formulaic structure. I’m a huge fan of the TV show Law & Order, especially the episodes with Vincent D’Onofrio. Every show is formulaic, but the writing is still great. Every episode almost has the same exact structure–but through imaginative writing, you don’t notice the formula.

I’m just a beginner writer, but I believe in myself and want to develop my skills in a serious way. I am really inspired by you and all the commenters here on this post. I am adjusting my entire outlook on everything to be positive. Thanks Dan!

I bought a course a couple years ago that goes over a formula of some of the most popular works–a formula that all these top works have in common.

On the outset, that may seem restrictive. Who wants to churn out another piece of formulaic garbage?

But, on the other hand, you can look at that formula, and study how others have used it, even subtly, and you can see how you can fit your own works into that formula while retaining the integrity of your work. Perhaps there is somewhat of a trade-off, but if it doesn’t affect the core of your work, it may be a fair trade.

Of course, my main goal is to tell a particular story. If I can work it within a certain framework, I’ll do it in order that I might better the odds of reaching a wider audience. But, I’m not going to do that to a story where it just doesn’t work. I’m not going to try to shoehorn something into something it’s not. In those cases, maybe it will be harder to reach a wider audience, but at least I will reach those I do with the story I intended and not a story forced to fit a certain formula.

I think Twitter is great. It’s a great way of meeting different people and lots of them. It’s a great way to make connections. And, it’s faster than blogging too. If I need an opinion on something, I could put up a blog post and, over the course of a couple days, I might get a dozen responses, if I’m lucky. But, on Twitter, I can tweet a question and maybe get a dozen responses in a minute or two.

Sometimes, I hear news on Twitter too. I heard about the recent plane accident in Denver before I heard about it anywhere else.

The downside can be that it’s hard to keep up with everything, especially blogs. I don’t visit blogs as frequently as I used too, plus I’ve found many new blogs and bloggers through Twitter, so there are more blogs to visit than I even knew of before! And, sometimes I may visit a blog, but not have anything to say. I may occasionally leave a short message just so the blogger knows I’m still reading, but I largely avoid doing that as I’d really before to add something substantive and not just a “hello!” comment.

The trick is just learning to manage it all, which is something I’m still working on. And, the holidays have given me a break of sorts, so I haven’t been spending as much time online, which gives me an opportunity to reflect on how to better manage the time I do spend online.

I think all bloggers are new so to speak. I’ve been at it almost two years and it shows; taking me longer periods of time to visit everyone. Trying to visit 300 or more people everyday and comment–thoughtfully comment–can be overly cumbersome; so I take my time to avoid getting burned out, which becomes easier to do the longer you blog. But I’m here for the long haul and blogging is an important aspect of my life. The people are fantastic and I really try to know them in a deeply personal way, if they allow me to.

This is quite a story you have and I am so happy to see you out there writing up a storm. Please keep going, learning and evolving–the endless journey with no end. I welcome you to my humble home and look forward to getting to know you.

I think I’m in love! LOL
I just checked out your blog through Blog Catalog, so I haven’t had time to read through your whole blog yet and get all hot over your darker entries…but give me time!

I’m new to the blogging world, so as I read through the different blogs finding what I enjoy and what I don’t, I often ask myself…”how many freaking bookmarks and rss feeds am I going to have in a year from now? Geez! There are some that catch my attention (humor bloggers and satire) and sometimes I find myself reading MORE than I am writing. Finding that balance is going to be helpful for me, but in the meantime I am trying to get a feel for the blogosphere. I have noticed a lot of monetized blogs, and there seems to be genuine difference between those who would like to make money doing what they love and those who just flat out love money! It hasn’t been difficult to spot.

I have stepped way out of my comfort zone to begin writing about my life. Not an easy task since I wasn’t taught to read or write at an early age. I had a learning disability which kept me silent most of the time out of fear of rejection or being mocked for feudal attempts of expressing my thoughts. It took a lot of encouragement from a very good friend of mine to begin penning my thoughts and feelings. I will be forever grateful to her for that. I knew almost nothing about computers or how to create a website but I am learning something new everyday.

I look forward to reading more of your work!