Why I Switched To A Free Blog, and What Success Means To Me

Tada! New surroundings, as I'm sure you've noticed. And you may be wondering why.

I hope so. I'm dying to explain!

I've been pretty mum in the online world since mid-October. And its been good for me, mostly. I've been re-thinking a lot of things, and I've come to a lot of interesting new conclusions. Also, I've been sick a lot. That's why this blog post didn't come out a few weeks ago. If I'd felt better, I would have written around Christmas (by the way, I'm noticing that the worse I feel physically, the harder it is to feel ambitious. Or to just plain out-and-out Get Discouraged).

Anyway--the new blog. (WARNING: Rants ahead!)

Basically, I decided it was better for me, at this stage in my life to go back to a free site/blog. Maybe some day I will be better able to afford a paid website (I certainly hope so!). But I no longer feel I have to have a paid site.

Why?

Well, if you are at all interested in being an online entrepreneur of any kind, you've probably heard Marketing Gurus expounding over and over on how you must have a website of your own. There's two main reasons for this. One, a paid website is yours (*cough* so long as you can keep up the payments of course. *cough cough*). The only other reason seems to be professional pride. That people will take you more seriously if you don't have a "blogspot.com" or "wordpress.com" attached to your domain.

Well. Maybe people do take you more seriously with a paid site. But I'm not so sure that I ever cared much, until the Marketers told me too.

I'm also starting to think that Pride alone is a pretty poor reason to buy something I really cannot afford at the moment. 

As for having a place that's really all mine on the internet...how true is this if I can't pay for it any longer? Now thats something I've always wondered about. I have to pay for domains and hosting, so who am I paying? Doesn't that give the people I'm paying some sort of claim too? Therefore, aren't I right back to Square One, "renting space" off somebody online?

Don't get me wrong! I know that a website is much better than using a social media account to market something you're selling. I'm just taking a stand for all of us dirt-poor entrepreneurs and saying, I honestly see NOTHING wrong with a free site or blog until you can afford something better.

And please don't fall into the trap of thinking that just because you do buy something (a website, a how-to course, or a myriad other things), that it will certainly make you a success. A website doesn't guarantee success. There's a lot more goes into it.

Of course, maybe I need to stop and define "success" here! By it, do I mean, that you gain a following of thousands, or make enough money to quit your day  job, or become the next J.K. Rowling or....what?

I guess that all depends on you. It's different for everyone.

But I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

Let me tell you what my defination of success is.

What I love to do most is create. I love words and I love color. I am a storyteller and an artist. To me, a day is wasted if I haven't drawn a picture, written a couple hundred words, or in some other manner made something beautiful.

Since I've been sick, I've been thinking a lot about why I do what I do. For the last year I've been putting up short stories as ebooks, working like crazy on a website, and trying to build an email list. I've learned a lot of practical things in the process, but the truth is, the only reason I could find for any of this crazy Hubbub was, "So I can get people to buy my books, and then make enough money doing it, that I can write books full time."

That's not really a bad reason of course. But it seems to have become the only reason I was doing anything. And the truth is, as soon as money enters the picture all happiness and contentment spirals downward.

It leads to a very self-centered point of view. Not to mention sheer desperation! And pretty soon, its simply no fun to write, draw, or create--and that was the whole point of this disappointing spiral! To have enough time to make the things I love to make!

At this point in my thinking (and realizing), I came to a conclusion on what would be success for me.

For me, success is doing whatever will please God, not myself.
For me, success is being able to reach out and help others in some way, even if it means a little discomfort to myself.
For me, success is creating things of wonder and beauty, just for the joy of making them--and if those things can serve the first two purposes, even better!

So, that's why I'm simplifying. That's why I moved to a free website. That's why I'm taking another look at the thousand and one goals I set at the beginning of the year (yes, I'm a goal-setting-aholic. I admit it)...and plan to simplify some more!

Not sure exactly where this journey will take me, but its bound to be a pretty exciting one!

I hope you'll take a moment to comment and tell me what success means to you...and how my blog, my creations, and myself could be of service in your life!

Have a blessed and creative day, my friends!

A Glimpse of Elfland

Excerpt from "Falling Into Fairyland"

(Upcoming mini ebook)

DISCLAIMER: This is rough draft material. It will be buggy and contain typos. There is no guarantee it will even be in the book so there's no need to point out mistakes in grammar or spelling. This is provided for enjoyment only! All rights belong to the author. Please do not copy or share in anyway...except to share this post via email or social media with friends of course! Thanks. :)

So, enjoy!

INTRODUCTION

I'm not a fairy believer or anything. But there was a time that I nearly saw an Elf.

I have always been deeply into fantasy literature. And I love Elves. Ever since I read Lord of the Rings at the age of 12 or 13. Or even before. I remember watching Rigoletto and being fascinated by the hints of an Elfland in the movie.

And I'm a writer. I'm always writing or drawing something, especially something fantastical.

That hot August afternoon I sat on my front porch with pen and paper in hand. I don't remember if I was writing or drawing. But I was stuck. I remember that. And I fell to looking around the yard and staring, trance-like, at the vegetation across the road.

A cloud rolled across the sun. A gloomy sort of shadow lay across the world for a moment.

And I was staring deep into the canopy of green vines and leaves that draped over the creek-bank. It was a very Elfish place. I love those little glimpses. It gives me a shivery feeling of wonder. This is what I mean when I speak of 'magic" being in something. An overwhelming glimpse of beauty and majesty that overwhelms you. It usually involves the woods. Or God.  It's full of hope.

And Elves.

I fell into imagination somewhere along in there. What if, from deep within the shadows of the canopy...

What if an Elf--tall, blond, dressed in brown and green, with a longbow, shimmering with light--were to step from beneath it at just this moment? I was so deeply lost in imagination, that I could see him clearly. For a second I felt like I really had seen him.

Suddenly the green canopy gave a great twitch!

I jumped in my seat, heart going like a trip hammer.

And my little, brown dog leaped out of the green canopy, chasing a rabbit.

I let out a ragged breath of disappointment. Doggone it! (No pun intended).

For a second I'd really hoped I was going to see something!

That is the story of my life. Always so close to Elfland and never quite there.

I can't help it. A part of me keeps hoping to someday discover its real. :)

Yes I Disappeared...

Confessions From An Invisible Writer.

Okay, so I didn't literally disappear. No magic rings or invisibility capes for me. Sorry about the fakey attempt to intrique my readers...which I'm 99.999% certain didn't work anyway.

But I have certainly been absent from this blog for months.

Sorry about that too.

But lets be honest. It wasn't much of a loss. This blog has devolved into a dull "Hey look I published a short story you should buy it and by the way this is what I did yesterday" accounting of things. Who wants to read that?

Well. Alright, so I'm always interested when writers that I love do that on their blogs. So I won't bash myself.

But still we need something more interesting here.

And this summer has been one with some amount of soul searching for me. At least as far as writing and art and creativety and What Shall I Do With My Talents And Life In General goes.

I've been doing a course from Kevin Kaiser that is helping me "revise" my online presence...for lack of a better description of what I'm trying to do. It's a course for online creative entrepreneurs anyway ("Did you here that?" My Muse just said wonderingly. "Creative Entrepreneurs. That's what we are!").  Its very simple and straightforward and starts with the basics. So I've just been focusing on that (especially as I've been rather sickly this month and didn't feel like doing much else with my brain...). And I finally think I know where I want to go with this blog and everything.

SOOOO.

A Few Promises From Me:

• I, Leslie Marie Dawson, hereby promise to write something funny and interesting here at least once a week (I've been reading essays and short stories by A.A. Milne lately. That could account for my desire to write dry-witted nonfiction pieces...)


• I also promise to send out a weekly email full of links to interesting things I've collected from the internet that week.


• And I promise to write at least fifteen minutes a day on stories I would like to share with you. The idea is to get used to the fifteen minutes and increase it as I go along...


• I also promise to create and share more art here on the blog (any art actually. As I haven't shared any so far...). I know, to follow through on this I should make a deadline of some kind. But I'm trying to focus on writing for now. So we shall say one piece of art a month...and see if I manage to stick to it.

And that's about it for now.

So, now to brainstorm what that first witty blog post shall be about. Hmm...

See you next week!

May Goals and Updates

It seems I have neglected the blog for a month but I haven't been idle. I've set some writing goals. And I realize I need to make some changes--to this website, to the stories I'm publishing etc. Try new things and all that.

My main goal this month is rewriting the Snarktales. Yes, even the two I've published. Everything gets a new look. I'm excited about this and hopefully I'll finish by the end of the month.

I've also been participating in Story a Day May. The name is self explanatory. You don't technically have to write a new story each day, but can set whatever goal you choose. I decided to try a new story every day though. What I've discovered is that, unless I plan microfiction--a Twitter fiction series, a drabble, or anything under a page or two--I generally can't finish the story. But at least I'm writing super short fiction, finding new plots, and having fun. And I haven't missed writing something daily all month!

I have one other project going. I asked three friends to proofread the Cinderella Snarktale back in February. As a thank you, I'm creating a piece of artwork for each of them--characters from their own fiction. This is a ton of fun. Have been scouring Deviant Art for free stock and reference photos, and creating inspirational Pinterest boards (which said friends can pin too, of course). Right now, I've just got some quick pencil sketches down.

And that's about it! The changes to the published stories and this blog will, hopefully, take place next month. :)

Writer's Block

What I Do To Write When I Don't Feel Like It.

I've spent this whole day trying to come up with something to share with the internet world. I haven't really managed to do anything worthwhile in the matter of writing since I hit publish on the Beauty snarktale.

The plain fact is I'm caught up in writer's block.

So this is me, taking my problem (writer's block) and turning it to some good. I'm going to write a post about ways to conquer writer's block. There won't be anything terribly new here. I'm just hoping that making a list will give me an idea to get writing again!

Therefore, here's some things I try when I can't write:

• Identify what's really causing it (for me, I think its the whole obscurity issue of being a new indie author and blogger...)


• Journal or freewrite. What I've been doing all morning (this has the added advantage of at least getting words out of you--even if its not the words you happen to want at the moment)


• Ask yourself lots of questions--starting with who, what, when, where, how, why. Avoid yes or no questions. They're generally of little help.


• Get away from the desk. Go outside, get some exercise and fresh air!


• Listen to music! I've been doing that all day too and I think its helped.


• Reading. Duh.


• Some people really like aromatherapy--scented candles, incense, spraying a perfume. Whatever. I've noticed that cinnamon is a great smell for clearing your thoughts.


• Try something else creative that you enjoy. I like to draw.


• Or do some boring chore that doesn't require a lot of thought. Wash dishes or fold the laundry. You'll be surprised how your subconscious will work on the creative problem while the rest of you is ridiculously bored. ;)

There. I have a blog post now. I'm so proud of me!

So, what do you do when you have writer's block or any other kind of creative block? I need some new ideas!

April Goals and Camp NaNo

I had some grandiose plans for this month. I was going to do Camp NaNoWriMo and finish a Cinderella retelling...and hit a 50,000 word goal. After all, I hit 70,000 words last NaNo. Piece of cake, right? Despite the fact that I've never started in on a Camp NaNo session yet and finished. Most of them I didn't do more than a 1000 words.

One reason I never finish Camp NaNo is that there's a lot of building anticipation while waiting for November. Plus I have at least one friend who always Nano's with me. And the dreary fall weather probably helps too. Yeah. April's too nice. I want to be outside. With the daffodils and the redbud trees, watching the trees leaf out, and enjoying the warm weather and the lovely breezes.

I should finish this and then get outside!

Anyway. I have scaled back on my writing goals. At least for Camp NaNo and Cinderella. Just 15,000 words (500 a day. Thats doable). And I will focus on other writing work I need to get done.

For one, posting to this blog regularly. And doing a weekly email (though I've only a handful of people so far....mostly loyal friends. Or family). And getting snarktales revised and published (I'm finally back to work on Beauty and the Beast. Hopefully will have it published in a week or two...).

I'm trying to read and learn about marketing my books. Jeff Walker's book about Product Launches (Its called, quite simply "Launch!") is very helpful. I'm planning to experiment and see what I can come up with, based on the advice in this book. Should be fun!

Overwhelmed Writer Checking In...

I've been neglecting the blog, but behind the scenes I've been busy. There's so many things too juggle. And I'm not even making money at this yet! Seriously how do professional people--who have followers actually watching their every move--DO it all?

Oh well. Maybe they have money and can pay others to do some of the jobs. That must help.

But for now, just finding a system for working on various projects leads to Serious Overwhelm by the end of the week and I end up not getting a fourth of what I want done, done. Seriously. There's blog posts. Then emails. Then the whole social-media-gotta-make-friends-and-find-followers thing. Then the fiction itself. Not just the actual ebooks (there's like a dozen different jobs involved there, besides the actual writing). Oh yes. And art. I'd like to be sharing more of that.

So there you are. Why I've been so silent. If there was a theme word for my life, I'm sure Overwhelm would cover it. At least this part of it.

But maybe this week I'll figure it out!