IF It Is To Be, It Is Up To ME

I once knew a man who could figure and plan the stories he intended to write
But the minutes, the hours, even weeks flew by, with never a word in sight.
He'd set up his platform, work through the night, a great protagonist to defend!
He'd dream and envision, mark the revisions, with the greatest novel to thank.
Imagine the surprise in everyone's eyes, to find when he died, his pages were blank.

  My dear readers, remember, there is someone out there who needs your words---your story.
*.  Your Own Story. James Gilcrest Lawson said writing a book changes you throughout the process. You will be a different person after you write and reflect.
*  Your Family. 
*   Future Generations. My distant relative wrote his book years ago. I doubt he everthought about his great-great-nephew reading it.  There will be poeople in your family yet to be born who will be proud and touched by the book you wrote.
* People You Minister To. The people you connect with are going to feel and receive your message.Your book is the furtherance of your calling.
* People Who receive A Copy. Think of the impact of books passed to you.
* PeopleBeyond Your Circle.  You have no idea where your book can end up around the world.  The possibilities are endless---and so is the number of hearts it can change.

   ..Until next time, think on these things...

Checklist

Benjamin Franklin, said, "Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing about."
Someone else said we are our own worst critic. Good! Else we miss the best opportunity for improving our word structure.
And you do know how to be a good critic.
But first, you must start well, in order to finish well. Verdell Davis Krisher says:
Three Things a Writer Must Possess:
*     passion                   (desire)       "Purpose-Driven --- a reason to write?"
**   perspective            (distance)     "How far are you willing to go?"
*** perseverance          (discipline)  "Will you pay the price?"
Now start two checklists: One you may use before you begin, but if you are already 'into it', the other may be in order.

Before:
1.  Is you goal clear and specific?
2.  Have you fixed your audience or readers in mind?
3.  Are you coming to them as a know-it-all or as a fellow human?
4.  Have you gleaned enough material so that you can incarnate your mesage, telling it in terms of people (if possible)?
5.  Are you setting aside adequate time to organize your ideas and to find just the right words to express them?
After:
1.   As your eye falls over the page, do any colorful words or names of people or places stand out?
2.   Is your first sentence short? Is it interesting?
3.   Does it begin "There is" or "There was" or "It is", or "It was"? C If so, change it.
4.   Have you used strong, descriptive words?
5.   Have you overworked, "this", "that""How many 'have's" and "has's" did you use?
6.  Have you used present tense whenever possible?
7.  Is there an obvious antecedent for every pronoun?
8.   How many words can you eliminate without destroyinng its thought or power?
9.   Have you used all the senses available and told your reader in concrete terms what happened?
10. Would you like to read what you have written?