Alexander M Zoltai's Blog – January 2011 Archive (24)

I remember when the Internet was a baby–a brilliant, wide-eyed, baby with limitless potential for positive growth.

The Internet was born to Scientific and Military parents. It soon showed its independence and became the playground of creative, intelligent folks who took its potential and shaped a carnival of information amazement.

One of the most…

So many things in life are taken for granted. So much is automated. Even things like Love can suffer from a lack of proper awareness.

Ever walk down a street you’ve been down hundreds of times and wonder at some detail that seems like it just appeared yet has always been part of the landscape?

Perhaps I can do that for you in this post–give you a fresh vision of what the heck Writing really is.

I often find that checking an…

As usual, I won’t write a post that claims ultimate wisdom. My goal is to share ideas that get you thinking and, hopefully, sharing what you think in the Comments :-)

Should a writer write for the reader?

Who is the reader?

What value is there in writing what you consider necessary in spite of what readers may think?

Some writers will tell you to do research about your potential readers and find out what they want when they read. This is fairly…

Talking helps you write?

Well, it’s more than likely the first “writers” in our human family were mostly speakers. I could work really hard to do the research to support that contention but I’m reasonable certain; plus, I found a cool Squidoo Lens that can launch you into this ancient art form, still alive and kickin’, by the way :-)

And, if you…

Writers, almost all of them, want to be published. Not so many years ago, the only way to be published that let the multitudes receive your work was to find an agent and have them present your work to editors who then might decide to work with you toward publishing.

There are many stories of writers’ works being published in forms that they really didn’t like; yet, they really wanted to be published so they caved…

To be fair, most respectable publishers worked hard to bring the…

One of my blogging-buddies and fellow writer, Haley Whitehall wrote, in response to the recent post, Words or Deeds ~ Which One Tells You More About A Person?, “I hope you write that future post of writing’s challenge of…

I saw a tweet the other day that said something similar to the title of this post and I got a chuckle out of it.

But right on the heels of the chuckle came doubt…

I do feel some of my writing is good. I also feel some of my writing isn’t as good as I sometimes think it is.

There’s a fairly common cycle of feeling that infects…

Most writers have heard the maxim, “Show Don’t Tell”.  And, even though action in a book can keep most readers turning pages, I find it oh, so ironic that those actions are being conveyed with words :-)

Language is strange! And strange means “foreign”. And, a blog written by someone who’s first language isn’t English prompted me to write this post.

Before I talk about that, I want to explore this Words/Deeds issue.

I’ll leave…

Your mind is a virtual world…

A book you read or write is a virtual world…

I’ll get to Second Life in a minute…

An off-the-cuff definition of “virtual” could be, “just about as good as the original” but, from my experience, I’d say that virtual’s meaning can be very strong on the root it came from: virtue.

All virtual worlds have virtues that make them valuable whether we’re talking about your mind, a book you read or wrote, or a computer-created…

Folks used to call me intelligent. They usually thought I learned things quickly.

Little did they know that I was, pretty much, a learner who could grasp what I read quickly but that I didn’t utter a word of it until I’d, slowly, studied it in at least three other books.

Plus, what I did retain on each reading depended on what I was studying and whether I made the decision or it was a task imposed by others.

Some people still think I’m intelligent but they aren’t inside…

Folks used to call me intelligent. They usually thought I learned things quickly.

Little did they know that I was, pretty much, a learner who could grasp what I read quickly but that I didn’t utter a word of it until I’d, slowly, studied it in at least three other books.

Plus, what I did retain on each reading depended on what I was studying and whether I made the decision or it was a task imposed by others.

Some people still think I’m intelligent but they aren’t inside…

Here I go again, spinning out one of my theories about reading.

I’m either brave or clueless since these posts, written in the stillness of my writer’s cave, could be seen by much smarter people hundreds of years from now, when humanity has figured out this mind-thingie, and I could be laughed to shame.

Good thing I’ll be dead then…

Reading Life, eh?

In my previous post,…

Do I really mean that being a reader/writer/publisher is dangerous? Well, when I look at the word history of dangerous, I see that it comes from roots that mean the power of a lord…

And, “lord” comes from roots that mean “one who guards the bread”…

So, yes, if you’re contemplating using your experience as a reader to power your writing as you promote your way toward self-publishing, you’re becoming the lord of the process and guarding that bread can become…

Do you have a set of priorities in your personal life? Oh, maybe something like: Family > Work > Play…

Do you set priorities in your mind for what the government needs to do? How about your priorities for what your customers need?

How do you decide you have the right priorities? Is it basically a hit-or-miss, experiential kind of thing? Do you consult with folks you consider experts? Or, maybe, you don’t set any priorities ’cause you think they’re a waste of…

I’ve studied a lot of psychology. Mostly to help me figure out why I seem to be so different from other folks.

I’m a writer and I’ve been very crazy at various points in my life but, usually, I’m rather sane; it’s just that I’m so damned different.

Might be that I’m an introvert but that proclivity doesn’t account for all of it.

Actually, since I’ve been writing seriously (about 22 years now), I’m even more different than I used to be but I’m also more sane than I’ve…

Books are full of love. But love is something you can’t see. Oh, sure, love-making can be seen and endearing acts of love are visible but love itself is one of many human qualities in the invisible realm of experience.

How about Justice, Peace, Loathing, Frustration, Faith, Perseverance, Honesty, or Hope…?

I wager you saw at least a fleeting glimpse of some human action in your mind for a number of those words.

As I wrote them, frustration made me see myself, dealing…

This post’s title could seem utterly stupid to some folks. Don’t we have reams of evidence that writing’s history is properly recorded in volumes of written work?

I’m a writer and that last sentence was my morning giggle :-) ‘Course, my favorite word is “Word”…

I’ve spent a few decades devoted to the study of various sciences. I’ve learned that humans haven’t quite reached their peak of perfection as a species. From my own deep study, I feel confident that most…

What? We all rewrite what we’re reading? How in the world can I propose such an idea?

Matter of fact, I proposed it in two posts on my other blog: ReadWriteReadWriteReadWrite… & …

I could say creative writing is right-brained and publishing is left-brained; writing is artistic, publishing all business. I could say that and I’ve heard it said by some “experts” but, even though I did just say it, my experience of both realms forces me to say it ain’t so.

For twenty-some years I wrote creatively and paid scant attention to publishing. I used Lulu.com to get my books published but never saw many sales. In fact,…