I'm a Poet and I Didn't Even Know It

It’s challenging work to write a new topic every week.  And there are times when what I have isn’t my best.  Rather than pull my hair out for a post that frankly sucks, I thought this week I would give poetry a try.  Sometime in the near future, I would love to practice my writing skills with poetry.


To My Editor
by Len Duran


To be honest, I’m not optimistic in what I’ve created
I feel this week I should concede 
The red of editing looks like a murder
"A little water clears of us this deed"


My deadline is tomorrow and we tried our best
Yet the post is far from done 
I have a reputation to maintain with my “mass” of  fans 
An imaginary army of none

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You

Sometime after high school, I began to toy with the idea of becoming a published author.  As recently as a year ago, my wish to become a novelist stopped being a possibility, and became a journey.  When I shared the news to those closest to me about this desire, I was met with an abundance of support.


Since then, I wish I could report that I have a mountain of pages ready to be edited and shipped out to a publisher.  Such is not the case I’m afraid.  In theory, I have seven or so complex and interlocking stories already completed.  In truth, they are only finished works in my head, and what I really have is a stack of notes.


My books (and there will be many) haven’t left the planning stage.  I have tried to start said novels with the help of various “How-to” writing books.  However all that I have discovered is that half of their material teaches steps I’ve spent the past year+ focusing on.


I feel I’m ready to take the next step; starting this week I’m going to begin writing my books.  I want to conquer my fear of not being able to succeed in this goal.  I’m going to focus on putting to paper my stories regardless of my current skills.  As I progress in my writing abilities, I will use those talents to fine-tune my work until I’m ready to publish my soon-to-be-international-best selling-novels.


That’s a “when”, not an “if”...

Stalemate

Back in December, 2011(“Three Steps Ahead”),  I wrote about my desire to improve my skills in the game of chess and eventually become skilled enough to compete in a tournament .  At the time, I optimistically predicted that I would have the necessary ability to enter a tournament after two to three months of training.  Four months later, I am not where I want to be in my mastery of chess and thus, I am not ready to compete.


In the time since the aforementioned post, I have not practiced enough to comfortably enter a tournament.  It was only as recently as a month ago that I started a strict routine of at least one chess game a day.  Around the same time, I began to actively study chess strategies by watching instructional videos via YouTube or reading articles on chess.com.


Presently, I find myself at an awkward stage in my path to complete this goal.  For example, in my daily chess games with online players, I find that I’m good enough to destroy the amateurs.   However, my embarrassingly frequent defeats against more advanced players demonstrate just how much work I have cut out for myself.


On a positive note, I feel that I have the aggression, wit, and drive to surpass this plateau in my chess skills.  Who knows, maybe in another two or three months I will be able to compete (and mean it this time).