Writer's Block

One of the worst hangups I deal with when it comes to writing for myself is that I have too much to cover. There are so many ideas that I want to bring to my audience, I don't know which one to start with. Without looking at any of the many lists that I've made, I could rattle off over two dozen topics. Perhaps it's not just an overwhelming number of topics that I have. Perhaps it's also being a bit disorganized, not motivated enough because I don't get immediate feedback, both with a rating nor with a client's payment.

It isn't just about making sales - there are a lot of topics that I am interested in that aren't niches that will make any money. Others are, but I don't look at just that. Living in Bolivia, things are a lot cheaper here than they are in the USA - I mean, seriously, my rent is under $75 a month, tomatoes are less than a dollar (most of the time) for TWO pounds, a pack of spaghetti noodles is about 60 cents, my internet runs between 24 and 30 dollars a month. It's cheap here. I don't live like the typical American does, though. I live in Bolivia and I live like the typical Bolivian does, and it's much cheaper. It's also cleaner, healthier, and a lot less stressful.

Because of that, I can't just write up stuff about the latest product I've been using in different product reviews because there aren't many items that most people would be interested in using. At least not ones that you'd have there in the States. But about my original point - too many topics. I'm wondering if I made shorter posts, maybe that would work better for me. I tend to write extensively. But I think that might be best, then I can write more about it on Triond or another site, where there's a more 'captive' audience. Plus, there's that little thing called residual income there, and it's not much by any means, lol, but it's there.

For the most part for money, I write at Hirewriters. I've found Textbroker to work against both writers and clients, giving neither what they deserve. Hirewriters, on the other hand, seem to pay writers more while still charging clients less. Nothing wrong with a win-win situation. The only problem I have encountered there, and rarely, very rarely, is clients might not want the article that's been written, and simply refuse it without a revision request being made. Unlike Textbrokers, Hirewriters tells you up front what the client's score is. With Textbroker, you have to click on the job, and then their ID link. The major drawback with Hirewriters is they don't go by quality or client rating. The only thing they are interested in is grammar, particularly comma usage. The problem I saw is that they aren't consistent with it. Grammar is something that can have a lot of leeway. Spelling my alma mater's name wrong on a training video isn't something that can be seen as an arbitrary thing. It's Purdue, not Perdue, but the real kicker was that in the same video, Textbroker used a picture from Purdue that spelled the name out correctly.

I haven't corrected them because I still write a piece or two for their clients every few months, but honestly, it's a crappy site. If I were a client, there is no way for me to tell the quality of the author writing my article, but I would be able to tell how well he or she adhered to the comma regulations, lol. Creativity, I'd have no idea, and that's more important to search engines than punctuation. I know. I used to work for LeapForce, who provides Google with the data needed for their algorithms. We didn't pay attention to punctuation unless it really truly is difficult to understand the way the content is written. To Google, punctuation doesn't matter much, but the reader's experience does. You're making websites for your audience, not an editor, and not your English teacher.

At LeapForce,we looked for creativity, authority, even white space usage, but punctuation wasn't that important. To Textbroker, punctuation usage is vital, and that's where they rip their clients off, and penalize their more creative writers. The clients can leave the best of feedback for a writer, but it doesn't affect the writer's score one iota. So as a client, who do you want to decide who can write your piece? Other clients, or editors who don't care what your website's ranking is? If you're a writer, who do you want to decide what your level is, and therefore your ability to make money? Clients who pay you and give you feedback, or editors who don't care about your level of creativity, research ability, or education background? The decision is pretty clear to me.

But, for now, I am going to go back to watching my silly horror movie, 'Rise of the Animals' It's absolutely hilarious! I love horror movies, so I will probably start giving my opinion on those. Not reviews, just opinions.

During one of my travels online, I came across this link. It shows several women who have disappeared in my home state of Indiana. The author is asking for clues to these women's disappearances, and trying to figure out what might have been shared traits. One thing that he brought up was that all were wearing tank tops when they were taken. It is unknown if the same person or group of people is responsible for all of these abductions.

I have a tank top just like the blonde woman, except I've switched out the straps for much sturdier ones.

What I think we all should realize is that anyone can be a victim of this type of crime. What we should do is perhaps keep that in mind, not only for the victims' sakes, but also for our own, to help us remain more aware. So, I have decided that every time I wear a tank top, which is quite often as I live in Bolivia, and when it's hot, it's HOT, and when it's cold, I layer my clothes, that I am going to think about all the missing, all the taken, the abducted, and I am going to think about their families, too. Tank tops never get put away for being out of season so this should be a fairly regular thing for me.

Other things we could use is tattoos. Even if you don't have one yourself, you could do the same thing whenever you see a tattoo on someone else.

Liberals or Liberators? Are They Confusing the Definitions? Or is it Just Another Way to Say "Libtard"?

Scenario: I buy some candy and my 10-year-old son sees I have some. He says it should be fair, and for the sake of a decent article, I agree.

We split the candy, 50/50. He gobbles up his share. I still have some, several hours later.

Even though he's sleeping and I am up writing this, I can be about 99% sure that he will act as follows when he wakes up and sees I still have some.

"You still have some? That's not fair. Mine is all gone, I didn't know you would still have some. How much more can I have?"

"None, you ate yours last night. Remember?"

"But that's not fair, you're eating it in front of me."

"You ate yours in front of me last night."

"But you had some, you could have eaten it last night."

"But I only ate a little bit, I saved the rest. It's still the same amount."

But Mom, you know that's not fair when I don't have any and you have so much!"

"Uh, it's not like I popped back out to the market and bought more. It's the same amount."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Back off from my candy. Next time, don't eat it all at one time."

"So how much can I get now?"

"None. You aren't taking my candy away. Crap, I gave you HALF last night. I'm not giving you more again now."

"You're MEAN! You're torturing me! I can't stand it! How can you do this to me?!?!?!"

"Libtard!"

"I don't remember what a libtard is!!!"

So I guess in a way, liberals really are liberators. They want to liberate those who have stuff, who worked and earned it, of their property and give to the lazy ones who can't, for whatever reason, motivate themselves enough to go make the money to buy their own stuff.

The problem with it all is that this creates a form of slavery. I must work to replenish his supply. He doesn't have to do anything but whine.

Then, sometimes, he will bring his friends into it.

"I need more candy than this. This is not going to be enough."

"What? That's half, that's plenty. You don't need any more."

"Yes, I do. I am going to share with Alejandro. His parents are really mean and they never get him any candy. You always tell me I should share."

"That doesn't mean you share my stuff with the neighbor kids. You don't take from one person and give to another person. You share your own. And they do get him stuff."

"They make him work for it, Mom!"

"Yeah, I know, he does chores, he washes the dishes, and the clothes, and babysits his sister while they work. I know. But they also get him things. They work together as a family."

"So give me more, so I can share with him."

"No, you share your part, and leave mine out of it."

"You're so mean!"

"Libtard!"

Fear can be Paralyzing but it Shouldn't Be

My son was bitten by my cousin's two dogs. They were playing, not attacking him. This happened a few years ago. He is still afraid of dogs. Counseling hasn't worked. Being around friendly dogs hasn't worked. Discussing the many dogs in the streets of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, hasn't worked. Nothing seems to work.

I think the only thing that I can do is to tell him that he has to conquer how he is going to react to what he is afraid of. We recently moved onto a street that didn't seem to have any dogs at all, but I found out later that this is because they were lying down to beat the heat of the day. They seem like a pack. I found out later they're just really hungry, and hopeful hat anyone walking around has a treat. Sometimes, I do, so now they 'like' me, and trust me enough to come up to me when I'm dumping leftovers into the tall grass.

Just like his fear can make him not want to go anywhere, or to freeze up, or even to get completely hysterical on me, my fears can make me want to just not move, to curl up into a ball. My fears are completely different, though. They involve where the world is headed, the unknown, not something that has happened to me in the past that might happen to me again.

God doesn't want us to be controlled by our fears, so we need to be aware of how our fears affect our behavior. I have often told my children hat panic kills. It does. It can kill people physically, and it can kill opportunities, chances, ambition, and so many other things. It can also kill faith in God.

God doesn't want to know who says they will be faithful and listen to and obey what is in the Bible, He wants to know who will actually do what it says.

One of the commands in the Bible is to not be afraid, including at the end, which it seems we are in. People hve claimed this over the years, I know, and many are claiming it now, but I think there will be a lull, a time where everything seems to be going smoothly, where what was almost war now seems to be peaceful, friendships being made between countries, and the people of the world feeling a renewed sense of generosity toward others.

nyway, hat I wanted to impart is that even when you are afraid, you need to act. You need to move forward with what your intentions were before you became afraid. Otherwise, you are giving in. Fear is a tool used widely by Satan. Don't let him be successful.

A Worthy Petition for a non-Muslim Immigrant Family

Okay, quick background, I'm a white American lady living with my youngest son (the rest are grown, not abandoned, lol) in a South American country. I'm from the Midwest, and grew up in a medium-sized town. I write for a living, typically for clients, but I'm taking a break from that and writing for myself now.

Anyway, being an American family shows you things when you are living overseas. I see things from another perspective than what I was able to see when I was living in the USA. I have always had an open mind, a little liberal when it comes to things that won't hurt others who aren't involved, such as gay marriage, but conservative when others want to step on the God-given rights people in general should have, such as the right to educate our children as we see fit, have our own opinions, and the ability to defend ourselves should we ever need to. Living in a socialist country has shown me that socialism isn't as bad as it's cracked up to be, either, unless it's poorly done, like in Argentina. Those poor people really don't have toilet paper.

What I wanted to write about today is there is a petition on Change DOT org from a woman who is from El Salvador. Her name is Rebeca. We all know about the Muslim immigration to the USA that is ongoing, and the aid they are receiving. This woman is only asking for one thing – to stay. She has several daughters. Obama's administration is sending families like hers back to violent and dangerous countries, and she and her family are afraid they will also be sent back.

While many people will say is that she should have gone to another Latino country, instead of the USA. However, that is judging her and her background, which few people know about. I know I don't know anything about it. Instead of saying something along the lines of 'she should just live with the decisions she's made,' or something similar, we need to keep from re-victimizing the victim. We need to go forward from the situation as it is now. However, many people, including those who say they are Christian, will do just this.

There are several reasons why they do this, and there are even more why they should refrain from doing it, too. One reason why they do this is a sense of entitlement. They're Christians, and know better than she does, and they feel that she should have to sleep in the bed she's made. But this isn't how Jesus would look at it, and it certainly isn't how He would react.

Fleeing violence and the loss of family members, home invasions, possible rape of herself and her daughters, among other factors, can make anyone not think things through. Domestic violence is the number one reason why women in America are homeless. Think about how that would be for someone who lives in a society where there is no shelter for women, where the entire society is violent, and you can see the picture a bit more clearly. Don't do what many Christians would do and look away. Another reason is that they just don't understand the gravity of the situation, or they do, but they think someone else will take care of finding a solution for this and other families like hers. Every signature, every voice counts. That's why it's important to also leave a reason for your signature. This way, those who read it know it was a 'real' signature, and not just a click here and there.

So please go sign this and help this lady and her daughters out. It's one family, but it can set a precedent that will help thousands more. If there is room for Muslim immigrants who need so much more help, then there is definitely a way to help those who are like this family, too.

I Have Many Blogs...Here is Some Info About Me

I write for a living.

My clients are from all over the world.

I am from the USA.

I now live in Bolivia, a country in South America, with my youngest son.

We have chickens.

We also have cats.

The country's educational system is not the best.

I have my son enrolled in a different type of school that uses several resources instead of just one.

I read a great deal of many different types of websites.

I used to work for LeapForce, a website rating firm that Google uses.

I also have a bachelor's degree in Liberal Studies from IPFW (Indiana/Purdue in Indiana).

I am, perpetually, three credit hours away from a Master's degree in Liberal Studies, also from IPFW.

This is because of events beyond my control, events that were deemed to be bad enough that a private agency sent in the FBI to investigate.

However, as soon as the investigator found out that one of the people involved was a police officer who had been under investigation, and completely cleared, for a multiple homicide, and also of corruption, she claimed there was no case, and refused to answer my questions or the questions of the person who had not only accompanied her to my home but who had also reported the events to the FBI in the first place.

Subsequent emails to my university (IPFW) have gone unanswered.

I am still searching for a way to finish my Master's degree, but have not been able to do so yet.

Anyway, I am here now, so things are much better, calmer, and nicer in my life, even if I worry about things such as the carachupa eating more of my younger hens in the night, catching another nigua, or just getting over my going-on-a-year-bout of chikungunya (which is rare, meaning the length of time I have had it, as it is usually just a few weeks, at most).

My journeys and interests are very varied, and because of this, I am able to write on many different topics, and because of my education, I am also very adept at researching a topic.

The subjects covered by my education include anthropology, psychology, family law, contract law, medicine, journalism, among many others.

Because of my interests, I can write on practically anything, and in any format desired by the client.

Because I live in a 'Third World Country,' I can write a lot cheaper than most other independent writers.

Because I ws born and grew up in a smaller city in Indiana (Hello, Fort Wayne, City of Churches, Bars and Parks!!), I can write as a native English writer, ensuring my clients receive a nicely flowing, easily understood piece that is pertinent to their readers.

So, I write for clients, and I also write for myself.

I'm going to start writing different things, some of which are completely unrelated, and include them on this blog.

So as you're reading any particular month, you might find that the topics jump around.

While this isn't intentional, it is part of the way I write.

Nobody lives just one topic - life isn't designed that way.

If you ever want me to write something for you, just ask.