Comments for Chicken Scratchings

Comment on Book Writing and Slippery, Creative Inspiration by Dan Ruesch

Dan Ruesch — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:19:01 +0000

Good thoughts, Bill.
My best inspiration comes to me at three different times: (1) When I'm on vacation, (2) Early in the morning, as I'm waking, and (3) When I'm exercising, especially walking. All three of those are when my mind is disengaged from day to day pressures. I obviously need to spend more time waking up early and walking along a beach in the Virgin Islands. Maybe I could figure out how to achieve world peace.

Comment on What Awoke the Writer in You? by Charles

Charles — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:42:03 +0000

It started for me after I retired. Oh, I'd written lots of business and professional stuff over the years. Procedure and Policy Manuals, work flows, engineering related documents, etc.. Since retirement however, I have 9 books and dozens of articles in some stage of completion. (Scared to actually publish yet though)–not sure they're good enough but I'm working up to it.

Been an avid reader all my life and appreciate a good word smithy as a musician appreciates good music. I do that too, sing that is; I sing Baritone in a Barbershop Quartet.

Comment on What Awoke the Writer in You? by Clarice Dankers

Clarice Dankers — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:58:53 +0000

Writing has always been as close to me as breathing. I grew up on a ranch in Montana in the days when there was just one television station, so I read constantly and wrote a lot of REALLY bad poetry as a teenager.

I also loved learning foreign languages, which in turn taught me a great deal about English. And I had a wonderful, inspiring English teacher when I was a junior in high school. Her name was Mrs. Quanbeck, and (30 years later) she is still my favorite teacher–even after earning a BA and two MAs! (I tracked her down through the Internet last year, called her out of the blue, and told her how much she'd meant to me. It was wonderful.)

As an adult, I've taught writing and English as a second language to hundreds of college students, and I've written my share of corporate communications, too. I've also edited lots of stuff–business communications and academic papers, mostly.

My major passions revolve around human performance development and lifelong learning, so I tend to write nonfiction articles, ebooks, and ecourses that teach something. What most astonishes me about writing is the power it has to help us learn, create and heal.

It is such a wonderful tool for self-discovery–whether we understand how to make our verbs agree with their subjects or not!

Comment on What’s Immoral About Printing a Book in China? by Lloyd Lofthouse

Lloyd Lofthouse — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:38:03 +0000

If American's stopped buying products made in China, Americans at home would lose jobs. Since Wal-Mart has more than ninety percent of their products manufactured in China, Wal-Mart might go out of business or shrink (which might be a good thing). But many low wage people that work for Wal-Mart in the United States would be unemployed like so American autoworkers. Most Chinese products are manufactured for American companies. Some of Apple's products are manufactured outside the country like iPods in China. Try to buy a car, any car, that's 100% manufactured in the United States. Does it matter where the jobs go? They are still gone. People in India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, etc. are manufacturing goods that are sold in the United States. China isn't the only country that does this. Yet China seems to get all the blame. Lloyd Lofthouse writes iLook China. http://ilookchina.net/

Comment on What Awoke the Writer in You? by Janet Garber

Janet Garber — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:18:36 +0000

Ninth grade I was in the Journalism class that produced the school magazine and wrote a parody called Wild Dill Pickle Rides Again. My father's reaction: You call yourself a writer. You're not a writer. A writer does this and that….Needless to say, that constituted a major setback.

It wasn't until I was 43 that I was first published. I read a local newspaper and said, I could do that! So I did. I progressed to national newspapers, trade journals, a column in the NY Post and finally a non-fiction book.

I still have weirdly ambitious dreams of publishing more fiction while wondering if maybe I'm "just" a journalist.

Comment on What Awoke the Writer in You? by Janet Garber

Janet Garber — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:17:40 +0000

It all started in 2nd grade. I just loved writing book reports on Golden Books! My reports were passed on to the Principal.

In 7th grade, we studied literature for the first time – Shakespeare and Coleridge and historical fiction. I scored so highly on essays that the teacher would give me grades like 100+10. Because I was by then acknowledged as smart (certainly not popular) , I was voted president of my class for a short time until my habit of forgettting to carry the section card from class to class undid me.

…/…

Comment on Technologically Exhausted? Try the Writing Cure. by Niels Blomberg

Niels Blomberg — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:51:37 +0000

Nice poem Bill,

Your LinkedIn buddy Niels

Comment on Lousy Public Speakers Sell Fewer Books by Von Martin

Von Martin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:08:30 +0000

I thrive – I love – I relish taking my recently self published book, A LONG WAY TO NOME, to market using various platforms that I created. I'm having fun with the whole process and growing steadily. I love giving talks. presentations and gathering an audience. I have a bursting passion for what I write about – the human / canine relationship and enjoy drawing on my life's experience with dogs to build my storytelling.

Self Publishing is a great opportunity for the right people!

Comment on Lousy Public Speakers Sell Fewer Books by Julie Sturgeon

Julie Sturgeon — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:21:13 +0000

My husband is an international director in Toastmasters and I can't say enough about what it will do for your speaking confidence and leadership skills.

Comment on What’s Immoral About Printing a Book in China? by BillRuesch

BillRuesch — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:41:53 +0000

The problem, Phil, is we have a ginormous trade imbalance right now. The things you are proposing we do are probably 20 years away. What happens in the meantime? Here are three steps that would go a long way to preventing the further subjugation of Americans: The American citizenry needs to understand our financial position and slam on the brakes by refusing to buy from China. Then every member of congress needs to be replaced. It is the congress that has allowed the banks, insurance companies, and foreign interests to take advantage of us. A new congress has to create a constitutional amendment banning professional lobbying, and especially lobbyists foreign countries. The upheaval would be shocking and world changing and probably couldn't happen, but it should. And it could if the citizens pulled together like they did during the revolutionary war.