Author Archives: Ben

Manuscripts and Frustration

I began working on a manuscript in 2013. It is a young adult fantasy novel that I got the idea for a few months before I started the manuscript. I was able to fly through the first ten-thousand words in a day or so, then I was able to go further. Work got in the way, life got in the way, I had back surgery, and I was writing for a site that took a ton of my time. I left he manuscript on the shelf for a year or more.

When I picked it back up, I was pleased with the progress that I made. Life once again got in the way. This cycle continued up until the present. I have not finished the manuscript, but I am up to about fifty-thousand words. As a lot of writers do, I had other stories that I was mulling around in my head, and I started two more manuscripts. One is the story of a sheriff in Nevada, inspired by watching several police shows on television. I wanted to make a different kind of story. The other story is about a high school baseball coach in a made up town in Texas who has to take a defunct team and try to turn them around.

The frustrating part for me is that I barely have time to work on one manuscript, and now I have saddled myself with three different stories. I forgot to mention: two of the stories are going to be series. The fantasy story I have three books planned, more if I improve the story and become a better writer. The Nevada sheriff would an ongoing series that hopefully go on forever. (I know, wishful thinking).

Is this a problem that I alone face? Do you find yourself going back and rewriting parts of your book to try and improve the story? I know I need to finish the manuscripts and let an editor help me with making the book flow better, but when I find inconsistencies I feel the need to fix them right away.

I have set a goal for myself to have the fantasy manuscript done in the next month or so, which means a lot of new writing and not going back and editing. Do any of you that write find it hard to finish a project without deadlines? I am going to try and set deadlines for myself and see if I can get it done. I will feel very accomplished if I can finally get a manuscript done. I will update you all if I actually get it done by February. Feel free to leave your thoughts or ideas in the comment section down below and thanks for reading.

Is it Better to be Lucky or Good

There is an old sports adage that says it is better to be lucky than good. Do you believe that this is true? Or is it really a mixture of both? In the 2018 National Football Season, several team used this theory to get where they are now that it is playoff time. The Kansas City Chiefs, though they hoped he would be good, did not know that Patrick Mahomes was going to be a bonafide superstar right out of the gates. They hoped, but they didn’t know. The Los Angeles Rams and their fans did not expect them to be one of the best teams in football, but here they are. It took luck and talent to get them where they are.

The team, in my opinion, that benefited from luck the most in the 2018 football season was the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys started badly, made a trade for Amari Cooper, and then went on a run where they went from laughing stock of the NFL to a playoff team. Did they know that Cooper was going to be the best thing that could happen to a team struggling to find a passing game? They did not, but they hoped that he would at least resurrect a passing game that had died. The first half of the season they were 3-5, and people were calling for the return of Tony Romo and Jason Garrett’s head. They averaged 320 total yards a game, and only 183 passing yards per game. They were also held under 100 yards rushing 4 times in the first eight games.

Fast forward to the second half of the season. The Cowboys picked up Cooper and now had a legitimate threat for the deep ball. The won seven of their last eight games. Their total yards per game in the second half of the season went up to over 370 yards per game, with the passing average now up to 254 yards per game, and they were now rushing for 116 yards per game, and they were held under 100 yards rushing just three times. Quite a difference. Did the talent improve that much in the second half of the season? I believe they were helped by players playing better as well as some serious luck. the Eagles were not the team everyone thought they would be. The Redskins lost their quarterback and were very bad. Their defense (especially Vander Esch) played out of their minds. The Saints game was the one game where talent won the day, but even there they had some luck.

The Cowboys will take all of the luck that was thrown their way in 2018. Their fans and their team hope that luck will continue though the playoffs. They play the Seahawks this coming Saturday, and the Cowboys are 2.5 point favorites as of the day I am writing this. The Cowboys are both good and lucky, but they would not be playing in the playoffs without the luck, and not many people can argue with that.

Agree? Disagree? I would love to hear from you. Is luck or talent more important? Let me know in the comment section down below or leave me a comment on Facebook or twitter. Thanks.

New Year’s Resolutions

Today is December 31st, the last day of 2018. Tomorrow is the day that everyone feels like they get to start new. Resolutions will abound, people will feel like they can conquer anything, and motivations will be high. We feel like we can do anything on January first.

The problem I have always faced comes around January fourth or fifth. As a teacher for a living, I get back into a routine and my resolution gets easier and easier to ignore of blow off. We always make resolution that, for me, is hard to keep. Why do we do this to ourselves? Because we think we need to make a big change. We aren’t ever satisfied with a small change.

I have had an issue for most of my adult life with weight, and I have tried time and time again to diet and exercise it away. Some were successful, for a time. Most were not. I always tried to “go big or go home. I needed a lifestyle change, not a diet or new excercise regiment. I broke my back more than five years ago, making excercise difficult for me. Nothing seemed to work.

Around June of this last year, I finally chose to change my lifestyle instead of dieting and excercise. I did a lot of research and chose the KETO lifestyle. I knew for it to work, I had to change the way I thought about eating. With no excercise to speak of, I have lost thirty pounds since August, and kept it off. While this has been good, the better thing is I have finally taken control of my biggest problem, my perception of always starting over with something new and fizzing out.

New year’s resolutions may work for you or someone you know, and I am not saying they are useless or bad. They were a way for me to avoid any actual change. It took me shifting my thinking beyond a resolution or diet, and actually change the way I think about myself and my health. So if you are making a resolution tomorrow, I hope that it is successful and productive for you! I’ll continue what I have been doing and plot on with my journey. Happy New year everyone.

The Journey Begins

Welcome to my site. I have been writing for the last 11 years, mostly about sports, and mostly about the Texas Rangers. I enjoy writing on my other site, the Ranger Report. About 5 years ago, I began writing a book. The book has been a real labor of love and it has taken a lot of time and effort to get as far as I have in it. Along the way, I have started three other stories as well, and I need somewhere to keep track of my journey.

I will use this site as my personal blog to help me organize and categorize my thoughts and story ideas. I hope you enjoy going along with me on the journey of becoming a story teller and I look forward to sharing my journey with all of you.