Tag Archives: youth

Are Cellphones the Problem with America?

When I was growing up and in school, we didn’t have cell phones, We weren’t waiting for the latest Apple iPhone to come out on the market so we could have it. We weren’t hoping for our parents to get us an unlimited data plan for Christmas. We certainly didn’t snap chat and Instagram everything we did for the world to see. I hear a lot of things people say about what is wrong with America. Some of them may be right, some of them are definitely wrong. The real question is: is there one thing that is leading to the direction our society is headed?

From that last question, you can probably guess that I am going to state that there is more than one thing contributing to the problem. As an educator for a living, I get the privilege of talking to and interacting with the teenage population on a daily basis. And it sometimes surprises me what comes out of their mouths and minds. I have decided that in order to fix this generation, we need to first fix us. WE are one of the main problems in this current generation. I  can tell you that I just finished up two weeks off of school where I had time to get a lot of things done I needed to get done. Can you guess how many things I got done? None if them.

I spent most of the time feeling like I deserved a break. My dad never took a break. Well, he did, but not like I do. He always had something going on that kept him busy. He would go see a movie or go to a Rangers game with me, but when he got home he would always be working. I am not like that. I guess I am the one to blame on that one. Cell phones are part of the problem, but we are a bigger part. How much time do we spend on our devices? I can tell you that I spend more time on it than I should. Most days I don’t even do anything productive on my phone or tablet. So how am I going to say it is ruining them when it is quite possibly ruining me as well?

cell-phone

While cell phones are a big problem in our society, we are the bigger problem. We need to get back to having dinner together at a dinner table, not around the television. We need to get back to talking about our days instead of talking about everyone else’s day on Facebook. We need to get back to being parents to our kids instead of being their friends. Am I wrong? Am I right? Let me know in the comment section down below or on Facebook or Twitter.

Manuscripts and Frustration

Image result for frustrated writer

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.