Conversations with Calliope- Taking My Own Advice

(Beefeater)

Advice is like snow - the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind~Samuel-Taylor-Coleridge

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good Morning Joe. How are you this year?
JOE: So far, so good. But the year is still quite young.
CALLIOPE: Point taken. What did you learn from last year?
JOE: I was just thinking about that. I need to take my own advice.
CALLIOPE: In what regard.
JOE: Several times this year I set myself up for disappointment with my assumptions about what to expect from others.
CALLIOPE: How did you do that?
JOE: By assuming they knew what I wanted and that their needs were similar to mine and then taking it personally when they were not.
CALLIOPE: Sounds like a problem. What do you plan to do about it?
JOE: I know what to do and often suggest it to others but don't always do it myself.
CALLIOPE: Enlighten me.
JOE: I need to be clearer in my expectations of others and also remember that people do things for their own reasons rather than to satisfy or annoy me.
CALLIOPE: Is that a new approach for you?
JOE: No, but sometimes I need to remind myself. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Energetic.
CALLIOPE: What brought that on?
JOE: I'm not sure. How do you know it isn't my natural state?
CALLIOPE: Maybe it is. What's going on?
JOE: I awoke in the middle of the night thinking about where I am with my writing.
CALLIOPE: Where are you?
JOE: I have come to realize with the help of my readers that I need to do some work on my style and voice before completing Marital Property.
CALLIOPE: What did they say that brought you to that conclusion?
JOE: They observed in their own ways that my presentation tended to be bland. They graciously suggested my characters seemed flat instead of my writing. In reading popular authors, I could see the difference between expression of Danielle Steele for example and my own. I have also been reading about the craft of writing. My writing needs some work.
CALLIOPE: How do you plan to go about it?
JOE: Three ways. I will keep reading about style, reading writers with style attractive to the average reader and practice my craft with short stories for a while before returning to the manuscript of Marital Property.
CALLIOPE: Sounds like a good plan. Will you suspend your other writing in the mean time?
JOE: Not exactly. I have also started gathering teen writings to include in Commonsense Wisdom for Teens and getting that project back on track. I am going to Niagara Falls tonight for a Neville Brothers/ Dr. John concert and will be back probably tomorrow afternoon. I'll contact you then.
(Pond in the forest- Oramel, NY)