Sorting Out My Writing Dreams and Goals Part 2

If your a writer what are your Writing Dreams and Goals?

I started thinking about this and wrote this article that precedes this one.
Sorting Out My Dreams and Goals Part 1 |
In this post I’m going to share some of specific writing goals.
This may be a little long but then so are my dreams
and writing about it helps me to sort them out.

My Overall Writing Goals

I would like to write either a nonfiction or fiction book with Catholic themes at some point before I die.
But, my writing goals for the present, in which I am writing this entry,
consist on creating creative blog posts for The Catholic Bard.
Regardless of what type of writing I produce I want my overall results to…

• Get someone to Love Jesus More.
• Get someone to Love their neighbor more so they can serve God by serving them.
• Get someone to discover the Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic faith.
• Get someone to think about the great issues of life.
• Get people to start a conversation.
• Give others encouragement.
• Give others a sense of wonder.
• Make someone laugh.
• Make History come alive in all it’s bright and shiny colors.
• Recommend worthwhile movies, t.v. shows and youtube videos worth watching.
• Recommend worthwhile books and articles worth reading.
• Recommend worthwhile music worth listening to.

A Chance to do a work of Mercy

Just to emphasise the Love Thy Neighbor point in the above section The director and founder of the Tabasamu Light of Hope Orphanage in  Uganda Ntege Nasser‘s has 35 orphans in constant need of funds to keep their place of operations going.  All funds to Ntege’s Orphans go through Mercy For Life Corp. They are a Non-Profit that supports local, national and international projects to alleviate the suffering of the ‘poorest of the poor’ and marginalized! Mercy For LIFE | Facebook.  You maybe the one that stands between them and starvation. Please pray for them and give today. PayPal.Me

Gathering Other Writers

I want other fine writers including my friends and wife(my official writing partner) to write for the Catholic Bard more. But she is working on her dreams as well. Here is one of hers…

I suppose I want to be a Life Coach. Because it is too expensive to become a spiritual director. But I want to help people grow more deeply in love with Jesus. I want to be there by their side as a companion during times of suffering and questioning. I think interacting with people in this capacity over the phone or the computer perhaps is more convenient for me as I do not drive. And Yet I don’t really know how to find people whom may want my services. I could put something on the internet in those Catholic groups from Facebook, but it would be considered more of a SPAM like advertisement and get taken down. Also I would not charge people for my services. I don’t believe that this is an industry where people should charge a lot of money. But should instead offer their services pro-bono and accept money only if a client offers.
-Kristin Wilson

Write to Kristin at  catholicbard@gmail.com if you are interested in having a Catholic Life Coach or want to contribute something to the Catholic Bard.

The Rite of Right Writing

Every writer needs material in order to write.
You either have to read, watch or listen to some form of media
to gather info to write with.
Besides info, you witness the craft and structure of the written word by others who have honed their writing skills and have gotten published either professionally, independently or just put it on Amazon for folks to buy.
If you don’t read enough books to do that you can live an interesting enough life that the stories you live out
are worth sharing with others.
The bottom line is…

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”― Stephen King

What are you reading or watching or listening to?
What are you dong in your life that is worth sharing by writing it down?

Not Right to Write

Here is some sound advice to myself and others about sharing your opinions in writing (or other media).

I have lots of opinions. About pretty much everything. Most of the opinions I so confidently hold are on subjects that are actually well beyond my competency. For instance, I don’t have a medical degree. I have no geo-political experience. I’ve never played professional sports or been a referee. I’ve never been the Pope. And yet, opinions bounteously flow from me on all of the above topics. I have so many thoughts and am so desperate to share them.

The problem is, sometimes I’m wrong and I have no clue what I’m talking about.

This is why I now practice detachment from my opinions. I hold them lightly and modify them quickly when new information comes to light
How I’m learning to keep my opinions to myself (aleteia.org)

In my writing I don’t want to slam certain topics or individuals that are favorites of certain Christian and Catholic writers daily diatribe. I will not right hit pieces on looney lefty liberals, crazy condescending conservatives, boastful Biden defenders, thunderous Trump Groupies, TLM lovers, or NO normal church goers. I will try and take a balanced approach to Hot Topics such as abortion, transgenderism, LGBT issues, who to vote for and other issues and individuals. I also will not write negatively about our wonderful and good Pope Francis and the Good, True, Beautiful and Holy gift from God that is the Second Vatican Council.

That being said some of these particular peculiar wacky ideas from certain colorful individuals makes for some great…

Satire and Humor

True Alpha Trad Man @TATMAN: (March 20something)

Ok folks, when a innocent child first sets foot in to school, he or she is presented with:

•  a glittering globe
•  bountiful books on dinosaurs
•  stories of the moon landing
•  photographs of the Titanic

The brainwashing starts early. If the kids are not baptised by their modernist Vat 2 Bergoglio loving  parents he’s a demon’s tasty snack. The devil really tries to get his horny claws on our kids. Possibly through the computers they force them to use to learn about this bogus information. Books? Modern education  can’t be bothered with them.

Is it really rather possible for damned demons to radically infiltrate into the ones, threes and zeros that make up the complicated computer codes that generate our graven images and vomit inducing videos? We must at least consider the possibility that it might be true. I’m sorry if this caused some  PTSD—post-traumatic satanism disorder—(not my original term, I borrowed it from some trad dude) in your wimpy little Christian tender heart.

Remember to be be effective in life a man most not feel for his enemy. The road ahead is long and unforgiving. No place for a boy. you must become a MAN. A MAN OF GOD. Chivalry, romance, and the gentleman paradigm are all heretical and not the trad trademarks of a True Catholic Trad Masculine Manly Macho Man.

The satire you just read is taken from actually written material online.

Broad Chorus of Catholic Thinkers
Writing Right Now

I want to continue collecting and assembling memorable quotes from the BCCT who are Writing Right Now and also Then whether it be in articles, books or Tweets. This includes Catholics who identify as liberal, conservative and anywhere in between. I quote and post snippets from the National Catholic Reporter to the National Catholic Reporter. Because I quote a particular individual or Catholic group does not mean I endorse or agree with everything they say or publish. I use the Whatever Biblical Principle  to pick out the good stuff worth sharing. You’ll see various variety such as these guys…

Living the Faith Deeply

Dr Taylor Marshall™️@TaylorRMarshall (Mar 20, 2023)
Instead let’s focus on the true Saint Joseph who was so warm and caring for Jesus and Mary. What a perfect model for us in every century. He is one of the greatest gifts of God to our Church. Let us honor Saint Joseph!

It is not too difficult to get to Mass on Sunday, to refrain from murdering anyone, to put a few bills in the poor box or contribute to the St. Vincent de Paul used clothes drive. This is “too easy for beginners.” For those who live the faith more deeply, they will try to attend daily Mass, and take part in regular pilgrimages and help out in a soup kitchen. They will devote themselves to the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Their knowledge of theology, of Scripture, of the Magisterium will be outstanding and will benefit many.

Are these the virtuosos of the faith? They could be, but they need one thing that we haven’t listed. They need compunction. They are like musicians who have mastered the notes but have not yet fallen in love with the music.
The Glory of Being a Sinner! – Where Peter Is

Limitations

Both fictional and real-life heroes would not be what they are without limitations. When facing fear, weakness, or danger, a hero can be born. Heroism requires that the odds be against you. Heroism means that you are doing something difficult, something that not everyone could do. It is often in response to someone else’s bondage—or limitation. The dragon has captured a princess. You, knight in shining armor, must get past the barrier of his fiery breath to rescue her from the prison of his lair.
In Praise of Mortality: the Beauty of Limitation – OnePeterFive

Pope Francis@Pontifex (March 21, 2023) Every human person is sacred and inviolable. To ensure that a society has a future, it is necessary that a sense of respect be matured for the dignity of every person, no matter in what condition they find themselves.

Lessons from the Slopes

Holiness and heaven do not happen accidentally. For me, the ski slopes have helped me to see the virtues necessary for a good ski day: prudence, intention, and consistency. These virtues ultimately help to avoid the dangers of arrogance and apathy. The slopes have also taught me too about how to live my faith well—prudently, intentionally, and consistently—as I continue the pursuit, with God’s grace, of eternal life with him in heaven.
Lessons from the Slopes: Arrogance, Apathy, and Virtue – Word on Fire

R Bratten Weiss@Prof_RBW (Mar 1,2023)Once in a while I will be engaged in a simple household task like chopping veg for supper and then suddenly remember the philosophy professor who lived in the same apt complex I was in, and who had an inexplicable habit of lurking in the shrubberies. I don’t think he was lurking for any sinister purpose. Maybe he was hiding. Maybe he was communing with the spiders. Maybe he was observing people. I will never know.

Be a Real Man

During most of my childhood, Pappy was more of a figure to me than a person. I seldom saw him,and the few words he spoke to me as a kid (he passed away when I was nineteen) I can’t repeat in this book. He was special, if flawed, and I loved him despite his rough ways. I remember one occasion when my dad and I went to visit him. He was working cattle and rode up on his horse. He looked at me (I could barely see his squinty eyes beneath the rim of his cowboy hat) and asked what I had been up to. I said,

“Hey Pappy, I’m playing tackle football!” I was in fifth grade and had made the sixth and seventh grade squad. I had just played in a game the day before and was proud of my bruises. He responded, “Football is for —— [wimps]. Real men ride horses and bulls!” That statement stuck with me. I began to wonder what it was like to be a “real man,” one who proved his masculinity by showing others how tough he was. I wanted to be a man with grit! Who doesn’t?
 Holy Grit by Paul George (2023) – Ave Maria Press

Bountiful Beautiful Book Blurbs we can read
in the Haven’t Read Book Club.

Sometimes I focus my laser pointer  on a particular Catholic individual, saint or website like Mark Shea, St. Therese, or Where Peter Is and highlight their writing. I also have posts highlighting my fellow Patheos writers. I’ve even had an in-depth interview with non-other then the Mysterous Jimmy Akin.  But there are also other non-Catholic authors, themes or series I haven’t highlighted but want to. I don’t have time to read every great author I come across but would like to if given the time and attention span. But even if I don’t read certain authors in-depth I can still write and put a spotlight on their work.

Hannibal had obviously had better days, but even they couldn’t have been all that great. The Hotel Mark Twain was boarded up. That’s a sad sight—a tall building with every window plugged with plywood. Every business in town appeared to trade on Twain and his books—the Mark Twain Roofing Company, the Mark Twain Savings and Loan, the Tom ’n’ Huck Motel, the Injun Joe Campground and Go-Kart Track, the Huck Finn Shopping Center. You could even go and be insane at the Mark Twain Mental Health Center—a possibility that would, I imagine, grow increasingly likely with every day spent in Hannibal. The whole place was sad and awful. I had been planning to stay for lunch, but the thought of having to face a Tom Sawyer Burger or Injun Joe Cola left me without any appetite for either food or Hannibal.
-Bill Bryson, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (1989)

“By the 1920s if you wanted to work behind a lunch counter you needed to know that ‘Noah’s boy’ was a slice of ham (since Ham was one of Noah’s sons) and that ‘burn one’ or ‘grease spot’ designated a hamburger. ‘He’ll take a chance’ or ‘clean the kitchen’ meant an order of hash, ‘Adam and Eve on a raft’ was two poached eggs on toast, ‘cats’ eyes’ was tapioca pudding, ‘bird seed’ was cereal, ‘whistleberries’ were baked beans, and ‘dough well done with cow to cover’ was the somewhat labored way of calling for an order of toast and butter. Food that had been waiting too long was said to be ‘growing a beard’. Many of these shorthand terms have since entered the mainstream, notably BLT for a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, ‘over easy’ and ‘sunny side up’ in respect of eggs, and ‘hold’ as in ‘hold the mayo’.”
― Bill Bryson, Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States (1994)

These are some of my writing Dreams and Goals.

I would also like to write Personal Reflections, Movie Reviews, Book Reviews, Historical Connections, Interesting and Intriguing Stories, Just Interesting Fun Stories,  Music Reviews, Spiritual Commentaries, Satire and Humor, Current Affairs Commentary and other things.  In my next in my Dreams and Goals Series I will go into detail about some other specific things I feel compelled to write about.