It took more than a day for Alan to get the computer back up and running after he got home. Three days without a computer just isn't my cup of tea...

I had intended to get this newsletter finished and out several days ago. I even had Cheryl Malandrinos send her article early.  Because of the computer issues I've had, that didn't happen. (Best laid plans and all that stuff.)

So big apologies for the lateness of this issue.

Believe it or not, I'm still getting requests for copywriting quotes, and have landed some copywriting jobs in the last couple of weeks.  Not exactly what I want right now - what with shopping, school holidays etc - but I'm not about to knock back work.

Luckily it was all finished before the computer decided it needed a holiday.

I don't want this newsletter to bog you down, so this email today is full of fr.eebies. Heaps of them!

I'll start off by giving you MY gift. It's a pdf download of scores of Christmas gift ideas - some unusual, others entirely unique, and some, well, download it and find out: http://tinyurl.com/GiftIdeas4U

I don't think I told you about my fr.ee craft sheet? If you're into handcrafts, I think you'll like this. Grab it here:

http://www.christmas-ideas-store.com/christmas-images/craft/How-to-Create-Christmas-Cards.pdf

Next on the list is a video from Santa. I still find it hard to believe this is free, but it truly is:

http://santa.sympatico.ca/home 

(It's great fun to create one for the adults too!)

If you loved the Muppets, you'll love these singing puppets: http://www.sundog.net/carolofthechins/flash/card.swf 

It's very cute - type in any Christmas song and see what the little puppets do. Also, type in any non-Christmas song; I'm sure you'll get a kick out of the response. One of the funniest I typed in was Jingle Bell Rock.

Do you get sick of receiving the same ol' e-cards all the time? This one is totally different, and features whomever you want it to feature! Upload photos of yourself, family members, friends, or others you want to feature, and you'll have a very unique card to send!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/  (http://www.jibjab.com is great for any time of the year.)

Here's a handcrafted Angel table decoration you can make for virtually nothing. All you need are some paper plates and gift ribbons for decoration.

http://www.taradennis.com/celebrate/TableAngels/tabid/835/Default.aspx

When you go to that website you'll find the instructions for many other Christmas crafts. (And all at no cost.)

So... now you've got tons of freebies to keep you and the kiddies occupied for the holidays!

You can also read this issue online here:

Your Writing Year in Review –
Find the Positives

Copyright Cheryl C. Malandrinos - All Rights Reserved.

Maya Angelou once said, “No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he has arrived at this present place.”  

This is excellent advice, but often when considering where we’ve been on our writing journey we focus on what we didn’t get done rather than on what we did. This can be detrimental to our self-esteem, kills our productivity, and erodes any motivation to keep working toward accomplishing our goals and fulfilling our writing dreams. 

This year I put a challenge to my online writing group: only discuss your year in a positive light. This meant that no matter what they decided to share about their writing, they had to focus on what they did accomplish and how it is helping them mold the future. 

Not only did our members enjoy looking back on their year in a positive way, they realized exactly just how much they actually accomplished. 

But what is positive thinking? How does it work? And how can you use it to make a difference in your writing career? 

What is Positive Thinking? 

Positive thinking is more than just uttering a few happy words and then allowing your fears and self-doubt to take hold again.

Positive thinking is a mental attitude that, with practice, allows you to have positive thoughts and uses daily affirmations to help you to see a positive outcome to almost every situation.  

Judi Moreo, life coach and author of You Are More Than Enough: Every Woman’s Guide to Purpose, Passion & Power encourages her readers to make conscious choices to think about themselves in a more positive light. Moreo says we must stop criticizing ourselves and demanding perfection in what we do, and we need to change the mental pictures we have of ourselves. 

Through the use of daily affirmations and by visualizing our success, we can achieve desired results. 

So how do we apply this concept to our writing goals? 

Thinking Positive about our Year End Review 

Since we know positive thinking must start somewhere, why not start it with your Year End Review?  This way you can better position yourself for the year to come. 

At the beginning of each year you write down a list of goals that is then broken down into smaller more manageable chunks. And finally into weekly or daily to-do lists. 

Look at your goals and all you’ve accomplished this year. What do you see?

Read the entire article here