DO WE COMPLAIN TOO MUCH?

JUST WHAT IS COMPLAINING, ANYWAY?

 I call it "griping," because that's the word my mother used. "Celie Ann, stop your griping and make your bed. It's not going to make itself."

To be fair and also to defend myself, I most often complain when hunger strikes me. Maybe I have low blood sugar or something, but if I'm hungry, don't push me. All my friends know this."Uh-oh, feed her so she'll shut up."

As a general rule, I'm not a complainer...much. Most of the time I do it out of boredom or to make conversation or some other inane reason.

IS COMPLAINING A CREATIVE ACT?

 I learned that complaining, though, is not all bad. It can actually be a Creative Act. The more you complain, the more you summon your creative energies to attract something to complain about.  Maybe the complaints seem fully justified, but realize that whenever you complain, you set yourself up  for more of the same. Just remember the part about  "complaining is a creative act", and you might find yourself writing a novel. Hmmm.

 Complaining is the act of reinforcing what you don’t want. Is this bad? I think not. Perhaps it's therapeutic.

 IS COMPLAINING ADDICTIVE?

 A warning: Complaining is also addictive. The more you do it, the more it becomes an ingrained habit, making it more difficult to stop.

Some people complain too much about their own lives. This is a trap that gives this person a constant source of something to complain about.  "Bad luck follows me; Life is too difficult; Why can't I get a break?"  The complainer may tell you their reality is causing their complaints, but it’s more accurate to say their reality is reflecting their complaints.

"If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it."  ~Anthony J. D'Angelo, The College Blue Book

DO I COMPLAIN?

 Yes, but after analyzing myself, I believe I complain about trivial events that really have nothing to do with me. When I fully realized this, I honestly trid to keep my mouth closed and push the ugly thoughts away.

We have a neighbor who refuses to mow his property, so that the tall dead grass is a permanent fixture. I  say something about that every time we pass the house. It has nothing to do with my life, it just annoys me. So, why do I persist in complaining about it? The time has come for me to ignore it.

Bad parkers really make me complain. You who know me understand I sort of go ballistic over a vehicle parked diagonally in a straight-in space, a driver in front of me who sits at a green light because he/she is on the phone or texting, or someone who throws litter out a car window. I really don't think I can stop complaining about these....sorry.

Do your characters complain?

Do you dislike characters in a novel who complain?

Hmm, I don't know. I suppose it depends on what the person is complaining about.

I try very hard not to be a chronic complainer...but sometimes..I must or I'll throw a fit.

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas

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I DARE YOU

   

        

How many times in your life have you heard this taunt? My family moved about every six months when I was a child. For several years, we were transient, moving from one oil field to the next, living in very odd places. This meant I changed friends and acquaintances with every move. I was always "the new girl," until we finally settled in one town and stayed.

             

As the new girl, I had to test the waters, so to speak, waiting and wondering if someone would ask me to play. I wasn't a tomboy, really, but I would take a chance here and there to try something new in order to win friends. Often, a girl or boy would "dare" me.

             

In first grade, no one would seesaw with me, but I stayed close to the seesaws, hoping someone would ask. A boy stepped up and said, "I can walk up one end of the seesaw and all the way down the other side. Want to see?" Of course, I did. I nodded and he demonstrated the daring feat. As he neared the center, he paused, held his arms straight out, and ran down the other side as his weight lowered the seesaw. Then he dared me to try it.

             

Okay. I slowly walked up one side almost to the center, but my leather-soled white high-tops were slick, causing my feet to slide backwards. I fell forward and my mouth landed on one of the big iron bolts that held the seesaw to the iron rail. The fall split my bottom lip, and I fell off, also scraping my knees because I wore a dress. Now blood poured from my lip and my knees. A teacher came running and took me inside to call my mother. A doctor put stitches in my lip and the flesh below. I still have a scar there.

             

But I took the dare.

            

 In another town, a neighbor boy dared me to stand on the edge of the cesspool covered with a loose piece of tin. I did, holding my nose from the stench. My mother came slamming out the back door and yelled at me. She called me to the house and told me a story of a little boy falling into a cesspool and drowning. Sure, that scared me silly…but I had taken the dare.

            

 Another boy invited me to his house to play. (I most often played with boys, I guess.) In his room, he told me he had scary comic books in a box under his bed and asked if I wanted to see them. I said, no, I didn't want to read anything scary. But…he dared me. We spent the afternoon reading scary comic books.

            

 As an adult, at age forty, a friend taught me to play golf. She was a firecracker. Often, I'd want to "lay up" when I approached a water hazard, but she'd always say, "I dare you to go for it." Oh, of course, I did. Most often I failed but at least I tried.

            

 You'd think I learned my lesson over my lifetime of taking dares. But no…I still try new things, sometimes on my own, sometimes at the urging of a friend.

             

Decades ago, my best friend urged me to play hooky and drive to Dallas to see Bruce Springsteen in his "Born in the USA" world tour. I took the dare and we went…and we were the teachers!

            

 In 2004, I had to stay in a recliner much of each day because of a couple of medical problems. Bored to death, I complained I had nothing to do. My husband placed an old used laptop in my lap and said, "Well, write something."

            

 I took the dare and wrote an entire novel, and I'd never written anything in my life. Now, I have a ten novels, six novellas, several anthologies, and I'm still writing.

             

In case you think I'd try anything, don't. I do have limits. I said no when urged to try a cigarette; I said no to boys who wanted to go too far; and I said no climbing the town water tower.

            

 However, taking a chance…or a dare…on something you'd really like to do can be a good thing. Suppose you, as an author, would like to try writing, oh, a space opera romance instead of the sweet girl-next-door romances you prefer, but you don't know where to begin or if you'd be successful. Or perhaps you'd really like to enter one of the most prestigious contests around, but fear a dreadfully low critique.

            

 I believe most authors are risk-takers. Otherwise, we wouldn't send our most beloved manuscripts to strangers, hoping they'll love it. We wouldn't take the chance on a bad review by sending our published novel to the best reviewer we know.

                   

Maybe all authors should write something very different once in a while.

                   

Maybe readers should read something very different once in a while.

                    

Go ahead. Try something different. I dare you.

Celia Yeary

 Note: My newest release is TEXAS DREAMER, my 4th "Texas book," another Western Romance novel. See top of blog, right corner. Available at Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, Sony, and iTunes store. Thank you. 

READ AN E-BOOK WEEK: March 2-8

Greetings! In celebration of "Read an eBook Week," I am participating in a Free eBook and Discounted eBook give-away during this week.

~~*~~READ an E-BOOK WEEK! March 2-8~~*~~

FREE on the Smashwords Site

Use link and coupon code

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Click on the book title to go to the applicable Smashwords page.

The Stars at Night 

New Yorker Kate Norwood meets Jesse McCoy on her trip to Texas with her young nephew. She learns her plan to leave Nicky with his grandmother -- Jesse’s mother -- is hopeless, and faced with the improbable prospect of rearing the boy herself, she turns to Jesse for help. Kate and Jesse bond easily, but problems arise which may drive them apart and leave the child with the wrong person. With hearts full of love and hope, they work together find the answers they need.

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Texas Promise

After two years, Jo Cameron King’s life as a widow abruptly ends when her husband returns home to Austin. Unable to understand her angry and bitter husband, she accepts a call to travel to the New Mexico Territory to meet her dying birth father whom she knows nothing about. Her plan to escape her husband goes awry when he demands to travel with her.

Dalton King, believing lies his Texas Ranger partner tells him about Jo, seethes with hatred toward his wife. Now he must protect Jo from his partner’s twisted mind, while sorting out the truth. Jo’s bravery and loyalty convince him she’s innocent. But can they regain the love and respect they once shared?   

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/celiayeary

 My Website

My Blog

Sweethearts of the West-Blog

My Facebook Page