Revisiting Introversion

Photo by the Author of this blog

A few months ago, I posted about introverts and extroverts, primarily busting myths about introverts being antisocial, people-haters (yes, I've been accused of that by the ignorant because I'm not a party animal). In case you missed that post, you can read it at:

God Made Me An Introvert

In one of the responses I left to a comment that post received, I noted that people can be introvert, extrovert, or anywhere in between the two extremes. I just read a fabulous blog post that talks about "ambiverts" - those who are actually a true blend of introvert and extrovert.  I just have to share it because the author, Kristen Lamb, did such a wonderful job of explaining about these "blended" folks as well as further illustrating the vast differences between true introverts and true extroverts and why the world needs both and everything in between.

The Myth About Introverts and Extroverts - Could You Be An Ambivert?

And if you have time, read through all the vast comments she received in response to her post.  People all along the spectrum responded, and the comments are great!

I'm Having WAY Too Much Fun Here....

Have you ever procrastinated about doing something the Lord is nudging you to do? Thought "That's not really reasonable", "I doubt I'd like that", "I'd have to learn something new and don't really have the time", or some other similar, empty excuse?

Yeah, well, that was me in the very recent past. I'd felt the Lord poking me in the direction of doing my own book cover designs for several weeks (months actually - but we'll pretend it was only weeks *G*). With my first two books, Beyond Hope and Promises, I used Create Space's cover creator to design the covers. They have some great templates to work with, and you can use whatever photos you like. But they also are very restricted as far as fonts, text sizes, and colors (not to mention all text has to be the same color).

I just sucked it up and dealt with it. After all, doing the entire cover - front, spine, and back - from scratch - that's an unreasonable task to lay on my doorstep, Lord. I have NO idea what I'm doing!

Then it came time to work on cover design ideas for my new books to be released beginning this summer - the Donovan Legacy series. I played with the CS cover creator. Uh, workable, but... I didn't really like the results. So I did a combination of CS cover creator and Photoshop. Still not happy, but better. Mostly. Sort of. Great, my perfectionism and nit-picky side kicked in. Argh! Okay, so NOT what I really want. Deal with it. Accept it and move on. (Yeah, cause that was actually gonna happen.)

I ran across a how-to book I'd gotten a while back for Photoshop. Looked through it, played with a couple of things, and decided the book was written by someone who liked to hear themselves talk and tossed it aside. (Now, I can't find the thing to save my life - probably packed it. Doh!) Kind of reinforced the whole "too time-consuming" excuse. So I let it go.

Then, a friend wanted a cover design - front cover only for an e-book. She was telling me what she wanted. It couldn't have been more simple, and I basically said so. She asked if I could do it. She wasn't wanting anything fancy using techniques I didn't know and hadn't used for other types of projects. So, why not? By the time we got through playing, I'd completed 4 front cover designs for her, plus I'd learned a couple of new things about PS.

Well, that kind of blew part of my excuse for not doing my own cover designs. Yeah, I still had a lot to learn about PS, but I already knew enough to be dangerous by that point. he he

The nudges that had turned to pokes became jabs. Get your backside in gear. That first book will be ready for publication before you know it.

All right. All right. I'm going.

And thus I ended up going from this:

 

to this (PS work with the photos, changed font):

 

to this:

Finally, a result I was actually HAPPY with! And you know what? I learned some new stuff, and man, did I ever have fun! In fact, I got a bit addicted at that point. Since this series is 4 books, and I want some continuity to the cover designs (yeah, nice excuses, huh?), I decided to go ahead and re-design all 4. After all, the next one won't be out for months after this first one, so if I decide to change something, I've got PLENTY of time.  And thus I went from:

To these:

Only one problem. They're done. I've nit-picked them to my heart's content and worked myself to a standstill. Now what do I do?

Oh! That new series I'm currently writing.... Yeah!

So, fess up! What have you procrastinated on in the past and found yourself wondering after the fact why you did so? Or are you currently procrastinating about something you feel the Lord nudging you to do?

(BTW, as a side note - my cover designs involve a combination of my own photography and the work of other photographers. With regards to the latter, whether I get the photos for free or for a charge - and always with photographer notification in the mix - I provide credit on the copyright page of the each to the photographer(s).  Regardless of whether I pay for the copyright license or the photographer generously shares their work for free, I believe they deserve credit for their work.)