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Feb 13

One tip to tweak your morning routine to become happier and more creative

Recently, I had a major epiphany about how to tweak my morning routine to become more creative, happier, and joyful.

But, first, the morning routine.

I learned a few years ago about the power of having a morning routine in Hal Elrod’s book, “The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM).”

The author writes about the many benefits of a morning routine such as waking up every day with more energy, drive, and structure; lowering stress levels, improving health, increasing productivity, and having more gratitude and less anxiety.

He lists six activities to include in your morning routine that he calls “savers.”

The term SAVERS stands for:

  • Silence (meditation/prayer)
  • Affirmations
  • Visualization
  • Exercise
  • Reading
  • Scribing (journaling)

The idea is to spend the first hour of your day on these items. On those days that you don’t have an hour then you can condense your routine into whatever time you have.

I won’t go into all the details because there are so many great articles on this topic already, including this one by Ricardo Singh, “Miracle Morning routine: 6 steps to boost productivity.”

I don’t do all six items but use them more as a menu to choose from depending on how I feel and what I think I need that morning.

My morning routine is the foundation of my day and without it, I feel lost at sea, afloat on a wave of too many responsibilities and tasks. That time to myself in the morning centers me for the day, and I feel as if time expands for me as a result—not in some woo-woo, supernatural way but because I’m more focused and productive.

So, what’s my epiphany?

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Jan 18

How to write riveting sex scenes that leave your reader wanting more: creating chemistry, part 2

How To Create Chemistry Between Your Characters

In most cases, your characters aren’t going to meet and then just fall into bed together. If they do, then you’re probably writing hard-core erotica or porn and that’s not what I’m discussing today.

Even if your characters don’t have sex, maybe there’s some heavy petting or flirtation that occurs and you’ll want to build up to that as well.

So how do you build chemistry and anticipation between your characters?

A sex scene is the culmination of everything your two characters have done, said, and been through together from the moment they meet.

Chemistry is that feeling of connection between two people. I like to call it the charged energy between two people. It’s a draw to someone else that makes you want more of them.

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Jan 14

How to write riveting sex scenes that leave your reader wanting more: the language of love, part 1

Have you ever read a sex scene in a novel and cringed?

You can find bad writing anywhere, in any genre. But, as author Diana Gabaldon says, “While bad writing about murderers, spies, elves, or young people with self-esteem issues is merely boring—bad writing about sex is hilarious. So, how do you ensure that readers are riveted to the page rather than rolling on the floor or running off to find a spouse or friend to read the most memorably horrible phrases aloud to?”

I don’t know about you, but when I read a bad sex scene, I’m either rolling on the floor laughing and/or feel embarrassed for the author. In fact, there’s a certain bestselling male author that I really enjoy reading, and then one day I read a sex scene he wrote. It was so awful and cringeworthy that I couldn’t read anything by him for a long while. You don’t want your readers to have a similar experience.

When some of my writer friends found out I was preparing a webinar on how to write sex scenes, most of them asked me the same question—what do you call “it?” Meaning, of course, what do you call the male sexual organ without making it sound too graphic or corny or pornographic? I love this question.

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Apr 20

Symbolism in literature: Is a rose just a rose?

In her poem, “Sacred Emily,” Gertrude Stein wrote, “Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.” This line is often interpreted as meaning things are what they are. In Stein’s view, the sentence expresses the fact that simply using the name of a thing already invokes the imagery and emotions associated with it.

In literature, objects can simply be what they are or they can symbolize something more than what they are.

A symbol is anything that hints at something else, usually something abstract, such as an idea or belief. A literary symbol is an object, a person, a situation, or an action that has a literal meaning in a story but suggests or represents other meanings.

If you want to learn more about crafting symbols in your story and how to use poetic techniques to deepen your prose, please join me this Thursday, April 21 for my writing webinar Sound and Symbol: How to Use Poetry to Deepen Your Prose, which is part of the Free Expressions Literary Series.

I’ll dive deep into how poetry can add sensory engagement to your prose.

We can have general symbols—like the aforementioned rose—and we can have specific symbols.

A general symbol is universal in its meaning. Even if the symbol was removed from a work of literature, it would still suggest a larger meaning, i.e. the rose symbolizes romantic love throughout time.

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May 11

Elevate your prose with poetry techniques

No matter what you write—emails, short stories, novels, or nonfiction—your prose can be more persuasive and impact your reader more effectively by using poetic devices.

Below are three blog posts to help you discover the power of using rhetorical techniques to create more poetic prose.

This Thursday, May 13, I’d love to have you on my webinar Adding Poetry to Your Prose.

You can buy the entire webinar series featuring well-known writers, including Donald Maass, Emma Dryden, and James Scott Bell, or scroll down to May 13 and grab my webinar. If you can’t make it live, you’ll receive the recording and all my handouts afterwards.

I’d love to see you there!

Until then, please enjoy these posts:

Use rhetorical devices to evoke readers’ emotions

Rhetorical devices: Your secret writing weapon

Add alliteration to make your pages pop!

Mar 25

Free craft webinar: Writing tips from top teachers

As writers, we know that learning our craft is a lifelong endeavor. Even well-known published authors still study their craft. These craft masters want to become the best they can be.

After I earned my Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, I continued my craft studies with various teachers and felt as if I got an entire second degree. I love writing. I love learning about writing. I love practicing my storytelling techniques.

If you’re a writer, I know you feel the same way, and I have a gift for you.

Some of my writing mentors and friends and I are teaching in-depth writing craft webinars this year. You’re invited to a FREE webinar on Thursday, April 1 for a sneak peek of what we have to offer. Be our guest for quick craft tips, writing exercises, and Q&As from writing pros. Topics include emotional storytelling, outlining, scene structure, poetry techniques for prose, and much more.

To sign up for the FREE Craft Collection night, please click here and scroll down to the April 1 event.

Free Writing Webinar – April 1 – 4:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. PDT

On May 13, I’m teaching a webinar on adding poetry to your prose. Other webinar topics in the series include Writing Your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell, Backstory is Fore-story by Donald Maass, Emotional Storytelling by Lorin Oberweger, Dialogue as Action by David Corbett, Character Matters by Sheree Greer, Crafting Your Novel by Emma Dryden and many more!

I hope to see you on April 1.

P.S. If you miss the free event, you can check out the webinar series here.

Sep 6

Ars Poetica 2020: Where poetry inspires art

Ars Poetica Art & PoetryDownload

Ars Poetica is an annual poetry/art event in my county where poets enter their work in a contest and, if chosen, their work is forwarded to local artists. Each artist chooses one or more poems that resonate with them, and they make a piece of art inspired by the poem. This is the opposite of ekphrastic poetry where a poem is inspired by a painting or other work of art.

Once the art is finished, both the art and poem are displayed at local art galleries and celebrated with a reading and display of the art.

I was lucky enough to have two poems chosen this year. Artist Michelle Perdue chose my poem Smite Me. Her painting of the same name and my poem are displayed at the Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse. Due to the current state of our society, the reading was shifted to an online presentation of the poems and artwork, which you can view by clicking the link above and downloading the PDF.

Take your time to savor the poetry and the artwork. Ask questions. Explore. Contemplate.

And remember, art inspires art. Maybe something within these pages will inspire you.

For more inspiration and to spark ideas, read my post Creativity begets creativity: How to build your creative muscles.

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