Oct 17
If you’re new to One Wild Word, you may have missed some of our earlier posts. Dip into some posts from the past and shake up your writing mind.
Write lyrically by reading poetry
Learn more about how poetry can be your bubble bath for a productive writing session. Read more
Have you ever noticed that one of the first things revolutionaries do when they start a coup is take over the TV station? That’s because controlling communication is key to attracting attention, managing the message, and sparking change.
If you’re trying to get published, maybe you don’t want to go that far, but it doesn’t hurt to think like a revolutionary. If you want to get noticed you have to get your work out there.
Besides sending out queries, try these tactics as part of a plan to communicate and share your writing with the world.
1. Submit excerpts of your project for publication in magazines or literary journals. It could lead to a book deal from an agent who sees it and wants more. Read more
Have you considered going on a “power trip?” Not in that wild, crazy, dictator sort of way, but in a crazy good, creative idea way.
Todd Henry, author of the book, “The Accidental Creative: How to be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice,” writes about how to maximize the creative process to solve problems or maximize ideas in the work place. I like to use his advice to build out ideas for my writing projects.
One of his tips: Make time for periodic power hours.
He suggests stopping once a week, or whenever it feels right, to spend an hour generating ideas. I use the time to write out details about characters and where my story could go next. Power hours are also good for brainstorming ideas for book titles, considering possibilities for story structure, or drumming up character names. Read more
We all get into ruts and patterns. What we eat, what routes we take to get to work, and what we do once we get there — routines for going about each part of our day.
Routines have their place. They forge discipline and efficiency. They provide security and order.
But when was the last time you did something for the first time? Read more
The fear at the root of creative anxiety can be powerful writing fuel if you manage it. In part one of Five fixes for creative anxiety, I revealed reasons writers experience anxiety.
Here are five more:
Do you ever feel creative anxiety? Your brain is buzzing, and you’re spinning your creative wheels faster than your feet can pedal. You’re just plain fried.
I’ve analyzed this malady to see what causes it, as well as what fixes it.
A sure way to suck the life out of a story is by using stereotypical characters. For one thing, it usually means the rest of your story will be stereotypical – and predictable.
Stereotypical characters are stereotypes because their character traits have been repeatedly used and with little depth or complexity. You’ve seen them before: The popular blonde cheerleader, the cynical, hard-boiled private detective, and the cold-blooded hitman. They rob you, the reader, of surprise because you automatically know what will happen next. Read more
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