Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Writing Life’ Category

Jun 10

1 Comment

Energize your writing life with these three tips from other writers

Sometimes the trick to having a great writing day is just getting started. Here are three tips from other writers that inspired me and may help you too.

Write scenes out of order. Sometimes I know the end of a story before I know the beginning. So I go ahead and write the last scene. Or sometimes I have a key scene in mind that is asking to be written. I write it, and it gives me momentum to find the rest of my story.

This drives one of my writing friends crazy because she absolutely must write her novels starting from the beginning. I say, do what works. You’ll find advantages and disadvantages to every approach. But if you’re stuck about how to approach your next piece of writing, think about writing scenes in the order they come to you. Read about how Roz Morris started doing this in her post, Writing your scenes out of order on her Nail Your Novel blog. Read more

Jun 4

1 Comment

Heat up your writing with these prompts

Sometimes I get into a writing funk. It’s as though I’m frozen in place.

Maybe this has happened to you. You’ve gone through a stressful event, you’re not sleeping well, or you’ve been consumed by work deadlines. Stress and fatigue are known to affect creativity and inhibit the brain from generating creative ideas.

I find that the harder I think when I’m in my slump, the more I blank out. I’ve learned that I need to think differently. I need to activate the part of my brain that comes up with new ideas, instead of the part that is sparked by stress.

One of the things I do to re-energize myself is read good works of literature. I also find that doing a few writing exercises helps me out of my rut.

One of my favorite books for this is The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts For Your Writing Practice by Kelli Russell Agodon and Martha Silano. If you’re in a slump, try this prompt from The Daily Poet.

Choose a color. Now write a poem only using images of that color. For example, if you chose white, your poem might include clouds, snow, yogurt, angels, paper, ping-pong balls, or plastic bags. The poem may or may not evoke an emotion associated with your chosen color.

Here are two more prompts from another of my favorite writing books, Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir by Natalie Goldberg. This book is geared towards writing memoir but the prompts are equally good for writing essays and poems and even coming up with the seed of an idea for a short story or character. Here are two sample prompts from the book:

Knew. What did you know that you didn’t want to know? Go. Ten minutes.

Repair. What have you tried to repair? Write for 10 minutes.

May 29

3 Comments

Waste a notebook with your random ideas

One day when I was in the fourth grade, I got in trouble for not paying attention in class. I was scribbling away on my tablet, writing notes that had nothing to do with what my teacher was talking about. She said I was daydreaming. She said I had to go sit in the hallway. I narrowly avoided a visit to the principal’s office.

Writing in a notebook has been part of me for as long as I can remember. In my notebooks, I write interesting words or phrases, the title of a good book recommendation, the date of the next book club meeting, words of a song that sound like poetry.

At some point, I type the notes from my notebooks into my computer so they’re easy to search. I know that in this electronic age, many people type everything on their digital devices, but I don’t enjoy typing with one finger. Mostly I just enjoy the act of writing with pen in hand. And it gives me a good excuse to buy more notebooks.

Little did I know, with all my scribblings, I was creating a “waste book” in the tradition of 18th century German scientist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, who had a habit of collecting aphoristic notes, ideas, and lists. According to a Scientific American review on Amazon.com, in his student days, Lichtenberg began the lifelong practice of recording his observations and reminders in notebooks that he called “Sudelbücher” after the waste books that English businesses used to enter transactions temporarily until they could be recorded in formal account books.

This is one of my favorite of Lichtenberg’s aphorisms: “The book which most deserved to be banned would be a catalog of banned books.” Lichtenberg’s writings have been translated in The Waste Books.

My waste books might seem a morass of random scribblings to some people, but when I look back at them, I find a gem here and there — an idea that may find it’s way into a story, the root of an essay, or a character waiting to be born.

For another take on keeping a notebook, read my previous post, A twist on the writer’s journal: The commonplace book.

 

May 27

4 Comments

Stay in your writing groove with this tip

One of my biggest challenges is staying in the flow of my writing. I find it especially hard to stay in the groove if something interrupts my regular writing practice. Long gaps between writing sessions make it hard to maintain creative momentum.

I’ve been inspired by my friend Mandy who takes pages of her manuscript, or sometimes the whole thing, with her wherever she goes. She says having the pages with her helps her stay connected to her project. She can also take advantage of down time while waiting in a doctor’s office or commuting to her day job.

Mandy uses her breaks at work to read pages, make edits, or just think about where she’ll take her story next. The pages are a constant reminder of how important writing is to her.

Mandy says it’s hard to find quiet time when she gets home at night and is caught up with the demands of her family: fixing dinner, helping children with baths and homework, and getting ready for the next day. So those moments on a break or during a commute are golden for grabbing quality writing and revising time. And on those days when she’s too tired to write, reading the pages maintains her connection to the words.

If you want to create a strong link to your project in process, consider carrying a few chapters with you. Just having your pages close by may be enough to help you stay in your writing groove.

For more writing practice tips, read these posts:

Talent vs hard work: 5 tips for a deliberate writing practice

Don’t beat your head against the wall: Try these tips to develop a daily writing practice

May 22

2 Comments

Are you a creative eccentric? Embrace it

I am not like most people.

I figured this out when one of my family members pointed out something I was doing and said, “most people don’t do that.”

It made me think about the fact that I have never felt “normal” or that I “fit in.”

I asked some of my friends about this and found that many of my writer friends feel the same way. In fact, my blogging partner Carol was so sure as a child that she must have been adopted, she would search her house looking for adoption papers.

In an article in the Winter 2014 issue of Scientific American Mind — The Mad Science of Creativity – Harvard researcher Shelley Carson wrote an article called “The Unleashed Mind,” about the connection between eccentricity and creativity.

For instance, in Carson’s research some creative students report magical thinking, such as a belief in telepathic communication. Creative eccentrics are also more likely to experience unusual perceptual experiences, such as having frequent déjà vu and hearing voices or sensing the presence of another person who isn’t there. Read more

May 15

A writer’s worst enemy: The Fraud Police

Have you ever felt like a fraud? You’re writing away or starting a new painting or composing a song and you’re suddenly stopped by those terrible voices in your head that say you’re a fake, a poser, a no-good mime of life.

I pretty much have this feeling every day. It doesn’t matter if I’m writing or working my business, it’s always there at some point—whether it’s a whisper or a tsunami of sound. That little nudge of self-doubt. Can I really do this? Will “they” find me out? Whatever made me believe I could write a novel? Or be an artist?

Imagine all the time, opportunities, and joy lost to the fear of “being found out.” I’ve known people who have become crippled by this fear. Unable to move on. Unable to pursue their dreams. Unable to get out of their dire circumstances. Unable to live.

Amanda Palmer’s 2011 commencement speech at The New England Institute of Art’s Class addresses this issue. Amanda calls these voices in our head the Fraud Police.

She says the Fraud Police are an imaginary terrifying force of grownups that don’t exist. But they come to your house at three o’clock in the morning and pound on your door and shout “Fraud police!! We’ve been watching you, and we have evidence that you have no idea what you are doing….You do not actually deserve your job and we are taking everything away and we are telling everybody.”

We’ve all felt, at one time or another, that we’re “fakers,” that we don’t really know what we’re doing. It doesn’t matter who you are—an artist, a teacher, a police officer—everyone has a fear of the Fraud Police finding them out.

Amanda says that there are no rule books for artists. Scientists and doctors and astronauts actually have an easier time because they have a specific path to follow with certain rules. They have a destination.

So, how do we combat the imaginary Fraud Police? One way, says Amanda, is to continue doing what you do. Every day. Take opportunities to learn and grow and help others in your field. Volunteer. Do your work. Create your art. Step outside your comfort zone.

She says, and I believe, that making art is just as important as building a bridge or curing cancer. After a long, stressful day of work or saving lives, what do you think these professionals need to save them? Yes, art.

Keep making your art. It is important. It saves lives.

When my Fraud Police stop by now, I say, “Hello! Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I’m a fraud but so are you! At least I’m trying to figure it out. You’re just annoying.  I’m busy now but check back later. Bye-bye!” What usually happens, is they go off and bother somebody else and forget to come back later, at least that day.

Watch Amanda’s short video here:

 

May 13

Productivity tips for your writing projects and more

“When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth.” – Kurt Vonnegut

I’ve been going in a hundred different directions lately: work, play, travel, chairing a literary contest, spring gardening, and a multitude of other projects. The other day, a friend called me “superwoman.” I used to like it when people noticed how hard I worked. Now, I hate it. I hate it just for that reason–because it reminds me of how hard I work.

I realize, after a lifetime of perpetuating this pattern, that I “get busy” and take on too many projects when I am trying to AVOID something that I really should be doing. Funny, isn’t it? The thing I should be doing, right now, is writing my book. Why am I doing everything else, then? Because I’ve reached a juncture of sorts, a crisis point, and I can’t see my way through it.

Fortunately, for me, I came across Tim Ferriss’s post today, “Productivity Tips for the Neurotic and Crazy (Like Me)” (and like me). He writes about the dangerous myths of “creative” people and lists several dysfunctional actions of his own (in comparison, they make my “busy-ness” seem boring and lame).

Tim says, “Most ‘superheroes’ are nothing of the sort. They’re weird, neurotic creatures who do big things DESPITE lots of self-defeating habits and self-talk.”  He goes on to say:

“If you consistently feel the counterproductive need for volume and doing lots of stuff, put these on a Post-it note:

  • Being busy is a form of laziness-lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.
  • Being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions.”

To get myself back on track and out of my crazy-making-busy behavior, I’m taking Tim’s advice and writing down the three to five things that make me most anxious or uncomfortable. Then I ask myself “If this were the only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my day?”

If I can answer YES to this question and one more question he lists in his post, then I should block out 2 to 3 hours one day to work on ONLY this project. Let all the little, less-important stuff come later.

The most uncomfortable thing in my writing life right now is, “What is going to happen next in my story?” If I were able to break through this block, it would be a life-changer for me—not only because I may actually finish my work-in-progress but it would give me the confidence that I can be successful, that I can push through my blocks. I’d be expanding my comfort zone and creating “future fuel” for success. Sounds productive, doesn’t it?

Do you have one or two things in your life that feel uncomfortable? Are you avoiding or procrastinating something important?

For more insight on how to increase your productivity, read all of Mr. Ferriss’s article. Then check out his book, “The 4-Hour Work Week.”

For more tips, read my post Stretch your writing comfort zone.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »