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Posts from the ‘Writing Life’ Category

Nov 22

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Any dog can be thankful: Today we say thank you to our readers

As a child, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother. One of the sayings she is known for in our family is: “Any dog can be thankful.”

With that in mind on this day of Thanksgiving in the USA, I want to thank all of our faithful and supportive followers at onewildword.

Today, I’m highlighting three followers who inspire me with their words and content. And thanks to all our readers for being part of our community.

Cast Light is a great source of inspiration. I particularly enjoy this call to action. And especially for those who are in the midst of NaNoWriMo, find a burst of energy in this post about finish lines.

If you’ve been reading this blog for long, you know how much we advocate reading. Jane Fritz’s post about a balanced reading diet is excellent food for thought.

You have to love Scripts & Scribes (@scriptsscribes), a free writer’s resource website. Find some writerly insight by listening to their interviews from top  professionals in publishing, film & TV, theatre, and comic books.

Nov 20

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Put on your writer’s cloak: Santa Claus is coming to town

Holidays enchant us with snowmen, gingerbread people, and candy canes. They can also be full of drama: Uncle Ralph and Aunt Sally in a snit at the dining room table or overtired children throwing tantrums in the middle of the mall. And don’t even get me started about the company Christmas party when Roger in Accounting had too much to drink and….well you get the idea.

Anyway, all these scenes are subjects for writers. Opportunities to observe the human condition to see what it can offer our storytelling. Read more

Nov 19

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A little inspiration for NaNoWriMo

Today is day nineteen of National Novel Writing Month—the month where crazy people the world over take the challenge to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. Besides fighting off a cold (I WILL win) and being slightly behind on my word count, I’m doing pretty good.

Going into the final ten days of the challenge, I have a definite plan: write 3,000 words per day for the next four days (Thanksgiving included) to get caught up with my word count and then continue my daily writing routine into the home stretch. This will be the first time I’ll have completed the challenge and I’m psyched! Read more

Nov 16

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Want more big ideas? Turn off your phone

Want more big ideas? Turn off your phone and let your mind wander. Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and Happy at Home, has a rule for herself when she’s traveling from one place to another, whether it’s by foot, taxi, or subway. She turns off her phone. No checking e-mail, texting, surfing the web, or talking.

In an interview with author Daniel Pink, Rubin said she used to force herself to check e-mail in an effort to be more efficient.

“Then I thought back on my life as a writer,” she said. “Every time I had a major idea that made me write a book about a subject or led to a year-long obsession, I was walking, on a bus, or on a subway.” Read more

Nov 14

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Improve your power of observation: Write a poem a day

Do you want to be more observant? Try this: Write a poem a day.

I’ve been trying it and it’s taken my observational skills up a notch. Even if you don’t see yourself as a poet, try it anyway. Not only will you enhance your ability to see more of the world around you, you’ll begin to tune into your writing in a new way. You’ll become more conscious of words and their connotations. These skills will carry over into other forms of writing that you do.

Here are several tips that might help:

1. First, don’t freak out. Relax and just tell yourself that you’re going to go with the flow. You don’t have to write completely polished poems here. Just write. Your poem doesn’t even have to be “finished” the day you write it. Shoot for having a “draft.” Read more

Nov 12

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25 tools to keep you in your writing groove

Plenty of things can distract us from our writing mission. Here’s a list of 25 writers’ resources, that should make your writing life a little easier and more productive.

Some of these will be especially helpful if you’re participating in NaNoWriMo.

Here are a few from the list:

SimplyNoise. If a noisy environment threatens to knock you out of your writing groove, you’ll love SimplyNoise, a free white noise generator. A slider button at the top of the web page offers a selection of white, pink, and brown noise. You can also make a donation and download others, including the sounds of ocean waves or a rainstorm. After five minutes of listening to the oscillating sounds of white noise, I was in a deep writing trance. Addictive. Read more

Nov 8

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NaNoWriMo or not, boost your word count

In our month-long celebration of NaNoWriMo, we’re offering tips, tools, and inspiration to help you write your heart out. NaNoWriMo or not, these resources and ideas will make you more prolific and creative well beyond November.

I was intrigued to find this post by author Rachel Aaron about how she went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000. Yes, you read that right. Here are brief explanations of her tips, with a link to the details in her blog post. She’s also written a book available for only 99 cents, which you can buy on Amazon, that details the process.

Side 1: Knowledge or Know What You’re Writing Before You Write It
After realizing a scene she’d written was a mess, Aaron discovered that if she scribbled out a short-hand version of what she planned to write on a pad of paper, she could quickly spot any writing pitfalls and more efficiently and quickly finish the scene, upping her word count.

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