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Posts from the ‘Writing Life’ Category

Mar 29

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How writing changes us so we can change others

I have a theory that writing poems, or any form of literature, makes the world a safer, kinder, more peaceful place, not just for the meaning expressed in the sentences, but the effect the act of writing has on the writer and in turn readers.

Writing is a great equalizer — a way of connecting with people and by extension, the world. Because no matter where they live, people share the same feelings of loss and joy in the midst of tragic and hopeful circumstances.

Writing celebrates universal moments of surprise, love, and humor. It helps put perspective on our troubles. Transforms. Many people have been silenced until someone else’s words or images shined a light on their suffering, giving a voice to the voiceless.

Remember for a moment the heartbreak and joy we feel as we write — that connection with our characters and our humanity. Now imagine that when we do this for ourselves, we do it for the reader.

How has writing changed you?

Photo by Scott Bourne – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons

Mar 28

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One way to exercise your writer’s mind and have fun

In Ayn Rand’s The Art of Fiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers, she recommends exercising our writer minds long before we actually put words to paper. Then when we do begin to write, the ideas and words flow. I like her advice and think of it in terms of being playful and having fun.

As I read, sometimes a sentence or phrase stops me in my tracks. When this happens, I like to examine the sentence, learn from it or just play around with it.

This happened to me recently when I read this line: “Men do not often boil a woman’s rabbit.” I was reading best-selling author Bob Mayer’s description of different archetypes of men and women. At first, this sentence stopped me because I didn’t understand it. I had to take a few minutes to wrap my brain around it. Finally, I got the meaning—we often see women “boiling a man’s rabbit,” but not vice versa. Read more

Mar 27

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A letter to my perfectionist friend: Follow your calling

Dear friend who says she has not started her book because she is a perfectionist:

Yesterday when we talked, you said you had an idea for a book but hadn’t started it yet. You cited being a “perfectionist” as the reason you’ve been blocked.

Give yourself a break. Writing by its nature is imperfect. Our pages are works in progress. Writing is a messy business. Words and ideas rarely flow onto the page the way we picture them in our minds. Sentences may feel awkward. Just when we think we know where our story is going, it stalls.

Beyond certain principles of storycraft, writing, like many other art forms, is subjective. No one writes a “perfect” manuscript on the first try. That’s why they’re called “drafts.”

Blank pages are clean and crisp – and boring. Read more

Mar 26

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Five traits of successful authors

When I first started my own business, I had an opportunity to earn a luxury car from the company I worked for. Problem was, I’d never owned a luxury car. I was raised middle class, worked my may through college, and struggled for years to pay the bills. Driving a luxury car was not part of my reality.

But I really, really wanted that car. I knew I had to change my belief system. So I created a little song about that car and the belief that I could earn it. Fortunately, I don’t remember the song now, but for weeks, as I went on my daily three-mile walk, I sang that little song to myself. I put all of my intention in that song. Gradually, my belief system began to change and, within six months, I earned that car.

I’ve always studied successful people. Over the years, I’ve listened to self-improvement tapes, read self-help books, gone to seminars and even hired a personal coach. I was motivated to change.

Becoming a successful author or artist is no different. Of the authors I’ve studied, I’ve found several common denominators:

  • Successful authors have a system. Author Dean Koontz gets up every morning, goes to his home office and writes. Eight hours or more a day. Consistently, day in and day out. Read more

Mar 23

Super charge your writing with these three posts

In need of some creative fuel to finish off the week? Power up with this trio of blog posts about writing craft.

Marla Madison reviews Don’t Murder Your Mystery by Chris Roerden and reveals 11 tips to create compelling sample chapters that will entice readers to buy the whole book. As it turns out, these tips are just plain good writing advice.

Darcy Pattison at Fiction notes writes about her search for a scene to avoid a “sagging middle.” Learn more about her exploratory techniques and find other great links to scene writing tips.

Poets and writers of any genre will find a burst of creative energy from Keith Jennings’s guest post at The Write Practice about collecting and connecting images and words. At the end of the post, you’ll find a writing exercise to practice connecting the images you’ve collected.

Mar 21

Book ideas don’t fall from the sky: Writing wisdom from an award-winning author

I was struck by a piece of writing advice in an interview with Kate Messner posted on the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) blog.

While Messner writes for children, this advice applies whether you write poems, memoirs, novels, short stories or essays.

“It’s simple. If you want to write picture books, write them. Whether you are feeling inspired or not. Some of them will be awful, and this is okay. Don’t send them out. Let them live their lives out quietly on your hard drive, and learn from them.” Read more

Mar 20

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Make a goal-setting ritual

Spring is here! I can tell because in the Pacific North Wet we’ve been getting our last burst of winter weather—at least twice in the last few weeks we’ve had snow flurries, a deluge of rain, and sunny blue skies—all in the same day.

March is a liminal time of year and one of my favorite months. To me, it represents the threshold of change. Out with the old. In with the new. I look forward to spring cleaning—not just the house but all areas of my life.

I like having touchstones—the new year, the first day of spring, the summer solstice. They remind me to stop and examine where I am and where I want to go. If we don’t set our own goals and dream our own visions, then we end up fulfilling somebody else’s: our boss, parents, spouse, teacher, and others. Read more

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