Skip to content

Sep 9

1 Comment

Did you write today? Put a star on your calendar

I love it when I find another writer who has a ritual or a way of thinking about writing that I share. It’s one more way of feeling connected to a community. This week, I had one of those moments when I read an interview with writer John Reimringer. 

In The Aroostook Review, the online literary journal at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, Reimringer speaks about the practice of writing, how he got into it, and his routines and rituals. One especially struck me because it’s a ritual I’ve done in the past with working out and one I now do with my writing practice.

I give myself a star for each day I write.

I like to use a calendar that shows a month and has big enough squares for the stars. Something about seeing those stars pushes me forward. I like to look back and see my writing history at a glance. If you post your calendar in a place where you work, it can even become a conversation starter. I’ve influenced more than one person to start marking their writing progress with stars. (It’s actually a good way to mark any progress toward a goal, not just writing.)

Reimringer and his wife, poet Katrina Vandenberg, do something similar. Read more

Sep 8

2 Comments

What if you write only what is meaningful to you?

I’m a big fan of passion. I believe that whatever we do has to be done with passion. Maybe this is why my house is currently a certified disaster zone or why I’m behind on bookkeeping—because it takes me awhile to work up my passion for these tasks.

When you do something with passion, you do it for yourself and nobody else. You have an inner fire. I can tell when an author has passion—I feel it in their writing, in their words, in their images. They capture me.

I recently read a post on Photofocus.com by photographer Scott Bourne (@scottbourne) where he asked the question of his fellow photographers: “What if you concentrated on making only meaningful photos?” Bourne explores what this concept might mean to his body of work and encourages photographers to find what is meaningful to them as artists—not what they think is meaningful to others.

He writes, “There seems to be a rush to mediocrity in so many of the things that surround us lately that we may be in danger of simply forgetting about excellence.”

As writers, we have to be knowledgeable about the market—what’s selling, what’s not, how genres have shifted or combined to make new opportunities. But we don’t want to write to the market. We don’t want to write about vampires just because that’s the new hot trend (unless that’s truly your passion).

The most successful authors make their own trends. They find what they’re absolutely passionate about, what is most meaningful to them, and write about it. Read more

Sep 7

1 Comment

How writing legend Jane Yolen finds story ideas and more

If you write children’s or young adult literature, and even if you don’t, you can learn plenty from author Jane Yolen.

Yolen has written 300 books and has been called the Hans Christian Andersen of America and the Aesop of the twentieth century. In this video interview from FaerieCon 2010, she answers a few frequently asked questions and explains the meaning of the acronyms BIC and HOP. Read more

Sep 6

2 Comments

Three ways to use word riffs

One of my favorite writer’s tools is to practice word riffs. To me, word riffing is like playing a musical instrument (of course, that’s where the term riffing comes from). I’m learning to play guitar and one of the things I like to do is randomly strum away, making up my own little songs (often sung to my cats and starring their names—they just love that).

First, some tips for word riffing:

  • Make it fun and playful. Don’t make it serious—if the right word doesn’t come this time, know that it will next time.
  • Use a timer and write fast without stopping. This helps keep me focused and to the point. It allows me to go deeper and find more gems. I set my timer for 5 to 7 minutes.
  • Let it all out—first, you have to dump the garbage to make room for the treasures. Think of decluttering your office space. Once you get rid of the clutter, everything seems to flow better, doesn’t it? It’s the same thing with your brain. Write down everything that comes to your mind—the dumb words, the clichés, etc. If you don’t, you’ll just be storing it to come out later.
  • You can use word riffing for a phrase as well as one single word. Though I find focusing on one word at a time easier and more fun! Read more

Sep 5

Do you have a writer’s disaster plan?

As writers, we must let nothing deter us from our mission.

Sometimes that is easier said than done. One major deterrent in this age of gadgets and computers is our dependence on electricity — especially when the power goes out. I’ve endured a power outage during a frigid winter when a wind storm blew trees over and knocked out power lines in my neighborhood. For eight days, I scavenged for hotel rooms and went to the library for wireless Internet access.

So when the recent destruction caused by Hurricane Irene blew out power for thousands, I could sympathize with everyone who suffered from outages and flooding.

Chicago Sun Times columnist Andy Ihnatko (@Ihnatko), who went for a full week without power, wrote an informative column about how he navigated the outage and still managed to write. Read more

Sep 2

4 Comments

Conquering your writing fears: what you focus on expands

I’ve never ridden a motorcycle in my life. Never even been on one. So when my hubby recently suggested we take a motorcycle class, I had no frame of reference. I didn’t even know he’d owned one when he was younger and living in Southern California. I’m not sure what prompted his sudden need for speed, but we talked about it and decided to take the two-day safety course to see if we could pass the test (back in his early riding days there were no classes, nor tests). I wanted to take the class to see if I even enjoyed riding.

Being a type A, my hubby arranged for us to have a private class and to have both days collapsed into one (to save time, of course, since we are busy business owners). We passed the written test in the morning. No problem. Then from 12:30pm to 7:30pm we went through two days of riding instruction. Keep in mind I’ve never ridden. Keep in mind I didn’t know where the brakes or clutch were or what a choke was. (Other than this is what I wanted to do to my husband by six o’clock that evening). Read more

Sep 1

Sign up for your most important card — your library card

Whenever I move to a new city, the first thing I do is get my library card, even before a driver’s license.

Not only as a reader, but as a writer, I consider my library card to be my most important card. When I enter a library, I’m stepping into my happy place.

I know several published authors who reserve study rooms at their local libraries when they need a quiet place to work on their books. I’ve done the same thing when I wanted to defeat distraction.

Since today is the first day of National Library Card Sign-up Month, I’m highlighting some of the excellent services available at libraries. Read more

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →