Have you ever sat down to your computer or your binder paper and suddenly you have nothing to write. In fact, this goes on for several days. Nothing is coming to you. This is what we writers hate to have happen: Writer's Block. Or the famine. For whatever reason, all of our ideas have dried up like a lake that goes through a severe drought and dries all up. We want to write. We've scheduled our time out and yet here we sit. This has happened with my daughter's dedication website for me. If … [Read more...]
Day 62: Feast or Famine: Part 1
This is a two-day posting. For today's topic it's about the "feast" in writing. Have you ever sat down to write something and story after story is sitting there ready to write. In fact, you have so many of them you're overwhelmed with were to start. This is like the feast. As writers we have to discern what we need to write about. A great place to start would be to pray asking for God's help in knowing what should be written about first. So discernment is the key. We need to listen closely … [Read more...]
Day 61: Writing Hours
Everyone's writing time is individualized to that person and what works best for them. One person may only have an hour at lunch time to devote to the craft whereas someone else may have the entire day. We all lead different lives. Some are married while others are single. Some have children others don't. Some have a job outside the home and some may have no job at all. We can't judge someone else's output by what they do. Personally, I am now a stay home mom who homeschools her niece. I work … [Read more...]
Day 60: Showing Up
I think this has been my exact problem these past several months. To be reliable to my own writing muse. Ever since last July when Mari's 5 year mark came and went, I've had a hard time trying to motivate myself to do any kind of writing. Whether it was writing something for Mari's website or this one, writing something for her book, or just writing for my fiction book, I just couldn't find the motivation. I kept being told by others that even if I only write a sentence a day I needed to … [Read more...]
Day 58: Retreating to Play
We can look at kids with all the energy we wish we still had and get tired by looking at them. Sometimes we joke and say, "Man, if I could bottle all that energy and sell it, I'd make millions." We all laugh and agree. I think sometimes we forget what it's like to play. I'm not saying to go out to the monkey bars or anything. I'm talking about taking time out to do some fun adult things like rock climbing, paintball or going to a dance club to just let loose. Kids are undeterred by what … [Read more...]
Day 57: Juggling
In life, the perfect day would be 100% smooth. If we're doing something we don't get interrupted. We blissfully move from one activity to another. The dream life. Well, that's just it. It's a dream. Whether at home or at a job, you will always inevitably be interrupted by someone or something. That's just life. Sometimes those interruptions are either wanted or good. Other times you wish you could disappear. Ultimately, we have to juggle everything we do in just the right combination so we … [Read more...]
Day 56: No Drama
In life I think we all wish we could lead a drama-free life. It sometimes feels like my family, not my immediate, there always seems to be some kind of drama. From my sister to whatever made up story she's told recently to something with my brother to something with one of Keith's brothers. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who has family members who automatically bring with them drama. But when we sit down to write, and we're in our own world in our own little bubble and the only drama we … [Read more...]
Day 53: On Work and Sentences
When I was young and growing up, English was a hard subject for me. I always had a hard time knowing when a run on sentence became one and was I supposed to use there, their, or they're. (To this day I still struggle with homophones.) My dyslexia always made it more difficult. Today it has gotten easier but it's still hard work. I've been able to learn to compensate. For example, when I take a college class I probably spend a lot more time than most to get the same 'A's as someone … [Read more...]
Day 51: Nothing New Under the Sun
Stories. There are literally thousands upon thousands of stories out in the world today. So, let's say you have a great, new idea that pops into your head while you're eating breakfast. You have to get it written down right away so you don't miss one word of it. You put the idea in your box/basket/folder, or wherever you keep story ideas, and you continue what you're doing. A couple of days later you decide to pick up a new book to read. You start to read it and sure enough, right there in front … [Read more...]
Day 48: Community
When I think of a writing community I think of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). This little community of writers is so much more than writing. There is Novel Track. It's a place of accountability and support. You let the group know what your goal is at the beginning of each month. Then, as each day goes by you report in your numbers for that day. In return, you will receive positive reinforcement. Even on the days where you did nothing and tell the group you have a great big goose … [Read more...]
