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Writing Words - writing it is the only way of getting it written
The best way to overcome writer's block? Don't believe in it.
Writer's block is a myth. It's your subconscious making up reasons why you can't write:
You're not good enough, your writing sucks.
You have nothing to say.
Look, XYZ is on TV.
And so on.
If this sounds familiar to you, try this little free-writing exercise:
Open a new document or get a pen and paper. Set an egg timer / your mobile phone / a stop watch to count down five minutes (longer if you want). Start by writing the following: 'I don't believe in writer's block and I don't care if my writing sucks.' Then write down anything that crosses your mind. Don't censor your thoughts, don't analyse them. Just write them down until your time is up. If you don't want to stop then, just continue writing.
There will always be times when your writing is terrible. I've been there many times, I know it's no fun.The point of this exercise is not to write award-worthy prose. The point is to show yourself that you are not blocked and to give yourself the permission to write badly. Don't believe in writer's block and write your way out of an inspirational dry spell.
I just watched Conan O'Brien last show online. He said about his seven-month stint and the early end of hosting 'The Tonight Show": "[...] I did it my way with people I love. I do not regret one second of anything that we've done here."
So, back to the writing life. Imagine it's August 23rd - seven months from today. What have you achieved as a writer by that date? How did you achieve it? Are you on track for achieving your 2010 writing goals? Can you look back and say, "I do not regret one second of anything I've done", even if things didn't turn out as planned?
No matter where you'll be in your writing career on August 23rd, make sure every day until then that you won't regret anything you've done. Make time to write regularly, get some exposure, be bold.
I'm not here for the money. If I were, I'd long since left. Still I wish the daily ads revenue were closer to the estimates here.
I blog because I like blogging. It's probably the best reason. If you have the time, the writing skills and the niche knowledge to turn your passion for blogging into a profitable job, that's a massive bonus. Money should never be the motivation, though.
I am thinking about the future of Writing Words. I've spend the last three years and almost four months blogging here on and off, and every time I put some effort into the blog, it's paid off. Traffic picks up quickly and I get a few comments now and then, and the majority of them are positive. Getting feedback from readers is a huge reward, I wouldn't want to miss it.
I intend to spend an hour or two over the weekend to find out how to customize my blog. I hope there's a way to control which other Orble blogs are displayed in the right sidebar. I'm particularly frustrated by the "Orble Writing Blogs" section. Freelance Tips is the only writing-related blog there which isn't inactive, while other, active writing blogs are missing - I'm thinking about Fictional Worlds and Writers' Notes in particular.
I blog because writing is second nature to me, it's how I make sense of life and the world. It's all about the words for me and I bookmark blogs on the strength of the writing rather than on how they look. I'm not sure this is how most people choose the blogs they read, though. So I am worried about the first impression people have who came here through a Google search. If any of you read this far, I'd appreciate your comments.
Okay, the stats going all wonky isn't the best way to persuade me that Orble is my blogging future.
According to the daily stats email, both Freelance Tips and Writing Words had zero visits yesterday. Guess it must have been a ghost then that clicked on one of the ads on one of the blogs.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who would appreciate a comment on the Writers' Forum about what's going on with the stats.
The new year is 20 days old already and so far I've not had any trouble sticking to my writing goals.
Even the blogging part is easy, despite my busy schedule. I enjoy writing these blog posts. I got quick at drafting posts and editing them up to scratch, too. So I should be happy about this blog, right?
Well, I'm happy with the content. I'm happy with the conversations I've had with some of you. But man am I not happy with the way the blog looks. The Orble design is very 2003, and I'm afraid in our fast-paced time that equals ancient. I guess I could live with the dated look if it were easier to customize a blog. Heard of widgets, anyone?
I'm not sure yet what the next step is. Maybe I need to spend a weekend playing with the limited options I have in terms of design. Maybe the best it can look will be acceptable. But I am thinking about other options.
All I want is to have the best blog possible, both in terms of content and look. Is that asking too much?
After writing about the best blogs for writers on Saturday, I felt bad about my other favourite blogs that were culled from the list.
In the end, you choose how many blogs you want to read, and chances are you don't agree with my choices for the best blogs. So here are more blogs I read and recommend
[ Click here to read more ]
You can't tell a story in six words? Well, Ernest Hemingway could. Six-word stories are a good exercise to sharpen your story-telling skills. They are one of the best story forms to be written while you're out and about. Write them on your mobile phone whenever you have three minutes. Share them on Twitter - there's a hashtag: #sixwords.
Written a good one? Submit it to Six Word Stories or Six-Word Memoirs.
This is a difficult one - there are so many good blogs for writers out there and if you follow too many of them, you won't have time to write. I've cut my selection down to five writing blogs I couldn't do without:
Published Writers
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This post is inspired by Dianna's recent post on writing tips for newbies. She writes, "Never give up; this is your dream, this is what you love, so keep on doing it even if people tell you you suck ..."
Chances are people will tell you you suck. They may even tell you to get real and focus your energy on something useful. Don't listen to these people. Don't listen to anything that isn't constructive feedback. These people are probably jealous that you go after your dreams because they don't dare going after theirs
[ Click here to read more ]
Some days writing after a full day of work is a breeze. Some days, however, almost anything else appears to be more fun - even washing the dishes. It's how you deal with these days that will influence your success as a writer.
If you want to turn writing into your career, the best thing to do on days when you don't feel like writing is to write anyway. Yes, it may not be fun. No, you will probably not create your best work on an "I-don't-want-to-write" day. You will feel better having written, though. Looking back on the time you spent writing, you may well realise that you did actually prefer writing to the household chores. Every time you overcome your unwillingness to write, you grow as a writer
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I kept my writing goal for 2009 vague. Apart from my NaNo novel, I didn't write any fiction. As I wrote a substantial amount of freelance articles, it doesn't bother me too much. Still, it's not how I imagined my writing balance sheet would look a year ago.
The best way to make sure it doesn't happen again in 2010 is to set myself a few fiction writing goals and make them public. So here they are
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One of the best things writers can do to advance their writing is so simple it almost feels silly to spell it out. At least on paper, that is. I know from my own and other writers' experience that sitting down every day for at least 15 minutes is much harder than it sounds. You have to cut out something else to make time for your writing time.
Writers who are serious about their craft will find something in their day they consider worth sacrificing, though. The choice is simple: Switch the telly on or go to your desk. Sleep until it's time to get up for the day job, or set the alarm 30 minutes early and write first thing in the morning. Say no when your colleagues go for a drink after work
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Most writers have a collection of quotes by other writers about writing. Reading what the great and successful have said about the writing process can be a comfort and provide inspiration when you are stuck or despair of your own writing. Here are some of my favourite writers' quotes:
The first draft is just you telling yourself the story. - Terry Pratchett
[ Click here to read more ]
One of the best online tools to help you boost your wordcount is Write or Die. This simple tool will make you write a lot of words unless you don't mind your computer going berserk and screeching at you. You decide how long you want to write and how many words you want to write in that period, and then you start typing. Whenever you stop typing, the punishments begins.
It's an excellent help if you struggle with getting the words out, not just during NaNoWriMo.
My other creative pursuit
I think many creative people aren't just focused on one creative outlet. Me, I'm too creative to limit my creations to writing. For example, I've learnt basic cooking skills from my mother as a kid and now I hardly ever need a recipe. I make dishes up as I go along
[ Click here to read more ]
Holly Lisle's 22-week course How to Revise Your Novel will be open until Jan 9, 12 noon EST. It costs US$47 a month for four months, and will not be available at this price again when it opens again later in the year. If you are curious, give it a go now. If you don't like it, there's a full money-back guarantee.
I know I'm repeating myself here, but I get so much out of this course that I want more writers to know about it. Holly says, "And over the years, I have created a system for
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As with all the best things this month, the following list is highly subjective. I think these are the best online writing challenges but I'm curious to see what your favourites are.
NaNoWriMo - Write a 50k novel in the month of November. (I didn't really have to explain this, did I?) This was the writing challenge that took me to the next level as a newish writer, it will always be my favourite because of that
[ Click here to read more ]
The problem with the internet today is that writing advice is endless. You can read and read and read until the end of days, I suppose. True, some background knowledge on how novels work and how other people go about writing them is helpful, but no amount of theory can ever replace writing practice. If you want to write a publishable piece of fiction, you need to write lots of unpublishable rubbish first. Things you would never admit you wrote. Because knowing what works in theory doesn't mean you sit down and write a publishable text. You make mistakes, and you learn because of them. (from Too much theory)
That is the best thing I've written on this blog in 2009. I had to remind myself that in the end, I need to sit down and write, revise and edit if I want to become a better writer. Knowing the theory and applying it are two different things
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