A Little Friday Fun and Inspiration

Writing prompt for today:

"It was a dark and stormy night when Gandhi, Amelia Earhart and Elvis walked into a bar…."

Have fun!

Aligning with Your Writing

Photo credit: Tamara Hanson

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. 

~Ray Bradbury

When you are writing, you need to be in 'alignment' or 'in the zone' with your story. Well, that's a given. But, our brains are usually locked down by what we have to say or filtering out what we really want to say because we might feel it inappropriate or cheesy or ..... whatever.

What we have to remember is creativity is about getting in the flow, getting into alignment with who we really are as a writer; getting into the flow of what we are creating and believing in ourselves and our work.

I'm sure that I have spoken of this before, but this is a very important aspect to writing your story.

Some say that they have 'writer's block' like it is a terminal illness. There's nothing holding any of us back from moving forward with our stories...except ourselves. We, for some reason, decide to cut ourselves off from the flow of creativity. Maybe we feel the story isn't good enough or we aren't good enough. We can't believe that someone would actually like the 'garbage' we are writing, so why continue?

Obviously, you started the story for some purpose. That story, along with many others, beats strongly in your heart waiting for you to choose to write rather than holding yourself away from the beautiful story unfolding.

So, do you choose to stay drunk on writing, hushing the nagging voices that tell you it's not possible or do you choose to let reality swallow you into its abyss?

Say Anything

Writer's block, I believe, is about withholding who you are...not being able to fully express yourself because your internal filter is on.

What if we were able to remove that filter and just say whatever flows? What if we just let loose everything without fear of being criticized?

When it comes down to it, does it really matter what others think? In that moment of writing, isn't it more important to say what we feel, feel what we say?

When we are authentically creating, our readers know we are genuine. They can feel it. If you try to pull the wool over their eyes with drivel, they will know it. Readers can sense it.

Think back to a book you read where you weren't feeling it. Yeah, you know it.

Get into that feeling place of what you are writing. Write. Write. Write. Who cares what you've written...just write. Let the words flow. Go ahead...say it. Say something.

Say Anything.

" A career? I've thought about this quite a bit sir and I would have to say, considering what's waiting out there for me, I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or repair anything sold, bought or processed as a career. I don't want to do that. My father's in the army. He wants me to join, but I can't work for that corporation, so what I've been doing lately is kick-boxing, which is a new sport. As far as career longevity, I don't really know. I can't figure it all out tonight, sir, so, I'm just gonna hang with your daughter." - Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything

Believing

Photo credit: Tamara Hanson

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not the type to believe hype about how the publishing world is being negatively impacted, blah blah blah. I'm kinda different that way.

But, what I do believe is that if you don't believe in yourself as a writer, believe in your ability to write or believe in your story, then no one else will believe in it either.

The reason why I say this is because I do the same thing. I write a book, have very little belief in it or myself, and then I wonder why it isn't selling. I hear feedback that it's a good book, but I don't feel it.

We can see evidence of this in books that we know aren't spectacular, but, for some reason, doing really well. We scratch our heads and wonder why a poorly written book has made it to best seller status when we know our writing is 100 times better.

Belief and knowing....and I don't mean the 'Hotsie-Totsie-Conceited' type believing. I mean 'grounded-settled-into-yourself-and-who-you-are' type believing. I'm sure you know what I mean.

Write Like the Wind

Photo credit: Tamara Hanson

"Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.”- E.L. Doctorow

The short and sweet of writing is that the more you do it, the more creative you become. The more you write, more ideas, inspiration, energy, and opportunities to write will open up. 

Kind of funny how it works that way, but that's the way it typically works. So, scheduling 10 minutes a day will get the writing ball rolling.

Think of it this way: Everything is energy. The more you put into writing, the more you get out of it.

That being said, I am crappy at putting the time and energy into it. You'd think that the thing I love to do the most I would do on a daily basis, but I don't. So, this is my challenge: I am working on my book/books every single day. It doesn't matter if it's gibberish, I'll just write.

The worst that could happen is I delete it all. No biggie.

Dr. Seuss and Finding Your Voice

Dr. Seuss was really a man ahead of his time. Although his story telling is seemingly 'out there' with regards to terminology and storyline, the man certainly was able to speak to people of all ages and inspire them.

For instance, Oh, The Places You'll Go! is about life....creating our own lives. Having the ability to choose any direction we wish to.

And then there's Horton Hears a Who! :“A person's a person, no matter how small.”    

Or, The Lorax: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

And, of course, How the Grinch Stole Christmas: “And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”    

Dr. Seuss knew how to get across emotion, understanding and how to set the tone for the story...and all of the characters are distinctive in their own whack-a-doodle way.

So, dear writers, have you found your voice? Or, are you a carbon copy of someone else? It's okay to appreciate another writer's style, but make sure you stay true to your voice. There are many writers in this world that seem to write so fluently... their words seem to come so easily. I think to myself, 'I would love to write like that.'

We are our own worst critic.

My suggestion: Keep reading, learning, and appreciating the style of other writers, and then consistently hone your own skills. By doing so, you will be able to find your own distinct voice.

“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.”- Dr. Seuss    

Keep writing!
 

Writing for Yo'self or Others?

Photo credit: Tamara Hanson

Wow! Haven't been around in a long while. Time to get back into the groove of things.

So, currently, I am working on several projects, which always seems to be the case. I have one young adult project, Sacred Circle, that I have been working on for a number of years. I should mention that I finished it at one point, then last year decided to refurbish it. Hoping to be done that this year.

The second project, More Than This, is the one I worked on for Nanowrimo 2011. It would be great to finish that this year as well.

My third project is a collaborative effort. It is a biography/self-help/inspirational of sorts. Not my life story...someone else's. I have to say I am very excited about this project. I think it will bring about change. I'm fairly certain there will be many people who won't like it because it touches on a sensitive topic. But, I can't make everyone happy. Nor can I write for others. Writers should always write from their hearts. Readers know when a writer is writing from the heart or writing from ....well, not the heart.

Also, don't over filter what is being written. I tend to do this: filter out what I am saying because I think about that one person who might not like what has been said. Why? I should write for me, write from the heart. Go with the flow. There's no other way to write.