Articles with the ideas Tag

Words, words, and more words…. They float around in our heads – until our brains feel like mush. At least, mind does (sometimes).

But there are also times that our brains look like a vast, white space. And no matter how hard we try to tap into our inner muse; no matter how many different techniques we use, we can’t seem to find those perfect first words. Sometimes, it seems, the only words that come to mind are: contract, deadline, SEO, or even bills.

I mentioned my lack of words on a social media media site a while back and got the following response:

“Start out writing your name, address and a description of the room in which you’re writing. I wrote a newspaper column for nearly 20 years. I’m very practiced in breaking up log-jams in the writerly brain. Just remember, there’s a torrent just behind that dam!” – K. C. Compton (Editor, at Ogden Publications)

Excellent advice, K.C.! (Of course, I guess that’s why she is one of the Editor’s-In-Chief for Ogden Publications, huh?)

It’s during the times that we’re grasping desperately for words – any word – that we can apply the following tips, as well as K.C.’s advice.

7 Surefire Ways to Find New Words

1. Grab a notebook and start writing a list. This list can be about anything: your dreams,  pros and cons of something you’ve been considering, maintenance or other projects for your house – even a grocery list.
2. Take a break and play Scrabble. What better way to enjoy some time – and company – than being hands-on with letters and words?!
3. Write a thank you note or friendly letter to someone. Think warm thoughts and share your heart with the recipient.
4. Email or IM a friend. If that friend is a writer, that’s even better. They can help lift your spirits and jog your memory about past times you’ve had abundant writing inspiration.
5. Read your favorite blog or a few pages from a book that’s nearby. Words from one of your favorite authors/bloggers will help get your creative juices flowing.
6. Get up from your computer and go in to another room or outside. It’s amazing how much difference a view makes. By simply stepping in to the next room or popping outside for a few minutes, you can refuel your mind. Look at old photos or sit on your porch or deck for a spell – absorb your surroundings and soak up the inspiration life brings!
7. Pamper yourself. Something like a cup of hot tea and your favorite magazine, a 20-minute soak in a warm bath sprinkled with lavender essential oil or bath salts, or a short nap can provide just the amount of rejuvenation your body needs to crank up your muse once again.

What do you do to find new words when your writing well has run dry? Do you stand beneath the idea waterfall? Or use any of the tips I shared above? Do you have a fabulous technique to share with us? Chime in!

Did you enjoy this article? Feel free to visit the other articles Michele has written for Writer’s Round-About–or contact her to write for you.

Photo Credit: Wordle, created by Michele Tune

What have you learned from the past that allows you to create a new beginning in 2010? January is a great time for new beginnings and this month I’d like to introduce “beginnings” as a theme.

In November 2009, Web Betty gave Writer’s Round-About an excellent technical review. She corroborated some ideas I had for changes I wanted to make to the blog theme. Today, I launch WRA’s tweaked theme, version 2.0, and I’d love to know what you think about the changes. What do you like? What do you hate? Do you have suggestions for things you’d like to see done differently?

Launching a new version of the WRA Theme is just one of the “beginnings” we’ll see on Writer’s Round-About this month. Later in the month we’ll share posts that relate to how beginnings affect us as writers, from how to find those first words that begin a new story or article, to how our beginnings, our headlines, our hooks, our opening paragraphs, impact the way readers interact with our content.

What comes to mind when you think of beginnings as a writer? Write about it and then consider beginning 2010 as a WRA contributor where you can share your writing with other freelancers from beginning to end?

Moving doesn’t always happen smoothly. Maintaining your writing during one of the most stressful times of your life is challenging. Ideas for articles come in many forms, this one is no different. Fortunately, the idea wasn’t lost because I took the opportunity to jot down a few thoughts before they left indefinitely.

Some of the most stressful times in a person’s life are moving, death, births, divorces, and weddings. All of those events are life altering. It is possible to write during those periods, even if the writing doesn’t produce an article at that exact moment. Recording your ideas becomes a necessary step to include with any major change in your life.

While undergoing any life changing time in your life, keep a notebook and pen with you at all times. The notebook doesn’t have to be fancy or large. A simple flip pad will do – and can fit in the back pocket of your jeans. Along side that notebook, keep a pen or pencil handy to scribble away ideas, thoughts, emotions or bits of conversation. After the words are scribbled, put the notebook away until you need it again.

When life has settled down and routine becomes familiar, you can pull out that same notebook and refer back to the pages. The mind is incredible, once you place words onto the page, you naturally recall the moment and everything associated to it. You will hear voices of dialogue, expressions on faces, emotions within, and, perhaps most importantly, the words played in your mind.

Ah, yes, those words. They are the ones that create the characters of a novel, a poem about the beautiful sky, and the article you’ve promised to write for an editor on the other end of a paycheck. With just a few simple words on a piece of paper, you will be capable of recalling all the information you need to complete that looming assignment or resume the novel that had you stuck.

It is a simple exercise that takes a bit of practice to master. Nurture your Muse by writing down all the words she supplies you. When it comes time to work through a challenging time in your life, your Muse will be kind to you. Chronicle your thoughts and ideas and begin learning how to recall the information she provided when the idea originally popped.

I’ll never go without my notebook and pen. You could say that they saved my tail during my most recent move. How has your notebook and pen saved you? Do you prefer a certain style of notebook or type of pen? What do you love most about your favorite notebook and pen?

In the video below, Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray, Love“, shares the greatest rule for artistic success, Show Up For The Job!

As writers, we struggle against inspiration and creativity but can we truly know the source of insight and ideas? Our job is to show up, hands on keys or pen on page, be there, each day and perform the act of writing; participate in the process. We can’t control the quality of our creativity, we can’t control how receptive to our thoughts readers will be or which novel makes it to the best seller lists and which don’t. Our part of the process is to show up at the keyboard and get the words on the page.

Listen as Elizabeth discusses the importance of nurturing creativity and trusting the “genius” that exists outside of ourselves, and in putting aside fear to do the job.

What are your thoughts about what Elizabeth has shared? Do you feel creativity is an external power? Where do you think your own creativity comes from?

What is a superhero? Let’s see what Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary has to say:

Main Entry: su·per·hero

Pronunciation: \-ˌhir-(ˌ)ō, -ˌhē-(ˌ)rō\

Function: noun

Date: 1917

: a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also : an exceptionally skillful or successful person

… an exceptionally skillful or successful person

Aha!

So, you see, Superman, Spiderman, and Wonder Woman aren’t the only ones who can whirl around like magic, whipping themselves into their alter ego and race off in a flash to save the day!

We, as writers and bloggers, are (in a sense) superheroes, too. I mean, without talented and creative professional writers, what would the world read? Can you imagine if all that was available to read were books and articles filled with grammar and spelling errors? And what if movies were based on that writing? What if you had to sit through movie after movie sprinkled full of incorrect dialogue and super boring plots? (Okay, so that happens already, but what if it was worse?!) Wouldn’t the literary world be such a bummer if that were our reality?!

Living Like a Superhero

Seriously, though, have you ever been interrupted by your Muse while having a phone conversation, during a dinner date, or even at a party? You know the scenario: You’re chatting away, laughing and having a blast and then it happens: Your beloved, highly-sought-after, well-respected Muse strikes you like a bolt of lightning with an idea so fabulous you’re tempted to say “Hold that thought, I’ll be right back” so you can escape to don your Writer’s Superhero Cape and dash off into the night to save that story idea, right? Or, maybe you’ve done just that. You’ve cut a phone call short or excused yourself for a restroom break so you can jot that idea down on a napkin—or even the palm of your hand!

We’ve all been there. I’m often visited by my Muse at the most inconvenient times. For example, the idea for this very article struck me in the shower this morning! Yes, that’s right. Who knew Muses were so persistent they wouldn’t even let you wash in peace?! Hmmm…. Talk about standing beneath the Idea Waterfall!

Act Like a Superhero

I should be used to it by now, really. Sometimes I’m too tired to make a mad dash for the laptop or notebook and write down my Muse’s sweet whispers. Other times, I’ll break my neck (figuratively speaking, of course!) to find the nearest notebook and pen. Yes, there have been (many) times I forgot the idea(s). It’s like they went in one ear and out the other, never to be whispered again. But, for the most part, I’m usually pretty quick at catching those whispers in one of the many cobwebbed corners of my brain and documenting them. Some are still sitting there, waiting to be birthed into stories. The rest have been used in one way or another—even if the pieces aren’t published yet.

Want to be a Writing Superhero, too? Grab a cape and join me!

Seven Superhero Writing Tips

1. Keep a small notebook and pen with you wherever you go.
2. Always carry your camera. (Sometimes the Muse doesn’t talk, he points!)
3. Don’t be lazy! Get up out of bed and write those ideas down!
4. If you don’t have a notebook (like in my case with this article idea, I was in the shower), repeat the idea—or title, which is what came to me first with this article—over and over until you can find something to write on.
5. Tune in to your sensitive writer’s ears. Learn to listen carefully for your Muse’s soft voice—you never know when they’ll swish right past you for a quick idea-filled visit!
6. Don’t be afraid to take a minute to write something down—no matter where you are. You are, after all, a professional writer and you have to take notes for your business!
7. And don’t forget to pack your cape like any good superhero does. You must be prepared for emergencies.

Did you enjoy this article? Feel free to visit the other articles Michele has written for The Writer’s Round-About.

So, how does it feel to be a superhero? Have you ever thought of yourself as a superhero? Have you ever dashed off like Superman (or Wonder Woman) in a desperate effort to salvage your idea? What were the results—published articles, books, plays, blogs? Or maybe it was a novel idea or finished book you have stuffed away in a drawer collecting dust instead of money and a byline…. Take your cape off for a while and share your superhero adventures—we want to hear all about ‘em!

Resources:

Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/superhero

Photo – julostock

To refresh, we’ve discussed Finding Time, Obliterating Distractions and Creating Ideas thus far in F-O-C-U-S on Writing.  In this segment, we discuss understanding your responsibilities as a writer.

While we would all love to just sit down and write what we love and be paid, there is more that goes into running a business as a writer.  All the muck boils down to responsibility. As with any business, there are key factors in determining one’s success.  For writers, verifying facts, marketing, continuing eduction and continued follow-up are not only necessary, they’re vital!

I sent off a 2000 word article to a regional parenting magazine, utilizing quotes from a therapist throughout.  Once I completed the article, I emailed it to the therapist I quoted for her to double check the information she provided, assuring that the statements were not only correct, but maintained proper context in the piece.  Through conversations with the editor, she needed necessary information to ensure that the information was factual.  Without hesitating, I was able to offer up the therapists name, email address and a copy of our conversation that was held via yahoo messenger.  That information and the editor’s ability to double check the information quoted made the difference between a paycheck and the article being cast aside.

For all writers who utilize quotes in pieces they create, maintaining accurate and updated information on facts and their sources is necessary.  If you resell a piece to a different magazine, the editor might take you at your word, but there will always be the ones who need to verify information prior to running the piece.  With every article that has sources cited, either through research or interview, keep a separate folder with email address, phone number, physical address as well as copies of electronic communication.  Down the road, there won’t be any problems offering that same information to another editor should you resell.

In the age of web 2.0, marketing is around everywhere you surf.  Marketing yourself as a guest or collaborative blogger, partaking in various social networking sites such as facebook, twitter, plurk and maintaining an interactive website of your own are all elements of web 2.0.  For every writer, establishing yourself and offering not only links to work you’ve done, but sharing information about who you are is a fabulous way to receive recognition.  The question many ask when considering personal information on the Internet is, “How much is too much?”  Every person has their own views and that is up to your digression.

Continuing your education as a writer doesn’t necessarily mean spending many hours at the local college taking courses.  If you have the time to take a refresher course on grammar, go for it.  Outside of collegiate courses, reading books, going to seminars and researching various aspects associated with writing all add to your ability to write more effectively.  Writing effectively and efficiently is one responsibility no writer should veer from.

Continued follow-up with agents, publishers, editors and fellow writers is another responsibility we mustn’t forget.  As we all know, life can become crazy.  It’s no different for people who hold high positions in the writing field.  If you’ve mailed off a manuscript to an agent per their request or an article to an editor and haven’t heard from them in a while, it’s a good idea to sent a card, letter or make a phone call to touch base.  Knowing where key people stand in correlation to your work will help you to receive a continued stream of income.

What other responsibilities do you find in your day to day work as a writer?

Coming up is the final installment of F-O-C-U-S on Writing, Streamline Organization.

To recap Focus on Writing thus far, we have discussed Finding Time and Obliterating Distractions.  In segment three, we will examine influences and inspirational tools to create ideas, to write.

For every writer, creating ideas can often lead to brainstorming blockages.  When creativity stops flowing, writing becomes one of the most challenging aspects of a freelancer’s job.  By adjusting how we look at the world and utilizing tools available, generating ideas becomes a natural part of the daily process.  Simulating the senses is key.

As a writer, I reach for very specific tools to increase creativity: books, movies, music, nature and people.

Books offer an entirely new world from cover to cover.  When I read fictional books, I’m carried away into a different land – forced to experience new emotions and visuals – all in my mind.  I have picked up many books in my life that were less than desirable reads, but quickly learned to continue reading the story instead of closing the cover and reaching for another.  By looking at the book as a learning tool, I’m able to see the author’s means of constructing sentences, images and emotions.  Often times I will come across a word that I don’t know and stop long enough to discover the meaning.

Movies are similar to books in whisking you away to another time and place.  Watching actors and actresses convey emotion in their faces offers a new description for the characters in a story you write.  Taking time to delve completely into any character of your choosing will ignite emotions in yourself that may not have been felt for many years.  Utilizing those emotions to rekindle memories brings a new dimension for ideas.

Music can speak to the soul.  Riffs and melodies carefully construed will send a surge through your body from head to toe.  Carried in that surge are ideas pertaining to the overall feeling a song has offered.  Blasting the radio to 50’s and 60’s music elicits memories of road trips from my childhood.  Descriptive scenes and ideas come flooding with the memories.  Each word that pops into my mind is written down for reference later.

Nature is an amazing source of inspirational ideas.  Walking along a stream, ocean or in the mountains provides a completely new dimension and experience for your mind.  Breaking away from the monotony of life is a means to break any blockages or lack of inspiration you might feel.  With any trip outside your home, carrying a pen and paper or digital recorder is necessary to jot ideas as they come.

People watching is an incredible art.  Sitting in a crowded coffee shop with conversations all around can’t be beat.  As people interact and their conversations pass through your ears, certain words or phrases can catch you off guard and offer one more opportunity to create.  The young couple in the back discuss their pending trip to Europe, a truck driver a few chairs away talks about the loneliness of the road and the waitress behind the counter shares with coworkers that she’s moving across country to marry her Internet romance…

By observing the world with your senses, you will find that creating ideas comes with ease.  Recognizing and writing everything down becomes the challenge.  Fiction and non-fiction both stem from the world around us.  How are you going to see the world around you?

Where do you find or create ideas for your writing?

In part one of Focus on Writing, we discussed finding time and the importance of scheduling.  In part two of Focus on Writing, we gander at ways to obliterate distractions.

Just as some people are able to sleep through a tornado; others have no qualms with working through noise.  For the rest of us, peace and quiet can mean the difference between completing an assignment or not.

As you take a week to note various issues in your time management, make note of distractions that stop you from finishing the masterpiece you’ve devoted time towards. As obliterating distractions carries on, we will look at some of the common distractions easily found inside the home.

• Phone
• Internet
• Family and Friends
• External Noise
• and Children

Alexander Graham Bell was a wise man when the telephone became a reality.  As a means of communication across the world – and with editors – the telephone is a necessity for your freelance writing business.  The phone becomes an issue, however, when it is used as a procrastination tool.  A short conversation can turn into hours, especially if you have family like mine!

The rules I have for the phone during my “working” hours are:

1. Answer every call that I don’t recognize.
2. Unless the call is from an editor, potential client or an emergency I explain that I am working and ask if there is a good time I can call back.
3. When the call coming through is from family or friends, they have the understanding to call back a second time if it is an emergency, otherwise leave a message and I’ll call back once I’m finished with my tasks at hand.

When the Internet becomes your enemy (you’ve found every application game on Facebook and must respond to every Plurk or Tweet and can’t seem to break the addiction) using those networks as a reward changes the dynamic into a positive reinforcement. It takes time to adjust the Internet from a negative influence in your life into a positive one. Stick with it and if necessary, take the opportunity to disconnect, literally, from the modem. Once you’ve completed one part or one article, connecting yourself back to the ‘net to play becomes exciting and acceptable.

I love my family and friends.  They are important in my life as a support network.  In the early days of working from home, my doorbell would ring and I jumped to see who it was.  Many hours of my day were lost with coffee and conversation.  Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely times when I needed those days, but generally, I would end up working until the wee hours of the morning to play catch-up.  I learned that this was one of the most difficult distractions to overcome. I broke down and talked to my friends and family. I asked that they call before visiting and as I explained why, they most often obliged.

Should you not be fortunate enough to sound proof your home from external noise, combat the distracting noises with a purposeful noise. Playing a radio or CD can help keep you focus on the writing task at hand. If you can’t tolerate rock or country music, a music selection in those genres will prove counter productive, however, if you find classical music invigorating and inspirational, increasing your selection of Bach, Tchaikovsky or Mozart is wise.

Children are blessing like no other, however quite the distraction on a good day, let alone one filled with more challenges.  I learned during the time I spent as a single Mom that I had to rely on my network for help.  Arranging for a friend or family member to take my son out to lunch saved my sanity.  While I didn’t expect to receive such a warm welcome, working from home and all, I was quite pleased with the end result.  Sometimes people who cause the greatest distractions in our world can become the biggest asset, especially where parenting is concerned.

Now that we’ve found the time we need and have removed those pesky distractions, it’s time to Create Ideas – and write.  Stay tuned for part three of Focus on Writing.

There are moments in our lives when what was calm and structured becomes haphazard and crazy. It’s necessary to remember to write. Writing encourages your mind to continue developing metaphors, elaborate and descriptive experiences and keeps grammar fresh. For the typical college student, many hours are spent writing and reading. It’s during that time in our lives we are at our peak of writing know-how.

When twenty minutes is all you can spare, consider these ideas:

• Journal
  • Recording the events of your days is not only healthy for releasing tensions and sorting through problems, it can also give ideas for future articles and events transpiring in larger works, including novels.
• Writing Burst
  • Buddy up with a friend who writes.  Plan to do one writing burst a week and exchange them.  You might be pleasantly surprised at what comes through your mailbox and the inspiration it provides.
• Summarize the days events in 100 words or less
  • Keep it short and simple!  By limiting yourself to a small number of words, you will encourage your mind to pinpoint precise events and encourage learning new words to describe more than one action or event.
• Describe your best experience of the week
  • When life becomes chaotic, often times people will focus on the negative instead of look at the positive.  By focusing on the best experience of your week, you will boost your own mood and help change your perspective and disposition into one that is more positive.
• Carry a notebook and pen
  • By having a thought journal or idea journal that you carry, keeping track of ideas or jotting a few lines of a story will help bring those thoughts back to life when you have time to write.

Even though you may find you have no time to write an actual article or full piece of work, by continuing to write you are encouraging yourself to get right back into full-fledged writing once life settles back into routine.  Where can you find twenty minutes throughout your day?

A Guest Post By Kimberlee Ferrell.
Enjoying small town life and her two daughters, Kimberlee Ferrell still carves out time to write. Her blog, Freedom Writing, explores writing, parenting, and anything that flows out of her pen. Stop by to investigate the inner workings of her mind, and to learn more about her copywriting, proofreading, and editing expertise. Strong coffee and walnut brownies will be provided.

The blank page stares me in the face again. I am trying to write this post, but the lack of words on the screen paralyzes me. It causes the greatest writers among us to freeze up, and decide to wash the dishes, walk the dog, or do anything else but stare back at the empty canvas.

As writers, we face this on a daily basis. With each new article, blog post, or short story, we come full circle, to give birth to a new idea, to share our words with others. We turn to a fresh page in our notebooks or turn on our processing program, then stop. The glaring white page is empty, and our minds fill with doubts. “Where should I begin?” “What should I write about?” “Does anyone care about what I have to say?” “Are there really any original ideas?”

These thoughts and doubts can instantly send your muse to a vacation in the Bahamas, without you. There is a way to rekindle your writing: the free write. Many writers have used this technique to work past their writer’s block, and write no matter how they feel. I first discovered this exercise in Natalie Goldberg’s book, Writing Down the Bones. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in free writing, or just looking for an excellent read. She illustrates how to free write without expectations, and how to mine your first draft for those golden nuggets of exposition.

There are many ways to free write, and there is no one right way. There are two key techniques that I use when free writing. I set a timer in my head or on my desk, to give myself an immediate deadline. I also never stop writing for any reason. Do not be tempted to fix your spelling or grammar, save it for the editing phase. Choose one of these free writes the next time your fingers refuse to hit the keyboard.

Write the thoughts running through your head. When your inner editor casts doubts on everything from your lack of vocabulary to what you ate for breakfast, get it out on paper. Write whatever is bothering you at this moment. Set a timer for 10 minutes, and just keep writing every random thought that enters your head, whether it is related to writing or not. Let your mind dump its cluttered thoughts onto the page, and then set it aside. Your mind can relax, knowing you have addressed whatever was bothering you. Plus, you have written a few hundred words. Keep the momentum going, and dive into your writing project.

Write anything about your chosen topic. Sometimes you don’t know where to begin. Give yourself permission to dive headfirst into your topic, and write anything about it. Don’t worry about writing a captivating lead, or placing your thoughts into logical order. Cover the length and breadth of your topic, as the ideas come to you. You can always organize it later. This technique unearths new ideas I hadn’t considered before, adding depth to the final draft.

Write down topic ideas. This free write can be written traditionally, or in list form. Brainstorm a list of anything you want to write about. You can write a list of article titles, blog ideas, or conflicts for your main character. Once you have exhausted your list of ideas, go back over each and write a few sentences to flesh out your idea in more detail. This technique generates a lot of new leads over a short period of time.

Write something completely different. When your current project is wholly uninspiring, try writing something in a different topic, genre, or format. For example, if you are having trouble writing another SEO article, write a few pages of your novel instead. Once you’ve given your brain some free time, you can switch back to your project and get to work.

These are just a few of the possible ways you can use free writing to rejuvenate your writing juices. Once you start to write, the words come quick and easy.

The key is to sit down, and just write.

How have you incorporated free writes into your writing life? Do you have any other types of free writes to share? Leave a comment to let everyone know what works for you when you encounter the blank page.