The week’s Tweets on how to bypass roadblocks and WRITE THE STORY!

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WTS=Write the Story! Why? Because it’s fun–rewarding–excruciating–fulfilling–and ultimately cheaper than therapy :) Happy writing!

Dolphin

Gerald Weinberg talk: Myth of Writer’s Block http://bit.ly/5TCq7A

WTS 60: Stuck on voice? Spend the afternoon in the mall food court. Eavesdrop and take notes on conversations and mannerisms.

WTS 61: Think about where you can fill up with story and character ideas, dialog quirks, plot twists, tidbits of truth to spice up ur story.

WTS 62: Feeling stuck? Need inspiration? Take a creativity nap. Find a cozy spot, a pen & paper, and a story question and drift to answers.

Great article on multitasking and how it impacts your writing from Randy Ingermanson: http://bit.ly/dmHDBR

RT @UpstartCrowLit: Upstart Crow blog: Nudging the Muse http://tinyurl.com/yg4c9rx – where do you get ideas? bloodthirsty elves & more

RT @CynLeitichSmith Brian Yansky on the sensual (v. intellectual) experience of joining characters in their world & how it helps #writing http://bit.ly/aj8lip

Teen quote of the day: "Stop mocking me for a minute." (grin) Really? Must I?

WTS: 63: Sometimes getting stuck on the writing road means you’ve taken a wrong turn. When you can’t push past a block, try a new story!

WTS 64: Can Daydreams-to-order Unlock Your Creativity? I’ve always thought so, and apparently science agrees: http://bit.ly/de4TyL

And finally, your inspirational quote for the next time you need a pick-me-up:

Thomas Edison: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

If you’re interested, come join me at @CherylRWrites for Tweets to help you overcome creative blocks and thrive on the writer’s road!

:) Cheryl

Classes, Classes, Classes!

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One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to take a class of some sort this year—a class that would help me to grow as a writer. I’ve narrowed it down a little; but there are so many great options! How do I choose?

  • A. Suen’s picture book writing classes (recommended by several friends)
  • Margie Lawson (http://www.margielawson.com/) recommended by Randy Ingermanson (“the Snowflake Guy” and author of The Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine). Online classes for 2010 include:
    • January: Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors  
    • March: Empowering Characters’ Emotions
    • May: Deep Editing: The EDITS System, Rhetorical Devices, and More
    • June: Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a
      Psychologist.
  • Gotham Writers’ Workshop writing classes
  • Photography class (to help me with photos for my nonfiction writing)

And no, I’m sure that this has absolutely nothing to do with procrastination….

Cheryl

The many faces of procrastination

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Writing life Just when I think I’m past procrastination, I realize that I’ve discovered a whole new procrastination repertoire. These include:

  • Researching how to become a forensic scientist, due to a sudden and compelling urge to return to grad school, gain a bit more education, and get a real job. (To be fair, this sudden turn of events was inspired by reading a terrific and inspiring interview with suspense writer Lisa Black, who is a forensic scientist by day as well as an author. It was so inspiring, I was overwhelmed by the urge to be her for a moment. To the immense relief of my family, it passed; although the University of Florida online program looked pretty cool….)
  • Organizing my Google bookmarks
  • Researching natural nail care recipes (not sure how I got off on that particular tangent)
  • Applying for writing jobs on Craigslist (even though I have as much work as I can do right now.)
  • Brainstorming new story ideas (which was more of a reward for getting some work done. At first, at least.)
  • Blogging…although that counts as real writing. Sort of.

How does the need to procrastinate catch me by surprise so many times?

Or maybe the better question is this: when I find myself slipping sideways into procrastination territory, is it a sign of something off-balance in my life? If so, what?

My hypothesis is that the latter is true, a hypothesis supported by a recent bout of insomnia and that fact that it was cured by working on ideas for a new book. I’ve spent so much time creative writing lately, maybe I’m in withdrawal, now that I’ve returned to projects that aren’t quite so intense. That is, projects that feel a bit more like real work. That’s not the entire answer, though, because I continue to struggle with this strange procrastination bug.

Maybe it’s that my critique group is discussing my latest novel this Friday? The one that all my hopes for publication currently rest upon? Nah, that couldn’t be it.

What triggers procrastination in your writing life? And how do you get past it? My usual tricks aren’t 100% successful.

:) Cheryl

Entropy

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Have you noticed that just about everything in life requires time for upkeep? I credit it to entropy, which is, according to Merriam-Webster online, “a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder.” Entropy often refers to the universe at large, but is more readily visible in my sons’ bedrooms.

And the kitchen. Definite trend to disorder in the kitchen.

But how can a blog get disorderly? Because that’s how I’m feeling: that my blog could use a good Spring cleaning, to declutter the ever-expanding list of categories, remove any broken links, add new books to my list of faves, etc. I guess entropy applies its force even to the online world.

That’s okay. It’s a lot more fun to clean up a blog than, say, a teenager’s bedroom (which I am NOT going to clean. That’s on the aforementioned teen’s to-do list.) Hmm. And when I’m done, I can light a nice candle, maybe add a few flowers….or whatever the online equivalent might be.

chocolateCyber-chocolate, anyone?

:) Cheryl