Can you believe that summer is almost here? It seems to me that summer is one of the more difficult times for writers to write. We're challenged by children being home from school, trying to adhere to a schedule that is now constantly changing, and the commitment to write flies out the window. But it doesn't have to. Here are a few suggestions to help keep you on track:
~Take a journal with you on vacation...make writing fun--write at the beach, in the hotel room, overlooking the ocean, while having a glass of wine in the evening
~Write before the kids get up/after they go to bed/take naps
~Go out for a cup of iced coffee and write
~Looking for a quiet place? Go to the library
~Write when the kids are on a play date
~Got an extra ten minutes? You can get a lot of writing done in ten minutes!
~Instead of browsing the internet, watching T.V., texting, or making that phone call you really don't need to make--write!
One of the things I've learned over the years is that if you wait for you muse to find its way out of its shell, you might wait forever! Go, get to it. Don't let time be the issue. Just grab a pen, paper and yourself--and write!
Here's a few prompts that might help:
I'll never...
I'm so jealous about ...
On the second day ...
It turns out that ...
It was just about ten years ago ...
Get creative, write write write! Have fun :)
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Book In a Week Conclusion
I finished my class, Book in a Week last week. The class was amazing.
I set an unrealistic goal of reaching 50,000 words, but life happens and there were a couple of things that I didn't want to give up like spending time with my grand children, taking them to yoga class, going to my own yoga class--those sorts of important things. Speaking of yoga, by the end of the writing week, my left arm felt the pinch of too much computer work and too few breaks. My yoga teacher, Mary Smith, at the Danville Yoga Center worked with me during class, and when I left, and for the first time in a week, I was pain free. Pain free! Yoga is amazing.
Okay, back to the class. I wrote a total of 26,000+ words--a little more than half my goal. I felt I let myself down, but 26,000 words was more than I most probably would have done if I hadn't taken the class.
Here's what I learned about myself as a writer:
~I love to procrastinate. However, if I completed my day's work knowing where I planned on beginning the next day, I found my way to the page much quicker. Otherwise it was to Starbucks for coffee, a load of laundry, a telephone call, answering emails, you know what I mean?
~Once I start writing, I don't like to stop, hence the sore arm. So, I needed to have a stern talk with my stubborn self.
~The best laid plans as they say--I had my plot figured out and by golly my characters wanted little, if anything to do with it.
~When I get out of my own way, my work is much more successful.
~A collage of pictures for the characters in my book was incredibly helpful. When I could see faces, I slipped into their heads easily.
~I am my own worst enemy! I suppose most of us are.
~Pay attention to synchronicity events--it led me where I needed to go!
The class and support from the group, not to mention April, was just as good as having your own personal coach giving a gentle nudge when needed!
April will be holding another class in early June. Here's how to contact her:
aprilkihlstrom@yahoo.com
I set an unrealistic goal of reaching 50,000 words, but life happens and there were a couple of things that I didn't want to give up like spending time with my grand children, taking them to yoga class, going to my own yoga class--those sorts of important things. Speaking of yoga, by the end of the writing week, my left arm felt the pinch of too much computer work and too few breaks. My yoga teacher, Mary Smith, at the Danville Yoga Center worked with me during class, and when I left, and for the first time in a week, I was pain free. Pain free! Yoga is amazing.
Okay, back to the class. I wrote a total of 26,000+ words--a little more than half my goal. I felt I let myself down, but 26,000 words was more than I most probably would have done if I hadn't taken the class.
Here's what I learned about myself as a writer:
~I love to procrastinate. However, if I completed my day's work knowing where I planned on beginning the next day, I found my way to the page much quicker. Otherwise it was to Starbucks for coffee, a load of laundry, a telephone call, answering emails, you know what I mean?
~Once I start writing, I don't like to stop, hence the sore arm. So, I needed to have a stern talk with my stubborn self.
~The best laid plans as they say--I had my plot figured out and by golly my characters wanted little, if anything to do with it.
~When I get out of my own way, my work is much more successful.
~A collage of pictures for the characters in my book was incredibly helpful. When I could see faces, I slipped into their heads easily.
~I am my own worst enemy! I suppose most of us are.
~Pay attention to synchronicity events--it led me where I needed to go!
The class and support from the group, not to mention April, was just as good as having your own personal coach giving a gentle nudge when needed!
April will be holding another class in early June. Here's how to contact her:
aprilkihlstrom@yahoo.com
Friday, May 1, 2009
Book in a Month
My big week starts Monday. Book in a Week. Some of the participants will start this weekend but I didn't know that was an option so I'm starting Monday. I'm hoping to pump out a lot of words. But what if I run out of things to say? Or write 40,000 words and realize that the plot won't work? Or I don't like the main character's annoying habit of sneering at people or that someone else is sickeningly sweet? These things can happen you know?
When I was a kid, the man next door, Mr. Papkey used to call me Windy Cindy--so maybe running out of words is the least of my problems. Of course, he also told me that if I didn't mind my parents and he found out about it, he'd turn my nose upside down ...
When I wrote Nineteen Darby Way, I reached 40,000 words and had to begin all over again...that was a chore, one I won't forget soon, and one I do not want to repeat.
To put things in perspective, if I were to join NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month which takes place only in November) I'd be expected to pump out a total of 50,000--in thirty days. But a book in a week?
What I do know is that the class is incredible and I highly recommend it if you're looking for a solid jump start to your novel, memoir, nonfiction book. Visit April's web site at www.aprilkihlstrom.com for more information. I believe she's going to be starting another class early summer.
So next week, I won't be blogging. And if I am, please tell me to stop!
When I was a kid, the man next door, Mr. Papkey used to call me Windy Cindy--so maybe running out of words is the least of my problems. Of course, he also told me that if I didn't mind my parents and he found out about it, he'd turn my nose upside down ...
When I wrote Nineteen Darby Way, I reached 40,000 words and had to begin all over again...that was a chore, one I won't forget soon, and one I do not want to repeat.
To put things in perspective, if I were to join NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month which takes place only in November) I'd be expected to pump out a total of 50,000--in thirty days. But a book in a week?
What I do know is that the class is incredible and I highly recommend it if you're looking for a solid jump start to your novel, memoir, nonfiction book. Visit April's web site at www.aprilkihlstrom.com for more information. I believe she's going to be starting another class early summer.
So next week, I won't be blogging. And if I am, please tell me to stop!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Synchronicity
Synchronicity is described in good 'ole Webster's as the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of the unexpected event before it happens)....and more.
You know you're in the flow of synchronicity when:
1) you take a yoga class and the thought flits through your mind that it would be a great place to hold writing workshops
2) the next week at lunch you mention to a friend that you're entertaining the idea of holding writing workshops again, but it's a hassle to find a good location
3) you arrive home from said luncheon that afternoon and there's an email from one of the instructors at the Danville Yoga Center (www.danvilleyogacenter.com) asking if you'd be interested in teaching a writing and yoga month-long workshop
4) you meet the owner a few days later and agree easily that it's the right thing to do
5) you come home from your meeting and decide to listen in on a free teleseminar through the National Association of Memoir Writers (www.namw.org) and it's all about journaling. You don't know who the speaker is, but something she said rang a bell. You turn around and look and the book she's speaking about is perched on your bookshelf, right in front of you--and it's a great foundation for your upcoming class in July!
There's something so powerful when we state our intention/hope/wish out loud and without attachment....
and sit back to watch the breathtaking beauty of its' manifestation rolling in like a California fog~
Amazing world we live in, amazing life, if we choose to let it be, huh?
So, here's two prompts for you:
What I love about synchronicity is ----
The last time a synchronistic event happened, I knew that ----
Have fun!
(above photo taken by my husband Rick)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Here's a picture prompt~
I love this picture. My husband took it during one of our visits to Sedona.
Prompts:
Write about the first thought that came to mind when you looked at this picture.
What sort of conversations could take place on this bench?
What if it were a magic bench?
What if the person who sat on it last dropped something underneath the bench -- and you found it--what would make a good story???
You could begin with: I sat on the bench thinking about...
or The man poured himself onto the bench, his lips blue, his face gray and chalky...
CWC article Tri-Valley Branch
Here's the article I wrote for the Tri-Valley branch of the California Writer's Club this month-a little condensed. Hope you enjoy it.
Before I started this month’s article for the newsletter, I mulled over various topics to write about and settled on how to become a better writer. Just for fun, I googled online writing classes. There are literally 35,000,000 including creative writing, journaling, poetry, boot camps, college classes, well-known writing communities and more. I didn’t google in person classes, workshops, seminars, week long or writing retreats, so you can imagine how many places there are to learn and grow your writing life.
With the plethora of choices, where do you begin? With so many directions it can be a daunting.
Read a lot. A lot. Read authors you’d like to write like, read genres you like to write in, read for fun, read to educate, read to get new ideas, read books about craft, plot, character. Many of these books suggest exercises so that you can put what you’ve read into practice. Remember, library books are free (unless you keep them too long and then it’s a nickel a day!)
Practice. Practice may not get you to perfectionism when it comes to the written word, but you’ll get a lot closer if you put pen to paper every day. Julia Cameron suggests three hand written pages each morning. Carolyn See suggests one thousand words a day. If you do this, Julia Cameron guarantees it will change your life. My own experience is that if you do it in the morning it’s done.
Can’t think of anything to write about? No excuse! Start with a phrase: Right now I am, and take it from there. There are a number of writing books that offer phrases or sentence starters to get your engine started.
Join a critique group or meet informally with friends to read each others’ works. It helps. We learn by sharing, that’s why good facilitated writing groups are so successful. You benefit from the critique of each member’s work.
Look for opportunities to publish your work even if it’s for free. Why? It builds confidence, gets your name out into the writing community, and helps you build a platform. If you choose to ‘specialize’ in a particular topic, find a newsletter that might need help, build up credentials, then start to query magazines.
Join a writing community. You receive this newsletter because you’ve joined the CWC Tri-Valley writing community. There are also associations, for example, that specialize in romance writing, journalism, memoir. Check them out. They might lead you down a path you had no idea could be so much fun.
Before I started this month’s article for the newsletter, I mulled over various topics to write about and settled on how to become a better writer. Just for fun, I googled online writing classes. There are literally 35,000,000 including creative writing, journaling, poetry, boot camps, college classes, well-known writing communities and more. I didn’t google in person classes, workshops, seminars, week long or writing retreats, so you can imagine how many places there are to learn and grow your writing life.
With the plethora of choices, where do you begin? With so many directions it can be a daunting.
Read a lot. A lot. Read authors you’d like to write like, read genres you like to write in, read for fun, read to educate, read to get new ideas, read books about craft, plot, character. Many of these books suggest exercises so that you can put what you’ve read into practice. Remember, library books are free (unless you keep them too long and then it’s a nickel a day!)
Practice. Practice may not get you to perfectionism when it comes to the written word, but you’ll get a lot closer if you put pen to paper every day. Julia Cameron suggests three hand written pages each morning. Carolyn See suggests one thousand words a day. If you do this, Julia Cameron guarantees it will change your life. My own experience is that if you do it in the morning it’s done.
Can’t think of anything to write about? No excuse! Start with a phrase: Right now I am, and take it from there. There are a number of writing books that offer phrases or sentence starters to get your engine started.
Join a critique group or meet informally with friends to read each others’ works. It helps. We learn by sharing, that’s why good facilitated writing groups are so successful. You benefit from the critique of each member’s work.
Look for opportunities to publish your work even if it’s for free. Why? It builds confidence, gets your name out into the writing community, and helps you build a platform. If you choose to ‘specialize’ in a particular topic, find a newsletter that might need help, build up credentials, then start to query magazines.
Join a writing community. You receive this newsletter because you’ve joined the CWC Tri-Valley writing community. There are also associations, for example, that specialize in romance writing, journalism, memoir. Check them out. They might lead you down a path you had no idea could be so much fun.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Writing prompts are everywhere
This morning I got out of bed and did my usual routine of feeding Jake and then getting to the task at hand --
reading the newspaper and writing my morning pages.
I decided that before I poisoned my mind with the news of the day, I'd write my 1000 words. I felt sleepy and wanted to throw an afghan over my legs to warm myself right back to sleep. Instead, I lit a candle and turned the TV to Soundscapes...
soft, full, flute notes floated through me, (peppered with sleeping Golden Retriever Jake's, occasional snore).
And I couldn't think of one thing to write about. Nothing. I looked up at the TV screen hoping for inspiration--and I got it. The instrumental playing was titled something like Desert Peace. I don't exactly remember right now what it was, but it was so simple to take my writing from there. Try it -- write about the desert (or desserts!), peace or a combination of both. If that doesn't work try using these five words in a story:
desert peace blustery ink Kleenex.
Writing prompts are everywhere, we just have to keep our eyes open to find them!
Happy morning pages~
reading the newspaper and writing my morning pages.
I decided that before I poisoned my mind with the news of the day, I'd write my 1000 words. I felt sleepy and wanted to throw an afghan over my legs to warm myself right back to sleep. Instead, I lit a candle and turned the TV to Soundscapes...
soft, full, flute notes floated through me, (peppered with sleeping Golden Retriever Jake's, occasional snore).
And I couldn't think of one thing to write about. Nothing. I looked up at the TV screen hoping for inspiration--and I got it. The instrumental playing was titled something like Desert Peace. I don't exactly remember right now what it was, but it was so simple to take my writing from there. Try it -- write about the desert (or desserts!), peace or a combination of both. If that doesn't work try using these five words in a story:
desert peace blustery ink Kleenex.
Writing prompts are everywhere, we just have to keep our eyes open to find them!
Happy morning pages~
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