Writing Hint #22: Strategies to keep you writing
Some days the words just seem to flow from my mind down to my fingertips and on to the keyboard without any effort at all. Some days I have to really work at my writing, crafting every word. And some days it is like trying to make a living out of being a Fowl Dentist.
I like the quote I came across recently and I can’t remember the exact words or who said it, but this person said something like this:
Writing is easy. All you have to do is stare at a blank piece of paper until drops of blood appear on your forehead.
Procrastination and writer’s block are very real problems for some writers. Discipline is the key but we each demonstrate that in different ways. Some writers have a natural inbuilt discipline to sustain them each day; to them it’s not a problem. Others are so motivated they wonder what the fuss is all about. But many writers struggle.
If you are struggling with procrastination or writer’s block you might get some good ideas from this article:
- 50 Strategies for Making Yourself Work by Jerry Oltion.
Some of the ideas are odd, some are downright kooky, but there is enough there for everyone to get at least a handful of techniques that they can use to great effect.
Related articles:
- Writing hints – over 20 articles I’ve written with many writing hints.
- Writing hints archives – articles on writing from my archives.
- The writer’s life – many articles about the life of a writer.
Happy First Birthday!
This blog is officially one year old today.
Happy First Birthday to my writing blog.
It has been an interesting journey of discovery, frustration, elation and a very steep learning curve. This blog commenced while I was staying with my son and daughter-in-law in Sydney last year. We were having a short holiday there and Simon did all the technical stuff setting up my three blogs. He still does all the maintenance on our blogs.
Thanks Sim’.
What have I learned?
- Connecting: The writer’s life can be lonely at times – but on the positive side, I’ve made many contacts with people all over the world through their comments and links to this blog and my other sites. Thanks to all of you.
- Selecting: The blogging world is an interesting place to live in; there are many wonderful writers who are forward looking in their thinking and express that in their writing. There’s just not enough time in each day to read it all, so one has to be very selective.
- Focussing: The writer’s and blogger’s life needs to be very focussed on the task at hand. The internet can be a huge distraction and hours just fly off into the unknown leaving little time for the real work of actually writing.
- Absorbing: There are so many things one needs to learn how to do to make the writer’s life and one’s blogging ventures successful. At times I felt like a giant sponge soaking up all the information about this new venture. Putting it all into practice was a challenge. Sometimes, like the sponge, I felt so bloated; at other times all wrung out and dry.
- Rewarding: Being able to write over 900 blog posts for the last year has been very rewarding, giving me a great sense of achievement. Having a readership in the many thousands every month has its own rewards, especially when people connect via comments, some returning frequently. Receiving my first payment from my blogging was another reward and, though modest at this stage, it is a start.
So there you have it.
Happy First Birthday.
Reader’s Questions:
- How long have you been blogging?
- What have you learned from writing and blogging?
Idiom #17 An Ugly Duckling
No Comments »5th March, 2007; Category: Idioms
This week’s idiom: ‘An ugly duckling.’
Meaning:
An awkward, ungainly, unattractive child who develops into a graceful, beautiful adult is said to be an ugly duckling.
Origins:
The expression comes from the Hans Christian Andersen story called The Ugly Duckling. It was first published in 1843 and is widely regarded as a classic children’s story.
A mother duck hatches her brood only to find one duckling larger and uglier than the rest. He was very much a misfit and soon received much harassment from the other barnyard residents who eventually drive him away to fend for himself. After a struggle to survive the ugly ‘duckling’ develops into a beautiful swan.
The moral of the story is that inner beauty will always overshadow outer appearance. Interestingly, the Wikipedia article goes into a deeper analysis than I have here, postulating that this story is possibly a metaphor for Andersen’s own unhappy life.
Example:
As a child she was such an ugly duckling, but look at Sarah’s beauty and grace now.
Australian Wood Ducks with ducklings
Lurking with books
I love lurking with books.
Let me explain. I am foremost a writer. (Okay – if you’ve read my About page I was sidetracked in teaching for 35 years).
Because I am writer I am also a reader.
Because I am a reader, I love books.
Because I love books, I lurk in bookshops. A lot. Sometimes too much.
Because I spend so much time in bookshops I buy far too many books. I’m going to have to make a few extra bookshelves very soon. (I also love making things with wood.) I am also going to have to earn a great deal more from my writing in order to feed my book addiction. (I recently read on someone’s blog that they had a book “addition” problem. Yeah – I have that too. I’m not sure if it was a typo or deliberate, but I like it.)
Sad News:
I have two pieces of sad news about books:
- I have just found out that a major Australian bookshop chain is about to open a new store right here in my home town of Murray Bridge. Previously I had to drive an hour to go to any large bookshop. Now it will be only five minutes away. Poor me.
- This morning I checked Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger site. He relates how he spent several hours in a Melbourne bookshop reading about himself in a book. Now, that’s rather funny – and also a little sad. Not sad that he wants to read about himself but sad because I can’t yet do the same. I must keep at this writing game, become moderately famous and then be able to spend time in a bookshop reading about myself. The ultimate ego trip.