Category Archives: productivity

Web/Twitter Gems August 14-18

  1. Creative Success – A 7-Lesson Guide to Creating by Jessica James
    http://brainzooming.com/creative-success-a-7-lesson-guide-to-creating-by-jessica-james/16608/   #5…not my favorite step, which means I should definitely buck up and follow through.
  1. “Be ruthless about protecting writing days…” J.K. Rowling
    http://www.advicetowriters.com/home/2016/7/7/be-ruthless-about-protecting-writing-days.html #amwriting #writerslife
  1. Miserable Day Job Turns Into $100,000 Side Income  https://sidehustleschool.com/episode/43
    This person used her blog to side-hustle her way out of her job. These eight-minute podcasts might just nudge you to venture forward yourself.
  1. Jon Winokur  @AdviceToWriters
    “Outlines are the last resource of bad fiction writers who wish to God they were writing masters’ theses.” –STEPHEN KING
    Just one opinion, but geez, this guy just might know something about the writing business.
  1. So, if, unlike Stephen King, you’re at least straddling the fence on outlining, Steven Pressfield’s foolscap method might just provide that happy medium. http://www.stevenpressfield.com/2011/04/the-foolscap-method/
    Key words: “Shut up and begin.” There are plenty of other resources that explore the foolscap method of diving into a writing project.

Writers Horoscope August 19: Today, break from your daily routine.

You don’t always have to write first thing in the morning.

Seek adventure that might spur a whole new plot, a new series of blog posts, even a misdemeanor on your up-to-now unsullied criminal record.

Be open to possibility.

bunny on boardwalk

http://gratisography.com/

Writers Horoscope August 18: Your standards will be tested today.

Newspaper’s…store sign’s…blog post’s…everywere you look, you see typographical error’s, subject-verb disagreement’s, and multiple misuse’s of the apostrophe.

Your wundering if its a plot to drive you nut’s. **

What to do? Cease and desist reading hard or Web copy?

Or, for a measure of writerly catharsis, whip out a red pen at the coffee shop and have at the local rag. [Do resist intrusive rants and violent shredding, and you might consider an iced frappa-soya-chino instead of the lawsuit-inducing 16 oz. dark roast .]

Or just shrug and forge ahead, secure with the guiding light of Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition rules.

**Count the number of errors in the bold text and let me know in the comments how many you’ve detected. If you’re really intense, copy/paste the text in the comment box and paste in little dagger emojis next to the errors.

This might also help   >>>>>>    😡

 

Writers Horoscope August 17: Solid advice exists elsewhere.

Age-old wisdom from golfing instructors: “Keep your head down.”

It works with first drafts too.

Head down. Or at least away from the screen.

The misspelled ‘their’…the extra space at the end of a sentence…the ‘angle’ instead of ‘angel’? Fixable.

‘Drift’ in your draft? Not so fixable. Ditto that feeling you’ve been through a grinder after your daily 1000 words.

Remember: Head down. [You can sweat the ergonomics later.]

Tired overworked businessman sleeping

Typical victim of EAYD [Edit-As-You-Draft].

At least his head’s down…

Designed by Freepik

Writers Horoscope August 16: Expect to encounter frustration. It’s how you deal with it that counts.

In other words, don’t blame the tools.

laptop in door

Writers Horoscope August 15: Don’t take your challenges lying down.

Boo on his back writing ergonomics

Though there is something to be said for an occasional mindfulness minute or stretch break. [Not a bad idea, however, to warn others of your upcoming ‘private time’. They’ll thank you for that.]

Writers Horoscope August 14: You overestimate your mental capabilities.

Enough with the multitasking already! It doesn’t even exist. And what you are doing (current terminology: context switching) is stealing brainpower.

Consider these drawbacks:

  • You have a lower IQ. [This would explain your predilection for Dora the Explorer reruns to finishing that chapter from John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction.]
  • You reduce your memory. [Uhhhh…you’re on this page because you clicked a web link to get here. ;->]
  • You damage your brain. [Listen, your teens and 20’s are ruthless enough. No sense piling on.]

woman-multitasking-covering face

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.

Writers Horoscope August 13: Sharing your work has its limits.

 

There’s a not-so-fine line between publishing and defacing.

Besides, ink-on-wall is so limiting…so 20th century. Today, join the digital age.

writing-wall-cropped

 

Writers Horoscope August 12: Today, take a second look at your [w]rituals.

It’s possible you’re losing sight of your writing goals.

Take a deep breath…that’s it…now put down the compass. The only sharp object you should be working with is a medium point Bic.

writing rituals overdoing it compass scientific

Writers Horoscope August 10: A change of scenery is in order.

Face it–waking up to a sea of pixels and liquid crystals is hardly a warm, embracing welcome to your creative urges**.
So, mix it up.
Get out of the house.
Breathe real air.
Pave a new neural pathway. [Not even sure that’s a thing. It just sounds right.]
Turn off YouTube, fergawdsakes.
Happy writing.

Bench with comments 2

 

**Ever notice that ‘urges’ is easily rearranged to spell ‘surge’? I mean, really, isn’t that cosmic? A surge of urges………eeew-ick, an innocent four-word phrase and we’re thrust into 50 Shades territory…thrust……okay, we’re done here.