Writers Horoscope December 27: Voices from the past beckon…

Voices of the experienced, however.

E_B_White

A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work
will die without putting a word on paper.”
E.B. White

On this December 27…

So what if you’re feeling like an overstuffed recliner?

Or you’re too bloated to escape your overstuffed recliner?

Reach for the nearest writing implement [finger dipped in cranberry sauce?] and writing surface [one of the recliner arms?] and compose!

And if you’re desperate for material [and you opt for mobility], consider ‘authorial espionage’. [Dec. 28]


By Cornell University senior photograph. Uploaded by w:user:cornell2010. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Writers Horoscope for December 25: A gift arrives…

…yet more wisdom and experience from others.

buckets

Jeff Goins’ very manageable process [The System I Used to Write 5 Books and Over 1,000 Blog Posts] really makes so much sense.

  1. Bucket #1–Ideas
  2. Bucket #2–Drafts
  3. Bucket #3–Edits

 

 

 

 

 


Here’s wishing you the most enjoyable of holidays.

horizon-2679252_1280

Writers Horoscope December 24: Today, experiment randomly.

 

Yet another tip from Joel at Lifehack from 201 Ways to Arouse Your Creativity.

Today’s random experiment: A video-based writing prompt.

 

Writers Horoscope December 23: Emptying your head…revisited.

From a favored source of inspiration…

Another rejuvenating tip from Joel at Lifehack:

Do an info-dump so your head is clear enough to create instead of worry.

empty your head

I’ve referred to Julia Cameron’s ‘morning pages’ before, but they are well worth revisiting. Quote from Cameron: “There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages*–
they are not high art. They are not even ‘writing.'”

Srini Rao, in his Why I Write 1000 Words Every Day, advocates this approach as well.
Quote from Rao:
“By getting incoherent thoughts out of your head and onto a blank page, you make room for coherent thoughts and better ideas.”

***

Note: Joel at Lifehack also suggests singing in the shower. I held off on sharing that with you, but that was one serious In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida I recently belted out.

Writers Horoscope December 22: You call off the pity party…

 

A friend sends you a link about these courageous people and suddenly, whining about having to rewrite a paragraph, chapter, or book seems a little pathetic.

So, go forth–feeling fortunate–and put your literary gifts to use today.

Writers Horoscope December 21: You welcome conflict…

into your writing.

argument-conflict boxing glove

Things had been getting a bit drab, stilted.

Not so much after digging up my July-August 2013 Poets & Writers article, The Art of Conflict, by Dan Barden. [Sorry, link only provides a summary of the issue.]

A few noteworthy points:

“Your characters should more or less always be having a bad day.”

“Conflict is what creates growth. Conflict is what creates character.”

“The other thing I can tell you about conflict: No matter how extreme it gets, people will identify with it.”

***

So in this season of love and peace and goodwill, go out there and wreak a little literary havoc!

Writers Horoscope December 20: Today, your non-conformist gene kicks in.

SW trooper dolls with Elmo cropped

You break away from the evil empire of ‘the conventional’.
You write Chapter 1 of a cozy romance. You outline an overthrow of an evil intergalactic dictator. You pen a love poem…to pizza.

Even if the Elmo in you stays for a day, savor your departure.

Even better, document and share it. Share it here, even!

 

Writers Horoscope December 18: You’re on the alert for new material.

peephole

Even with other active projects [and possibly because they’re growing a little stale], you keep your eyes and ears open.

I was killing time in a department store yesterday and decided there must be something I could conjure up. And I did…

kohls notes attempt three

The face-tucking seems a little desperate, I admit, but it was first draft material and, come on, don’t tell me there aren’t some people that evoke that kind of reaction. ;->