Tag Archives: Inspiration

Writers Horoscope-July 30: Your high-strung tendencies can be an asset.

Your protagonist Dwayne has been a pin-cushion lately.

It’s time for him to rebel against his office doubling as a cleaning supply closet at ‘Serfs-On-Call’’. Scrawl out ‘WHAT WOULD YOU DO???’ on the nearest Big Mac wrapper, slap it on the wall, take off your pulse monitor, and picture Dwayne.

Feel the burn…you’ve been dissed one too many times…yes, that’s clumsy Art with the plumber’s crack bursting in for a mop replacement and you find yourself engulfed in rolls of bathroom tissue…there you go, now reach for that keyboard.

Hint: Stay off the ledge. You’re only on Chapter 10.

Writers Horoscope-July 29: Introspection is the order of the day.

Tread lightly.

Don’t let ‘What should I be doing with my life?’ devolve into a sniping session that spews  the age-old, ‘Shouldn’t you chisel the cheese encrusted from your front burner?’ or ‘Did the dogs get their hourly dose of love, affection, and Beggin’ Strips?’ or–the most hurtful of all–’Are you gonna wear that today?’.

Writers Horoscope-July 26

Today? Face reality.

It’s nitty-gritty time in the writer’s workroom.

Yesterday’s [July 25] noble effort to ‘simplify’ has, of course, complicated things.

You’ve discovered a wealth of vivid characterization, intriguing plot points, and cogent, logical outlining…in freehand.

Time to digitize. Yes, type.

Fire up the Ninja Coffee Bar, cue up your ‘Gettin’ Stuff Done’ playlist, and launch into a keyboarding trance.

See you on the other side.

Email Gems: July 17-21

From my Austin Kleon weekly newsletter:
Here [with 2 Years of Exhausting Photographic Detail] Is How to Write a Book by Ryan Holiday

From the newsletter of Jill Badonsky [the author of The Muse Is In]:
“Strengthen Your Tolerance Muscle–To be good at anything in the creative realm you must be able to accept that you’re not instantly perfect or even kinda good. If you don’t have a tolerance muscle, your mission if you want to answer your creative call, is to build it before the skill you are trying to cultivate.”

 

 

 

Writers Horoscope–July 20

Today–reach out to people.

Plan your cookbook-signing.

Your biggest challenge: Finding an actual brick-and-mortar bookstore.

Alternatives? Set up a promotion table at the meat counter in Earl and Pearl’s Stop n’ Shop. [Better provide skewers and samples. Hungry shoppers don’t exactly sprout cash for text-on-paper.]

Next to the table, try something subtle, yet memorable.

“Portion-control is for wimps. Buy the whole book!”

 

Writers Horoscope–July 18

Your publishing company is off to a good start.

You’ve tracked down office space. [That spare lumber in the garage needed to be cleared out anyway.]

For those draining 400-word days, you’ll need that footrest. Rex the Wonder Retriever lies at the ready.

And every writer needs face time with an apathetic reader. Your tabby Whiskers is primed to ignore your every word.