Tag Archives: writing inspiration

Curation Corner: In times of uncertainty…

how creativity can help.

Four key points from Diana’s citiesatdawn.com post.

  • Creativity is a way to work things out.
  • Creativity allows us a chance to see other possibilities.
  • Creativity brings calm to our minds and bodies.
  • Creativity opens the door to engaging our imaginations and going beyond ourselves.
get the creativity flowing--tim-mossholder-SZgVZPbQ7RE-unsplash
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Fellow writers…don’t do what I did.

Get your writing done first because it’s not easy to crank up the momentum and confidence needed to fill your pages.
After breakfast, I launched into decluttering…even before shaving and cleaning up. Not only did I feel grungy [counterproductive in its own right]

  • A. I wasn’t writing.
  • B. I was wasting that precious morning buzz [i.e. creative energy] on sifting through and boxing ‘stuff’.
  • C. I didn’t crank out that initial ‘first 100 words’ on paper, a practice I started when I homed in on mindfully ‘showing up’ to my creative projects.
  • D. I was getting annoyed by A. and B and C.

Luckily, choosing to reconnect with a former student and a former teaching colleague, I did get my keyboarding fingers moving and real words [with value, even!] danced across the screen. AND I’ve even resisted the urge to turn on the AFC Championship game. AND I’ve chosen to not answer a text message till today’s words are done. [Thank you, thank you. You can stop rolling your eyes now.]

So, I guess the lesson for today is: Don’t give up hope. You can rise above all kinds of obstacles, even the self-imposed ones, and move forward with your projects.

NOTE: If your word processor offers the ‘Focus’ feature that displays just your text–no distracting menus, programs running in the background–give it a try.

A five-minute writing pep talk…reminder.

five minutes

I posted this over a year ago, but it’s a favorite and it boils down our ‘showing up to work’ to five minutes.

[Unfortunately, the SoundCloud link is no longer active.]

Patrick McLean’s Five-Minute Writing Pep Talk

Image from Google’s online timer

 

Writers Horoscope December 16: You revive your notebook habit.

 

From 201 Ways to Arouse Your Creativity,
one of Joel at Lifehack’s ‘rejuvenating tips’:
Carry a notebook everywhere.

 

notes1notes2

Hey, they’re just notes. But my observation of the uncooperative nature of computers nudged me toward drawing a parallel with some people. Possible subject for a short essay or blog post.

I also like the story possibilities of YouTube alerting a teacher to a student straying a bit from the assigned work.

Writers Horoscope December 15: You revisit an oft-forgotten strategy.

It’s certainly easy to jot down these ideas in a notebook, but sometimes the alternative tool forces one to rethink key points and make different connections. I also think the digital nature can afford writers/creatives a few options to branch their work toward other projects/products.

In revisiting Seth Godin’s Rules for Working in a Studio, I would say I adhered to the following:

  1. Don’t hide your work.
  2. Upgrade your tools.
  3. Change something.
  4. Obsess about appropriate quality; ignore perfection.

Writers Horoscope December 14: Despite solid support, you’re still stuck.

mud stuck

You’ve been given well-conceived rules and guidelines, but still, whether it’s resistance or overwhelm or brain-freeze, you’re getting nowhere.

Fear not…if you can’t get unstuck from 201 Ways to Arouse Your Creativity, well, back in the mud with you!

 

 

Writers Horoscope December 13: You sift through a sea of advice.

From yesterday’s Rules for Working in a Studio, you decide to narrow the list, with some variations tailored for your growth.

For example…

‘Make big promises.’ becomes ‘Make big promises…to yourself.’ ‘Keep them.’ logically follows.

And you merge ‘Don’t hide your work.’ with ‘Don’t hide your mistakes’ and ‘You are not your work. Embrace criticism.’ [Challenging, for sure.]