MOODS The following sentence is a FACT– ok, based on my own experience: My moods have no correlation at all with the quality of my production. Therefore, my bad mood is no excuse not to write, unless, of course, a crisis would be averted by NOT writing. This is usually not the case. And what’s… Read more »
Posts Tagged: writer’s block
How to Conquer Writer’s Block: Tip 16
GET AWAY: Part 3 Go back, physically or mentally, to a street you used to live on. I have given writing students, of all ages, the task of mapping out an old neighborhood, replete with a “key” to events that happened to them there. Some examples: #1: “Here is where I camped out for 45… Read more »
How to Conquer Writer’s Block: Tip 46
BUY THIS I have no stock in the Nite Note company but this little gadget has cured both insomnia and writer’s block! Ideas often float into my mind during that state between waking and sleeping. To prevent them from floating right out again, I lie in bed ruminating, repeating and rehearsing what I’ll write at… Read more »
How to Conquer Writer’s Block: Tip 43
‘FESS UP! Another terrific piece of advice was something I learned from the late Sid Fleischman at a talk he gave at SCBWI a long time ago. Sid’s words on craft were always simple, yet brilliant. If your work comes to a screeching halt because of a plot difficulty you just can’t get past, or… Read more »
How to Conquer Writer’s Block Tip 36
WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE? THE ANSWER MAY SURPRISE YOU. I’m going to answer this question only as it relates to writer’s block. There is only one answer. The members of the audience when writing fiction are the characters in your story. They are listening to you and you are listening to them, and writing what… Read more »
How to Conquer Writer’s Block: Tip 33
INDEX CARDS Following up on A.J. Paquette’s post on lists, index cards perform similar psychological and organizational functions. I use index cards in several ways. I enjoy writing down brief plot points, spreading them out on a table and shuffling them around. It almost feels as if I’m conducting an index-card symphony–the concreteness of handling… Read more »
How to Conquer Writer’s Block: Tip 31
SEND AWAY FOR THIS AND SOLVE ALL YOUR PLOTTING PROBLEMS!!! Or just use it to: (1) take a much needed break, (2) realize we’re all going through the same difficult search for something to say, (3) and that impulsive online shopping for answers is usually unhelpful, (4) and taking ourselves too seriously can be funny…. Read more »
How to Conquer Writer’s Block: Tip 29
THAT STUFF IN THE DRAWER Something miraculous happens when you stuff a manuscript in a drawer: it marinates! When you read it again after a long while, it has much more depth and is so well-written, you hardly recognize your own writing! For me, nothing conquers writer’s block better than re-reading a manuscript and discovering… Read more »
How to Conquer Writer’s Block: Tip 28
Here something from the SO terrific Jennifer Ziegler, whose new book SASS AND SERENDIPITY, will be coming out tomorrow! Can’t wait! Her tip dovetails nicely with my Writing is Circular not Linear Theory, and she gives two reasons why applying the theory works: Jennifer says: “Skip the section that is giving me fits and move… Read more »
How to Conquer Writer’s Block: Tip 27
MULTI-TASK TO MULTI-CREATE! That certainly works for the amazingly prolific Jean Reidy, whose picture books TOO PURPLEY! and TOO PICKLEY! came out in 2010 from Bloomsbury, her LIGHT UP THE NIGHT comes out this October with Disney Hyperion, and 3 more picture books come out in the next 2 years. Wow. She multi-tasks, but in… Read more »
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