A few weeks ago in “Find a Need and Fill It” I asked for your input concerning the topics you find most helpful in this blog.
Thank you all for the responses! It’s been very helpful. The requests fell into three main categories. Since I blog on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, that made it easy for me. From now on, this will be my general blogging schedule so that I can cover each topic area regularly.
What You Can Expect
Monday = Inner Motivation (includes:)
- fears–all kinds!
- discipline
- focus
- goals
- rejection
- lack of motivation
- encouragement
- a writer’s dream life
- procrastination
- working with our “inner editor”
- enjoying writing more
- perseverance
- creative inspiration
- writer’s block
Wednesday = Outer Challenges (includes:)
- setting boundaries
- time management
- distractions
- discipline
- writing schedules
- goal setting
- balancing writing with chaos in life
- balancing day jobs with writing
- our writing needs (vs. “their” needs)
- self-defeating behaviors
Friday = Tips ‘n’ Tricks of the Trade (includes:)
- specific genre help
- writing books I’ve found helpful
- blogs I find useful
- classes I’ve taken
- voice (writer’s and character’s)
- critique groups
- conferences
- working with publishers
- marketing–all kinds
- considering the audience when writing
- dealing with publishers who don’t respond
- finding good markets
- developing depth in writing
- selling “unique” pieces instead of jumping on the bandwagon
Thanks for Your Input
All your feedback has been immensely helpful in organizing future blog posts and making sure I cover topics you want to hear about and find useful. If I missed anything on these lists, feel free to let me know!
Even the most dedicated writers need a break sometimes. The brain gives out (often on Fridays), or the back and neck scream for relief. Sure, you can always read more email or surf the web or watch a re-run.
On the other hand, says Arthur Plotnik in a February, 2010 article in The Writer, “Take a productive break from writing.”
His definition of such a productive break includes “activities that can bolster my writing even as they give respite from its grind…A boost [to my writing] in quality or quantity is my criterion for ‘positive’ avoidances.”
Good for Your Writing
Time-wasting breaks produce guilt for not writing, leaving us feeling disgruntled at the end of the day. On the other hand, a break taken to bolster our writing skills is both refreshing and growth-producing. And guilt free!
Read Plotnik’s entire article for many more unusual ideas. (He’s the author of Spunk & Bite: A Writer’s Guide to Bold, Contemporary Style and is on The Writer’s editorial board.) Here are just a few of his suggestions to whet your appetite for the next time you just have to get away from your desk:
- Talk a walk in your neighborhood as if seeing it for the first time. In your pocket notebook, jot down images and sensory perceptions and things you overhear and character descriptions.
- Visit a botanical garden, aquarium, museum, zoo, etc. where things are displayed and labeled. Collect metaphors based on the things you see, such as “a roommate like a stinkhorn fungus.” (Plotnick)
- Wander through your local library’s exhibits, and look through community bulletin boards and local history collections for ideas.
- Watch a “dopey adolescent sitcom” to update one’s YA-dialogue skills.
- Play an instrument or do a drawing.
- Build your inventory of character names from a directory.
- Spend time with someone in an interesting occupation, absorbing the details of a job one of your characters might perform.
Or do like me-and catch up on reading inspiring magazines like The Writer!
I finally had one night off last night after three weeks of meetings, leading two support groups, and attending some necessary functions for a group where I’m Treasurer. People every night! I was wiped out, and yet (very oddly) feeling quite lonely. I couldn’t put my finger on “why.”
Then I read my own blog from two years ago, and the light went on. I’m going to post it again below because if I needed reminding, you may too. [Hint: being busy and around people constantly may not be fulfilling your social and writerly needs at all.]
A Case of the Lonelies
Having been sick with hacking coughs and flu this week, I didn’t get out or see family as much as usual. So I developed a real case of the lonelies and decided to run some errands that had piled up. I’d get out of my office, smile at a few people, exchange some pleasantries, and I’d feel better.
At least, that’s how it used to work.
This time I went to five or six places, was super efficient, and came home just as lonely before. Why? What had changed? I think it started years ago when we went from gas station attendants to self-service stations. My day of errands went like this:
- Last year, when I mailed a package or bought stamps, I chatted with the lady at the post office window who also had a child in the military who was deployed. Today I mailed a package and bought my stamps at a machine in the lobby.
- Last year, I chatted with the librarian when I checked out my books, and she recommended several new titles on the shelf. Today I checked out at a kiosk.
- Last year I talked to the bank teller about what bug was eating our flowers and how to treat it. Today I got my cash from the ATM machine.
- Last year I talked to the grocery store check-out lady about her arthritis and how hard it was for her to stand all day. Today I took my few items through the self-service check-out.
- Last year the lady at Wal-Mart recommended a better kind of cough drop than the one I was about the buy–her son also suffered from allergies and knew about those things. Today I probably bought another ineffective brand of cough drop because I went through the self-checker aisle.
- Last year I took too long in line at the video store, discussing with a young clerk who had multiple piercings just when the new Jane Austen films would be released on DVD. Today I checked out a movie that looked “okay” from the McDonalds kiosk.
My point? Our society has become one of so much self-service that we can go all day without actually talking to a human being. For writers who work at home–and usually communicate through e-mail–we can grow lonely without realizing how it’s happening.
Take Action Now!
It’s more important than ever that you make sure your social needs get met. Join a critique group that meets weekly. Go to your writer events at Barnes and Noble and Borders. Join library book club discussions. Talk to writer friends in person or on Skype–not just email. Hear human voices! (It’s not that I live alone because I don’t. But my husband requires deep conversation about as much as any husband I’ve ever heard of.)
While writers DO need hours of solitude in which to work, too much can be detrimental to our emotional health. Take stock of your own social life. Get out there and live a little. It will be fun–and it will give you more to write about.
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