by Guest Blogger |
For writers, as well as athletes, there’s nothing like being in the zone. Distractions fall away, time disappears, and your work seems to write itself. Unfortunately for most writers, being in the zone is rare—instead of inspiration, we feel dread; instead of knowing, we feel lost; and instead of excitement, we feel anxiety.
But it doesn’t have to be like this. In fact, according to the research of Susan Perry, Ph.D., there are several concrete writing techniques and practices that can actually make finding inspiration and “getting into the zone” an everyday occurrence.
by Ruthanne Reid |
Writing is a tricky business. We throw ourselves into it, gripped by passionate ideas and the need to speak them. We persevere when haters tell us to stop, push through when our own limitations creep up like fences to be hurdled, and devour articles offering tips on how to write better, faster, and smarter.
In the middle of all that, is it any wonder that sometimes we feel like we’re crazy?
Today, we’re not going to work on the fiction side of writing. Today, we’re going to work on ourselves. Think of this as a writer’s personal-training workout.
by Joe Bunting |
Three weeks ago, I accepted a challenge to finish my book by September 2, and if I miss my deadline, I have to give $1,000 to the presidential candidate I despise. I’m three weeks into the challenge, and I’ve finished nine chapters so far for a total of 42,000 words.
It wasn’t hard to finish nine chapters, since I started the challenge with a little less than 30,000 words already written. However, since then I’ve written about 12,000 words, or about 600 per day.
Let’s go a little deeper to see what is working and what isn’t.
by Guest Blogger |
When Joe Bunting invited me to contribute a guest blog post to The Write Practice, I was thrilled. After all, this is a thriving community of dedicated writers hungry for craft discussion. It’s a writing coach’s dream come true. What is not a dream, however, what is in fact a writer’s worst nightmare, is when your creativity fails to flow, when despite your best efforts the words fail to come.
When your tried-and-true writing process fails you.
What do we do when our writing practice unexpectedly goes off the rails? When writing feels like the worst thing in the world?
by Ruthanne Reid |
Sometimes, you can’t write. And I mean you REALLY can’t write. You know the feeling: the kind where it seems your soul is so parched and empty that your imagination has withered and gone. The kind where everything you managed to write before either looks incredibly stupid (and you made it public! The horror!) or, worse yet, was the product of some brief moment of genius which you shall ne’er taste again. Today, I’m going to walk you through what to do during those times via advice from Ray Bradbury.
by Guest Blogger |
There’s a reason you listen to Metallica when you’re doing Crossfit. It’s the same reason you listen to raindrops when you’re doing yoga. It’s because music has a powerful influence on mood, so powerful it can actually elicit a physiological response.
But as a learning writer, I had always assumed that music would be a distraction, that it would deaden my ability to hear my character’s voice, or make it harder to find the right words to explain a setting. I couldn’t have been more wrong: listening music can actually make you a better writer.
