Creative as we might be, sometimes our imaginations dry up.
Our scene might happen in a coffee shop, but the coffee shop in our heads is ghostly. In it, people don’t talk, don’t move, don’t even have faces!
And that, well, is creepy.
If you subscribe to as many writing websites as I do, I’m sure you’re constantly bombarded by the same advice: Just write, write every day, push through writer’s block, don’t wait for inspiration, etc. And while that’s all great advice, and most of the time very necessary to follow, there’s something to be said for taking a break.
When you write a story, please use your senses.
Often writers just write about what they see and ignore their other four senses. In addition to your ability to see you also have your sense of smell, of hearing, of taste, and touch. Unfortunately, your senses are not as keen as a cat, but no one can have everything. I can hear better than humans, but you have thumbs.
On my personal blog, I write a lot about the publishing industry and how books (especially by women) are marketed. It made me start to seriously wonder—should I use a pseudonym/pen name? Should you?
Let’s figure it out.
I can produce my blog posts, copywriting or magazine articles on time and in abundance. No problem. However, I’m turtle s-l-o-w in writing my novels. In eighteen years, I’ve only completed four—all still unpublished. To me, only the last two are worthy to be on a bookshelf; the first two were teaching me how to write.
I’ve always sort of felt like a loser writer because of this, but a recent epiphany taught me why failure in your writing is good…
With the start of 2015, everyone is in the midst of making and (hopefully) following through on their New Year’s resolutions. One of mine, in addition to going to the gym (which I’ve already hurt myself doing), is to resume journaling on a semi-regular basis. I used to be a religious journaler about five years ago, but I’ve moved away from the practice, mostly because I keep forgetting/watching episodes of the West Wing on Netflix. Since then, I’ve received two more blank journals as gifts, so I take this as a sign that the universe wants me to pick up the pen again.