How Trying New Things Helps My Writing

During a recent random YouTube session I came across a band called 2Cellos. Initially, I was leery of even clicking on the link to their video. As usual, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check them out.

And, man—! Talk about being taken back.

After listening to a few of their songs I was hooked. Their cover of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal moved and inspired me. Immediately after listening to it I was so jazzed up that I wrote close to 3K words. Talk about powerful!

Curious as to whether or not this was a fluke and I wouldn’t be inspired by another instrumental tune, I continued on my YouTube journey, seeking out similar music. I came across the Piano Guys, Piano Tribute to Mumford & Sons, Vitamin String Quartet, William Joseph & more. Each song gave me the same reaction: I really (and I mean really) wanted to write.

Now, I never much listened to music when I wrote before. The lyrics—while often meaningful—always distracted me. Listening to music while writing was more of a distraction than a help. So I always holed myself up in the smallest room in the house, made it as quiet as possible and typed away.

But something has been missing recently. My typically natural creative side and ability to clack away was replaced by staring at my monitor for twenty minutes at a time. Mind you, I’ve still been writing—it has just been more difficult than normal.

I felt this new music was something I needed to utilize if I wanted to get back on track. So iTunes and I had a little exchange and I made a “writing” playlist filled with a plethora of wonderful new songs.

It is working already; the past few days have been accompanied by an influx of ideas ranging from zany to suspenseful to serious. I did spend my lunch money for the week, but I think five days of PB+J will be worth it in the end.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: try something new! It is true for me that, whenever I try a new thing, creativity always pours out of it. I’m glad I clicked on that link because it brought a different element into my life that have only benefited me (despite the ghetto lunches, that is.) If I didn’t, I’d probably still be staring at my monitor wondering what to post about—and, knowing me, I’d probably end up posting about not knowing what to post about again.

I encourage you to give this method a shot! Taste a new taste, try a new perfume, hike on a trail you’ve never hiked before. Hey—even paint your nails a crazy color if it works for you. Do something to stimulate your senses in a way they’ve never been stimulated before.

The point is this: opening yourself up to new things often comes with great inspiration. Don’t limit yourself to what you know. Reach for what you don’t know; you will always expand your horizons and that, my friend, is a key element in writing.

Until next time,

—R

My Recommendations for Inspiration

One of my best friends often tells me that she’s inspired by my inspiration. This makes perfect sense to me as I’m always inspired by hers. Positive energy begets more positive energy—I confirm this every time we come out of a brainstorming session primed and ready to write.

This week I’m on about inspiration, which has sprinkled itself over almost everything I’ve recently come across. It was in the blog awards I recently received. It showed up during my writing sessions. I even found it when I looked at the yellow highlighter on my desk and realized I could write a short story about it (and I did, too.)

It also came in the form of four particular blog posts. Each one of them sat me down and made me think—and feel. I know that these articles will be beneficial to others, so I am making this week’s post all about them. In no particular order, here are some inspirational, insightful and thought-provoking reads:

In her most recent post on Are We There Yet? Diane Carlisle discusses the intricacy of balancing action and detail. She touches on how too much description can kill a fight scene and also talks about how to avoid boring your readers. After reading this I was overly excited to write a good fight and even took a break at work to jot down some ideas on the spot. http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com/2012/05/pacing-for-pleasure-where-are.html

Paige Lollie, Author of The Dream Words, revolved her last post around inspiration itself and the interesting ways it can sometimes surface. She challenges you as a writer to look for inspiration in the most unexpected places. Her challenge made me more cognizant of my surroundings this week, and some good writing came from my observations. http://thedreamwords.blogspot.com/2012/05/dreaming-written-word.html

And then there’s Plottypus, where S.P. Clark discusses what books really are. While reading this article I was reminded of how much effort I’ve put into my own novel, and reflecting on the progress I’ve made fueled my desire to make even more progress. If you’re wondering how much effort actually goes into crafting a book, this is a great resource. There’s much more to it than you think! http://plottypus.blogspot.com/2012/05/writing-finishing-and-what-books-really.html

Last but not least is ~Charity~ over at This is Life. She details a very important aspect of the writing process: accepting and utilizing constructive criticism. Her post reinforced something I’ve known for a long time: once you open yourself up to listening you will hear wonderful things. Charity teaches us that, instead of running from it, we should embrace criticism and allow it to inspire us. http://charityfaye.blogspot.com/2012/05/accepting-constructive-criticism.html

If you’re looking for inspiration, a guiding light, or just a good read, I recommend checking out these four posts. I thank these bloggers for sharing their words, and, as always, I thank you for reading mine.

Until next time,

—R 

The Sunshine Award

Well, friends—I am grinning from ear to ear today! My blog received another award! This time it is the Sunshine Award. It was given to me by the wonderfully witty Katharina Brendel whose blog I fully endorse! (I like it so much, in fact, that I gave her the Kreativ Blogger Award!)

The way the award works is this: you copy the above award picture into a post and link back to the person who gave you the award.  You then must either answer 10 random questions or give 7 random facts about yourself.  Then spread the award along to 10 other bloggers by tagging them!

So here is my response. I’m going to bite off of Katharina here as I like these questions and—after answering random facts just yesterday—I’m admittedly parched.

1. Pantser or Plotter? I like to say plotter, but my work-in-progress is almost nothing like my outline. Stories and characters tend to run away from me…so I sit back and follow their lead J

2. Do you listen to music while writing? Sometimes. Certain songs fuel certain moods. I’ll even put a specific song on repeat until I’m thru the scene.

3. What genre do you write in? Well, many. Poetry, Short Stories, Non-Fiction, Action/Adventure, Fantasy and Comedy.

4. Books on writing you recommend? I will recommend this book to my dying day. It’s called, Eats, Shoots and Leaves by: Lynn Truss.

5. Which are your favorite authors? Way, way too many to name. Lynn Nottage, Tracy Letts, David Lindsay-Abair, Adam Hummel, Arthur Miller and Margaret Edson come to mind (yup—I am a screenplay junkie.)

6. How long have you been writing? I’m not quite sure. The first thing that I remember writing is a little book I wrote about Cheetahs in second grade. I even covered it with construction paper and bound it with yarn J

7. What is your favorite part of the writing process? The inspiration. I love looking at things, tasting things, seeing things and then writing about these things. I use every sensation I have as the basis for my writing and I love how easily the ideas come to me with this method.

8. How do you capture ideas when you are on the go? I write them down on napkins or the backs of receipts.

9. How do you handle bad reviews? I digest them, take them into consideration and either take them or leave them depending on whether they are actually constructive or not.

10. Worst writing mistake you make: Sentence fragments. (And yes, I am aware that “sentence fragment.” is a sentence fragment—this is just my quirky sense of humor coming out, ha, ha.)

Next: The people I am passing this award onto. I just selected several people yesterday, so I might not get to ten, but I’m going to try. Please take a moment to stop by and check out these blogs. They’re great bits of writing and definitely worth this award!

Paige Lollie

Alan Ford

Plottypus

Diana Rajchel

David Clary

Kellee Wynne Conrad

Yelena C.

Until next time,

—R 

Kreativ Blogger Award

I am very humbled today. Why? Because I’ve received the Kreativ Blogger Award for my blog! Thanks so much to Diane Carlisle for giving me this award. You’ve made my week, Diane. I truly appreciate this!

To accept this blog I must complete the following steps:

1. Thank and link back to the giver.

2. Answer the questions below.

3. Share 10 random facts/thoughts about yourself

4. Nominate at least 7 other blogs for the Kreativ Blogger Award.

Again, I’d like to thank Diane Carlisle for giving this award to me. Check out her blog! Her witty words always keeps me entertained (and she makes the best pie charts, too.)

 10 Questions: 

What is your favorite song? I’m too flighty for one favorite. Thus, I have “favorite-at-the-moment” songs, instead. My current favorite is The Crane Wife by: The Decemberists

What is your favorite dessert? Peanut butter pie

What ticks you off? Rude/inconsiderate people

What do you do when you're upset? Have a very loud fit

Which is/was your favorite pet? My pug, Kingsley

Which do you prefer, black or white? Black

What is your biggest fear? Being abandoned

What is your attitude mostly? Happy-rosy

What is perfection? I don’t believe ‘perfection’ exists. For me, the closest thing to perfection is the constant drive to become better.

What is your guilty pleasure? Writing

10 facts: 

1. I use acting methods to craft my dialogue.

2. I can quote almost every line of Major Payne.

3. The little girl in my picture is my niece (I have no kids.)

4. I am obsessed with skiing.

5. I’ve learned to type with my pug sleeping one of my arms because I don’t want to kick him off of my lap.

6. I have a quirky sense of humor (that, or I’m just not funny.)

7. It doesn’t take long for me to consider someone a friend.

8. My current work-in-progress is based on a dream I had when I was seventeen.

9. I have a very large collection of hoodies.

10. I am an avid fan of Top Gear (British version) and I wish I were famous so that I could be the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car.

Now for my seven Kreativ Blog Award picks:

~Charity~

Author Alden

My Unpublished Life

Carissa Taylor

Michelle Krys

Jonathan Dalar

My Writing Journey

Check out my seven picks—I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading them J

Until next time,

—R

  

When You Have No Time to Write

Silly me! It’s 1:00 on Friday and I haven’t even thought about what I’m going to post about! Well, I suppose I can post about why I don’t know what I’m going to post about. Yes, you all know my answer to this: the dreaded day job.

Day Job and I have a symbiotic relationship. I spend 9-10 hours a day working on it. In return it feeds me and puts a roof over my head. We do this daily and have fallen into a good pattern. I’ve even come to like Day Job. It treats me well.

However, sometimes Day Job can be a jealous little bug. It doesn’t always like it when I write. This week Day Job must have been extra jealous, because I able to write, at all!  

Being unable to write this week has yet to bother me—but then again, I haven’t had time to feel bothered. I wonder how annoyed I’ll be once I open up my manuscript and see the lack of progress I’ve made.

I can’t be too upset, though. Life does get in the way sometimes and that’s something I am slowly learning how to deal with. In the olden days I would kick and scream when my schedule was upset. I’m obsessive about my schedule and do not like to deviate from it—before I calmed down I was so obsessive, in fact, that changing my schedule caused me to emotionally shut down. Luckily, that is no longer the case!

Hopefully, I will not be bothered this weekend and can carry on without stewing in my chair about how much time I lost. If I do stew, I plan to actively fight against said stewage and continue detaching myself from my schedule-obsession.

To those of you who feel slighted when life gets in the way, I’ll give the this advice: Getting upset about it doesn’t give you more time—it just takes away from the time that you do have. Take it from the schedule-freak. Relax, have a pudding pop and love those moments when the keyboard keys clack away your creativity. That’s what I plan to do.

I hope this post proves helpful—I don’t have time to re-read this week as Day Job is calling. Good luck with your writing and your week. As always, I thank you for taking the time to read my words and I hope that my journey helps you in some way!

Until Next Time,

 

—R