Finding Windows and Opening Doors

Hi Everyone!

Thank you for all your comments, supportive words and encouragement on my last post. It's great to know I'm not alone :)

If I haven't gotten around to your blog as yet, I promise you I'm on my way... apologies for taking so long, a few unexpected things cropped up over the last couple of days that I needed to deal with.

So let's review a few items that have been helpful when I've found myself in the "room with no windows". (If today's topic is new to you, please refer to Wednesday's post for a quick recap.)

There are two main stages to this phenomenon. One is the BEFORE, the other is the AFTER.

See below.

1) First Stage - The Creative Process

This is a great place to be. The ideas are flowing. Inspiration speeds towards you like a runaway train, you can barely keep up. This story is practically writing itself. Only one problem - it's all in your head.

Write it down

• Grab that pen and paper and jot it down while it's still fresh in your mind. That way, when you sit down at your computer later, you've already got most of the groundwork complete.

• If you have access to your computer and MS, get it in there.

No access to a pen and paper

• Quite a few bloggers on Wednesday suggested using a recorder or dictaphone - awesome idea guys! I didn't even think of this one--thanks so much for this suggestion. Record it, listen back to it when you're ready to write.

• Your cellphone or other favorite media device (obviously this only applies if you have one). I don't go anywhere without my phone. And phones nowadays have all sort of features. The simplest one? Open up a memo or notepad and type in your thoughts. Again, this will save you the grunt work for later.

• None of the above? Try using a mnemonic technique. Create a memorable poem or think of a unique string of words that relate to your thought process. When you return to this phrase later, it can help restore you to the track you were on.

2) Second Stage - The Dark Room

You had no time to get those ideas down. The only tools at your disposal were your mind and a handful of possibilities that you dared to dream while you gazed out the train window or dropped the kids off at school.

Now it's (insert number) hours later, and those same brilliant ideas are no longer coherent... they're tangled up with one another in a disarray of colors, stray letters and clashing sentences. It just doesn't sound right anymore.

Your new problem? You're staring at a blank screen, your brain refusing to connect with your fingers.

Write Anyways

• Just start writing. Whether it's good, bad, or complete garbage. Force those words onto the page. Sometimes it all just sorts itself out.

Recreate the Moment

• Close your eyes and delve deep in the recesses of your mind. Mentally go back to that mindset that you were in when the ideas came to you. Oftentimes this helps to open the door and let words out.

Take a Short Break

• Go for a walk, listen to some relaxing music, surf the web, read some blogs. Take deep breaths, clear your mind and refocus your energy.

Forget About It and Do Something Fun

• Just leave it alone. Put it out of your head. We tend to put so much pressure on ourselves and these words that the strain is overwhelming. We freeze. Tense up. Turn off that screen and go do something (else) you genuinely enjoy - something that makes you feel light and happy, even downright giddy. Once that pressure is off, you will be amazed at how quickly the ideas return.

I just realized how long this post is (sorry guys!), but there we have it--what usually works for me. Try them all, and see what works for you. Anything you would like to add? Did I miss any? Please share!

Hope everyone has a wonderful, inspirational and creative weekend :)

Insecure Writer's Support Group: A Room With No Windows

So today is my first post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group hosted by Mr. Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Today I wanted to talk about something that's been plaguing me for a while. Maybe the last couple of months.

I'm stuck.

But not in the way you would think. The inspiration is there. The ideas are there. The words are there. I just can't seem to get them out.

Last Friday I touched on the subject of how cluttered spaces can create a cluttered mind. Well, that's how my mind has been feeling lately. Cluttered.

There is a serious game of table tennis going on in a windowless room with no doors in the confined spaces of my brain. These words go back and forth, each one ricocheting off the other, colliding with the next new onslaught of "ah-hah's" and "I should do that!".

And there they bounce, with no where to go, not even a small sliver of light in the darkness to provide any release. I sit down each night, and face my screen... overwhelmed, excited, nervous.... and then...

...nothing.

My fingers freeze. The room shuts down. Sentences which made perfect sense three hours before now exist in fragments, each one blending into the next, until it's all a blur.

I know what's causing it. I'm stressed beyond words right now. Too stressed to believe in those very words that keep me going, help me make sense of the daily craziness, of things outside of my control... the ones that normally keep the stress at bay.

Maybe I put too much pressure on them. Maybe I'm not putting enough...

Okay, I'm going to leave you there, because this post is already long enough as it is, and I know there are many more to go through... but pop back here on Friday when we'll explore various ways I've found helpful for dealing with this.

Thanks for listening--er--reading guys, and thank you to Alex, for being the driving force behind this wonderful idea!

Please do share, have you ever experienced this? Have you found yourself stuck lately?

Halloweeny Shaped Clam Chowder Made By Simon Cowell

Hi Everyone!

Goodness, we're already in October! It's crazy how quickly this year is moving.

I was originally going to talk about cluttered spaces and ideas being trapped today, but I've recently signed up for Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group (first Wednesday of every month), and I think I'll save this topic for then. You guys should definitely head over and check it out if you haven't already (and if you haven't heard of Alex or visited his blog, please rectify this immediately, because he is just awesome!).

Hmmm, so now that my topic for today is gone, I think I'm going to share a few bits of Monday randomosity with you... since it's been a while ;)

1. I've recently started watching The X Factor (US version). I don't know what it is with me and Simon Cowell--he just cracks me up.

2. I'm itching to finish my edits today, but I think I've just discovered a major flaw that will require a significant rewrite.

3. I seriously want to go to Disney World (again), and have the clam chowder at Magic Kingdom.

4. I'm feeling very Halloweeny (yup, it's all about making up the words today)... I want to watch scary movies and make cookies shaped like witches and ghosts. Must be the weather.

5. There is a spider web outside my window in which a gazillion little midges are caught (May and September are their seasons). It's disturbing. I was going to include pictures, but after careful consideration, decided against it.

How about you guys? Any bits of random to share on this lovely Monday? Anyone else feeling Halloweeny? Should we plan a trip to Disney World? Who's in?

Getting In The Mood

Hmmm... I hope your mind isn't in the gutter right now ;).

No, I'm talking about getting in the mood to write.

I know some people have their own special routines... making tea, putting the kids to bed, watching a few episodes of their favorite shows... others just hop onto their computer or flip open their notebooks and let the words flow.

I don't have a special routine--I just try to write any spare moment I can find.

And while there is absolutely nothing specific that I do, sometimes when I'm stuck, it helps to clear the area around me. Paper somehow manages to pile up in skyscraper-like stacks in choice spots along my desk. Goodness knows where it comes from.

An uncluttered work area usually steers me back on track when I find myself not in the mood sometimes. Clearing the clutter clears my mind so to speak, and reveals the window when the ideas get trapped (we'll delve more into this on Monday).

It may be purely psychological, but I think it helps. Sometimes we all need a little nudge, a little motivation. Even when it comes to things we love.

Even if the nudge is served warm with a nice helping of procrastination on the side ;).

What sorts of things do you to get into the mood to write? Do you need to do anything at all? Do you follow a specific routine? Do you find having a routine helpful?

Have a good weekend everyone!

The Social Network

Or maybe I should say networks.

They exist in all forms, shapes and sizes...each promising to be bigger and better than the next, the solution to every communication and connection dilemma you could ever dream up.

Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Google+.

And to date, how many have I joined?

Exactly ONE. And this is it.

To all of you who have an account on each of the above (and others), AND manage to keep them up to date, I have such total and complete respect for you. You guys are super ninjas. I know how hard it is. I struggle with just the one!

But I do plan on joining Twitter soon, and possibly Google+ because it just looks so darn cool.

And of course, as writers (or any other artist or business person), they help us to build our platforms, which is what we're supposed to be doing from the get-go. Meeting the right people, growing an audience, spreading the word, promoting what we do...

But in truth... they do connect people...the ones travelling the same path, the ones searching for answers or support, the ones who just want to share. They do bring us closer together. They do offer new means of communication. And they do allow us in to keep in touch in an age and world where lives can get too hectic to have a nice long chat over the backyard fence to find out how "so and so" is doing today.

How many of these social platforms have you joined? Did I miss any crucial ones? And how do you manage it all!?

Can You Smell That?

Smell is one of the strongest senses tied to memory. Nothing transports you faster to days long ago than a whiff of a long forgotten aroma from your past.

The smell of a new car. The wet pavement after a summer rain. Fresh bread baking in the oven. A field full of clovers. The first snowfall of Winter.

For me, it's the smell of a book, and the places where they come from. There's just something about the smell of a library or a bookstore. Whether it be the musty aroma of hundreds of novels that have passed through thousands of hands over the years, or the crisp scent of pristine tomes just hitting the shelves, it's the unique smell that you can only get from hundreds of books situated in one room.

It's like... magic.

I remember when I was younger, I used to make my dad come and sit with me in the library while I sorted through and eventually picked about 15 - 20 books to take home for those three glorious weeks. When I hit my teens, I used to make my parents drop me off at the giant bookstore about fifteen minutes away from my house while they did groceries.

And regardless of where I was, when I was amongst those books, time just disappeared.

When I hear that in the future bookstores and libraries will cease to exist, it just about breaks my heart. I know in this day and age, it's much easier to order your books online or have them directly downloaded to your e-reader, but nothing, absolutely nothing, beats walking into one of those sanctuaries and re-escaping to your childhood.

To this day, every time I hold a book in my hands, I can't resist taking a quick sniff of those pages...

What are your favorites scents? Which ones transport you back to your childhood? Do you have a strange obsession with the smell of books too?

The Road Less Traveled

I have two day planners. One was given to me, and the other I bought. I love them both, and herein lay my dilemma. I wanted to use them both. Both have great features unique to each - the dates even extend to the end of 2012.

I spent a good couple hours of this weekend ripping both planners apart and shuffling things around (and this was no easy feat, mind you--the pages are completely different with the holes in varying places). I then put the whole thing back together to my liking.

The result?

The PERFECT planner. MY perfect planner.

Sure, it would have been easier to just go with one, and suck it up, or even just buy a new one. But I'm very particular - I know what I want - and I found it in both.

And it got me thinking. This is the same approach we take with our writing.

We hear it time and time again: the easy way isn't always the best way. By taking the easy way, you may end up cheating yourself out of what you deserve.

You deserve the best. But it will be hard work. You may have to rip those pages out and put them back together time and time again. Then do it all over from the beginning. Until you have the perfect work of art. YOUR perfect work of art.

Yes, it will take longer, but it will be worth it. It's always worth it in the end.

And just remember, you should never, ever have to settle. Reach high and reach far. Use what you've got and turn it into gold. And never give up.

So tell me, how many times have you reconstructed your MS until it was perfect to you? Did you ever take the difficult road with something when the easy road was right in front of you?

"Hogwarts Will Always Be There To Welcome You Home"

Those of you who have been with me for a while know that I was late to the Harry Potter game.

So to recap...

While I'd watched the movies over the years, I only got around to reading the books last summer. I even had it in my head that the movies must be better than the books because they were THAT good.. How could anything top them?

For the other three people who don't know, I was wrong my friends... If you think the movies are good, the books are a trillion times better. I read all 7 books over the course of two months.

I couldn't put them down. I just COULD NOT PUT THEM DOWN.

I read every spare second I got. I summoned every last ounce of will power that I had to not sneak peeks at them during work hours. My day was spent thinking about when next I'd be able to re-escape back into the world of Hogwarts.

But this is the feeling you get from reading an incredible book with an equally incredible story. And while you will almost never find me without a book in my hands, it had been a long time since a story moved me that way.

I only saw the final movie four weeks ago, on the very last day it was playing. Because I just didn't want it to end.

But in truth, it never really ends, does it?

The stories that touch your heart stay with you forever. They become a part of you, and like the best kept of promises, re-enter your life from time to time... to bring a smile to your face... to remind you.

What books have you read recently (or in the past) that had a profound impact on you? Which ones did you have a hard time putting down?

Finding Your Passion

If someone had told me ten years ago that I'd be trying to make a career out of writing, I would have risen one very disbelieving eyebrow.

I mean... I love to write. But come on, a writer?

Everyone knows there's no money to be made in writing. Writing is something you do in your spare time (on the premise that you actually have any). A silly side hobby for the dabblers.

It's just for FUN.

I mean... isn't that what they always say?

And how can you possibly write a whole novel? Isn't that, like, 400 pages?

My life has taken a lot of unexpected twists, yet through all the ups and downs, the one thing that remained constant was writing.

Without even realizing it, it became my truth. It resurfaced as my drive. It thrived as my passion. The more I wrote, the more I wanted it. The more I STILL want it.

And you know what?

I finished that novel. I wrote the 400 pages. I found the time. Because when it's something you truly love--you always find the time. Even when the only opportunity appears at 2:00 a.m. after a sixteen hour work day, and you've finally gotten the baby to fall asleep.

Because passion like that comes from deep within. It's what keeps you moving forward, moving towards your dreams. It's what makes you dedicated. And as long as you hold on to it, anything is possible.

Is there money to be made in writing? I don't know. It isn't the most clear cut profession.

Is it rewarding? Being able to touch someone with your story? The feeling you get watching the words fill the page?

Definitely.

And I guess that's what makes it all worth it, isn't it?

And just for the record, we shouldn't always listen to what "they" say. ;)

So tell me, what made you realize you wanted to be a writer? When do you find time to write?

WiP Update

Wow. I can't believe how much time has passed. We're almost at the end of another year.

As you know, summer just sort of took over my life during the last little while. Between work, writing, numerous family get together's, writing, work, writing, work... did I mention writing and work--blogging fell to the wayside.

I've been visiting over the last week, and quite a few people have taken temporary hiatuses as well.

But alas, September is here, and it's time to get back into the grind.

So. To get things started, I wanted to give you a quick WiP update.

Where things stand now:

I'm just about at the end of a major revision/rewrite which I hope to fully complete by the end of this week. After that, I will be doing another minor revision round of things I've highlighted, and then print the whole baby out for final edits.

What about you guys? How are things going with your WiP's? What has everyone been up to? Any interesting summer stories?