Indie Author Day 2016 & NaNoWriMo

Writer's Corner: NaNoWriMo

   Today is Indie author day 2016, and in honor of this day I would like to talk about an event that launched several best selling authors. Erin Morgenstern launched her writing career with The Night Circus thanks to this event.
   Before you know it it will be November and time for National Novel Writing Month. This is something I look forward to every year, and most especially this year, because, fingers crossed I am hoping I can finish a novel this year. 
   Now for those of you that don't know what NaNoWriMo is all about here is a brief summary taken straight from the always helpful Wikipedia..lol. 

NaNoWriMo is an annual, Internet-based creative writing project that takes place during the month of November. NaNoWriMo challenges participants to write 50,000 words (the minimum number of words for a novel) from November 1 until the deadline at 11:59PM on November 30. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to get people writing and keep them motivated throughout the process. The website provides participants with tips for writer's block, local places writers participating in NaNoWriMo are meeting, and an online community of support. The idea is to focus on completion instead of perfection. NaNoWriMo focuses on the length of a work rather than the quality, encouraging writers to finish their first draft so that it can later be edited at the author's discretion. NaNoWriMo's main goal is to encourage creativity
worldwide.

So in honor of the upcoming writing holiday, let's get warmed up for the upcoming event. Just like Lorelai Gilmore warming up for the knit-a-thon, we need to get our creative juices flowing. One of the best exercises for writing I have found is writing prompts. 
A writing prompt is simply a topic around which you start jotting down ideas. The prompt could be a single word, a short phrase, a complete paragraph or even a picture, with the idea being to give you something to focus upon as you write.

Being October lets start with this Halloween prompt.
-- You and two of your friends are working at a Halloween haunted house. You each get into costume, representing scary creatures. On the first night, hundreds come through the house. You scare them over and over again. As you jump out to scare one of the people, you hear her scream and then feel...

<sup>-- Write a story about three people who are on a road trip together, only to stop off at a gas station and pick up a fourth person whom they don't know. Why did they pick this person up? Where are they taking him/her? What happens? 

-- The Vessel: Write about a ship or other vehicle that can take you somewhere different from where you are now

-- Your wealthy Aunt Edna has died and left you all of her money. At first you're excited, as you've been living paycheck-to-paycheck your whole life, and this newfound money offers you endless possibilities. But, in her will, Aunt Edna left one big catch—and, if you don't do it, all of the money is to...

-- Greeting: Write a story or poem that starts with the word “hello”

-- Smoke, Fog, and Haze: Write about not being able to see ahead of you

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So what are you waiting for, use those prompts and get to warming up for November and the challenge.
Write on...</sup>

Writers corner: The dreaded writers block

                        Writers block

                                                How to push through it, or go around it.

 

Starting today I will be trying to publish writing tips for my new section entitled writers corner. I will try to post to Writers corner once a week or maybe bi-weekly depending on the interest shown.

 

   Writers block according to the great Wikipedia, writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. This is something that has happened to every writer at some point. You are sitting there in front of the computer, chipping away at the word count and BAM! 26,892 words in, you are a third of the way in to your book, and you're stuck. Everything up to this point has been flowing like water, but this scene has you stumped, or you just can not find the transition to the next part, your dialogue fell flat and you can not think of a single witty thing to write now. I decided to scour the internet for all of the relative tips I could find on solving this problem, and yes it is because I am stuck in the scene I am currently writing. However if I can help myself and you at the same time all the better, don't you think?
Lets start with some common causes of the dreaded writers block.

Common causes of writer’s block

The reasons for your block may vary, but some common ones include:

• Timing: It’s simply not the right time to write. Your ideas may need to stew a little longer before writing them down.
• Fear: Many writers struggle with being afraid, with putting their ideas (and themselves) out there for everyone to see and critique. Fear is a major reason some writers never become writers.
• Perfectionism: You want everything to be just right before you ever put pen to paper or touch a keyboard. You try to get it perfect in your head and never do, so you never begin.

Now these are not the only reasons sometimes you are just stuck for no apparent reason other than..

Let start with what not to do.

How to not overcome writer’s block

And just for fun, here are some anti-solutions to this problem:

• You do not overcome writer’s block by refusing to write until you feel “inspired.”
• You do not overcome writer’s block by wallowing in self-pity.
• You do not overcome writer’s block by procrastinating or making excuses.
• You do not overcome writer’s block by watching TV.

I wonder if writing a blog post should be on that list..hmmm
Now on to the tips.



The first set of tips comes from Brian Moreland, who writes novels and short stories of historical horror and supernatural suspense. 


Step away from whatever you’re writing and do anything that’s creative. Paint pictures, write poetry, design images in Photoshop, make a scrapbook or collage, or if you’re masculine, build something in the garage. Work on another creative project for a few hours or days and then go back to writing. When I’m stuck, I paint paintings or work on my website or blog. Jumping to other projects really activates my creativity. The key is to keep exercising the creative part of your brain and eventually you’ll tap back into the flow of writing.

Do freewriting. Spend 15 minutes or more a day writing whatever comes off the top of your head. Ignore punctuation. Just write freely. Allow it to be totally random. You might change subjects many times. You might mix fiction with journaling or vent frustrations. The process trains your brain to tap into the words inside your head and gives them a place to live on your computer screen or journal. Do this for a week and then return to your writing project. An alternative is to freewrite 15-20 minutes to get your thoughts out and then immediately return to writing your book or article. Some of my freewriting entries inspired new ideas for my books.

Move your body. Dance, practice yoga or Tai Chi. This may sound funny, but when you get your body into flow, your mind follows. Meditate and take long, deep breaths. A relaxed mind is more open. An open mind is more imaginative. You can focus longer when you are in a peaceful state. Sometimes I step away from writing, do some yoga poses and breathing, then return to writing in a more creative state.

A few more tips I picked up from different sources are

• Play.
• Change your environment.
• Read a book.
• Listen to music
• Brew some coffee

 The point is that you need to shake things up, don't just sit there waiting on your muse to strike. Dance, run, read, rub your lucky charm while drinking a cup of coffee and offering a sacrifice to the writing gods, or just write random crap until you break through. But DO something or that simple block might just turn into a dam.
That is all for today on writers corner. I hope this helped some of you I know it helped me. Now I am off to sacrifice a honey bun to the writing gods and get back to writing.
Until Later,
The Pirate Wench 

 

Challenge Day 1

 Challenge Day 1

    So I broke my own Idea of trying to blog twice a week already. No excuses much, other than school started back this week for me, that in itself is pretty big for me right now because of the major health issues I am currently still dealing with.

   With that in mind, it relates to my first challenge, (What are your 2014 goals? Blogging, relationships, financial, fitness or any other goals you have.)

 I am taking some advice.

 Set one BIG goal and break it down into 3 small goals.

 

    My big goal is to be heather. No matter how I have to go about it. I expected to be a lot better than I am by 2014 but as I do not currently make much money and the many health problems..ie I almost can not walk at all most days. I had Medicaid last year and then I lost it when it was time to reapply. Due to new health care requirements. (thank you obamacare).

    So small goal number one. Reapply again and hope for a different outcome. If not pay what little money I have for some kind of super cheap insurance, and hope for the best. 

Small goal number two. Go back to what I studied for more than 10 years, herbal and holistic healing. I am not ruling out that I need to be under doctors care but at the same time I know that good holistic health care can supplement western medicine and in many cases are better.     

    Small goal number three. Do everything thing I can to get a lap band or the best alternative to it. I know this is controversial for many. However in my case where the very excessive weight has nothing to do with food intake it is needed as it is the the cause of 50% of my medical issues.  

    So that is my first challenge point, I am open to advice or any other comment you may have. Also let me know if you decide to do this challenge as well. I posted it in my previous blog post. 

writing prompts challenge