Creative
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The Pros and Cons of NANOWRIMO
Image Courtesy of National Novel Writing Month Gentle people, it’s that time again. We are deep into ‘Preptober,’ when writers the world over are gearing up for the most magical time of year: National Novel Writing Month. Never heard of it you say? Well, you can recognize it by its sweet symphony: the wailing and gnashing of teeth from those haunted spirits of writers stuck in eternal writers block and the triumphant cackling of the novelists who managed their daily word count–and only had to sacrifice their sanity to achieve it. But in all seriousness, Nanowrimo (pronounced Nah-No-Wry-Moh not Nah-No-Wree-Mo apparently) is an exciting time when people try to write…
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A Work in Progress
One of the difficulties of being a writer is that there is such a long time before the piece you’re working on is ‘done.’ When is a story ready? When has it been told? Does it have enough emotion, enough action? Does it make sense to others? There are a thousand questions a writer considers while drafting and revising. But the primary one that teases their mind as they revise is…is it done? I think many writers will tell you that there is no magic moment when a manuscript is ‘finished.’ Looking back on any previously published work, they will see things they wish they had done differently, gaps…
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The Hardest Easy Task
The hardest part of writing is sitting down to do it. The second is actually writing once I have sat down to write. I sit down to write and realize that I have forgotten something to drink. If I don’t have something, I will just be getting up in 10 minute to get it so I might as well do it before I start. Don’t want it to interrupt a moment of flow. I also need my lap blanket. Oh, and a snack. But look! I should check for that email I’ve been waiting for while I’m here. Instagram is showing me notifications, I should engage with my friends and…
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Tricking Yourself into Joy
Have you ever had to trick yourself into trying something? Maybe you had to trick yourself into learning Ballet as an adult. ‘I’ll just do it for the exercise, you think. Barre really tones your muscles. Or maybe you picked up painting or the violin or figure skating. And you gave yourself all the adult reasons you should do it. Stress relief Relaxation Exercise Keeping Neural Plasticity. Maybe you’re like me. Because that’s what I had to do with writing. I’ll just do it for fun, I thought. Stress relief. Process all those emotions. It’ll really help my anxiety if I give my imagination something to work on…