Tip O'Day #453 - The Bird is the Word

Guest blogger, author, life coach, and Toastmasters friend Sherri Gerek on humming right along.

A favorite quote of mine comes courtesy of Albert Einstein: “Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.“ I took this to heart these past couple of years as I meandered along an unseen path while writing my first book, The Hummingbird Way, Putting Hover, Zip, and Zoom to Work in your Life. I used my experiences with nature to draw correlations to human nature, often asking myself, what can I learn here? What might this mean to someone else?

After nearly thirty years in the corporate environment leading and developing employees in the travel and hospitality industry, I felt confident that what I had learned about communications and relationships could benefit others. I just had to find a way to share that knowledge, especially what makes us successful, and what it takes to foster good relations. As I transitioned away from the corporate environment to open my own coaching practice, I started the book. What I didn’t know then was that I needed a process for writing.

I smile thinking back to my initial approach. Let’s see, it’s Wednesday…I’ll write a couple of chapters today, and at this rate I will finish the book in a month. Now, you are likely reading this while wearing a knowing smile and thinking…this is not going to work that way. Right you are. When the end of the first week rolled around, there I was…staring at my computer still searching for the right words. In reality, I had the words but my internal editor was having a field day with my internal writer, which stymied the creative process. Why do editors do this to us writers? The difficulty getting started came down to my internal editor picking things apart, which resulted in my internal writer shutting down.

That’s it – writer on strike!

Once I realized what was happening, it was an easy fix. I had to find a new job for my internal editor, and I quickly assigned her to my monthly magazine column. Letting go of editing opened up this writer’s imagination. I began carrying a notebook with me because often the best inspirations bubbled up when I was far from the computer. Later, I would transfer ideas to sticky notes which I posted on giant story boards. Before beginning to write each day I would review the boards. Whatever happened to inspire me that day, I wrote about.

Not a month, but nearly a year later, I had finished the manuscript, cultivated a love for writing, and decided to create a series of books with themes drawn from lessons in nature. My internal editor and internal writer buried the hatchet and formed a great partnership. In fact, they are currently in discussions about the outline for the next book. It should be a real hoot! (Spoiler alert - there I go giving away the theme.)

Sherri Gerek is an author, speaker, certified professional life coach, and veteran sales and marketing director. Sherri wrote The Hummingbird Way to help guide other busy people, whether top executives or newbies starting to climb the ladder. You can learn more at Sherri’s website or on Amazon. Also, The Hummingbird Way was recently awarded 5 stars by Readers’ Favorite website.

Tip O'Day #451 - From Lullaby to Novel

Guest blogger Christine Columbus on writing the perfect C&W story.

Well, I was drunk the day my Mom got outta prison. And I went to pick her up in the rain. But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck, she got runned over by a damned old train.

"You Never Even Called Me by My Name" is a song written and recorded by Steve Goodman and John Prine, and later became a hit for country star David Allan Coe. The song is considered the perfect country song because it has mama, trains, trucks, prison and getting drunk. So when I set out to write The Perfect Country and Western Story, I knew I needed to include those same elements, which of course I did...

Cinderella with a twist - instead of a prince with a glass slipper, we have the heroine Alexandra with Stetson hat, and all she needs is a cowboy. But with three days and over 50,000 faces to search at the Midwest's largest country music concert, will she be able to find the man who stole her heart?

Ben still can’t believe he was foolish enough to let the beautiful thief walk away with his autographed cowboy hat. If the heartbreaker dares to show up at Country Time again this year, he’ll not only be looking to get his hat back, but aiming for a little payback as well. Of course, included in the story will be mama, trains, trucks, prison and getting drunk along with romance.

I grew up in a home where Mom rocked the babies to sleep singing, "...had me a drink about an hour ago and it went straight to my head..." For the longest time I thought she was singing a lullaby. Turns out she was singing an all-time perfect country song, and plotting my future novel.

Dixon says: People often ask writers, "Where do you get your ideas?" This is a good example of how a creative person can turn a song, or a poem, or a newspaper headline into a book. Check out www.ChristineColumbus.net to learn more about Romance writer Christine Columbus (yes, that’s her real name) and her perfect book.

Tip O'Day #431 - Look Out Below!

Guest blogger Gerald G. Griffin on two categories of writers within the third group of writers. Ouch, my head hurts.

"A lot of people think they have a book inside them, but for those who try to write it, they usually fail," a friend once commented to me. "Why is that?"

I shrugged, giving him an are-you-kidding look. "Hell if I know!"

If answering him now, I'd probably say this: Let's start by dividing novice or would-be writers into three groups. First, there are those novices who can write great stuff immediately, as though born to it, and have little trouble getting published. Second, there are those who haven't a chance in hell of ever writing a book because they lack the creative aptitude, imagination, passion, dedication and discipline to do so. Third, there are those who fall in between the first and second groups.

Let's divide this third group into two categories. The first involves those who might squeak through a book, but it won't be published, and they skip the Indie route. The problem with these writers is that they write as though they are part of some freakish high wire circus act as he or she leaps haphazardly from the swing, twisting spasmodically into thin air, then frantically grasping outward toward his or her catcher's hands just at the moment their partner is suddenly seized with severe dizzy spells killing any semblance of timing.

"Look out below!"

The second category is a crazy one. These novice writers manage to finish their books. Then, by hook or by crook -- including the Indie route -- they have their books published. Their work is usually mediocre but the writers are convinced it's fantastic and will sell big if only it has the correct marketing. So enter the marketing scene, with all its madness! These writers are likely to be totally unprepared to deal with it but leap into it helter-skelter, the marketing madness enhancing their delusions.

Subsequently, these writers are prey for promising marketing schemes invariably failing to deliver, including social networking and engines leaving them in a mire of their own delusional madness. These novices are forever seeking that elusive, flashy review of their book that will turn that formidable trick leading to literary glory, never realizing that glory is beyond their reach.

Finally, for most of these writers, after suffering through all of this, their books not selling, their book signings a bust, libraries and book stores not carrying their works, their exhaustive madness having worn them down to the bone, they are left glassy-eyed, their literary salvation gone, leaving them with the stifling prospect of a mind numbing, everyday job.

Oh, what could have been!

To learn more about Gerald G. Griffin and his novel, check out this link. Among other things, it discusses the making of Of Good And Evil into a movie, and where the book can be ordered. The book can also be ordered on Gerald’s blog at http://geraldggriffin.blogspot.com/ or from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Tip O'Day #421 - Whose Dream?

Guest blogger Gary Ponzo writes on “Chasing the Dream 101.”

Recently I became acquainted with an ambitious writer who's chasing the dream to become a published author. He'd read one of my books and asked if I would meet him for drinks to discuss my travels along this path. When we got together one of the first questions he asked was, "So how do I go about getting published?" To which I responded, "Is your book finished?" Well, you seem like a very smart audience so I'm sure you've already guessed that he hadn't even started writing a book yet.

You see, asking about the publishing process before you've finished polishing off your book is like a golfer asking what they should wear to the champions dinner before even entering into an event. Or learning the sport.

We ended up having a terrific evening of drinks and appetizers. Hours later I agreed to exchange chapters with him so we could critique each other's work along the way. I'm always searching for new eyes for my writing and he was excited about the idea of working together.

Now fast forward a month. This writer sends me the first 40 pages of his book to review and we agree to meet once again for drinks to discuss his writing. He was an English major and had probably one of the strongest command of narrative I've ever seen. There was no doubt he could write. His story began with a young woman trapped in a torrential rain storm up in the mountains where a strange man finds her unconscious and keeps her safe and sheltered through the night. I was fascinated to find out where the story was going, only to discover the woman fantasizing about having sex with her rescuer the moment she awakes. By fantasizing, I mean a body-thrusting, orifice-penetrating, erection-filled sexual fantasy that would make Hugh Hefner blush. Two scenes later, she's reminiscing about the first night she'd slept with her husband and explained parts of her anatomy her gynecologist hadn't thought of checking.

Although these sexual interludes were sandwiched between some very intriguing story lines, I was curious if the writer knew exactly what type of story he was writing. Surely he understood that this was an erotic novel, right? Wrong. He told me that the sex scenes stop after the second chapter, but that his wife told him to throw some steamy action into his book because, well, sex sells. He doesn't even like writing that stuff, he was just trying to tap into the E.L James fan base.

Everything I've just told you is true. And I'll bet this isn't the only instance of a writer chasing after a dream which turns out to be someone else's. Getting anything published these days is hard. Just try selling a short story to a literary magazine with a circulation of 300. It's damn tough.

I am certainly no expert on which path to take on the way to success (whatever that may mean to you). Please, if you really want to chase the dream to become an author, and maybe even develop some loyal readers along the way--chase your own dream. You will have very few regrets along the way.

A Touch of Greed, Gary’s latest thriller in the Nick Bracco series can be found on Kindle here. The next Nick Bracco novel will be released in a few weeks.

Tip O'Day #414 - Save & Recycle

Guest blogger Linda Greene on the art of rewriting.

Returned to its source, the pulp from the rejected pages of my rewrites over the course of my writing career would constitute a woodland the rival of Robin Hood’s Sherwood Forest. It wasn’t until I discovered that the master wordsmith himself, F. Scott Fitzgerald, considered the art of fiction to be the art of rewriting, that I stopped viewing it as a blot on my abilities and grew keen on the practice.

Actually, it is one of the tasks of writing that I enjoy the most, not only because of its value to the finished product, but also because I’ve discovered almost none of it goes to waste. Just as there was said to be “gold in them thar hills,” there is gold in those abandoned pages.

Developed through layers of evolution, sometimes my completed writing projects barely resemble the early drafts — but, oh, those early drafts have been priceless when adapted for other projects. My latest novel, Guardians and Other Angels, is an example of this fusion of independent pieces of writing, some of which I had thrown on the heap of the unfinished or uninspired that I considered of little or no further use to me; when pitched to the tuning fork of the new piece, they sang the praises of my story. My obsessive compulsive nature that makes me hoard every scrap I pen often pays off in the end.

My penchant toward collecting pages of personal writings is apparently inherited, for included in Guardians and Other Angels are my transcriptions of authentic private letters written by ancestors during the Great Depression and World War II. It is a preserved anthology remarkable in its recording of their thoughts and feelings, and of their day-to-day experiences, as well as in its powerful chronicling of the incomparable history of those times. Like my set-asides, those hundreds upon hundreds of pages written by my ancestors were thrown in an old chest and thought worthless; in fact, when once again shown the light of day, their share of my novel is golden.

Based on this one example alone, my advice is to rewrite until your work reflects the best of your capabilities, and value all of your written words. First, save them for your own future work; second, like me, one of your descendants might need your discards for the novel or biography he or she will eventually write about you.

Tip O'Day #405 - Judge a Book by its...

Guest blogger Karla Darcy says “Cover Me.”

In the self-publishing world, I’m a newbie and at times I’m overwhelmed with the steep learning curve. Writers love to write. I do but I’m not very good at the business end of my career. I’d been traditionally published but wanted the control of self-publishing. What control? There are so many parts of this that I feel I have no control over. I need back up. I need someone to cover me.

Covers, you say? My biggest challenge was getting covers. I began by spending several days looking at the lists on Amazon and studying the covers. The first thing that surprised me was how much of a gut reaction I had to each one. I realized that for me I would know instantly if I would consider buying a book based on its cover alone. I had always believed that you couldn’t tell a book by its cover. In my case, when faced with plunking down money for a book, I definitely was deciding based on what I saw.

The second thing I noticed was that I wanted to know instantly by looking at the cover what the genre was. I don’t want to have to guess. For years romance writers have been criticized for having the “clinch” or “bodice ripper” covers. Frankly I find that reassuring. I want to know that it’s a romance. If it’s a thriller or a mystery, I want to have some sense of danger or suspense when I look at a book.

Third, for me personally I like a simple cover, not too busy and I want to be able to see the writer’s name without the use of a magnifying glass. I like bright colors. When you’re buying a book off the Internet the covers are about the size of a postage stamp in many places. I want to still be able to see the writer’s name and the title of the book.

So now it was time for me to get covers. Unfortunately the artistic gene is totally absent in my DNA. I like my world to be symmetrical. My garden plants are precisely arranged so that one side of the garden matches perfectly with the other side. Four square corners too. My mantel has two candlesticks on either side of a lovely antique clock. Nicely balanced.

So I knew my covers would be disastrous if I designed them. As a starter I would want a kitten on the cover because I love kittens. And naturally it would be in the exact center of the cover.

Enter the expert. Tara O’Shea, tara@fringe-element.net. A friend of my daughter’s, Tara was always creative and artistic. I asked her if she could do my covers. I gave her a vague idea of what I was looking for. Okay this was my idea for the cover of The Five Kisses. I’d have taken this one if she could have moved the kitty into the middle.

Tara talked about branding and other things I had never thought of. So despite the fact I loved this cover I realized I’d have to let Tara do her own thing. The one thing I’ve learned in this journey to publishing is that I can’t learn it all or do it all, so find an expert who can.

The plan was for nine or ten books. Since I was a history major they would all be Regency romances which was a time period full of international intrigue, the Napoleonic wars and the War of 1812. The series would be about a group of men who belonged to Sweet’s Racing Club. Horse mad when they were bachelors but now in their maturity finding women who were unique, independent and not just beautiful but bright and interesting. And I liked the clothes of the Regency period. The underwear wasn’t all that tricky.

Time passed and Tara worked her magic. She had my back and Covered Me. Voila! I had covers. Simple, gorgeous and branded! What fun this was going to be. Now I could actually get back to the writing part of my career.

I’ve launched The Five Kisses and The Masked Heart. My newest releases are The Marriage Wager and The Scandalous Ward. They introduce you to more of the members of Sweet’s and some old friends. The Marriage Wager is one of my favorites because the story is touching and a reader will cheer at the depth of humor and romance in this traditional Regency.

I’m sure I’m not the first or the last to be traumatized by the decision making on cover art. Nobody sees things the same way. For me, the journey to self publishing is one of constant learning. I’ve been blessed with friends who have gone before me and graciously shared their experiences with me. And that’s the reason that I’ve been successful in learning parts of this business. I’m still in the beginning stage but thankfully I’ve got great friends who can cover me. How about you? Who’s watching your back?

Stop by this author's website to see more beautiful covers.

Saying for Writers #137 - Leslie Gordon Barnard

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“Don’t expect the puppets of your mind to become the people of your story. If they are not realities in your own mind, there is no mysterious alchemy in ink and paper that will turn wooden figures into flesh and blood.” — Leslie Gordon Barnard

Dixon says: Sometimes it is the inner contradictions of writing that make it so fascinating. Take a second look at the Barnard quotation. It says you cannot make fictional characters seem real to a reader until they become actual living people within your own mind.

That’s so true. You know you’ve got a good story when the characters wake you up in the middle of the night, when they whisper ideas in your ear while you’re driving in rush traffic, when they grab your well-plotted tale and drag it in a new directions because…well, because they have personalities and you’ve been trying to make them do things contrary to their natures.

Bringing your characters to life is difficult if you start with stereotypes or cardboard cut-outs. I prefer to experiment with flesh-and-blood beings. Here’s three ways you can do this:

1. Take a person you know and change his or her gender. Let’s say you take Jorge, a man who’s always getting into bar fights, and turn him into Joanne, a woman. In most cultures, the fairer sex is not expected to resolve problems with fisticuffs. If Joanne gets into a series of fistfights, what would be the consequences for her? As an alternative, what feminine wiles might she use to act out her aggression instead of punching people in the face? The more questions you ask yourself and the more choices you make, the more unique the character becomes – unrecognizable as being based on an actual person.

2. Take someone you know and “flip” his or her most distinctive personality trait. Let’s say Willard always manages to be out on the curb feeding a parking meter whenever it’s his turn to buy a round of drinks. Try leaving most characteristics the same – his intelligence, sharp poker skills, and clumsy ways with women – but change him from a miser into a philanthropist. Then put him into a scene and create situations where the well-being of innocent strangers conflicts with his personal wealth. But his girlfriend doesn’t understand the choices he makes. And he needs every available penny for a business (or charity) he’s about to found. Voila! You’ve created an interesting new character.

3. Take someone who stepped into your life in a quirky way, and “fill in the blanks” to create a complete character. Once I was sitting in the periodicals room of a public library, when a strangely dressed man sidled up to me. He leaned over and whispered: “There’s something you need to know – the FBI is rounding up redheads.” And he wandered away to share his delusions with other library patrons. That particular loon has appeared in a number of my stories. Sometimes he’s tall and gangly, sometimes short and plump, sometimes a woman, sometimes young, sometimes elderly. On occasion, he speaks the truth and nobody believes. These characters never look, sound or act like the other iterations, but they are all inspired by the same five seconds in that library.

Saying for Writers #136 - Jack Kerouac

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“Geniuses can be scintillating and geniuses can be somber, but it’s that inescapable sorrowful depth that shines through—originality.” — Jack Kerouac

This sunset is brought to you by Glacier National Park and the state of Montana.

Saying for Writers #133 - Isaac Singer

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

"When I was a young boy they called me a liar. Now that I'm all grown up, they call me a writer." – Isaac Singer

Twin Lakes in northwest Montana.

Tip O'Day #395 - Where Ideas Come From

“What do I write about?” is a commonly heard plaintive question, whether from novelists, poets, essayists or short story writers. Often we start our writing career with a focus on things we are drawn to: our favorite literary works, character types, hobbies, sports, movies and TV shows. However, it doesn’t take long to exhaust those topics, or to feel we’re treading down a path already trampled by far too many authors.

Instead of the subjects that naturally attract you, consider exploring the abhorrent ones. What was it about the idiot truck driver during rush hour last week that made road rage seem justifiable? What is it about the other members of your critique group that makes you grind your teeth? What is it about a particular literary agent, political candidate, waiter, traffic cop, retail clerk or blind date that makes you wonder about the cost of a contract killer?

For example, look at Jen Campbell, a London bookseller, poet and writer. She loves her day job, and probably could write 25 pages or so about the joys of selling books before running out of steam. One day, she was surfing the ‘Net when she came across the question, “What are your pet peeves?” Having had occasional encounters with the customer from Hell, she thought the subject of wacky things said in bookshops had enough material to fill a series of books, and would appeal to retailers as well as writers, publishing professionals and book lovers the world over.

Jen wrote down all the goofy situations she could recall. She also started blogging on the topic, and contacting other booksellers about their experiences. The result is the recently published WEIRD THINGS CUSTOMERS SAY IN BOOKSHOPS in the UK (or …BOOKSTORES in the US and Canada). I’m an avid follower of Jen’s This Is Not the Six Word Novel blog, and the excerpts I’ve read are simply hilarious. I can’t wait for my hardcover edition to arrive in the mail. (Not sure if an eBook version is imminent.)

Getting back to our pet peeves, those are merely situations. How do you turn one into a story? Take a look at the first example: the pickup-truck-driving moron who cuts you off in traffic and nearly forces you into a ditch. Did his father mock him when he played with his Hot Wheels? Did a pint-size neighborhood terrorist enjoy knocking him off his trike? Did the school bully hold his bike hostage for lunch money? Or did he truly emerge from the birth canal angry and aggressive, elbowing his more passive twin out of the way?

As for the victim in your story, what is her reaction to nearly getting road rash? Does she storm after the idiot, honking the horn while she scribbles down the truck’s license number and scans traffic for a police car? Does her reaction change when she notices the rifle in the truck’s Easy Rider gun rack? What if she loses sight of the truck, but then notices it three vehicles behind her, following her home? What if she catches up to the reckless driver, who turns out to be her son’s schoolteacher?

Every decision fleshes out the situation into something closer to a story, and each unique decision you make moves it away from every other road rage incident you’ve read about or seen in the media. With each decision, you will see more scenes taking shape further up the road. As E.L. Doctorow once wrote, “Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."

Jen Campbell’s book is available through Constable (UK/Commonwealth) or Overlook Press (US/Canada), as well as Amazon.com and Amazon.UK. Her This Is Not the Six Word Novel blog can be found at http://jen-campbell.blogspot.com/.

By the way, popular and prolific author Scott Nicholson has been kind enough to provide a guest post about the changing publishing environment for my humble Wredheaded Writer blog, and it will appear here tomorrow (Monday, September 17th). Mark your calendar.

Saying for Writers #131 - Sharon O'Brien

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say.” – Sharon O’Brien

Instead of being stretched out on a beach this July, you could have been at Cobalt Lake (Montana), waiting to see what you were going to say.

Tip O'Day #387 - “Plays Well With Others…”

Guest blogger Kim Boykin looks at Childhood Lessons on Writing.

1. BE KIND. Read for your fellow writers and offer good, honest critique. It’s easy to look down on someone else’s work when you yourself are long past the stage of development where everyone either longed to suggest you get another hobby. Be generous with praise, but be genuine.

2. PLAY WITH THE NICE KIDS. There was an unpublished writer I greatly admired. For a bunch of psychological reasons I won’t go into, I felt like such an idiot around her. Glaring red flags went up. I was so enamored with this person, my work suffered horribly. Pat attention! Those red flags are there for a reason.

3. STICK UP FOR YOURSELF. If you’re serious about writing, put yourself out there in critique groups. Listen to everything and fight the uncontrollable urge to defend your work. If the criticism is valid, it just is. But don’t be a pushover.

4. TEACHERS KNOW EVERYTHING. Not everything, but teachers have a bigger and better toolbox and they know how to use those tools. Best of all, they want to teach you how to use them, too.

5. DO IT AGAIN. Writing is like cleaning a bathroom. No matter how well I thought I'd done it, my mom always found something I missed and made me do it again. Be ready to write and rewrite to get noticed. Then, after you have an agent and a publisher, you’ll rewrite again.

6. GUARD YOUR STUFF. With computers and their tiny vast minds, it’s easy to think of them like a piggy bank. When you need to find where you said something really cool, you just give it a shake and there it is. As amazing as computers are, they aren’t foolproof. Use a back up service. Hell, print it out and put it in the safe deposit box in case the house burns down. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

7. ROLLY POLLIES & BAKING. Don’t forget to layer in the small stuff, such as noticing things like rolly pollies or the design of wrinkles on your protagonist’s forehead, what her hands look like and why. Then taste your batch of words, smack your lips together. What does it need to become richer? Chocolate is good, but sadly isn’t always the answer.

8. GO FISHING. If you want to be a good writer, go fishing. You can learn a lot about writing just dangling a line in the water. Sensory detail, order and pacing are vital. Above all, patience will come in handy after you’ve written your novel and are ready to sell it.

9. TAKE GOOD CARE OF IMAGINARY FRIENDS. Those voices you hear in your head are a gift. They provide an understanding of your characters that can never be attained with process gimmicks, charts, or outlines. They are windows into souls that exist only to have their stories told.

Kim Boykin writes stories about strong Southern women, and her “beauty school” novel titled The Wisdom of Hair will be released in the Spring of 2013. Learn more at her website, kimboykin.com

Saying for Writers #125 - Stephen King

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“Making people believe the unbelievable is no trick; it’s work… Belief and reader absorption come in the details: An overturned tricycle in the gutter of an abandoned neighborhood can stand for everything.” — Stephen King

This photo of Ptarmigan Lake in Glacier National Park was taken earlier this week by my friend Sue Haugen of Kalispell, Montana. If Stephen King had taken the hike up to Ptarmigan Tunnel for this view, something grand and noble might have stirred his soul, and the world would have lost a great horror/paranormal author.

Tip O'Day #378 - Listen to that Voice!

Guest blogger Vicki Elam on writing a book for children.

There seems to be a tiny voice (which somehow overpowers the owner of this voice) that urges me to write a children's book. It never stops telling me to put my ideas, emotions, and you-name-it onto paper.

This voice says to explore the significance of writing and it haunts me daily. I realize that writing has no boundaries. It is the guiding voice that would show me the path, a road that I've been hesitant to go down for several years now.

The strange thing, though, is that this inner writer never stops urging me to write, even for one as inexperienced as myself. It is inevitable for an inborn writer to turn away from his or her gifts. The voice may be silent for some time and it will let you know when the time is right to pursue. Inspired by my 6 year old granddaughter, I finally took the plunge. I'm now working with an illustrator and hope to have my book ready to be published in the next few months.

Becoming an author is something I've dreamed of doing. I had an idea for a great children's book and I'm passionate about creating and writing, and committing those ideas to the page. The path to becoming a published author can be difficult but I'm up for the challenge!

Learn about Vicki’s thoughts on writing and her journey of writing a children’s book at her blog.

Tip O'Day #364 - Defeat the Blank Page

Guest blogger William D. Hicks has ten tips to overcome writer’s block.

If you’ve written long enough to have experienced writer’s block, you know how frustrating it is to sit in front of that computer with a blank screen staring back. Hopefully, one of these ten tips will help you start writing again.

1. Write now. Though writing through the block doesn’t seem rational, sometimes it works. Keep writing. I know it’s coming out wrong. So wrong you want to shred the paper, even though it’s on a computer screen. But don’t. Wait, keep writing. It’s an old writing technique. If you can’t think up anything to write, try doing a mind-dump. Just write everything in your mind, a stream of conscious dump, and see what comes out. Try this for a half hour. Is the block gone? If not, keep doing it. Eventually, you will have written something. While this something might look like what the cat coughed up it might also give you some great ideas for a story.

2. Be creative. Instead of writing, try painting, or drawing or playing music. Don’t worry about writing for now. You can write tomorrow.

3. Do the Opposites. Try an old actor’s trick and focus on not doing something. This often becomes the thing you want/need to do. Try telling yourself, “I don’t want to write.” Say that ten times out loud. Then do something else for a half hour. See how much you want to write afterwards. Try writing.

4. Exercise. This will pump blood into your brain and distract you from worrying. Plus it’s good for you. Once done, try writing.

5. Do a writing exercise. There are specific exercises available to spur different types of writing, e.g. poetry and fiction. Either buy a book or look online for exercises. It’s amazing the stories that have started as writing exercises.

6. Listen to music. Really listen to the words. How are they stitched together? Why? What do they mean? Try writing a song.

7. Go to a movie. Often this triggers an “I could have written that line better” thought. Write some thoughts down about the movie. Maybe even start a story from those thoughts.

8. Read a book. This often triggers the same response the as #7. I sometimes read a sentence and think, “Why did the author write it that way? I would have done it this way.” Again, that line might spur you onto writing a great story.

9. Review old unfinished manuscripts. You have them. We all do. Try to rewrite one. Editing might also spur you onto writing. Even if doesn’t, you’ll feel like you’re writing which should stop you from beating yourself up.

10. Ask writer friends how they’ve beaten writer’s block. If they have no answers, tweet/blog for suggestions. Most everyone has a trick that has worked for them. Try something that sounds appealing to you. If that doesn’t work, try something different.

In the end remember the famous Monty Python line, “And now for something completely different.” Cut yourself from slack and do something that doesn’t resemble writing. Go grocery shopping. Deposit your coins at the bank. Get your hair done. Take a leisurely bath. Don’t get hung up on the fact that you’re not writing. Everyone needs a vacation from time to time, even from what they love most.

Check out e-books by William D. Hooks on Amazon: Twist and Killer Flies.

Saying for Authors #113 - Nabokov

A Quote which Might (or Might Not) Inspire You to Write:

“The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible.” - Vladimir Nabokov

Tip O'Day #333 - Dixon's Compost Pile

I started a compost pile in my desk after I’d been in Toastmasters a year or two.

After giving speeches about my kids, neighborhood projects, sportsmanship, and the world’s moral decay, I was running out of topics. There was a fuzzy idea banging around in my head that parents should butt out of youth sports and other activities – something about letting kids be kids, and not putting so much pressure on them. I started clipping out newspaper and magazine articles of dads punching coaches, coaches punching umpires, and kids suffering from repetitive motion injuries. I’d toss them into a file folder in my desk and forget about them for awhile.

Since I had a folder for putting things in, I started writing down anecdotes of goofy things my kids did. Into the folder they went. I found a couple stories about bullying, the writers guidelines for Toastmasters magazine, and an online article about the different leadership styles of men and women. Into the folder. An article in Writers Digest about writing essays seemed to resonate with the topic of speech writing. Into the folder. A poem from a magazine, notes about a bizarre incident when a homeless guy confronted me in the public library (he said the FBI was rounding up redheads), and a Yahoo! Sports story about softball players selflessly helping an injured opponent score the game-winning home run. Into the folder.

Every few months, I pull out my folder and shake it out onto the floor. Then I get down on my hands and knees. Since I collect scraps about topics I’m interested in, it’s not surprising that I’ll often find three or four items that create the spine for a speech, magazine article, or short story. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but it’s a start.

The rest of the note cards, clippings and online articles go back into the folder. New fodder will join them from time to time, and the pile will compost away until I’m ready to dig in once more.

Tip O'Day #332 - Are There Any New Ideas?

Guest blogger Ben Drake on a writer’s influences.

My first memory of the original “Star Wars” trilogy was the ending of “The Empire Strikes Back.” Then the waiting in line to get tickets for “Return of the Jedi” and watching that film in the movie theatre. Little did I know how much that movie would influence my life.

When I was in my twenties, a friend of mine gave me the book called Sidharthra by Hermen Hess. Reading this great book, I couldn’t help but notice similarities between the struggles of Sidharthra, and the challenges a Jedi must face, plus the rewards that accompany them. That got me wondering whether this book had a strong influence on George Lucas’ creation of “Star Wars,” specifically the concept of the force.

How much impact do the books we read, and the shows we watch, and the tunes we hear have on what we write? Is there even a chance of an original thought left for writers to write about?

Dixon says – I’ve heard it said there are only two stories: (1) someone goes on a journey, and (2) a stranger comes to town.

That’s a joke, of course, but still…

It’s hard to think of a story, or theme, or plot twist that hasn’t already been none to death. In the end, though, what’s important isn’t the subject matter, but rather your approach and execution. Sure, “West Side Story” was inspired by “Romeo and Juliet,” but didn’t the 1960s film feel every bit as fresh and energetic as the original must have seemed to Londoners at the Globe so many years ago?

When we read a children’s book about the Three Little Pigs – except it’s told from the point of view of the Big Bad Wolf – we recognize it’s not an original story, but we still chuckle at the creativity of the author and the unexpected approach. In fact, I've found it can be an interesting exercise to take a well-worn story and try to "stand it on its head" so it becomes a new and fresh concept.

Tip O'Day #320 - Fictional Reality

Guest blogger Kenneth Weene answers “How I know Cal.”

Knowing that I’m not much of a drinker, my friend John wondered how I had met Cal, the protagonist of my latest book, Tales From the Dew Drop Inne. “Was he a client?” he asked; after all I had been a shrink for years.

We had met for coffee, and John was full of praise for my writing. I sipped my latte and resisted the temptation to laugh.

“Does he live here in Phoenix?”

This required a bite of almond biscotti, which was a mistake; I started to cough. I rolled my eyes, cleared my throat, and gave John the best answer I could. “He lives everywhere.”

That was obviously unsatisfying. John’s pretty literal; he hadn’t understood that Dew Drop is a work of fiction. Not too long before, I had seen a Facebook comment about a true novel. That had led my mind to another oxymoron, fictional reality. I thought about what I might say to John.

A writer makes up his world; I call it a fictional reality. The places, the people, the events: none of them are real, but they are all true. None of them exist in a single place, but they all are universal – at least that’s what the writer hopes.

As John would scratch his head and look confused, I might have added:

We authors are a strange breed. We are like gods. We make it up and bring it to life. You want to meet Cal, read the book. You want to try a Killer’s Delight, ask Sal to make “yous” one. You want to laugh and cry with people too real to walk the streets, visit The Dew Drop Inne.

That’s what I thought of saying; of course I didn’t say it. After all, we magicians never reveal our tricks. So I just said, “Well, he did live here, but he moved on. You know those barflies; they never settle down.”

John nodded his head sagely. “Yeah, poor guys.”

I turned the conversation to the baseball season.

“I never knew there was a minor league team in Davenport,” John said. “I like learning stuff like that.”

Well, my friend had learned something. Better yet, he had enjoyed the book. The latte was hot, the biscotti crunchy, and life was good.

Try this book trailer to learn a bit more about Tales From the Dew Drop Inne.

Tip O'Day #319 - Creativity

Guest blogger Ben Drake on creativity.

Solitude helps me deal with writers block. I like to go to my summer home on the lake. If it is winter I like to go to my ski cabin in Aspen and be alone to await inspiration.

I’m pretty sure that the BS has never came flying out of my mouth at a faster rate. No, for me it’s about finding a way to escape. Unfortunately, life sometimes prevents our escaping to the home in Aspen or the lake house. Also the fact that I own neither of these things plays a pretty big part. No, I seek inspiration in everything. The only problem is, sometimes I forget how to do it.

I must have my escape. The poor man in me likes music to be that escape. It’s funny how many times I get caught up in life and forget to use my escape, or how I actually go about doing it. Sometimes at work I have to be “retrained” on how to do the same old job. I have to retrain myself to be creative. I may listen to classic metal, or country songs, sometimes classical music on its own. With each kind of music, I listen for the beat and the harmony. How anyone can listen to Beethoven and not get inspired, I have no idea. Eventually it will come. It always does.

The single most important thing that I do is to turn off that damn TV.