Monday, September 15, 2008

The Writing Life

Each month I write an article for the Tri-Valley branch of the California Writer's Club. Here's part of this month's piece. Those of you who write might enjoy it, and those of you who don't, might want to start.

Now that the kids are back in school and summer vacation is nothing more than a faded memory, it's time to hunker down and get serious about writing.

But where to you begin? How do you get that "umph" back into your writing?

Writing prompts. Writing prompts will remind you what it is about writing that you love. And, if you do it every day, it can become addictive. That's why it's a great jumping off place, if you've abandon your writing routine and ritual, during the summer. Schedule time to write.

Book in a Month by Victoria Lynn Schmidt, Ph.D., says "What you resolve to do first thing--or at least early in the morning, you will do." She compares exercising first thing in the morning to writing, and your exercise is writing. Here's a site that can help.

Visit The Story Starter http://thestorystarter.com. This site boasts more than three million story starters! So the excuse of "I can't think of anything to write about," or "I have writer's block" will quickly vanish once you set your eyes on this gem. The site was also selected as one of the 101 best sites for writers. Don't by shy. Each time you click, you receive a different prompt.

Happy fall, happy writing.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

These are great suggestions. I always try to write first thing in the morning because my ideas seem to be fresh and flow with a lot more ease.
By late afternoon, I'm lucky to string a couple of words together. My oomph definitely wilts in the p.m. and my synapses are anything but snappy. In fact, those little gray cells become a sluggish lot indeed!