1. Cancer sucks. I really hate it. My heart is breaking for sweet Brodi Ashton who just lost her incredible dad to cancer last night. Their family was so sweet and supportive and positive when we lost Josh, and I wish I could do something for them now. Please keep them in your prayers.
2. My son made me breakfast this morning! He's only six, but he heard me talking to his dad about how late I was up finishing my latest revisions, and then how Baby Girl kept waking up the rest of the night, and decided to surprise me. He made me toast and cereal. He said, "I know you were up with 'Baby Girl' a lot last night and I could tell you were exhausted, so I made you breakfast so you didn't have to worry about it." Moments like that truly make everything worth it.
3. I love downloading new music, whether it's to work out to or to write to, it doesn't matter. I get so excited to write again, or for my next workout with my new tunes. I just LOVE music. Any good songs I should know about right now that you're loving? Please share!
4. It's amazing how many things can be similar--running, writing, parenting, you name it. Anything that is worthwhile is usually a mixture of being extremely hard and extremely rewarding. Often the hard times are much more common and longer lasting than the rewarding moments, too. So why do we do these hard things? Because the rewards outweigh the difficulty of the tasks. The high of finishing a new manuscript, or (hopefully) nailing a revision... the sense of accomplishment in making yourself get up at 4 am, get to the race and finishing strong with a dead sprint... the joy of having your six-year-old surprise you with breakfast, or getting a surprise hug and an "I love you Mommy" from my three-year-old, or the big open mouth kisses from Baby Girl (often complete with an affectionate bite on the shoulder [yes she bites me when she's being super affectionate, I think she's part vampire. Good thing I didn't name her Renesmee])... Those rewards are worth any pain or struggle or frustration along the way. But you have to push through the hard times to get the rewards, right? That's the trick to life. Endure the trials to be able to enjoy the blessings.
I feel very blessed today.
How about you?
Showing posts with label listening to music while writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label listening to music while writing. Show all posts
Friday, April 27, 2012
Monday, May 9, 2011
Overcoming Writer's Block
Last week I talked a little bit about writing every day, and said I had some tricks for overcoming writer's block. I know everyone has their own method for writing, but here's a couple things I try if the words just won't come:
1. MUSIC. This is a big one for me. I almost always listen to music while I write, whether I'm blocked or not. This doesn't work for everyone, but for me, it's a biggie. Finding the right type of "mood" music for the part I'm writing can help intensify the emotions in that particular scene, and help the words flow easier. If I'm having a hard time writing, a lot of times I will listen to instrumental, usually from movie soundtracks, so that the words of the songs don't distract me.
2. Go back a few pages. I usually do this anyway as well, and I think by going back and reading over the last few pages I wrote, I not only write a cleaner first draft (because I'll catch mistakes as I go), it also helps me get back into my story and remember the details of where I was going. This way, when I hit that blank page, my mind is already flowing with the story, and I can keep writing.
3. Just start typing. Even if it totally sucks, I find that just by forcing myself to type something, ANYTHING, it makes the words start to flow. It might take a couple paragraphs before the words start coming faster, or it might take a couple of pages. Are there nights I give up if I've written two pages and it's taken me two hours? Yes. But at least I wrote something. And more often than not, when I force myself to write, I overcome the block and end up doing some of my best and fastest work.
When I push through, is everything I write amazing? No. Do I end up deleting a bunch of it? Sometimes. But more often than not, I'll go to bed thinking, "that was such a waste, everything I just wrote totally sucked." Then when I go back to it the next day, I'm often surprised to find that it's actually much better than I thought.
These are just a few ideas I use. What about you? What do you do to overcome writer's block? Because the honest truth is, once you have an editor and a deadline (which is what we all want, right?) you can't say, "Hey, sorry I'm only half-way done, but I've just been struggling with writer's block..." Yeah. Not so much. Make it a habit now to push on through, and you'll be very glad later!
1. MUSIC. This is a big one for me. I almost always listen to music while I write, whether I'm blocked or not. This doesn't work for everyone, but for me, it's a biggie. Finding the right type of "mood" music for the part I'm writing can help intensify the emotions in that particular scene, and help the words flow easier. If I'm having a hard time writing, a lot of times I will listen to instrumental, usually from movie soundtracks, so that the words of the songs don't distract me.
2. Go back a few pages. I usually do this anyway as well, and I think by going back and reading over the last few pages I wrote, I not only write a cleaner first draft (because I'll catch mistakes as I go), it also helps me get back into my story and remember the details of where I was going. This way, when I hit that blank page, my mind is already flowing with the story, and I can keep writing.
3. Just start typing. Even if it totally sucks, I find that just by forcing myself to type something, ANYTHING, it makes the words start to flow. It might take a couple paragraphs before the words start coming faster, or it might take a couple of pages. Are there nights I give up if I've written two pages and it's taken me two hours? Yes. But at least I wrote something. And more often than not, when I force myself to write, I overcome the block and end up doing some of my best and fastest work.
When I push through, is everything I write amazing? No. Do I end up deleting a bunch of it? Sometimes. But more often than not, I'll go to bed thinking, "that was such a waste, everything I just wrote totally sucked." Then when I go back to it the next day, I'm often surprised to find that it's actually much better than I thought.
These are just a few ideas I use. What about you? What do you do to overcome writer's block? Because the honest truth is, once you have an editor and a deadline (which is what we all want, right?) you can't say, "Hey, sorry I'm only half-way done, but I've just been struggling with writer's block..." Yeah. Not so much. Make it a habit now to push on through, and you'll be very glad later!
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