Time to get your writing instruments ready to go and start recording all of the happenings around you. There are so many things going on that it would be very difficult not to be able to find something you could write about. Remember, even those authors who now have best sellers started somewhere. Make today your day to begin.

How many times have you heard yourself say or think those words? Or have you seen other activities that are not high on your priority list–they are just time fillers–take over your schedule so the things you really want to do you will put off to doing later.

The problem with procrastination is that you never get around to doing the things you really want to do. Your time is filled up with all of those unimportant activities.

Start today–action is what will get the job done. You have been saying for along time that you want to write. Make today your day to begin.

It takes action, so it is important to get started and do what you can as often as you can. There are many resources in the resource section that you see in the navigation bar. Everything from grammar to editing. There really is no excuse for not getting started now on that writing project you want to do.

I have heard it said that someone who is competing in a race will sometimes trip on a moonbeam at the end of the race and not be the winner. Those invisible moonbeams are everywhere in our lives so watch for them to be sure they do not trip you up on your goal to write.

If you spend ages in the pre-planning and trying to set up perfect conditions before your start a writing project, it’s less and less likely you will be able to create freely and without over thinking everything.

Over thinking will get you into all of those old patterns of

• who do I think I am
• why would anyone read my writing
• what if_________  you probably have a long list like everyone else

and those old patterns will stop you quicker than anything else. DO NOT let that happen to you.

If you do not want to write to make money then just write to get the information out of your head and onto paper so you do not have to keep it in your head. It clutters up your thinking and we get enough interference in your lives so encourage yourself not to let this continue to happen to you.

There are so many resources in that area in the navigation bar above so get started. Get the help you need instead of continuing to think you will get it on your own.  If you are not writing, you are stuck. The resources area will help you get unstuck and get going.

Read the first sentence again!   Capture first, edit later.

Stop trying to be a perfectionist and get going with your writing projects NOW!

I recently went for a walk in the new area where I live to see some of the sights that were near my new home. Coming to a field of grass and clover, I had a flashback to lying in a field next to my childhood home.

It was a beautiful summer day and I was enjoying the day contemplating the wind in the grass while listening to the family laugh while mom finished getting the picnic ready.

This was a happy memory of spending time with the family and the fun we had that day. It would make a great beginning to a story that could be shared with the family.

Memories of events have great value for your documentation of your family history. When you have a memory, start to write about it as if you were still there experiencing it.

When and where might you have a memory from the past that you can begin to write about?

Where this week have you found yourself starting then stopping on a writing goal or project? Did you write a few pages then suddenly get too busy with other things to get back to it or to finish it?  It happens so often with life that we can miss the signs of stopping ourselves just before we make the big breakthroughs.

Things to be alert for:

• If you are writing fiction as you are getting close to the finish are you beginning to feel sadness that you will soon be losing your friends who are the characters in your story?

• Then that pesky little nagging doubt of what if I have spent all of this time and no-one wants to read what I wrote.

• Then you might feel like you might be criticized by anyone who reads your material and you know how much you dislike being criticized.

• Then you might feel like you do not know how you will take it if you are rejected by publishers, readers, friends or family members who you asked to read your material and give you feedback.

Many aspiring authors have a goal to get 100 rejection letters when they first start to write and instead of being discouraged when they arrive, they see it as just another step in getting to the goal of 100. It becomes a positive rather than a negative.

So my question for you is:
How are you ever going to get up to the requisite 100 rejections if you do not apply yourself to finishing what you started to write, selling it yourself or online or submitting manuscripts?

I am sure you know it is a numbers game. If you are not receiving a multitude of rejections, then your writing efforts are producing minimal results.

You could be the next big thing but if nobody is considering your work, how will you ever find out?

Here is the deal–it is so easy to reside in a comfort zone – unwilling to receive feedback that might shatter the dream that you might find it easier to stop going for it than risk going for it and not succeeding.

But it has to be done.

Bumping into a fabulous contact in an elevator who can rocket you to fame and fortune would be nice but happens so infrequently that you must find a different strategy for being discovered.

You have to do what other writers have done since the beginning of communicating with others through writing: self publishing or submitting to publishers,agents and editors continually.

Start–finish–have work reviewed–self-publish or submit to others who might publish–then do it again. The more you repeat, the more you will move toward your dream of becoming an author.

I remember hearing that the hot dog eating champion won again by eating over 50 hot dogs on buns in just a very short time.  Wow, I wonder how that competition got started? Now there is a story!

From eating competitions to parades in all of that activity, there are things to write about. So get those writing instruments out and enjoy jotting down the details of your favorite holiday and the things that make it special to you.

We are always looking for a good story, and who knows, maybe your favorite will become a favorite of others as well.

If you are in the same place, I have several suggestions for you to help you get started as you are learning what type of writing you want to do by doing the exercises you have signed up to do and get better at it.

The inner author is in in the right side of the brain and likes to do fun things, listen to music, likes colors and is very spontaneous.  If you are trying to write using your left brain which is logical and likes facts, details and structure, you will find learning to write will be a difficult process unless you are writing technical papers.

If you feel at any time that you are struggling to get started take a break, put on some music or start scribbling with colored markers.  That will help you pop over into the right brain and writing will be easier immediately.

Carry a note pad with you and jot down the ideas that come to mind about things you could write about. Just record the idea and put the notebook away so you can go on with your day. Later when you have a few minutes to write you can refer to your notes.

Another great idea is to start writing short paragraphs and get paid to do that. If you can spend 5 minutes a day while you are learning how to determine what type of writing you like and be paid to do that it will be more fun for you to learn and you will be more motivated to do your exercises every day. For help in getting started check here.

If you are talking about writing that book you feel is inside you but have not made a commitment to getting started you are just talking.  It is time to get started.  You have many tools in the resource area on the navigation bar to help you and by not if you have been visiting this blog about writing you have found many, many tips and how tos.

“Knowledge is not power…applied knowledge is power.”   Debra Thompson Roedl

This week see what you can apply so you can start writing.

image: suburbanslice

There are many practices we can put in place to ensure that these kinds of creative block happen more rarely, if ever, but that’s for another post.

For now, let’s talk about 5 effective ways to be creative when you feel you absolutely cannot be creative.

1. Focus on a single sense. Sit somewhere still, and focus entirely on just one of your senses. Sight is a great place to start. Block your other senses and absorb your surroundings purely through your eyes and what you see. Imagine your vision is like a language, communicating to you the complexity and beauty of what’s around you. Then after 5 or 10 minutes, when you’ve seen every last detail, do the same again with another of your senses.

2. Write down a secret procrastination list. Reveal everything, all the most cunning and devious tricks you know and use regularly to help you to avoid actually getting down to creating. Once you start writing you’ll be amazed at how many there are. When you think you’ve got them all down, step back and take a look. impressive isn’t it? All these can surely only have come from a highly creative mind.

3. Write a word at random. And another. And another. Once you have your three words, you’ll notice your creative mind instantly begins making connections and associations between the words, forms sentences, ideas and images that weren’t there before. You can’t help it, you can’t turn off your creativity, it flows constantly. Don’t forget this!

4. Remember the times when you were most creative. Go for a walk, don’t set a destination, just head off and walk where the mood takes you, all the time recalling those times of abundant creativity. What were the key elements in place during these times that allowed you to be so creative? The little differences that made the difference? Let them come to you, they’re right there. When you return, set about recreating these conditions of creativity so you can be that creative again as soon as possible.

5. Write out the advice you’d give a good friend who’s stuck. If one of your closest friends came to you and said they felt they absolutely could not be creative, what would you advise? Write exactly what you think they should do to help them get creating again. Write all the ways you would encourage them. Then look at what you’ve written. Isn’t that great advice? Now turn it around and apply it to yourself.

Try one of this tips, any of them will help you get creative again.

Try them all and you can’t help but feel that creative flow slowly return.

As a bonus, what you’ll notice as you try these techniques is you’ll adapt them as you go to help you even more, to make them even more effective too.