How to Defeat Writer’s Block

Wikipedia defines writer’s block as “a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work.” However, I have come to believe that in most cases, writer’s block is a symptom, not a condition.

Before we can cure writer’s block, we have to diagnose it.

Writer’s block is almost always presented as some mysterious disease. A writer sits down to work and nothing happens. The ideas are gone. The words don’t come. It must be writer’s block!

At times, writers certainly lose their inspiration or face challenges that prevent them from working. I’m not saying we shouldn’t call this writer’s block. What I am saying is that in my experience, there’s usually some underlying cause, and it’s often something that’s easily remedied. Instead of blaming our inability to work on a vague condition, we can figure out what’s really preventing us from writing and fix the real problem.

Today, let’s dissect writer’s block and figure out what causes it. We’ll also explore some solutions for curing writer’s block, and I’ll share some writing tips that have helped me stay inspired.

What Causes Writer’s Block?

The true causes behind writer’s block are probably infinite. Each of us requires a different set of conditions to be productive and creative. Some writers can trudge through a draft when they’re tired while others will just stare at the blank page with an even blanker look on their faces. However, there are a few common causes that we can identify:

1. Physical ailments – If you’re sick, exhausted, hungry, or dealing with a headache, you might find it impossible to write. Allergies interfere with my ability to focus on anything, including writing, a few times a year. Whether you face these kinds of ailments occasionally or on a regular basis, it’s important to acknowledge the real problem and then look for a cure. That might mean taking a break so you can take care of yourself. I recently struggled with writer’s block because I had a nasty cold. I cured both my cold and writer’s block by drinking lots of hot water with lemon and honey.
2. Mental and emotional stress and distractions – It’s hard to concentrate when you’re in a bad mood, stressed out, depressed, or angry. In cases of a bad mood, a little positive thinking might pull you out of it. You can also use relaxation techniques to calm your anger or alleviate your stress. It’s normal to be depressed after any kind of loss or trauma, and these times may call for taking a hiatus from your creative work. If depression persists for more than a few weeks or months, it’s important to see a doctor.
3. Lazy days – Sometimes you just don’t want to write (or do much else, either). There’s a deadline looming but the sun is shining and the beach is calling. You swore you’d finish this chapter today but you’d rather take a nap. Technically, this probably shouldn’t be included on this list, because the problem isn’t that you’re blocked; you’re just feeling (or being) lazy. However, I know there are writers out there who use writer’s block as an excuse for being lazy. This is common when writers get burnt out and what they really need is either a break or a little motivation. Look for ways to get your energy levels up (eat healthy, nutritious meals and get plenty of exercise) and revisit your goals to regain your motivation.
4. The grass is greener – This is a close cousin to the lazy day. It’s not that you’d rather get some rest and relaxation. You’d just rather do anything in the world other than work on your writing project. In fact, you’d rather surf the web, organize your closet, or schedule a dentist appointment. You may even be seduced by a brilliant new idea that is tempting you away from whatever you’re supposed to be working on. The grass may look greener, but it’s not. The only cure here is sheer willpower. You can also use a reward system: get your work done and then treat yourself to a little something special.
5. Avoidance and procrastination – Sometimes we go out of our way to avoid a difficult writing challenge. It could be that we’ve gotten our characters into a sticky situation and can’t get them out of it or it could be a poem for which we just can’t seem to find the right rhythm. You might know, deep down inside, that you have to scrap some of your work or make heavy revisions to get yourself unstuck. Maybe you need to do some (boring or tedious) research. So, you just avoid it altogether. Instead of procrastinating, push yourself to face these obstacles head-on. You can also skip ahead and work on some other part of your project. If you’re truly stuck, then ask a friend to take a look and offer advice. Often, someone else can see a solution where we can’t because we’re just too close to our own work.

I’m sure there are many more causes for writer’s block. I’ve experiences all of these in varying degrees. As I’ve grown more experienced, I’ve learned that whether I need to take better care of myself, push harder to get things done, or face up to an undesirable challenge, writer’s block can be cured, and usually, it can be cured easily.

A Few, Final Writing Tips for Combating Writer’s Block

• Take care of yourself. Eat well, exercise, drink plenty of water. Schedule time for rest and relaxation. Don’t run yourself down.
• No matter what you’re working on, some other project or activity might sound more enticing. Try to see one project through before starting another and reward yourself when you push through something difficult or unpleasant.
• On the other hand, if you have two projects going, you can rotate back and forth to maintain your interest in both.
• Get advice from other writers. Often, they’ll see a solution where you see no way out.
• Sometimes, defeating writer’s block is just a matter of  getting inspired. Keep a running list of ideas and things that inspire you. Whenever you feel uninspired, this list will be there for you.

How Do You Handle Writer’s Block?

Do you believe in writer’s block? Is it a real condition or a symptom of some other problem? Is it possible to become uninspired for no reason whatsoever? Do you have any writing tips that would help other writers stay inspired and unblocked? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Tips for Developing Story Writing Ideas

Short stories, flash fiction, novels, and novellas: there are countless stories floating around out there — and those are just the fictional works.

It’s no wonder writers get frustrated trying to come up with a simple concept for a story. One look at the market tells you that everything has been done.

But what makes a story special is your voice and the unique way that you put different elements together. Sure, there might be something reminiscent of Tolkien in your work, but so what? Echos of Lord of the Rings can be found in some of the most beloved stories of the 20th century: Harry Potter and Star Wars, for example.

I’m not saying J.K. Rowling and George Lucas intentionally used elements of Tolkien’s work in their stories. Maybe they did; maybe they didn’t. But I would bet both of them read and appreciated Lord of the Rings. Whether they were conscious or not of its influence on their work doesn’t really matter.

Developing Story Writing Ideas

There are a myriad of ways to develop story concepts. You can start with an event from the news or a character you’ve created. You can base your plot on an old legend or fairy tale, or you can combine two of your favorite genres.

• What happens when you mix Hamlet with Star Trek? Well, you might get something that looks like Star Wars. Take a traditional legend or folk tale and send it to space or place it in a magical fairyland to give it a new twist.
• It works both ways. You can take a modern story and put it in a historical setting. Star Trek is about explorers who are deeply humanitarian. Could there have been such explorers on Earth thousands of years ago?
• If you can create a believable and complex character, then chances are, you can also evolve a story from the character’s emotional landscape and personal experiences.
• A romance horror story, a western set in space, a chick-lit war story, and a fairy tale about the business world are all ways you can combine genres to inspire writing ideas.
• Instead of starting with a story, start with a big idea. How do you explore abstract concepts like sacrifice, redemption, rebirth, and wrath through story?

Sometimes, by brainstorming through all these established genres, stories, and themes, you’ll find that a pretty original idea emerges.

More Specific Story Writing Ideas

Let’s say you’re writing a story about a homeless teen who squats in a family’s Manhattan apartment during the day while they’re at work and school. It occurs to you that there are some parallels to Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Instead of writing your idea off as unoriginal, use the fairy tale to infuse your story with archetypes and symbols that are universally recognized: three teddy bears on the child’s bed, three differently sized chairs in the living room, the family eating porridge for breakfast.

Here are some more specific idea starters based on fairy tales:

• Little Red Riding Hood in Suburbia: There’s a stranger at grandma’s house.
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears in the Big City: A squatter makes herself at home.
• The Gingerbread Phone: A smartphone becomes self-aware.
• Dystopian Cinderella: This fairy tale been done and redone. Cinderella is apparently an exhaustive source of story writing ideas. Set your version in a bleak future.
• The Little Badass Mermaid: Take any old fairy tale and turn the heroine into a badass.
• Beauty is the Beast – What if the gender roles were reversed?

What’s Your Story?

Our world is full of patterns and cycles that repeat infinitely. Every story you write comes from every story you’ve read. Some writers consciously use old tales as a foundation for their work; others are surprised when they realize there are blatant similarities in their work and someone else’s.

I’m not suggesting you go out in search of stories to rewrite (and I’m definitely not suggesting you avoid coming up with your own original ideas). I hear from writers, on a regular basis, who are frustrated because they analyze every detail in their stories and stress out when they realize certain elements already occurred elsewhere in the literary canon.

So, I want to put forth the simple truth that everything has been done. Your job is to do it your way.

Where do you get your story writing ideas?

Final Sneak Peek at 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Body Language

101 Creative Writing Exercises is slated for publication in early February.

This book of creative writing exercises will take writers on a journey through different forms and genres while providing writing techniques, practical experience, and inspiration.

Each exercise teaches a specific concept and each chapter focuses on a different subject or form in writing: journaling, storytelling, fiction, poetry, article writing, and more. Every exercise is designed to be practical. In other words, you can use these exercises to launch projects that are destined for publication.

Before the official announcement and publication, I wanted to share one more sneak peek at an exercise from the book. This is from “Chapter Four: Speak Up,” which focuses on dialogue and scripts. The exercise is called “Body Language.” Enjoy!

Body Language

Sometimes what people say without actually speaking tells us a whole lot more than what comes out of their mouths. Using body language to communicate is natural. We all understand it intuitively—some better than others.

As a writer, you can closely observe people’s body language and learn how humans speak without words so you can bring unspoken communication into your writing.

Imagine two characters, a man and woman, who are complete strangers. They are in a bookstore. Their eyes meet across the room. You wouldn’t write “Their eyes locked. They were instantly attracted to each other.” That would be boring and unimaginative. Instead, you would let the scene unfold and describe it to the reader—how their eyes met, how he gulped and she blushed, how they both suddenly felt warm, how the two of them slowly worked their way toward the center of the store until they finally met in the horror section.

The Exercise

Write a scene between two (or more) characters in which there is no dialogue but the characters are communicating with each other through body language. You can also write a nonfiction piece. Surely you have experienced nonverbal communication. Take that experience and describe it on the page.

Your scene can be a lead-in to two characters meeting or conversing. The scene should comprise at least two pages of non-dialogue interaction with two or more characters. Here are a few scene starters:

• A cop, detective, or private investigator is tailing a suspect through a small town, a big city, a mall, amusement park, or other public area.
• Strangers are always good for body language exercises. Think about where strangers are brought together: public transportation, classes, elevators, and formal meetings.
• Kids in a classroom aren’t supposed to be speaking while a teacher is giving a lecture but they always find ways to communicate.

Tips: What if one character misinterprets another character’s body language? That could lead to humor or disaster. Maybe the characters are supposed to be doing something else (like in a classroom where they’re supposed to be listening to the teacher) but instead, they’re making faces and gestures at each other. One helpful technique might be to go inside the characters’ heads, but don’t get too carried away with he thought and she wondered as these constructs are basically inner dialogue.

Variations: As an alternative, write a scene in which one character speaks and one doesn’t: an adult and a baby, a human and an animal.

Applications: There are depictions of nonverbal communication in almost all types of storytelling from journalism and biography to memoir and fiction.

Look for 101 Creative Writing Exercises early next month!

Internal and External Approaches to Creative Writing

When I’m working on a story, I try not to think about technique too much. I focus on forging ahead without overanalyzing every step in my creative writing process.

My top priority is to get the ideas out of my head and onto the page.

However, in retrospect (often during revisions) and between stories, I often evaluate how I approached a project so that I can better understand my own creative process.

Hindsight is 20/20. I might decide that I didn’t do enough character sketches and therefore have to do more extensive rewriting. On the other hand, I might determine that I spent too much time writing down every idea and detail when I could have focused on the narrative and gotten it done more quickly.

Every creative writing project is different. Some writers might use the exact same process over and over; I don’t seem to work that way. However, I do take what I have learned to make the next project smoother. Recently, I’ve been thinking about two basic approaches that I have used when developing a concept. The first is an internal approach, which starts with character (or in nonfiction, with a human subject). The other approach is external, which starts with a situation or an event in the greater world.

The Human Condition

A few years ago, after struggling to get past the idea phase with several novels, I signed up for NaNoWriMo and successfully completed an entire first draft in just 30 days. I played by the rules and took the competition’s advice to heart by starting with just a couple of characters and not much else.

The result was that my entire approach was character based. I situated myself inside my main character’s head, placed the camera on her shoulder and just started writing. Miraculously, a plot emerged.

I ended up with a story that explored the human condition with themes of loneliness and companionship complemented by themes of loss and gain. None of it was planned, and I was truly astounded that anything beyond a lengthy character study came out of it all. What I learned was that by going inside the human mind and heart, and using that as a starting place, we can create touching, meaningful stories that help us better understand what it means to be human.

• How does someone’s internal landscape, made up of personal experiences, attitudes, and beliefs, affect interaction with the outside world?
• How does a character react in his or her special way to various situations?
• Most importantly, how does a character handle conflict?

These kinds of stories are most often found in literary fiction, but they are sprinkled across all forms and genres of creative writing, including poetry and nonfiction.

The Social Condition

Lately, I’m working on a different type of story. I started with a situation rather than a character, although I did have a vague impression of a group of characters. My concept was borne from two things: a world (this in the science fiction genre) and a situation at the social (or historical) level. I was looking at society and history for ideas (or rather, by looking at those things, I became inspired). I started far away from the characters, seeing them only from a great distance.

This approach has been a lot more fun for me but it’s also a lot more work. World building and creating histories is no small task. Every day, as I write more and more about the world, I find myself looping around a creative cycle that is bringing me closer and closer to my characters with every go-round as I discover how their actions affected the greater society.

Starting Places in Creative Writing

Story is conflict. In a story about the human condition, it’s a personal or intimate conflict. In a story about society’s condition, we’re dealing with bigger conflicts that affect the masses: stories of war, for example. However, in the latter case, stories about big events can also incorporate character stories via subplots and therefore give you the best of both worlds.

Whether we start with an event and find the characters who were involved or start with characters and find our way through a story, we have to start somewhere.

Where do you start? Do you like to approach story from far away so you can tell a big, sweeping tale or do you prefer to start with a character and tell a more intimate tale? Or do you approach from somewhere else altogether?

Grammar Rules: That and Which

There’s a lot of confusion about that and which. These two words are often used interchangeably, even though they’re not necessarily interchangeable.

Historically, that and which may have carried the same meaning, and some English dialects may allow for that and which to be swapped without affecting the meaning of a sentence.

However, in American English, the grammar rules offer a distinct difference between the two words. By the time you’re done reading this post, you’ll fully understand the difference between that and which, and you’ll be able to use both words correctly.

That and Which

As with most grammar rules, there are exceptions and exemptions from the standard ways that and which should be used in a sentence. To gain understanding of confusing word pairs, it’s always best to start with the basics. As we look at how to properly use that and which, we’ll focus on basic, standard usage.

That and which can be categorized into several different parts of speech. Both words can function as adjectives and pronouns. Additionally, that can serve as a conjunction and as an adverb. Today, we’re looking at how that and which should be used when they are working as relative pronouns.

Relative Pronouns

From Wikipedia: “A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause within a larger sentence. It is called a relative pronoun because it relates to the word that it modifies.”

Like adjectives and adverbs, relative pronouns modify other words. Adjectives modify nouns:

• I have a car.
• I have a red car.

Adverbs modify verbs:

• I am walking.
• I am walking quickly.

The main difference between adjectives and adverbs is that adjectives usually modify things (nouns) while adverbs modify actions (verbs). Relative pronouns also modify words, but they often do so as clauses rather than as single, descriptive words. In the examples below, the clauses are italicized.

• Bring me the bucket.
• Bring me the bucket that has apples in it.
• The bucket, which has apples in it, is blue.

The difference between the words that and which, and how they are used as relative pronouns, depends on whether the clause they belong to is restrictive or nonrestrictive.

Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses

Restrictive Clauses Are Necessary

A restrictive clause is necessary to the meaning of a sentence. For example:

• The bucket that has apples in it is the one I want.

If you removed the clause “that has apples in it,” the meaning of the sentence would be lost. The clause is necessary to the meaning of the sentence and is therefore a restrictive clause. Because it’s a restrictive clause, it should take the relative pronoun that.

Nonrestrictive Clauses are Unnecessary

• The bucket, which is blue, has apples in it.
• There are apples in the bucket, which is blue.

If you removed the nonrestrictive clause “which is blue,” from either of the sentences above, the meaning of the sentences would not be lost. We’d still know that the bucket has apples in it. Note that in the second example, the nonrestrictive clause adds information about something that has already been identified. Because the clause is unnecessary to the meaning of the sentence, we know it’s a nonrestrictive clause, and therefore should take the relative pronoun which.

• Use that before a restrictive clause.
• Use which before a nonrestrictive clause.

Censorship Update: Writers Beware!

All over the internet, the same message is being repeated over and over: we will not be censored.

Last month, I published a post explaining how SOPA, PIPA, and other censorship initiatives affect writers. Put simply, censorship is bad for writers. In fact, it’s terrible. Free speech is essential to anyone who writes or creates art.

This month, on January 24, the U.S. Senate will meet to take a closer look at PIPA. There are plenty of senators who have already stated support for the bill, many of whom have received significant campaign funding from the very entities that are pushing bills like SOPA and PIPA. 

The Internet Goes on Strike

But the Internet isn’t having it. Webmasters, bloggers, Tumblrs, Tweeters, and Redditors are banding together to fight against these bills. Ordinary citizens of the web are expressing opposition to censorship in creative ways: making art, censoring their avatars and websites, calling their senators and representatives, signing petitions, and organizing a coordinated strike.

The big players are lining up too. WordPress and Creative Commons have recently issued official statements opposing these bills. Other opponents of the bills include Mozilla, Facebook, Ebay, Twitter, Tumblr, and Google.

Tomorrow, on January 18, the Internet will go on strike. Participating websites will essentially shut down and replace their content with information about these bills. The goal of the strike is to show opposition to the bills but more importantly to inform the public and encourage people to take action.

Reddit, Cheezburger Network, Boing Boing, and Wikipedia have all announced that they will join the strike. The confirmed list of participants is big and growing fast. It’s available at sopastrike.com.

On social media sites, especially Twitter, there is a constant stream of remarks on these issues with a good chunk of those tweets pleading with sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to participate in the strike in some way. Their participation could tip the scales.

Lack of Media Coverage

One of the biggest problems with SOPA and PIPA is that most people aren’t aware that the bills are being considered. Prime time television news coverage on SOPA and PIPA has been lacking (which isn’t surprising, considering many of those networks are owned by the very corporations that are trying to pass the bills).

So, if everybody’s favorite websites simultaneously go dark and offer one common message and call to action, those Senators will get a whole lot of phone calls and emails. Some say that by striking for mere minutes, Facebook alone could get the bill killed by sending a massive number of users to flood politicians with calls and emails.

What You Can Do

There are some quick and easy steps you can take to actively oppose SOPA and PIPA:

• Visit AmericanCensorship.org. The site has quick links that U.S. citizens can can use to call senators, email representatives, and let them know that you’re a voter and/or citizen who opposes SOPA and PIPA. The site also offers actions that non-U.S. citizens can take. Censorship and blacklisting in the U.S. will affect websites worldwide.
• Got a WordPress website? Get the Stop SOPA Ribbon. Writing Forward is proudly displaying it in the upper right-hand corner. It took less than two minutes to install. There are several other anti-censorship plugins available.
• Join the SOPA Strike tomorrow, January 18.
• Use Twitter to express your opposition with hashtags: #SOPA, #PIPA, #SOPASTRIKE, and #PIPABlackout. Tip: use one hashtag per tweet.
• Put a SOPA badge on your social media profiles. Then, tweet about it. Talk about it. Let the world know that censorship is wrong and you’re fighting against it.

Prepare for the Long Haul

My gut tells me this fight is just beginning. This isn’t the first time the U.S. government or big businesses have attempted to take control of the Internet or pass censorship legislation and it won’t be the last. As a copyright holder and content creator, I am concerned about copyright theft and want to see online piracy curbed but not at the cost of blacklisting or censorship, especially since most objective legal experts agree that SOPA and PIPA give the government and big corporations undue power while putting free speech at risk. These experts have also stressed that the bills do absolutely nothing to stop piracy because there are glaring loopholes that these pirates can easily use.

I’m also not crazy about taking time away from Writing Forward’s focus, which is, of course, creative writing. But censorship is specifically dangerous to writers and artists, and in today’s market, we writers need the Internet as it has become the foremost tool in distributing, marketing, and promoting written works. I feel strongly that this issue is critical and of great concern to writers, so I hope you will join me in standing against any attempt at censorship or internet blacklisting.

And as always, I hope you keep writing.

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” ― Benjamin Franklin

Note: while most of the content on Writing Forward is copyrighted with all rights reserved to the author, the text in this article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. You are free to share and distribute, print and republish this text.

Eight Characteristics of Good Writing

How important is it for a writer to be able to discern the difference between good writing and bad writing?

Pretty important, if you ask me.

I know some writers aren’t concerned with quality. In today’s do-it-yourself and get-it-done-fast world, quality plays second fiddle to quantity. Who cares if your books are full of typos, bad grammar, and poor logic as long as you have published lots and made a bunch of money?

Readers care. Agents, publishers, and reviewers also care. And while you can still make a million with a bunch of badly written books and a stellar marketing scheme, your work won’t be taken seriously. Also (and this is critical), while it’s possible to make it big by writing badly, it’s not likely. It happens, but it doesn’t happen often. The better your writing, the better your chances for securing a readership and building a career.

The Characteristics of Good Writing

So, what constitutes good writing? Opinions will vary. There will be different traits that make good fiction versus good poetry or good nonfiction. However, we can cull together a general list of the characteristics of good writing (in no particular order):

1. Clarity and focus: in good writing, everything makes sense and readers don’t get lost or have to reread passages to figure out what’s going on. Focussed writing sticks with the plot or core idea without running off on too many tangents.
2. Organization: a well organized piece of writing is not only clear, it’s presented in a way that is logical and aesthetically pleasing. You can tell non-linear stories or place your thesis at the end of an essay and get away with it as long as your scenes or ideas are well ordered.
3. Ideas and themes: is the topic of your paper relevant? Does your story come complete with themes? Can the reader visualize your poem? For a piece of writing to be considered well crafted, it has to contain clearly identifiable ideas and themes.
4. Voice: this is what sets you apart from all other writers. It’s your unique way of stringing words together, formulating ideas, and relating scenes or images to the reader.
5. Language (word choice): we writers can never underestimate or fail to appreciate our most valuable tools — words. Good writing includes smart word choices and well crafted sentences.
6. Grammar and style: many writers would wish this one away, but for a piece of writing to be considered good (let alone great), it has to follow the rules of grammar (and break those rules only when there’s a good reason). Style is also important in ensuring that a piece of writing is clear and consistent. Make sure you keep a grammar book and style guide handy.
7. Credibility or believability: nothing says shoddy writing like getting the facts wrong or misrepresenting oneself. In fiction, the story must be believable (even if it’s impossible), and in nonfiction, accurate research can make or break a writer.
8. Thought-provoking or emotionally inspiring: perhaps the most important quality of good writing is how the reader responds to it. Does she come away with a fresh perspective and new ideas? Does he close the cover with tears in his eyes or a sense of victory? How readers react to your work will fully determine your success as a writer.

I want to add an honorable mention for originality. Everything has been done before, so originality is somewhat arbitrary. However, putting old ideas together in new ways and creating remixes of the best that literature has to offer is a skill worth noting.

Why You Need to Know the Difference Between Good and Bad Writing

To write well, a writer must be able to recognize quality in a piece of writing. How can you assess or improve your own work if you can’t tell the difference between average and better writing?

Writing is also an art form and therefore subject to personal taste. Can you read a book and dislike it but acknowledge that the writing was good? Have you ever read a book and loved the story but felt that the writing was weak?

A writer should be able to articulate why a piece of writing succeeds or fails, and a writer should also be able to recognize the qualities in a piece of writing even when it doesn’t appeal to personal taste. These skills are especially necessary when writers are reviewing or critiquing other writers’ work and when revising, editing, and proofreading their own work.

Where do you stand? Do you rate other people’s writing? Do you worry about whether your own writing is any good? Would you add or remove any characteristics of good writing from this list? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment, and keep writing.

Excellent Writing Tips from Successful Authors

I love collecting little bits of wisdom from great writers, leaders, and thinkers.

For several years, I’ve been stockpiling quotes that inspire me. Some of them contain sage advice for life; others offer fresh perspectives on the world. Many hold what I consider to be excellent writing tips.

Consider the writer who yearns to write and publish a novel. He thinks about it, dreams about it, aches for it, but the task is daunting and there is so little time. It seems like an impossible dream, one that would take years, even decades to realize.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
― Lao Tzu

Whatever you want to write, it all starts by sitting down at your computer or with a notebook and pen and writing down that first word.

Life Advice for Writers

Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.
― Shel Silverstein

Whether we’re following our dreams or expressing our thoughts, feelings, and visions through our writing, we writers must summon the courage to put ourselves and our work, our beloved labor, in front of an audience that will judge it. It’s hard enough to be yourself in the conventional sense, let alone under a spotlight.

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.
― Dr. Seuss

It all comes down to believing. We have to believe in ourselves and in the passion that drives us to write.

Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.
― Roald Dahl

On Writing as Work

How many years does a person spend reading and writing before becoming proficient enough to be published? How long does it take to learn how to tell a story, to get a handle on the rules of grammar, to compose vibrant prose and verse? We writers spend countless hours, hard at work, just for practice and experience. Thousands of pages pile up before we become publishable. But every word, every paragraph, and every line counts, even if nobody else reads it. Even if it never earns a penny.

Don’t be seduced into thinking that that which does not make a profit is without value.
― Arthur Miller

A writer’s work is never done. It’s an ongoing process of learning the craft, producing the work, polishing, submitting, editing, and publicizing. But some writers make it look easy.

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
― Ernest Hemingway

Once we turn our passion into a career, we might find ourselves under contract or employed by some publisher. The article is due at midnight. The first draft is due at the end of the month. And the edits were supposed be done yesterday!

I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.
― Douglas Adams

Writing Tips from Authors

It saddens me that so many writers avoid writing because they are terrified that their work won’t be original, won’t be critically acclaimed, or won’t even get published. We can worry about whether our book is too silly or too serious, too smart or too dumb, too literary or too commercial. But ultimately, we have to stop worrying and just write what is in our hearts and what’s haunting our minds.

You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.
― Madeleine L’Engle

They say that the truth is stranger than fiction, and fiction can hold more truth than reality.

Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot.
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country

It cannot be said enough that the best way to become a good writer is to simply read as much as you possibly can. While reading will make you a better writer, it has countless other benefits.

Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.
― Joyce Carol Oates

What are some of your favorite quotes of wisdom? Have you picked up any helpful writing tips from authors you’ve admired? Share your best advice by leaving a comment, and keep writing!

All of the quotes featured in this article were found via Goodreads’ Quotes of the Day. Goodreads is a social media site for bookworms and writers. Be my friend on Goodreads!

Essay Writing Ideas, Topics, and Publishing Tips

Around here, we’re usually so focused on fiction, poetry, and journaling that we often forget about another form of creative writing: the essay.

The first essay that captured my attention and got me interested in essay writing was Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” which was also my first introduction to satire:

Written and published anonymously in 1729, the essay suggested that impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. This satirical hyperbole mocked heartless attitudes towards the poor, as well as Irish policy in general. (Source)

“A Modest Proposal” is a harsh piece of writing but is both creative and socially conscious. Essays can also be academic, personal, or analytic. In terms of subject matter, essays can run the gamut. And while essays are often associated with academia because they are often assigned by schoolteachers and professors, plenty of writers have eked out careers publishing essays on a wide range of topics.

Today, we’ll focus on developing essay writing ideas, but first let’s look at a few types of essays.

What is an Essay?

The word essay comes from the French word essayer, which means “to try” or “to attempt.” An essay is a short format of writing, which usually presents an author’s personal point of view and can include criticism, arguments, observations, recollections, and reflections around a focused topic. Usually written in prose, the essay falls somewhere between an article and a short story.

According to Wikipedia there are three branches of essay writing:

Personal and autobiographical essays: these use “fragments of reflective autobiography” to “look at the world through the keyhole of anecdote and description.”

Objective and factual: in these essays, the authors “do not speak directly of themselves, but turn their attention outward to some literary or scientific or political theme.”

Abstract-universal: these essays “make the best … of all the three worlds in which it is possible for the essay to exist.” This type is also known as Giraffe Style Writing.

So, how does one come up with essay writing ideas? One place to start is by thinking about the type of essay you want to write.

Types of Creative Essays

Because essays are so broad and can range from academic or analytic to being highly personal, we can further place various types of essays in an unlimited number of categories. Let’s look at a few types of creative essays:

Narrative Essay: Narrative essays are similar to short stories except they are nonfiction and usually relate to a core topic or theme. Such an essay usually makes a point using story as an example. These are excellent essays for journal keepers and short fiction writers.

Reflective Essay: We’ve examined reflective journal writing, and a reflective essay isn’t much different except that it’s a stand-alone piece and usually meant for publication. This is an essay about a personal experience, which is intertwined with thoughts (reflections) on it.

Response Essay: A response essay is similar to a personal essay in that it relates the author’s thoughts and feelings, except it speaks specifically about the author’s reaction to something — books, movies, travels, and other events and experiences are all fair game.

Argumentative of Persuasive Essay: These essays present the author’s position on an issue and apply logic, reason, and often, statistics and research, to back up the author’s opinions. Persuasive essays are designed to convince readers to do something or see some issue from a certain perspective.

This is just a small sample of the various types of creative essays you might write. You may find that just by reviewing the different types of essays, something clicks and you’re struck with inspiration. However, you may need to look to your passions and interests to generate essay writing ideas; you may need to start with a topic.

Writing Ideas: Choosing a Topic

In the world of essays, there are unlimited topics that you can explore. In fact, topical essays are considered one of the many types of essays that you can write.

Here are a few good strategies for selecting a topic if you’re looking for essay writing ideas:

1. What are you most passionate about? What gets your blood boiling or makes you want to do a happy dance? Write an essay about it.
2. What do you know a lot about? It could be something you studied in school or it could be career-related. Your knowledge base provides great fodder for essay topics.
3. What do you want to learn more about? You can always conduct research for an essay, and if there’s some subject you’d like to learn about, then conducting that research for an essay is a great way to get started.

Let’s say you’re writing a science fiction novel and want to learn more about our solar system so you can depict space travel. You could write a descriptive essay of our solar system and start the project by writing a long list of questions to which you need the answers in order to get started.

Tips for Publishing Essays

Many publications accept essay submissions. You can write an essay for a specific publication or you can write an essay and find a publication for it later. Be sure to check the publications’ submission guidelines and follow them accordingly. For example, some publications only take academic or analytic essays; others may be looking for essays that deal with specific subject matter.

If you’re a prolific essay writer, you can also self publish on your blog or website or you can make a collection of essays and publish it via any number of self pub tools. Amazon singles provides a great way for authors to publish individual essays.

In legacy publishing, you might find essay collections difficult to place. You usually need a few publication credits (clips) or expertise in a field before landing a publishing deal in this form.

Do You Write Essays?

Essay writing is a great field for writers to explore. Some of the greatest artists, thinkers, and leaders have been essayists and contributed their thoughts, feelings, and perspectives to the greater culture through the written word. Have you ever written an essay that wasn’t assigned? What subject matter do you like to explore in essays? Where do you find essay writing ideas? Share your thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment, and keep writing!

 

Fiction Writing Exercises for Developing Setting

Setting is one of the most important elements in fiction writing. If your readers don’t know where the story is taking place, they’ll get lost and confused, and it will be hard for them to enjoy your tale.

Some stories have simple settings based on real places. You can use your own hometown or a major city. A setting can also be completely dreamed up, which is often necessary in speculative fiction writing (Wonderland and Never Land, for  example). You can keep a setting in the background, referring to it only when necessary, or you can bring it to the forefront and allow it to function as a character in your story.

Some authors go to great lengths to take the reader through a story’s setting. Just last year, I read a book in which the character drove around Los Angeles. The author took us down L.A. streets, past parks, and into real neighborhoods and establishments. It was a bit much, but I’m pretty sure if I was a resident of L.A., I would have gotten a little thrill out of the familiarity.

Today, we’ll take a deeper look at setting with a few fiction writing exercises designed to help you establish the places in your story.

Fiction Writing Exercises: Place and Time

There are two sides to setting: place and time. If you’re writing a contemporary novel, the time in which your story is set is relatively straightforward. However, if you’re writing historical fiction, futuristic fiction, or a story that includes time travel, you’ll need to pay special attention to ensuring readers always know what time it is.

Setting it Up

For this exercise, you will choose several settings and write short, opening descriptions that tell the reader when and where the action is taking place. Contemporary readers aren’t crazy about lengthy descriptions, so keep it simple: a couple of sentences or a short paragraph of description will suffice. Here are a few prompts to get you started:

• A ghost town in the wild old west.
• A contemporary metropolis.
• A medieval household.
• A made-up fantasy land.
• Aboard a vessel, such as a space ship in the far-off future.

Setting as Backdrop: Too Much vs. Not Enough

For this exercise, you’ll write a short scene that kicks off the story and establishes the setting. Instead of presenting a snapshot of the landscape before moving into your story, you can bring readers right into the setting by combining your description with action and by using active language rather than passive:

• Instead of describing busy streets packed with shoppers, explain that shoppers coursed through the streets like rats in a maze.
• You can bring characters into the setting: Kate craned her neck and spied a tiny patch of sky amidst the towering skyscrapers.  
• In establishing time, you can simply state the date (the year was 2012) or you can place something in the setting that identifies the era: A brand new 2012 Porche sped by and Kate whirled on her heels just in time to see it disappear around the corner of Lexington.

Setting as Character

Places that have a life of their own are hugely popular. Many science fiction and fantasy stories are set in places that function as characters: the U.S.S. Enterprise from Star Trek and Pandora from Avatar are two good examples. But cities, towns, and rural landscapes can also have personality. For example, New York has been called the fifth main character in Sex and the City. Houses, vehicles, cities, planets, nations, and rooms can all have personalities of their own.

For this exercise, write a character sketch for a place. Make a list of its traits: personality, style, attitude, class, and philosophy. Is it relaxed and laid back or dark and dangerous? Does it swallow people or brighten them up? Is it friendly to newcomers or is it exclusive?

If you’re inclined, go ahead a write a scene or outline to show off your setting’s personality. Remember, however, that just because the setting is functioning as a character doesn’t mean it is the protagonist or antagonist. It can be a minor character and still be largely the backdrop (rather than forefront). Make sure you keep the focus of the story on the plot and characters.

How Do You Approach Setting?

Some writers may not think much about setting. They know exactly where their story takes place and the setting emerges naturally through the writing. But sometimes, a poorly established setting is unclear or confusing. Do you pay heed to setting? Do you work it out before you start your first draft? If you know of any other great fiction writing exercises that focus on setting, be sure to share them in the comments. And keep writing!

 

Living the Creative Writing Lifestyle

Dictionary.com defines lifestyle as follows:

the habits, attitudes, tastes, moral standards, economic level, etc., that together constitute the mode of living of an individual or group.

A lifestyle is something you build for yourself from all the elements that make up your daily life: your thoughts, dreams, actions, routine, work, family, friends, food, hobbies, habits, and interests.

So, is creative writing a lifestyle?

Examining the Writer’s Life

The writer’s life is unique. We spend a lot of time alone, with only our words and ideas to keep us company. We are immersed in word counts and submissions, manuscripts and notebooks. We work under tight deadlines and live in fear of typos. When other people are enjoying their favorite television shows or a day at the beach, we’re busy at our keyboards, doing our writerly work.

We are idea seekers — always looking for the next topic, poem, or plot. Every moment is an experience that could lead to a masterpiece, so every moment is a masterpiece. We live as observers, taking in the world around us so that we can share the best parts of it with our readers.

We are communicators, using words to forge connections. It’s not enough to tell a story. We want to show readers what it was like to be there, to live it, even if it never really happened.

And the most ambitious writers, those who are driven to make creative writing not just a way of life but a career, must also look at themselves in a way few other people do. We must see ourselves as authors and learn how to brand and market ourselves. We have to be self-promoters, and we have to be brave enough to put our work, which can be highly personal, out there for all the world to see.

The Creative Writing Life

The writing community is a tight one. Outside of literary circles, when two bookworms or writers bump into each other, they’re sure to forge an instant bond because such a person is a rare treasure. There may be some competition among writers, but most of what I’ve seen is goodwill and support.

We find ourselves outside of social norms. Our day jobs are simply a means to pay our bills. The real work happens early in the morning, late at night, and on weekends, when the rest of the world is playing. But our work is play. We writers breathe language. We engage in make-believe. We search for stories that beg to be told. We are concerned with words and images, grammar and structure, the historical and the fantastical, fact and fiction (and the difference between the two). And while we may be concerned with ordinary living, we ourselves experience a rather extraordinary life.

We get excited over things that put regular people to sleep — a passionate voice, a riveting scene, a complex character. We delight in office supplies, stationery, and writing instruments, tools that other people see as mere necessities.

All of these things make up the life of a writer, a writer’s lifestyle.

How Do You Live?

Creative writing is an adventure, and it’s an adventure that is threaded throughout every minute of a writer’s day. That’s my experience, anyway. How does being a writer shape your daily life? Do you consider it a lifestyle? A hobby? A habit?

Writing Forward’s Greatest Hits of 2011

The end of the year is a good time to look back and reflect on the past twelve months. What did we accomplish? What could we have done better? How can we improve next year? And most importantly, what do our readers want?

Back in the early days of Writing Forward, I used to gather up my end-of-the-year stats and let readers know which articles were the most popular. Somewhere along the line, I drifted away from that tradition. I decided to bring it back this year, partially because I myself am curious but also because I think it’s useful to know what interests and engages other writers. Here’s what I learned:

Social Media Loves Creative Writing

One of the greatest gifts that the Internet has given us is the ability to connect with other people. On Facebook, we can connect with friends and family. On LinkedIn, we can connect with other professionals. Twitter allows us to find people who have shared interests. And discovery engines like StumbleUpon or user-generated news sites like Reddit make it easy for us to share relevant, interesting news and information.

All of these tools are excellent for writers because they offer us a way to interact with other writers and to share our writing with the world.

Writing Forward benefitted from all of these social media sites and many more. I am fairly active on Twitter and post every article on Facebook, so I was surprised to learn that StumbleUpon brought in the most readers. Thanks for Stumbling, you guys!

Twitter

One of the most popular posts on Twitter wasn’t even published here at Writing Forward. It was a guest post I wrote for The Top Ten Blog: “The Top Ten Ways to Spice up Your Writing.” Months later, the tweets and retweets just keep coming.

However, a more recent post, titled “Writers, Censorship, and SOPA” also got a lot of traction and helped me connect with a few dozen other writers and anti-censorship activists on Twitter. I’m especially glad that people embraced this article because I think it’s critical for writers to not only be aware of censorship but to oppose it vehemently.

Facebook

I found out that Facebook offers some new tools to help us understand how our content is performing. Their stats were only available back through July, but the findings were interesting.

• A rather old post titled “Environmentally Friendly Writing Tips” had the greatest reach (which means it had the most exposure).
• However, the posts “10 Tips for Writing a Book” and “Making Time to Practice Writing Every Day” engaged the most people and got them talking.
• Finally, an oldie but a goodie, and one of Writing Forward’s most-read and most-shared posts of all time, “The 22 Best Writing Tips Ever” went the most viral.

Hits and Comments

I always find it interesting to see which posts get the most comments. That tells me that the posts sparked ideas or questions. Interestingly, the post with the most comments of 2011 also has the most comments of all time, and it was the single most-visited post on this site. The overall popularity of “25 Creative Writing Prompts” tells me that writers want to write. They’re looking for ideas and inspiration, and that’s a good thing.

Finally, I’ll leave you with the top five posts of the year. If you missed them the first time around, I hope you’ll enjoy them now.

1. As mentioned, 25 Creative Writing Prompts got the most comments, but it also got the most visits!
2. The poets came out and supported “Three Poetry Writing Exercises.”
3. People are looking for “Ideas for Creative Writing Projects and Practices.”
4. Writers still care about grammar, spelling, and punctuation: “How to Abuse and Neglect Punctuation Marks.”
5. Writers also enjoyed a little navel-gazing with “Reflective Journal Writing.”

Thank You

I want thank everyone who visited, subscribed, tweeted, liked us on Facebook, commented, and otherwise engaged with Writing Forward. I hope to bring you lots of great creative writing tips and ideas in 2012 and I hope that next year, you’ll keep writing.

Happy New Year!