writer’s block

All posts tagged writer’s block

Ideas to Motivate Yourself to Write

Posted by Dawn Ross on July 22, 2017
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Sometimes I just don’t want to write. It’s true. Sometimes it’s because I’m at a point that I hate, such as when it comes to editing. Sometimes it’s because I have writer’s block. And sometimes it’s simply because I have zero motivation to do much of anything. Here are some tips I use to get moving again. You can use them to motivate yourself to write as well:

Take Ten for Writers

Writing Exercises – There are a lot of books and even websites out there that provide writing prompts for you. Try one. They’re not only motivating, but sometimes even inspiring. One of my favorite writing prompt books is shown above. If you don’t want to buy a book, try the story idea generator on SciFiIdeas.com. There are also apps for story ideas that you can get on your phone. I have one called Brainstormer.

Book Perfecting Plot by William Bernhardt

Read a Writing Guide – Sometimes when I review a technical writing book, I’m inspired to write better. I say reviewing because I’ve already read them. But even though I’ve already read them, reviewing them sometimes inspires new ideas or brings back that motivated feeling.

Do an Analytical Review – Don’t just watch a movie or read a book. Analyze it. Ask yourself what it was about the movie or book that made it worthwhile. Did it have good characters? Was the plot intense enough? Which parts were most intense and why? Which parts made you want to go to sleep and why?

black-and-white-music-headphones-life

Let Music Inspire You – I have certain music that I only play when I write. For a while, it was the music from the Lord of the Rings movies. Now it’s the Hobbit movies. Find your musical inspiration.

Nike Just Do It

The Nike Philosophy – Just Do It. No matter how you feel, just sit down and write. Write nonsense if you have to. Don’t think about it. Just do it.

buddha-india-mind-prayer

Meditate – Not in the zoning out way. Think about what you want and why. Something inspired you to start writing. Think back on what that was and try to grab onto that feeling again.

Take a Break – Yes, sometimes the key to writing again is to simply take a break. As much as I love to write, there are times that I hate it. And I’m afraid if I continue to force myself, I will come to hate it even more. So I take a break. Try it for yourself, but don’t let that break last too long.

What do you do to motivate yourself to write?

 

Thought Provoking Questions for a Writer

Posted by Dawn Ross on September 23, 2012
Posted in: Miscellaneous. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

As promised from yesterday’s post about Cassidy Cornblatt’s blog, I wanted to share my answers to more thought provoking questions for writers.

1.    What keeps you writing when you have writer’s block? Forcing myself to sit down and write is the most difficult part. If I can just get passed that, then the mood usually comes upon me. Sometimes a good story, TV show, or movie will inspire me… even if it is one I’ve read or seen before.

2.    Most writers have a literary counterpart—a character from their stories who reflects themselves. Tell us about yours. I do not have a character that represents me. I think I am boring. But I will base characters on some of my flaws or make characters the way I’d like to be myself.

3.    What are your passions? Art, writing, and dogs. I love dogs. I have two. And I run a business related to dogs.

4.    You’ve had a fight with your significant other and you want to fix things. What do you do? Apologize for my own wrong doings then try to behave rationally – emphasis on the word ‘try’.

5.    What’s one injustice you see in the world that you would fix in a story? Politics. For once, I’d like a leader to act selflessly instead of selfishly. For once, I’d like to see a politician tell the truth instead of what they think people want to hear. For once, I’d like for them to compromise with their opponents instead of badmouthing them. Politics is ugly.

6.    If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be? I’d like to figure out how I can manage my time better.

7.    What’s important to you at this point in time? Besides my wonderful husband and my two precious dogs? As far as my primary focus goes, I am working the hardest on my pet business, PetAutoSafety.com and related blogs and websites.

8.    Who is your hero/heroine? My dad is my hero.

9.    Do you make it a habit of telling others what you thought of their work, even if your experience wasn’t good? No. I don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings and I don’t want them to retaliate by saying something bad about by work.

10. What is good will? Trying to act in such a way that doesn’t irritate other people as well as doing things for other people. Just little things are beneficial. Hold a door open for someone, smile at people, let someone in traffic merge in front of you, send someone a card, be nice to people in general even if they do something to irritate you, etc.

11. What would it take for you to make friends with an old enemy? If they apologized to me, I can forgive and possibly forget depending on the reason they are my enemy and how much time has passed. I don’t think I could approach an enemy unless I strongly felt that I was in the wrong.

These questions were proposed by Whitney Carter’s blog, Invisible Ink.