WRITERS WRITE

By notapoet - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in On Writing

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Just do it!

A little over eleven years ago I found myself single after 23 years of marriage, out of work, and broke. I was pursuing work with such vigor that I ended each day more exhausted and a little bit poorer than the day before. I was drawing unemployment, but it wasn’t even enough to cover the house... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

A necessary evil

…seems to be the consensus on deadlines. FineYoungSinger, white-cossack, and markdeniz were all kind enough to share their thoughts on the matter. You can scroll down to my last post and click on “add or view comments” to see exactly what each had to say regarding deadlines. Naturally enough, I join... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Persevering and Prioritising

Recently I’ve had to struggle through a host of computer problems in order to succeed in my writing. My recently deceased laptop and my current computer, a pretty old desktop, have both made me feel like pulling my hair out on more than one occasion. Doing so would have accomplishing nothing beyond... Sign in to see full entry.

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Friday, February 8, 2008

The idea that won’t go away

Sometimes an idea pops up that seems promising but just doesn’t work out. The obvious thing to do is forget about it and move on. Ideas are funny critters, though. Some of them just won’t go away. Like time-tripping, for instance. I don’t remember exactly when I first used the expression to describe... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Harnessing the flow.

Sometime the mind clicks and words and ideas start to flow like a raging torrent after a warm spring spring cloudburst. Jump into the middle and ride with the furious flow while it lasts, cause it doesn’t occur all that often. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar, organization, or anything else.... Sign in to see full entry.

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Sunday, February 3, 2008

Jot down those ideas!

I’m an advocate of writing when the spirit moves you and ideas are flowing freely. I’m not an advocate of dropping the baby or losing the day job just because inspiration strikes. No matter how wonderful the idea, there are times when it is not appropriate or practical to follow through. That is... Sign in to see full entry.

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Sunday, January 27, 2008

Why is it necessary to read so much if you want to write?

The number one best reason I can think of is that reading a good book always infects me with an itch to write. One of the reasons I rarely suffer from dread writer’s block is that I read so much. Reading always seems to fire creativity for me. It’s one of the reasons why it usually takes several... Sign in to see full entry.

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Friday, January 25, 2008

Keeping promises

…is not always simple as it seems on the surface. Things happen. Plans go awry. Next thing you know it’s a month later and the promise you made to others, as well as to yourself, has not been kept. But a man of his word still tries to fulfill what he has promised. It turns into a case of better late... Sign in to see full entry.

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Friday, December 28, 2007

Read your ass off!

If you aspire to write, it probably stemmed from a love of reading. Sooner or later most people who love to read began to dream of writing books like the ones they love to read. Many try. A talented and perseverant few stay with it and do indeed become writers. But they don’t stop reading. I can’t... Sign in to see full entry.

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Friday, November 9, 2007

Creativity Starters

Pen in hand, staring at a blank sheet of paper? Fingers poised over keyboard, staring at a blank screen? When either of these situations describes your current situation, there are three almost foolproof ways to begin filling up that page or screen. They are known as creativity starters, and one of... Sign in to see full entry.

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Thursday, November 8, 2007

Quick thoughts about writing online.

I’ve noticed quite a bit of article writing on the Internet that makes use of two writing techniques ingrained into most newspaper reporters. It makes me believe that current and former news writers may have a distinct advantage when it comes to snapping up many of the available Internet writing... Sign in to see full entry.

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Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Keep the day job

…if you have one to keep, until you establish enough writing income to, at a minimum, cover your basic living expenses. It can be done the other way around. But it’s not recommended unless you happen to be independently wealthy. Writing is an overpopulated and underpaid profession. Only a very small... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Real-life experiences help make writing come alive.

Does your writing seem dull and lifeless? Is it full of telling and not much showing? Are you having a tough time getting started? Or do you constantly get bogged down if not outright stuck? One technique that usually works for me with all of the above, and more, is to incorporate a little real-life... Sign in to see full entry.

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Thursday, October 4, 2007

Writing at length, talent or curse? And a few other matters.

I’d like to think it’s a talent since I seem to have a double dose of the affliction. I seem to be able to turn an idea that most and editors and other writers deem worth a hundred words or so into a thousand without working up a sweat. For me writing at length has not been a problem since my early... Sign in to see full entry.

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Sunday, September 30, 2007

The quote that will not die.

Last time out I unconsciously paraphrased a favorite writing quote when I said “Everyone who has ever thought of writing for a living wants to have written something.” It put a burr in my britches to find out if I’d used it before, as well as the desire to dig out the exact quote. Reading back in... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The blog that will not die.

I thought I’d discontinued this one a month ago. Yet during my most recent absence this blog continues to hold its own against my supposed bread and butter blogs. A little rethinking on my part brings me to the inescapable conclusion that this blog, even when I fail to post, holds its own against... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tuesday, August 21, 2007

It’s retirement time.

Too many blogs, and not enough time to keep them all up and running with any kind of frequency if I’m also going to do some reading and otherwise interact. So this blog, but definitely not my writing or blogging career, is temporarily retired. I say temporarily because I’m not going to delete it.... Sign in to see full entry.

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Sunday, August 19, 2007

It’s time.

Time to gather up all the loose pieces of paper, the notes scribbled on index cards, and to go throw all the notes and passages saved on my word processor before they become unmanageable. Those more organized than I don’t have to go through this periodic ritual. There are times when I wish I was... Sign in to see full entry.

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Saturday, August 18, 2007

Why write?

Because you enjoy it. Because it’s a turn on to create something that others may enjoy reading. Because you have to. All of the above. Notapoet in a nutshell. Sign in to see full entry.

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Saturday, August 4, 2007

My writing space needs an overhaul.

I think every writer needs his or her own space in which to work regularly. I have mine and, for the most part, am quite pleased with it. It’s much better than anyplace else I’ve worked in years. I just need to clean it up and rearrange it a little now that I have my own phone and Internet access... Sign in to see full entry.

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Notapoet's thoughts and advice on writing, writer's block, and anything else he happens to think of whenever he's working in this category.

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