Write Anyway

Since next week, Wednesday, July 4, marks Independence Day in the United States, and I happen to live in one of the American states, the writing theme this week will surround independence, freedom, and the personal (or political) meanings those words evoke. If you are reading this and not living in America, independence is still a theme that has merit, regardless of the week. Give it a try.

To get us started – and stretch our writing muscles a bit – try to free write on the word “Independence.” Go anywhere you’d like with it – make a list, write non-stop bouncing from one idea to another, whatever. Just don’t edit yourself at this point. The idea is to get as much on paper or on the screen as possible. Set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes, shut your door, turn off your phone and just write. Just write anyway.

BitS, independence, Independence Day, writing, free writing, write anyway

I’ve decided to give myself the week off next week. As long as I don’t hear any gnashing of teeth or see any renting of clothes, that’s my plan and I’m sticking to it. Ok? Ok.

Last week, Jennifer tagged me to write a post about five reasons I love blogging (and blogging here at 451Press). I thought that was a fantastic theme for the week, and since themes seem to go over better than just my random randomness, that’s what we are going with this week. Great tag, Jennifer!

So to get Back in the Saddle this morning, I wrote for about 10 minutes on everything I like about blogging. The reason that I kept coming back to was the many people I’ve met through the computer. That may sound a little strange, especially to people who don’t blog, but the people I’ve (virtually) met have made it worth spending time here or at my personal blog for as long as I have.

So now Tag! You’re it! What is the number one reason why you blog?

(Tomorrow – “html” or something like it.)

Remember to write anyway!

BitS, writing, blogging, theme, write anyway

Holy Hannah, where did June slip off to? Wasn’t it just Mother’s Day?

I’m not sure why, but Father’s Day carries a different kind of baggage than Mother’s Day. Not better or lighter or easier, just different. So in the spirit of ‘theme’ weeks, which seem to go over better around here, this week will be all about fathers. Let’s get back in the saddle right away with a “favorite memory” of your father – or a father-type person in your life. Make a list. Write a paragraph. Free-write. Whatever. Just try to write for 15 minutes without thinking too much about spelling or grammar or anything. There is always time for that stuff later. Right now, just worry about getting your thoughts written on paper – or typed on the screen.

Ready? Set? Write Anyway!

BitS, Father’s Day, write, writing, write anyway

Despite a relatively mundane weekend, I’m tired. So tired, in fact, I’m drinking coffee. I know! For someone who takes her caffeine cold and carbonated, that is a sign of desperation!

So let’s wake up this week with a writing prompt, ok? Let’s write a letter to someone we have not talked to in a long time. I’m going to write a letter to an old college roommate. Why? Because the coffee I’m drinking reminds me of him. I’m going to have a little fun with it – and I’m sure I’ll never send it, so it’s all good.

Just remember to write anyway!

BitS, letter, coffee, writing, write anyway

I don’t know about you, but today is Monday for me despite what my calendar tells me. I’ve already spilled Diet Coke on my tan pants and managed to break a shoelace. I should just as well get back in bed, for all the Monday clichés I’ve already experienced.

But there is writing to be done, regardless of what day it is. So let’s jump right in with a writing prompt and see how deep the water is, shall we? From the CanTeach: writing prompts webpage:

Where: Where would you prefer to be right now – mountains, desert, beach – and why?

Ready? Set? Write Anyway.

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Bits, Move Me, writing prompt, writing, write anyway

Over the weekend, I was outside quite a bit even though the weather wasn’t really all that nice. Cold. Windy. Rainy. But the barn roof had to be repaired – and while I wasn’t the one climbing the ladder, someone had to run for tools, steady the ladder and holler encouragements to the actual worker.

And since I wasn’t the one truly working, and therefore wasn’t “as tired,” I was tasked with taking the dogs out right before bed on Sunday night. I heard ducks and Canada geese on the pond. Horses were stomping and snorting while finding a comfortable resting spot out of the wind. The trees rustled behind the house. But then I heard coyotes, and they were really close. I’m guessing they were in the trees just beyond the barn. They don’t usually howl that close to the house – or maybe I just never noticed before – but they were singing, howling and yipping like crazy. I thought my dogs were going to go nuts; the fur on their shoulders stood up and they both dropped their heads down and growled, all the while checking to see what I would do.

Being a chicken, I whistled both of the dogs into the house, snapped off the lights, locked the door and went to bed! Hearing wildlife – like coyotes – is one thing; dealing with them eye to eye is not something I’d like to experience, thanks.

What have you “heard” lately that inspired you to write?

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BitS, write anyway, writing, sounds, wildlife, coyotes, dogs

Welcome back, readers/writers. Did you have nice Mother’s Day weekend? I am not talking about mine today. Parts were nice; parts were not so nice. My baby (nearly 8 years old – stop looking at me like that) did make me a special Mother’s Day card and that was very nice.

You know, the word “mother” carries a lot of baggage – and I do not necessarily mean that in a bad way. Let’s write about it, ok? Take 15 minutes – turn off the phone, email, pagers, what-have-you, shut the door and write about the word “mother.” Go anywhere you like with it. Write about your mother, a mother you know, a mother-in-law, a mother cat/dog/horse, a mofo (stay clean, if you can), or the mother of all battles. You decide. I will post my response tomorrow.

This should be interesting. Let me know how it goes!

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BitS, write anyway, writing, mother, writing prompt, Mother’s Day

A very angry Mother Nature beat parts of the United States to a pulp over the past few days. My thoughts and hopes are with the people of what was once Greensburg, Kansas. Being from a small town, and knowing all the work, energy and love that goes into such a community, I do hope the citizens decide to rebuild.

(Update: they are.)

While I like of think it was an unfortunate coincidence, the movie “Twister” was on TV over the weekend. But the weather the plains states were suffering and the images on the TV were enough to get me wondering how many writers use the “Man vs. Nature” as their conflict of choice. Typically, I don’t. I use “Man vs. Man” or my personal favorite, “Man vs. Himself” as the main conflict for most of my fiction writing.

What do you use for conflict in your writing?

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BitS, weather, conflict, Greensburg Kansas, “Twister”, writing, write anyway

While the change of venue last week was a great jump-start to overcoming a weird case of writer’s block I was suffering, getting back into a routine is proving just as challenging. I spent some time over the weekend looking through my notes and I think I have some good ideas for taking some fiction in a different direction.

Now, to do it.

I need to warm up again, so let’s try a prompt from one of the places I go to occasionally for inspiration – wakeupwriting.com. The prompt for today: Close your eyes and think about your favorite scent. Try to capture the smell in your mind. Now journal a memory that you associate with that scent.

I will post my warm up entry using that prompt tomorrow. Until then, have a great day – and write anyway!

BitS, warm up, writing, write anyway

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Breaking through a bout of writers block, this time, for me, took a drastic change of venue. For my job, I am in Pensacola Beach, Florida, at a conference where even the president of the company putting on the conference presents wearing cargo shorts and flip-flops. These are SO my people. No suits, heels, or dress clothes came anywhere near my suitcase and I am very much ok with that!

I have to tell you, walking on the beach, feeling the sun on my shoulders, and now that the sun has gone down, hearing the waves hit the beach just beyond my balcony is having nine kinds of therapy on my withered writer’s soul.

(The very potent “Beach Sex” and “Pain Killer” frozen cocktails are rather therapeutic, too. The dorm fridge in my hotel room, well stocked with Diet Coke, Mike’s Hard Lemonade and a few other things are not hurting either.)

So for a writing prompt, I am going to free write about the beach. Since I am in a conference, I will write in fits and starts – and probably on backs of napkins during breaks, but this is so good. I cannot wait to see where it goes. I’m back in the saddle. How’s it going for you?

write anyway, writers block, Pensacola Beach, venue change, free writing, beach

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How do you manage your writing time? Do you have goals for your writing? Do you set a schedule and treat it like a job? Or is it your job? How much writing do you do? Two, five or fifteen pages every day? So many pages per week?

I read recently that people who write for websites often use the “publish to the future” tool and have everything written for the week – the WEEK – on Sunday night. (Overachievers? Um, yeah.) Provided you are not writing ‘current news’ that would probably work really well. Considering my writing muse is usually trying to help me locate lost shoes, homework assignments and clean school clothes for Monday morning, getting all that done and writing five posts to publish ‘in the future’ would probably drive her to drink.

Regardless of how you manage your writing time or how you are required to manage your writing time, it can be healthy to develop a schedule (with the understanding that schedules change, of course). Set aside some time everyday just to write, preferably not as I have to do, which juggles work, kids, and constant interruptions. Be sure to include enough time to warm up, brainstorm and focus in on your goal, whatever that may be. But write anyway!

BitS, writing, scheduling, “publish to the future”, writing goals

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Monday? Already? My how time flies when a holiday full of candy, ham, and pastel everything sucks up the weekend! My kids had Friday off school, but because of a ferocious blizzard about a month ago, Easter Monday – traditionally also a day off – finds them back in class regardless. Poor things.

Up here in the northland, we are expecting snowstorms again, and the temperatures are more like February than April. Unusual, even at this latitude. It would seem spring is having a tough time getting out of bed this year, so to help it along, I’m going to warm up this morning by writing about spring. I’ll probably start by making a list of everything I like about the season and then jump into some short paragraphs about each item on the list. It has been a while since I’ve warmed up this way, so I’ll try to put up an excerpt later – just so you can ridicule my handwriting.

At this point in the process, however, it isn’t what is actually written down, but that something is getting on the page. Right? Right? Write. Write anyway.

BitS, free writing, writing, Spring, Mondays

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Free writing and random association writing are good for idea generation, but what do you do when it comes time to really write something cohesive, organized and – um – well – understandable to readers other than yourself? Outlines, of course. For this weeks “back in the saddle” Monday, let’s walk through a mini-lesson on outlines. Ok? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

An outline can be a road map for your writing, helping you make sure you don’t wander away from your main idea or don’t forget anything important, like a beginning…a middle…and an end for essays or short stories. On the other hand, if you are writing something a tad longer, like a thesis or a novel, an outline can help you to remember certain examples or events that you want to make sure get in the work.

(Now if you are Quinton Tarantino, you will want to scramble the order of events a la Pulp Fiction, just to make it interesting. If you are the Wachowski Brothers, comic book cells will rule the day.)

Personally, I use very traditionally structured outlines for writing press releases, newsletter articles, reports and the occasional customer letter. When writing fiction, however, I use different kinds of outlines so I can keep track of plot lines, characters and such. Usually the fiction outlines are re-worked so many times that I “track changes” on the document just to keep the thought process visible. I am easily distracted.

Do you use outlines to structure your writing, organize your thoughts? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants and hope for the best? (I admit, I have done both – there is nothing wrong with either method. I’m just nosy.)

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BitS, outlines, structure, organization, writing, Tarantino, Wachowski

Mondays are difficult for most people – getting back into the grind of the workweek, pushing kids out the door to meet the school bus, finding the quicker gated steps that slowed to a plodding walk over the weekend. Slipping back into a writing grove after taking the weekend off (What – you don’t take the weekend off? *cough* overachiever *cough*) can be about as simple as saddling an ornery bronc.

So since it is Monday, let’s get Back in the Saddle gently, carefully, like allowing a well-broke even-tempered horse to wander where she may down a lovely path, with some unstructured free writing on whatever topic comes to mind. Stay in the saddle for at least 15 minutes, and make sure the horse knows you are there, but let her go wherever she wants and at her own pace. We’ll take on the broncs later in the week, if at all. Those wild horses can be scary (insert-cussword-noun-here) if you let them.

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freewriting, Mondays, writing, BitS