Last week we explored where to find ideas to jump-start your writing, now we need to find the time to write. Time is limited, and for most people, the demands on their time are unlimited. Even when there’s not a day job, there’s still friends and family and numerous other obligations vying for your attention.
If you have a lot of demands on your time, it’s actually helpful to establish a regular time each day to write. Get up early and write before anyone else is up, take a notepad with you to lunch, or stop off at a coffee shop on your way home from work. Students often have time on their hands between classes. Stay-at-home parents can write during nap time. Your schedule may evolve as your life changes, but most people get more done if they have a regular writing time.
Find the best time of day for you to write. It’s a combination of when you are most alert and when you have free time. Pick that time and write. Shut off distractions. Don’t answer the phone, don’t come to the door. For as little or as much time as you are writing, do only that.
Take a look at your life and see where all your time is going. Cut back on some of the less important tasks or, if you have a family, start delegating. Watch two hours of TV instead of four. Go out twice a week instead of every night. Decide that you aren’t going to bring your work home. Make some sacrifices. Decide that your writing is worth it.
Most people don’t make writing a high enough priority. They intend to write, but end up running errands or whatever. These activities are nothing more than excuses not to write. Turn that around. Make writing an excuse not to do other things.
While it’s important to write every day, don't let yourself become obsessed in the beginning, especially if you’re the kind of person who tends to throw themselves into new projects only have their interest wane after a few weeks. Write for your hour or two and then continue with your daily routine. Remember that you're in it for the long haul. Your mind needs time to replenish itself so don’t be afraid to take the occasional break .
Support yourself in as many ways as possible. Writing isn’t easy. Books on writing can help, as does having a specific place to write. Join a writer’s group or on-line writer’s community. Associating with a few people who share your interests and struggles helps motivate and sustain you.
Writing is not for everyone. You may want to write, but maybe the desire isn’t enough to keep you from doing more entertaining or pressing activities. If you keep trying, and failing, to make the time to write, then maybe writing’s not for you. Don’t feel guilty about letting it go, perhaps it will become more meaningful to you at another point in your life. When it is important enough to you to make some sacrifices, you’ll be able to make them. Until then, adjust to the fact that writing is something you like, but not necessarily enough to be a writer.
Finding Time to Write, by Moira Allen
Finding Time to Write, by Martha Retallick
Five Tips for Finding Writing Time, by Michael Stelzner
Finding the Time to Write, by Sahag Gureghian
Finding Time to Write
..
Showing posts with label writing craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing craft. Show all posts
2010-06-30
I Have An Idea!
After giving it some thought, I decided my Pearls of Wisdom should start at the beginning. And in the beginning, the question so often asked is: Where do you get your ideas?
I used to tell anyone who asked me that I got my ideas from the Idea Of The Month Club. To be honest, I couldn’t understand how someone could want to write and not have a head full of ideas already.
Then I started doing a series on different forms of poetry and when it came time to write examples, I would find myself sitting there on Wednesday nights trying to come up with an idea for a poem. I’d look around me, I’d surf the net, and I’d come up empty. Suddenly I found myself sympathizing with anyone who’s ever wanted to write but didn’t know what to write about.
So where do you get an idea? While ideas in general are all around you, they can also be triggered by many different things:
Magazine Photographs: Most people have a few magazines laying around. Flip one open and look at some of the pictures. Sometimes the most unique ideas can be triggered by a picture from a magazine. I have an extensive collection of pictures I’ve cut from magazines – people, places, gardens, dishes – anything that catches my eye.
Freewrite: Write for 10 minutes without stopping, without worrying about grammar, and without reading what you wrote. Once you're finished, you can read it. This technique will help you access those creative ideas hiding in your subconscious.
Look at a Book: Take a book you have nearby and write down the first 10 words you see. Choose words that you don't normally use. Then, freewrite a paragraph or two using the 10 words. This exercise can lead you in a creative direction.
Market Research: Read through a publisher’s market listings and guidelines, even if it’s an area you don’t normally write in. Often an editor’s request can set off the idea for a new story or article. Even requests for non-fiction articles can generate ideas for fiction.
Newspaper Articles: Read through the weekly papers, even the freebies. Real life is a great starting point for fiction. I once used an article from a newspaper as the basis for a poem, which led to a short story as well. Tabloids are especially good for generating ideas.
Science and Technology Magazines: These are full of the latest discoveries and technological advances. They are particularly helpful when plotting science fiction and futuristic stories.
Psychology Books: Psychology and abnormal psychology textbooks are invaluable for providing information on character. They provide background, motivation, and deep insight into human behavior. Check out the Diagnostic Statistic Manual (DSM) for lists of various character traits, which can be used for profiles.
Contests: Most contests force you to write about a specific subject or theme by a certain deadline. This gets not only gets you started on an idea, it helps keep you motivated to finish your story. Even if you don’t win the contest, you’ll still have a finished story you can try selling elsewhere.
Senior Citizens: Everyone has a story to tell, and most seniors are only too happy to share. Talk to your grandmother, great-grandfather, parents, an uncle, a friend. The possibilities of creating powerful stories from their memories are endless. Their tales could set off an historical novel, a nonfiction book, even a murder mystery.
People Watch: Go to a busy mall or other public place and watch the people as they pass by. Pick out a person, imagine yourself in his shoes and start from there.
The best way to find ideas is to play What If. Things are happening all around you. Even a mundane task in your daily life can turn into a story with what if. Perhaps you have to run to the store to pick up some bread – what if you arrive just in time to witness a robbery? What if that bone the dog dug up is from a corpse buried in the woods? What if that weird looking bug is the beginning of a plague of insects?
Above all, when looking for ideas never limit yourself. Then, when someone asks you where you get your story ideas, you'll be able to say "everywhere."
Here's a few more ideas to get you started:
100 Writing Ideas
Creative Writing Prompts
Random Word Generator
Writer’s Digest Prompt a Day
Imagination Prompt Generator
I used to tell anyone who asked me that I got my ideas from the Idea Of The Month Club. To be honest, I couldn’t understand how someone could want to write and not have a head full of ideas already.
Then I started doing a series on different forms of poetry and when it came time to write examples, I would find myself sitting there on Wednesday nights trying to come up with an idea for a poem. I’d look around me, I’d surf the net, and I’d come up empty. Suddenly I found myself sympathizing with anyone who’s ever wanted to write but didn’t know what to write about.
So where do you get an idea? While ideas in general are all around you, they can also be triggered by many different things:
Magazine Photographs: Most people have a few magazines laying around. Flip one open and look at some of the pictures. Sometimes the most unique ideas can be triggered by a picture from a magazine. I have an extensive collection of pictures I’ve cut from magazines – people, places, gardens, dishes – anything that catches my eye.
Freewrite: Write for 10 minutes without stopping, without worrying about grammar, and without reading what you wrote. Once you're finished, you can read it. This technique will help you access those creative ideas hiding in your subconscious.
Look at a Book: Take a book you have nearby and write down the first 10 words you see. Choose words that you don't normally use. Then, freewrite a paragraph or two using the 10 words. This exercise can lead you in a creative direction.
Market Research: Read through a publisher’s market listings and guidelines, even if it’s an area you don’t normally write in. Often an editor’s request can set off the idea for a new story or article. Even requests for non-fiction articles can generate ideas for fiction.
Newspaper Articles: Read through the weekly papers, even the freebies. Real life is a great starting point for fiction. I once used an article from a newspaper as the basis for a poem, which led to a short story as well. Tabloids are especially good for generating ideas.
Science and Technology Magazines: These are full of the latest discoveries and technological advances. They are particularly helpful when plotting science fiction and futuristic stories.
Psychology Books: Psychology and abnormal psychology textbooks are invaluable for providing information on character. They provide background, motivation, and deep insight into human behavior. Check out the Diagnostic Statistic Manual (DSM) for lists of various character traits, which can be used for profiles.
Contests: Most contests force you to write about a specific subject or theme by a certain deadline. This gets not only gets you started on an idea, it helps keep you motivated to finish your story. Even if you don’t win the contest, you’ll still have a finished story you can try selling elsewhere.
Senior Citizens: Everyone has a story to tell, and most seniors are only too happy to share. Talk to your grandmother, great-grandfather, parents, an uncle, a friend. The possibilities of creating powerful stories from their memories are endless. Their tales could set off an historical novel, a nonfiction book, even a murder mystery.
People Watch: Go to a busy mall or other public place and watch the people as they pass by. Pick out a person, imagine yourself in his shoes and start from there.
The best way to find ideas is to play What If. Things are happening all around you. Even a mundane task in your daily life can turn into a story with what if. Perhaps you have to run to the store to pick up some bread – what if you arrive just in time to witness a robbery? What if that bone the dog dug up is from a corpse buried in the woods? What if that weird looking bug is the beginning of a plague of insects?
Above all, when looking for ideas never limit yourself. Then, when someone asks you where you get your story ideas, you'll be able to say "everywhere."
Here's a few more ideas to get you started:
100 Writing Ideas
Creative Writing Prompts
Random Word Generator
Writer’s Digest Prompt a Day
Imagination Prompt Generator
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)