Fear

Posted on July 20, 2013 by restirling

Exactly what is it that holds you back from pursuing your dreams?

If it’s your moral compass then, good!

If however like many writers you’re worried that people will hate what you do then I can make you a promise right here and now. Yes, yes they will. It doesn’t matter what you write or how you write it people will hate what you do, and you are not alone in this. Consider the company you keep:

Salmaan Rushdie – Perhaps the most extreme example

JK Rowling – Not everyone loves a wizard

Anne Rice – Every time she writes someone tells her she can’t write

Ray Bradbury – Too colourful for some

Stephen King – Is told than he can write but shouldn’t

Terry Pratchett – Doesn’t he know how to make chapters?

Dickens – Too descriptive

All of these writers have been told that they shouldn’t have bothered, their work is not good. All of them suffered multiple, multiple, multiple rejections.

Should they have let that stop them?

Should you?

I can promise you that every piece of work you write will be disliked by someone, but if you like it and it’s well written then out there in the world there are people who think, feel and believe the same as you who will LOVE it.

Write for yourself and write for them.

Keep putting work out there until they find you.

Um…

Posted on July 18, 2013 by restirling

In this brave new world of Social media we are all learning the skills we need to succeed online. There is no rule book. Some people Tweet, some Blog, some Tumblr, some Facebook and some do all of those. There are very few people in the privileged position to have someone take care of everything for them and to be honest I think those people are missing out on the fun of it all. Of course they are also missing out on the nail biting stare at a blank Blog page as the clock ticks ever louder and your eyes start to burn.

We are living in a world of content. Content and context are king, and while it is true that the bewildering variety of options can make your head spin the optimist in me cries out

” Something for everyone.Yay! “

And even though I currently Blog and Twitter about writing, I could dabble in any of the other platforms available. I could even paddle in Pinterest. I haven’t, but I could.

Every social media platform needs a slightly different approach and style. They all need a different word length and some have photos some don’t but they all have one important thing in common, they need regular content.

What is the secret to regular content?

Back it up Baby!

If you are a writer then you can produce the words. Sometimes they flow easily sometimes they don’t. The muse is a capricious beast and this social media thing is most likely not your day job. You know, some of us have books to write but when you are in the flow and you have time and opportunity

Write more than one blog entry and save them up!

You don’t have to be able to write regularly to use Social media effectively but you can make more of an impact if you release your writing regularly and it is of reasonable quality. Become a reliable read and people will start to pay attention. Oh…and you can edit out the Um.

Wiser words than Mine

Posted on July 10, 2013 by restirling

Following on from my difficult day yesterday (see previous post) I decided to take a look at what other writers say about being in the writing mood. There are some excellent quotes out there and I realise that many of them are trotted out on a regular basis,you’ve probably even got the T-shirt!

Well I have dug deepish and found a few that resonated with me and I don’t think are quite so mainstream. Bear with me while I dig them out.

Hear we are:

” Inspiration is wonderful when it happens but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time. ” – Leonard Bernstein

” Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” – Stephen King

” Start before you are ready ” – Stephen Pressfield

” Don’t wait for moods. You’ll accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work. ” – Pearl S Buck

Alright, we’ve all heard the Stephen King quote but then he makes so much sense. It is sometimes difficult to keep the momentum going when you are writing.It is even harder to get the momentum started. An honest truth, ask any passing physicist. The important thing is to do it and start. Start every day. Put your mind to the matter and get words on the page. No one said they had to be good words. You don’t need to produce instant genius. You just need to produce and the genius will emerge. It can’t help it. They are kind of nosy.

So I am off now to do my bit and turn up and if inspiration strikes hallelujah! If it doesn’t I will work all the same. The more words I put down the bigger a landing strip I give it. Happy writing today and enjoy the words.

In the write mood

Posted on July 9, 2013 by restirling

Today has been a tricky day. Most of my days toddle along quietly and simply enough. I have my routines and I know them. I have my children’s schedule and I follow it. With a slim margin for error I get most people to most places most of the time. Today was different. Today I slept in.

Now most of my family are alarm clock enabled, some of them have several alarms on several electronic devices, and yet I was running from room to room this morning throwing bananas (read breakfast) at moving targets to the war cry

” You can finish dressing in the car! “

To cut a long story short everyone arrived and a frazzled me sat down at my laptop and stared at a screen as blank as my imagination. I really wasn’t in the mood. I could have just walked away and considered the day a non-starter, but I didn’t. Instead I wrote about my awful morning and how frustrated I was getting everyone to the right place. I wrote about my less than stellar waitressing ability and my lack of imagination. In fact I wrote to you.

And now my page is no longer blank and my imagination is no longer empty. I am going to sit and produce my daily word count with a happy heart. So Thank you!

I wonder if there are any bananas left.

Lie to me

Posted on June 27, 2013 by restirling

Isn’t that the basic premise of fiction? I spend all of my days writing about people who don’t do the things I say and certainly aren’t in the places I mention. Usually they aren’t even real people. In fact I am a great big “Liar liar pants on fire” most of the time.

The funny thing is that amongst all the fibs, of which there are many, the thing I am searching for is the truth. The truth of what it means to be human. The truth and mechanics of relationships. To engage a reader in a story you have to find the spark of recognition, the place where a reader realises yes I know this, I have lived this, this man is like me.

In order to get to that place your writing has to remain true to your character. Are you trying to make a person behave in a way they simply wouldn’t? Does it ring true? You see people really don’t step outside their normal range of behaviour unless they are placed in extreme circumstances and even then it is unusual.

So figure out what your character’s usual reactions would be and then you will know if you step outside them. If you are going there, do it with purpose and conviction. There are times when you can use this fact to advantage but it must be with a character your audience knows very well and I think possibly several books into a series just to shake up the pace. Part of the truth behind people is that we do things for certain reasons; sometimes we don’t know the reason, sometimes we have some insight. We are complicated and understanding and using complicated characters to get to the truth is just about the highest goal of literary fiction.

So Lie to me, I want to know the truth.

We don’t talk anymore

Posted on April 14, 2013 by restirling

No, not you and me.

I’m thinking about the writer and their subconscious.

The funny thing is that everyone has one and we pay it very little attention until it plays up. A little like the hazard warning light on the car.
Are you and your subconscious on speaking terms? If you aren’t then you will struggle to write and eventually grind to a page fearing halt.
Writer’s Block anyone?

So, how do I keep my subconscious happy?

(a) Read – Good stuff in, good stuff out.

(b) Resolve any emotional issues where possible. Forgive the guy next door for throwing the hedge clippings over the fence, forgive your mother for that awkward conversation with her best friend’s daughter, forgive yourself for Chocolate Tuesday.
I am not talking about the huge stuff that needs counselling and a 50 minute hour but life’s irritations. Just let them go. It’s not worth it.
The bird that pooped on your car is feeling better because it pooped and not worse because you are cross about it.

(c) Listen to yourself. If you are struggling to write then there may be an issue with what you are writing. Are you trying to make a character behave in a way that he/she wouldn’t.

(d) Sometimes the subconscious calls a time out because it has something else it wants to say. Leave the piece you are writing and work on a short story. Maybe write a poem or a song. When your subconscious has had its say it will let you work on your current piece.

(e) You are playing Deadline Chicken. Trust me, whichever of you blinks first it won’t be pretty.
Tell yourself that you are not writing the piece. This is not writing the piece, this is just making a list of things I would put into it if I was writing it…which I’m not.
Once you have a basic outline expand it until you have a framework. Then write a little piece for each element of the framework.
Look. Almost a piece of work but not a piece of work.
You should now be able to convince yourself that writing the copy is child’s play. It’s nearly done look.

(f) Problems pass. You won’t always struggle. Everyone struggles. Everyone has blank days and prolific days. People who succeed at writing work on the bad days and don’t sweat it.

Keep the Faith

Posted on April 13, 2013 by restirling

Writing can be an isolating experience. We throw ourselves into the worlds of our imagination. We lock horns with the intangible. We love and lose, talk of guile and greed. We engage with our internal inquisitor. It can seem a very narcissistic occupation.

The truth is that the sheer effort of writing well tends to weed out the self important and the showboater. It leaves a honed core of truly dedicated observers. We watch the world. Does that make our opinions more important than those of anyone else? More important? No. Better informed? Perhaps.

Writers are no more important than anyone else in the world. Writers are also no less important than anyone else in the world. We are its voice. So keep ploughing through that draft. Keep papering the wall with your rejections. Keep learning to use the subjunctive. Keep editing. Keep growing.

This is who you are

and it’s good.

The rules of the road

Posted on April 10, 2013 by restirling

Grammar.

It’s a funny old word. One that makes some people smile and other people cry.
Literary marmite (vegemite).

I often get told that

“It’s okay for you but I can’t get my head around it.”

Well the bad thing about grammar is that there are a lot of rules. The good thing about grammar is that there are a lot of rules.
If you come across a rule that you don’t understand does it occur to you that you have come across a teacher who doesn’t know how to explain it to you?
Or do you give up?

Heck lady/Mister…buy a different book! Go to a different class. Look at a different tutorial online. You do realise that teachers aren’t one size fits all?
Every person works differently, thinks differently, reasons differently and breaks down their understanding of grammar differently.
Oh yes, the rules stay the same but the teaching?
Not so much.

Don’t be so quick to let that rattler go.
You can understand it.
Approach it from another direction.

stirlingwriter

putting thoughts on the page

Tag Archives: motivation