of writing. They may work for you, too. Try them.
=> Tip One: Pay attention to images
[https://plus.google.com/107077492102284960571]
Your right brain thinks in images, and when you write, you translate images from
your right brain into words. Usually this process happens so quickly that you're
unaware of it. If you can make this process conscious, you can goose up your own
creativity. Stephen King calls this process "writing with the third eye --- the eye of
imagination and memory."
To get the hang of this, try Jean Houston's process, adapted from her book, *The
Possible Human*. (URL above.)
=> Tip Two: Making mud/ laying track
Your first draft of any piece of work is "mud" --- raw material. Julia Cameron refers
to your first draft as "laying track", another term I like.
If the first draft's awful, great! It's meant to be. It's only raw material. However, if
you don’t create the first draft, or you wait until you have a really great idea that's
worth a first draft, you won’t write anything. Write. Make mud.
=> Tip Three: Just write --- think on the page, or on the screen, NOT in your head
Thinking too much while you write is treacherous, because you can spend two hours
"writing" and end up with half a page of work. Write-think. That is, think on the
page, not in your head.
=> Tip Four: Grow your writing with lists
Listing is a form of brainstorming. It grows your writing, and it's fun.
Listing is an excellent technique to use when you get stuck in your writing, and it
doesn’t matter what kind of writing you're doing, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction.
Listing also helps you in the revision process, to add texture to your work.
Here's an excellent FREE software program to help you to produce lists, and to save
them:
http://www.flashpeak.com/slimlist/slimlist.htm
=> Tip Five: Use your magical thesaurus
Your most useful listing tool is ---- a thesaurus. Keep one on your desk to kickstart
your brain.
Your thesaurus and dictionary are perfect kickstarters. They're also vital tools
whenever you're revising.
=> Tip Six: Make writing the FIRST thing you do each day
If you write at least page, by hand, as soon as you get up, you'll find that writing
comes more easily to you for the rest of the day. You're also more focused and
relaxed for the rest of the day.
=> Tip Seven: Set WIG goals --- the best goals are always unrealistic
Writer Martha Beck calls unrealistic goals WIGs: Wildly Improbable Goals. In the
September 2002 issue of Oprah magazine she says: "… learning to invite and accept
your own WIG can awaken you to a kind of ubiquitous, benevolent magic, a river of
enchantment that perpetually flows to your destiny."
A WIG is exciting. Just thinking about a WIG will get your heart pounding. Working
toward your WIG (writing a book, writing a screenplay, getting signed on as a
contributor at a mass-market magazine) takes hard work. Lots of hard work.
And at the end of that hard work, as Beck points out, you achieve your goal, but
there's a twist. You never achieve it exactly as you envisioned it – you achieve
something even better, something you could never have imagined.
I'm a great believer in writing ABOUT your goals. This is because when you write,
you're using both sides of your brain, and are accessing your unconscious mind as
well. You live in your left brain, which you regard as "you", but you have a silent
partner, your right brain, which is also you, and which communicates via images
and feelings.
=> Tip Eight: Separate writing and editing
Writing comes first, then editing. If you try to combine the two, you will block.
Writing should come as easily to you as chatting to a friend. If it doesn’t, you're
trying to edit in your head before you get the words on paper, or on the computer
screen. If you're not aware of the danger of combining writing and editing, you'll
make writing hard for yourself, when it should be easy. If you don’t have trouble
talking, how can you have trouble writing?
=> Tip Nine: It's good to struggle with your writing
In his book The Breakout Principle, Dr Herbert Benson (who also wrote The
Relaxation Response) describes a struggle/ release process that leads to a new level
of awareness. When you struggle, and then completely give up the struggle --- just
give up --- there's a chance that you can achieve a peak experience which leads you
to a new level of functioning.
How does this work in your writing? Let's say that you're writing a novel. This work
is hard for you. However, you keep at it faithfully, working on your novel each day.
You struggle with it for weeks. Then you give up. Although you keep writing, you
say to yourself: "I don’t care any more what garbage I write. I'm just going to do it.
I'm just going to write."
This release leads to writing magic. Suddenly you're inspired, and you finish the
book in a rush. Although you will still occasionally struggle with your writing
(because struggle is a part of life), you've broken through to a new level of
functioning in your work.
This new level would not, and could not, have happened without the struggle.
=> Tip Ten: Good writing = truthful writing
Writing truthfully can feel like undressing in public, so many beginning writers worry
about sharing their writing.
Be compassionate. Firstly, to yourself. Write. Write for yourself. All writing takes
courage.
When you finally show your writing to others, you discover the amazing truth that
_no one cares_. In her book "Writing To Save Your Life", Michele Weldon advises:
"Get over yourself". No one is judging what you write. So write.
Stuck in your writing career? Get a coach! Angela Booth coaches writers in copywriting (writing for business), nonfiction, and fiction. A veteran writer, published by major publishers worldwide, Angela is also an experienced writing teacher, who knows how to inspire and motivate. You CAN make a success of your writing career. Free daily info for writers at her blog: http://copywriter.typepad.com/ Start your writing coaching today by contacting Angela at her site http://angelabooth.com/ Angela offers personal one-on-one e-courses and mentoring for all forms of writing. Ask for a low-cost initial phone or email consultation.
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