Tag Archives: am Writing

What’s in Your Writer’s Closet?

Writer Motivation, ,

What’s in Your Writer’s Closet? I last posted here two months ago. You might say I took a summer vacation. Now autumn approaches and I anticipate the invigoration of bracing evenings and new promise in the air. It’s time to get moving again. Time to check out where to begin.

An animal prepares to burrow in – out of the flow – at autumn time. Not so with humans. We are ready to reenter the flow. To shake off the humid torpor and plunge into the vitality of life. Writers are ready to plunge also. To re-engage our psyches and set loose our imaginations.

In his wonderful book On Writing, Stephen King offers good advice about that. Sit down every morning and do the work. Two-thousand words minimum. Or thousands more, if you can manage it. He is a taskmaster for sure. His career is evidence of the wisdom of the task.

Keep on writing whatever may occur. I’ve signed my own books with those words for many years. I cherish the phrase and the sentiment. I pass them on with every good wish in my heart, especially to beginners on this path. But what will you keep on writing as a new season begins?

A writer writes – whatever that may entail. Maybe not always a host of novel pages to start with. A writer may scribble ideas on notecards. A writer may fill journal pages when the morning gifts her with inspiration. A writer may stare at the wall and just imagine. It all counts.

For me the way back in led to a peek inside my writer’s closet. A writer’s closet is the place where we store the stories we gave up on. The stories we dropped in their tracks. The stories we abandoned when a shinier new idea came along. We all have a writer’s closet.

What I found in my writer’s closet was a story that hit a snag. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Supposedly. The boulder in this particular writing road was a scene that didn’t work. It didn’t fit with what came before. I could have pressed on. Instead, I walked away.

Autumn inspires us to see old roads with new eyes. The spark of potential rekindles. Maybe not a full blaze at first. Maybe only a flash of light. We see it and feel it all the same. We rediscover a path we can dance again, possibly to an altered tune. I saw. I felt. I am dancing.

What’s in Your Writer’s Closet? Take a peek. Look for a story you might dance to again. Look for a story you already tingle to tackle each morning. A spark of potential recognized anew. You see it. You feel it. Your heart jumps. Your imagination stirs. You begin to dance.

Alice Orr – https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

ASK ALICE Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know – in your writing work and in your writer’s life? Ask that question in the Comments section following this post. Share your writer’s journey and inspire future posts.

Alice has published 16 novels, 3 novellas and a memoir so far. She wrote her nonfiction book No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells as a gift to the writers’ community. Her latest novel – A Time of Fear & Loving – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5 – is available HERE.

A Time of Fear & Loving

Praise for A Time of Fear & Loving: “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.” “The best one yet!”

Look for all of Alice’s books HERE.

https://www.facebook.com/aliceorrwriter
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
http://pinterest.com/aliceorrwriter/

Alice’s Survive and Thrive Secrets for Writers

Writing Life Lessons, ,

Alice’s Survive and Thrive Secrets for Writers. Whatever happens, we must make certain we survive and thrive, as writers and as humans. A learning curve to be sure, and we struggle to surmount it. Some fall by the wayside. You may worry you could someday be among them, but you can prevent that. These are my Survive and Thrive Secrets.

Secret #1 – Be the Best You Can Be In the Present. Which does not mean to bury yourself in work and anxiety-inducing responsibilities. The first step is to identify your writing career goals. Not the goals someone else makes you feel you should attain. Your own true goals, the ones that won’t stress you out and burn you down.

Brainstorm these Good Goals. Sit with a piece of paper and/or a recording device and let your imagination fly. Do not edit yourself. Do not say, “That’s a ridiculous idea.” Or, “I can’t possibly do that.” Just write everything down, and say this to your inner critic. “Get lost!” Silencing discouraging voices is crucial among Alice’s Survive and Thrive Secrets for Writers.How to Put Your Writer Psyche on Your Side - www.aliceorrbooks,com

Review your Goal Possibilities List. Do so quickly. Read – or listen – through all of the ideas you have come up with and do so in a kind of rush. Check mark each goal idea that strikes you at heart level in a positive way as something you would really love to do. Winnow those heart-struck choices down to three at most. These are the goals tailormade for you to pursue.

Secret #2 – Stay Future-Focused. Study the publishing industry to scope out trends, not so you can chase after them, but so you are savvy about what is happening in the book-buying and book-reading marketplace. Always remember that many trends are just fads. They will fade and be gone before you can scramble onto the fad train to follow them.

On the Other Hand, you may Find Something with Legs. A trend that has taken a deep hold on the book world and looks like it will last. One that suits the way you want to move forward toward your own tailormade goals. Never sacrifice those goals for any market trend.

Secret #3 – Remain Past-Perfect. Hearken back to the basics. Do this again and again throughout your career. The basics of writing art and craft are the firm foundation upon which you must always stand. The tried and true remains tried and true. Storytelling basics do not succumb to trends.

Secret #4 – Cultivate the Art of Self Re-Invention. Exercise career flexibility. This is not a contradiction of what I have said before here. Any change of career direction you may contemplate must always take into primary account your personal tailormade goals. We are talking about an alternate route to those goals, not about abandoning their highway altogether.

Before you Contemplate any Change – Re-imagine the skills you already have. Brainstorm yet again, employing the same rules I have described above. What have you done in your writing career? What have you learned? Also, what have you most enjoyed? These are your skills.

Do Not Abandon your Skills – Adapt them. If you reach a legitimately insurmountable roadblock obstructing your path toward your goals, consider altering that path. Use the skills you have already acquired to accomplish that. This way you make your fresh start already ahead.

The Ultimate Secret – Persist Till You Prevail. Practice this proverb. “Fall down seven times. Get up eight.” Or as many times as are necessary to survive, necessary to thrive. Never give up. When you are tempted to do so, brainstorm this. Goethe said, “Be bold and great forces will come to your aid.” Yet another of Alice’s Survive and Thrive Secrets for Writers and for life.

Alice Orr – www.aliceorrbooks.com

ASK ALICE Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know – in your writing work and in your writer’s life? Email aliceorrbooks@gmail.com. Or add a comment question to this post. I will be honored to respond.

Alice has published 16 novels, 3 novellas and a memoir so far. She wrote her nonfiction book No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells as a gift to the writers’ community. Her latest novel – A Time of Fear & Loving – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5 – is available HERE.

A Time of Fear & Loving

Praise for A Time of Fear & Loving: “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.” “The best one yet!”

Look for all of Alice’s books HERE.

https://www.facebook.com/aliceorrwriter
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
http://pinterest.com/aliceorrwriter/

 

 

How to Notch Up Your Writer Discipline

Writers Life, ,

How to Notch Up Your Writer Discipline. For starters, write regularly. Let the rich experience of creativity sink deep into your psyche until you feel out of balance without it. I used to say, “One page or one hour a day minimum.” Now I say, “Often enough to feel the need to return the next day.”

Discipline Your Work Environment. Carve out a corner of your own. Virginia Woolf talked about “a room of your own.” Crowded circumstances can preclude that. A space that encourages a writing mood will suffice. Make that space as private and comfortable as you need it to be. Keep your writing paraphernalia nearby. Notebooks, files, pens, computer, a lamp shade covered in story ideas.

Acquire Quality Writing Equipment. Do so by disciplining your spending on other things if that is necessary. Most important, do so by believing this absolutely crucial truth. You deserve what you need to succeed.

Discipline Your Commitments. Cut out every non-writing activity that you can. Ask yourself, “Is there somebody else who can do this? Does it have to be me?” Say no to new requests for your time and energy. Ease the inevitable disappointed reaction with a smile and this gentle suggestion. “Ask me again next year.”

The Exception is When You are Paying It Forward. Invest in your career by investing yourself in your writing community as often as you can manage. Find a balance that benefits both you and others. Do not hide your generosity. Serve in the spotlight, but do not brag. Graciously accept thanks and acknowledgement of your efforts.

Discipline Your Family and Friends. Post your work hours. The refrigerator door is a good place to do that. Insist on no interruptions at those times. Tell your people how important your writing is to you. Make them hear you. Eventually, they will get it. Do not back down.

Discipline Your Telephone. List your daily work hours on your voicemail message. Say that you do not take calls during your work hours and mean it. Keep a smile in your voice, but do not apologize. Mention the hours when you do receive calls. Eventually, they will get it. Do not back down.

Discipline Your Online Activity. Identify your personal online time-burners. Activities that are minimally productive to your career. If you cannot resist, do not indulge during your best brain time. Never indulge during your writing work hours. Use your online activity to build your career, your public platform, your visibility. Limit online playtime to your dim brain hours.

Escape-Write through Stress. Life is full of stressful situations. They can stop your writing progress in its tracks. Use that stress to enhance your writing instead. Powerful storytelling is intense, so is stress. Incorporate how you are feeling into a dramatic scene from your current work. Your body, breath, immediate environment. Feel it all. Adapt it all.

The Purpose of Discipline is to Carry You Deep into Your Story and Keep You There. John Gardner called this place “the dream of the book.” Discipline helps you inhabit that dream and write from deep inside your imagination. Because deep inside is where your best stories live. Discipline helps you get there. How to Notch Up Your Writer Discipline.

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Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Blogs for writers at www.aliceorrbooks.com. Former literary agent. Author of 16 novels, 3 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Novel That Sells. Amazon says, “This book has it all.” Updated version coming soon. Look for all of Alice’s books HERE.

Alice’s latest novel – A Time of Fear & Loving – Riverton Road Suspense Series Book 5 – is available HERE.A Time of Fear & Loving

Praise for A Time of Fear & Loving: “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end. The best one yet!”

https://www.facebook.com/aliceorrwriter
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
http://pinterest.com/aliceorrwriter/