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Tips & Tricks – Motivating Ourselves to Write

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Hello and welcome to Tips & Tricks with the Rubies!

So if you haven’t heard, there’s a pandemic going on. I know – crazy! The pandemic is affecting all sorts of things, including productivity.

For some writers, diving into their work has given them a wonderful escape, and their word counts are multiplying faster than the bunnies in my backyard. If you are one of those authors, this edition of Tips & Tricks is not for you, and I am very jealous of you right now.

For other writers <waves hand>, anxiety and distraction are throwing proverbial cogs or stones or whole cows into their well-oiled writing machines, making them grind to a halt. On a normal writing day (keep in mind, I do not work a second job), I write 2000+ words. These days, with my adult kids home (I use the term “adult” very loosely), my middle schooler struggling with remote learning, and anxiety turning us all nuttier than usual, I’m lucky if I get 500 words in a day. Ugh!

Anxiety and distraction are the squashers of creativity!

Last week, the Rubies started discussing this issue on our loop. Those of us in need of help hung on every bit of awesome advice given. Here are a few ideas that came up and a few of my own.

These first five tips come from Louisa Cornell.

  1. Read. Read the kind of books you want to write. Or read the complete opposite of what you write, but read. Every day. Even if it is just a chapter. Read. Sometimes you just need to prime the pump.
  2. Write down ideas for stories. And I mean ANY idea that comes to you. Doesn’t matter if you think it sucks or it is too wild or crazy to think of. Doesn’t matter if it is in a genre you NEVER thought you’d write. Just write down ideas. Sketches. Characters. Whatever comes to you.
  3. Read the human interest stories in the newspapers. I read the London papers every day. I read the weird articles. The stuff they print just to get you to click on the article. Just scan the websites and read what catches your eye.
  4. Read writing craft books. Do you have a stack of them like I do? Now is the time to read them. Do the exercises. And by do, I mean write it all down. You’ll be surprised at what comes out of that.
  5. Journal your frustrations. Write it all down with brutal honesty. I write myself scathing letters and then I write myself pimp slaps of “How many books have you written, bitch? Get over yourself and write some more!” I also have excerpts from my favorite reviews printed on a page with my book cover and framed hanging on my walls. My way of telling myself “Not only have I done this, but I’ve done it well!”

Jennifer Bray Webber added:

  1. Move your laptop to a different writing location, which can spark something new.
  2. Volunteer to beta-read for someone or critique someone’s writing. It can sometimes give you a jolt.

Things I have done:

  1. Look at pictures. I’m a very visual writer. Pictures of people in the time period I am writing or line of work really help ideas or dialogue pop up in my mind. I also make collages of the pictures for plotting and character building.

    Collage for Highland Conquest

  2. Play music that reminds you of characters. I listen while I’m cooking dinner or washing dishes. The mood of the music often brings up dramatic ideas, and I find myself rushing to write them on a notebook page before I forget them.
  3. Watch documentaries about the time period. There are some great ones on YouTube about the Tudor period and Victorian period. I am watching one on the castles of Britain on Netflix right now.
  4. Stop into our Ruby chat room to sprint. Hope Ramsay is there every morning with a group. The chat room stays open all year, and it’s a great place to go to remind yourself to try to get those words in.

With all these ideas, I wonder why I still have trouble writing. Maybe it’s because I’m not DOING these suggestions. Knowing about and doing are very different things. So this week, I will try a number of them and see if that helps.

If you have ideas for helping those of us who are stuck in the pandemic unproductive rut, please add them in the comments.

But I have to say, and please listen to me say this loud and clear… You are still a writer even if you are not writing like normal, or at all right now. It is okay not to be producing words when the world is falling apart. And even if the physical world isn’t completely falling apart, your world might be. So where others can plow through these “uncertain times” or even find they are more productive right now – you do not need to be. This is a season, not a full lifetime. Honor the season, breathe, and forgive yourself. Check back in with your stories now and then, and if you feel inspired to get the words down, run with it. But know that you will always be a writer at heart.

Thanks everyone and stay safe!

Heather

 

 


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