Archive for June, 2006

Maintaining Motivation as a Writer and Blogger

3 Comments »3rd June, 2006; Category: Blogging, Blogs, The Writer's Life

Stop. Revive. Survive.

This is the slogan used in many driver safety campaigns. Drivers are encouraged to stop driving, especially on long journeys in the country, take time out to revive and in so doing to survive. Good advice.

Writers and bloggers are vulnerable to writer’s fatigue. Setting a cracking pace can ultimately have a negative effect. The pressure of posting daily or an upcoming publisher’s deadline can have a crippling effect on one’s effectiveness as a writer.

Shai Coggins has taken up this point in her posting called “Stop. Revive. Survive.”

…blogging is like a journey. When you start to blog, you open up a whole new world online. And, like with any kind of journey, it is always exciting to begin.

But, excitement fades at times and exhaustion creeps in eventually. When this happens, it’s time to stop and revive. Otherwise, bloggers who try to continue past this stage end up feeling burnt out – to the point of completely giving up.

She goes on to give some very sound advice in maintaining motivation as a writer or a blogger. I believe that creating a mental and physical freshness will result in far more effective writing. I know that a dull mind can easily create dull writing.

Some Suggestions:

Here are some of my suggestions for remaining fresh and motivated:

Get up and do some stretching exercises.
Go for a walk around the garden and literally smell the roses.
Turn away from the computer screen and see how many different birds you can see out side (I’m a bird watcher so this can be VERY refreshing and VERY distracting)
Read today’s newspaper – a change of pace and often a source of inspiration for writing.
Take time out for thirty minutes and do the crossword in the paper; it’s an excellent mental stimulation and increases your word knowledge.
Revisit your favourite book and dip into it anywhere (but don’t keep reading for hours (keep it for bed time).
Ring a friend and chat for ten minutes about anything (but don’t talk for hours).
Go to your favourite chair and day dream for twenty minutes (but don’t have a “grandpa nap” like I find myself doing, especially late in the afternoon).

These are some things that work for me.

Each person has a different way of reviving the flagging spirit and body.

What works for you? Leave your comments so that we can all benefit.

Writing Advice from a Published Author

No Comments »2nd June, 2006; Category: Authors, The Writer's Life

Australian fantasy writer Kate Forsyth has thirteen published books to here credit and a string of fans around the globe. She is a guest speaker at this year’s National Science Fiction Convention, Conflux 3 being held in Canberra.

In an interview on ABC News Online (Arts and Entertainment) Kate advocates the three Ts for writing success:

Talent

“The first of these is talent, which I think you are born with and which I think manifests itself in a love of language, a love of books, the fact that you read and write a lot from a very young age, a particular love of the sound and meaning of words,” she said.

Technique

“The next T is technique, and I think technique can be taught and I think there are an awful lot of authors out there who have raw talent but haven’t learnt their technique, and I think there are quite a few writers who have very little talent but have worked hard and acquired the technique.

Tenacity

“The last of the three Ts and perhaps the greatest is tenacity, because you have have all the talent in the world but if you get discouraged at the very first rejection you get and you never send out anything again then you’ll never be published.”

She goes on to warn about sending out writing to publishers before it is ready. She often revises her writing through three drafts, with some sections being reworked up to thirty times.

She concludes by saying that fantasy is hot at the moment, but that storytelling is as old as civilisation.

“If you go right back to the dawn of civilisation the storytellers around the campfires were always telling stories of heroes and monsters and magic and God and miracles, this is the stuff of human storytelling,” she said.

Good story tellers will always be in demand.

I need to stop blogging for a while and start some story telling of my own.

Updated November 2013.

Writing Advice from an Editor

2 Comments »1st June, 2006; Category: General, Short Stories, The Writer's Life

Ellen Datlow is a highly awarded, respected and experienced editor in the field of speculative fiction. Many prominent writers have been edited by her, including the likes of Stephen King. She was recently interviewed while in Australia as an international guest of honour at the National Science Fiction Convention (Conflux conference in Canberra). A part of the interview has been published on the ABC News Arts and Entertainment column.

In the interview Ellen gave some important advice for aspiring writers of short stories in general, not just in the speculative fiction genre.

“One thing writers must do is keep sending out stories, you can’t sit and wait, you can’t send one story out and wait and see what the response is,” she said.

“Keep writing, keep producing, write many stories – send them out and then write another.

This is an area where I need to improve – vastly improve. My mother misnamed me. My middle name should be “procrastinate.” I busy myself with so many non-productive tasks that the real business of writing gets neglected. Publishers are loathe to come knocking on your door demanding your next story – unless you have a name like Stephen King et al.

Write, write, write and send those stories out. Then get back to writing and send some more out. Then, if you have say, fifteen stories out there being considered, and one rejection letter comes back, you still have fourteen “live” stories. Then dry the tears, and send out the rejected story to someone else with hopefully better judgment than the editor who just rejected your story. And keep on writing.

This is one of the reason I love blogging. One is “published” immediately with a potential world-wide audience. Then there is the wonderful feedback from readers in the comments section. A simple, cheap dialogue with readers is now available, giving one a closer sense of community with one’s readers.

A final piece of advice from Ellen concerns the writer’s voice.

“Develop your own voice – I think a lot of young writers think they’re doing something new but there aren’t that many new ideas. It’s the way the idea is approached. That’s much more important than a new idea, whether in science fiction, fantasy or horror.”

This is not as easy to do. Getting a new slant on an old theme, or a well worn story line takes thought, creativity, inspiration and hard work.