Brainstorm Your Way Out of Writers Block

If you're feeling stuck, or can't quite get the plot or story right, you may want to brainstorm your way out of your block. A paper posted at the University of North Carolina website gives students brainstorming ideas for writing term papers, but the principles apply to fiction writers as well.

From looking at similes to clustering/mapping/webbing to free writing, there are a number of great brainstorming topics outlined in this paper. www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/brainstorming.html

This article was posted in the July 20 issue of OnceWritten.com's Writing Sparks newsletter.

Covering Covers

In this week's "Promote Your Book" tip, we talk about the importance of a good looking cover design.

Good design can be a tricky thing. People can react very differently to the same images. Bad design, however, is usually pretty easy to pick out. A forum at http://covers.fwis.com/ posts a variety of covers that are considered "good-looking" or at least visually noticeable covers, and then lets users make comments as to whether they agree or not.

This article was posted in the July 6 issue of OnceWritten.com's Writing Sparks newsletter.

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Elizabeth Lucas Taylor
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Wayne L. Misner
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Tim Newman
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Jeff Gerth, Don Van Natta, Jr.
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Megan Crane
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Kurt Wenzel
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Marcia Muller
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Michael Losier
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Leslie Sansone
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Marcus Luttrell
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A Font of Knowledge

When composing your written masterpieces, do you have a favorite font?

Okay, I totally stole this week's creativity booster from WritersDigest.com, but when I saw this link, I couldn't resist passing it along to OnceWritten.com subscribers.

In their last newsletter, Writers Digest references an article at slate.com, which interviewed prominent writers to see what their favorite font was? If you want to see the complete results, visit: http://www.slate.com/id/2166947/

This article was posted in the June 1 issue of OnceWritten.com's Writing Sparks newsletter.

Creating Your Reality with Goal Setting

You know that when you write down your plans and goals they have a much better chance of becoming reality. Having them bounce around in your brain, competing with all the other noise that's up there is great, but for dramatically increase results, you have to write it down. It never ceases to amaze me, on my own goal (AKA to do) lists how I'll write down every little thing I can think of, both for long and short term goals, and even if I've completely forgotten that list existed, when I come across it years later, most of the items have been done. In order to help you figure out your most pressing goals, Cigna Health has developed a goal-setting worksheet that is pretty cool. Print this sheet out, take yourself on a nice, quiet, solo Starbucks date, and just spend an hour dreaming about and planning your future. Cigna Health Goal Setting Worksheet.

This article was posted in the May 7 issue of OnceWritten.com's Writing Sparks newsletter.

Trying to Do Too Much?

Like most creative types, you are probably trying to accomplish too many thing at once. Wearing the cap of worker, parent, friend, spouse, child, and numerous other labels is often in direct conflict with trying to wear the writer's mantle. Stress becomes a frequent companion when we try to to be perfect or even when we try to do too much. If you are looking for a way to de-stressify (not sure that's a word, but I like it) your life, visit the Ririan Project blog, for a posting on "Ten Commandments for a Stress-Free Life." Scroll down, past the Google ads, for a common sense reminder on how to live your own life to the fullest. www.ririanproject.com/2006/11/22/ten-commandments-for-a-stress-free-life/.

This article was posted in the May 1 issue of OnceWritten.com's Writing Sparks newsletter.

Do Something New Every Day

Many of the pundits suggest that a great way to become more creative is to do something new every day. While a daily novelty may be a hard schedule to keep, at least once a week try to fire up your creative juices by finding new things to do. If you're having a hard time coming up with new ideas, the Discover Fun website offers 1,200 suggestions (in 30 categories) of "Fun Things to Do." My favorite section is the spontaneous section. The part about asking people which direction to take made me think of the time my friend and I headed out on Sunset Boulevard with a video camera and told people that we were filming a movie. We just loved the responses we got when we asked them to be in our film. And I based a recent short story of mine on one of the people we met that day. www.discoverfun.com.

This article was posted in the April 9 issue of OnceWritten.com's Writing Sparks newsletter.

What If You Could Make Headlines?

Okay so maybe you aren't ready yet to start generating real headlines, but still, if you're thinking about your name in lights, you might want to use the news to create a creative visualization for yourself. Write down one of your goals, edit it into one or two short paragraphs, and then post the text at www.getclippings.com/index.php to generate a personalized newspaper clipping for yourself. Print the clipping, post it on a wall, and use it to remind yourself to keep moving along. Want to see mine?

This article was posted in the April 2 issue of OnceWritten.com's Writing Sparks newsletter.

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Stephen L. Blain
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Nash Black
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Sam Moffie
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Silent People: Hearing the Call of the Dodder
Yvonne Jerrold
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Rose MacMurray
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Ian Rankin
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Dr. Sanja Gupta, M.D.
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Michael Cunningham, Connie Briscoe
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Hannah Keeley
Genre: Self-Help
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Frances Hwang
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Samantha Graves
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Time Management and Avoiding Procrastination

In the spirit of today's "Finding More Time" issue I'm also focusing on procrastination as a time sucker. Secondary to saying "I don't have enough time," procrastinating until we are sure we don't have enough time left is another way of sucking up time and acting as a detriment to your goals. For a fun article on overcoming procrastination, visit www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_96.htm now. The Mind Tools site has lots of cool advice for developing your career skills.

This article can be found in the March 26 issue of OnceWritten.com's Writing Sparks weekly newsletter.

Giving Your Character Gainful Employment

We all know in fiction there is a tendency in fiction to overuse high-profile careers. Enough cops, doctors, lawyers and secret service men already. If you're looking for a cool career for your character, you might want to consider some of the following jobs: economist, environmental scientist, landscape architect, or even a zookeeper. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, (yes, the same people who give us our regular unemployment statistic updates), has a cool page for educators of types of careers, as well as a complete A-Z page, and an overview of what each career does, how to get the job, and an average idea of how much that career pays. Looking to get your characters a job? Visit http://www.bls.gov/k12/index.htm.

You Can Have What You Want

One of my most favorite new websites is www.geniuscatalyst.com, a site that is devoted to helping you get what you want out of life. A great article posted there is entitled "How to Win Games and Influence Dolphins" which gives baby step suggestions on setting up goals to make them attainable. You can find the article at: www.geniuscatalyst.com/public/tipoftheday_s.php.

Get Motivated to Get Organized

Last year one of the most popular "Get Past the Block" columns was the one I wrote about clearing out your clutter. So take a look at those new year's resolutions (you are still doing them, right?) and if you had get organized or some variation on your list, visit the LifeOrganizers.com website to learn "20 Little Known Organizing Secrets Used by Professional Organizers."
www.lifeorganizers.com.

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Get Past the Block
OnceWritten.com offers weekly tips and suggestions to help get you motivated and moving beyond the things that block you. To sign up for a weekly shot of inspiration, subscribe to the OnceWritten.com Writing Sparks newsletter.

Need Creative Writing Prompts?
OnceWritten.com offers brand new, FREE, creative writing prompts every week. Feeling stumped in your writing? Check out the OnceWritten.com Free Creative Writing Prompts page.

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Consolation
Michael Redhill
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Lalita Tademy
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Jeff Benedict
Genre: Business & Money
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Holiday Tradition

A holiday tradition my family enjoys is that every year our Christmas Eve dinner consists of some type of seafood dish. (Yummy). Seems we aren't the only ones. This 2004 article from the San Francisco Chronicle details people's favorite holiday seafood meals (with recipes.)

www.sfgate.com.



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Get Past the Block
OnceWritten.com offers weekly tips and suggestions to help get you motivated and moving beyond the things that block you. To sign up for a weekly shot of inspiration, subscribe to the OnceWritten.com Writing Sparks newsletter.

Need Creative Writing Prompts?
OnceWritten.com offers brand new, FREE, creative writing prompts every week. Feeling stumped in your writing? Check out the OnceWritten.com Free Creative Writing Prompts page.

Favorite TV Catch Phrases

TV Land has just listed the top 100 television catch phrases of all times. From "You're Fired," to "Where's the Beef," this is a fun list, with many phrases that will really take you back in time. "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV." Before you check the list, try to write down as many of your favorites, and then take a look at which ones made the final list. My favorite catch phrase that didn't make the list? "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz" 

www.tvland.com/originals/catchphrases/quotes.jhtml.




* * * *

Get Past the Block
OnceWritten.com offers weekly tips and suggestions to help get you motivated and moving beyond the things that block you. To sign up for a weekly shot of inspiration, subscribe to the OnceWritten.com Writing Sparks newsletter.

Need Creative Writing Prompts?
OnceWritten.com offers brand new, FREE, creative writing prompts every week. Feeling stumped in your writing? Check out the OnceWritten.com Free Creative Writing Prompts page.

Homemade Holiday Cards

Are you looking to personalize your card giving efforts this year. Maybe you're hoping to save a few pennies on the expensive process known as card giving. The very cool making-greeting-cards.com website has lots of easy ideas for making really cool homemade cards. Most of the cards are easy to make, and you will get some great ideas over there. To check out their selection of holiday cards, visit www.making-greeting-cards.com/christmas-cards-ideas.html.


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Get Past the Block
OnceWritten.com offers weekly tips and suggestions to help get you motivated and moving beyond the things that block you. To sign up for a weekly shot of inspiration, subscribe to the OnceWritten.com Writing Sparks newsletter.

Need Creative Writing Prompts?
OnceWritten.com offers brand new, FREE, creative writing prompts every week. Feeling stumped in your writing? Check out the OnceWritten.com Free Creative Writing Prompts page.

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Christopher Ash
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Michael Mina
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Joseph Wambaugh
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Rupert Everett
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Joanna Scott
Genre: General Fiction
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Jody Shields
Genre: General Fiction
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To Do Lists on Steroids

Managing your to-do lists can be a real headache. If you're like me, you have three legal-size pages of notes, two cocktail napkins scribbled with things you've "just remembered" and don't forget the six phone messages to yourself, reminding you not to forget what you wrote on the cocktail napkin. If you're managing a group project, with more than one person responsible for getting things done, the to do list can take on a life of its own.

A handy website to help you manage your life's to-dos is www.backpackit.com. The application is super easy to learn how to use, and you can manage one or multiple lists over there. You can make your list public to a few people, so they can keep up with their own action items, or you can make it public to the world. Take a sneak peek at my "mock" list at http://mpoling.backpackit.com/pub/844077.


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Get Past the Block
OnceWritten.com offers weekly tips and suggestions to help get you motivated and moving beyond the things that block you. To sign up for a weekly shot of inspiration, subscribe to the OnceWritten.com Writing Sparks newsletter.

Need Creative Writing Prompts?
OnceWritten.com offers brand new, FREE, creative writing prompts every week. Feeling stumped in your writing? Check out the OnceWritten.com Free Creative Writing Prompts page.

What's Up in Your Neighborhood?

I live in Hollywood. A place that once was glamorous, then spent the better part of four decades being ratty and gross, and now is dedicating much energy to becoming trendy and glamorous once again. I like the community, because the people reflect this dichotomy. Hipsters live alongside out-of-work actors.

What has always seemed odd to me is the huge divide between income and housing costs in my community. The average household income here is 27K annually (less than half the state average) but the average home price is is more than 500K and the average apartment rent is $1,600 which is nearly 25% higher than the state average. How are all us poor people affording to live in this community, I ask?

Want the inside skinny on your neighborhood? Visit www.neighboroo.com to learn more about the (U.S.) community where you live.



Get Past the Block
OnceWritten.com offers weekly tips and suggestions to help get you motivated and moving beyond the things that block you. To sign up for a weekly shot of inspiration, subscribe to the OnceWritten.com Writing Sparks newsletter.

Need Creative Writing Prompts?
OnceWritten.com offers brand new, FREE, creative writing prompts every week. Feeling stumped in your writing? Check out the OnceWritten.com Free Creative Writing Prompts page.