Category: on the writer’s life

Circadian Rhythms and Creativity

Joan McAndrew 1 Comment
Photo by Eleni Koureas ~ Unsplash

I have been thinking a lot lately, actually ruminating, about my method of creativity. It occurs to me that I write blogs, memoire and psychological reports in basically the same way. I always have to draft something in long-hand, then let it sit for a minimum of 24 hours or sometimes days or weeks. Until now I always labeled that as procrastination or laziness. But truly I get too much done every day for those nouns to be accurate.

I know that my mind has always gone a mile a minute as they say. When I was a little girl, age 7 or so, I would hide under the covers and use a flashlight to read after being told by my parents to turn out my light. By the time I was 13, I would lay awake until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning listening to U.S. Radio Stations playing rock and roll. It is any wonder I was late for school 4 out of 5 days a week? When I was in University I ‘pulled-all-nighters’ in order to cram for exams or write essays. And my grades were always good provided I was interested in the subject matter.

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Binge-worthy Podcasts for Writers

Lori Twining 2 Comments
Lori Twining ~ Podcast Recommendations

Some of my writing buddies have been struggling to find the words lately. I’m no different. There are days I sit at my desk and stare at a blank page and wonder why I am even bothering to get up. Seriously, I could be sleeping right now. I never get enough sleep.

However, there are also days that I plunge my mind into other things besides working for someone else and wrestling with the words on the page. Sometimes, I like to immerse myself in other creative activities such as sketching, painting, and photography. Sometimes, I create colourful quilts and blankets from scraps of material found in a material bin. Sometimes I spend hours designing a new baby blanket (because who wants to use someone else’s pattern). And, sometimes, I bake cookies, experiment without a recipe, and eat every last one of them.

The thing is, I have found a way to get my writing mojo back during these other creative moments in my life. I’ve been multi-tasking.

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Chasing the Muse

Bernice Connell 1 Comment

My writing mojo has disappeared. Again. After good progress with character development in recent months, the ever-elusive and serendipitous inspiration has evaporated. 

Waiting to stumble upon inspiration or hoping it will somehow just show up is not working. The muse is not going to surprise me and strike like a thunderbolt.

Most writers already know this. Understanding the theory is one thing but now the reality is becoming all too clear. 

This is me making excuses and I am tired of my own whining. Writing requires a commitment to work harder. Plain and simple.

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You Just Never Know

Joan McAndrew 2 Comments

What does one do when a year of pandemic stretches on and on promising never to go away? What does one do when the faith one had in the ‘powers that be’ wanes to such an extent that one can no longer imagine a future of any predictability whatsoever? Well, if you are me, you have a “wake up” stroke. 

The literal meaning of that phrase is that a stroke occurred very deep within my brain while I slept on April 21, 2021. Fortunately, the literal side of things are all on the mend and my rehabilitation will be complete on June 10th. The part that’s going to take substantially longer is the figurative side of that “wake-up” event.

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Spring Storms and Nights for Writing

Seana Moorhead 1 Comment

I secretly love it when the power flicks off during a storm. There’s a click and then a silence as the background hum of the electronics stop. The absence of the sounds makes me realize how much noise a house holds: the refrigerator hum, the rattle of the furnace, and dance of the water pump. The quiet reminds me of summer nights when the cicadas rhythmic strumming abruptly stops and the resulting silence seems conversely loud.   

It’s early spring and at 8:35 pm, my power is lost. The weather is predicting to drop to zero overnight but I’m not worried. I build a fire in the wood stove, cracking the door so that the initial wood burns hot and fast, clearing the chimney of the night’s dampness. Then I stack it tight and close the draft so it will simmer all night.  

Now I hear the sound of the wind as it bends tree branches and swirls across the windowpanes. It sounds like the rustling of dragon wings. I fumble through the darkness for a candle and match. As the wick catches, a circle of light is cast but unlike our electric bulbs, light from a candle creates spaces between the shadows rather than illuminating them. It’s a perfect time to write about magic, love, and dragons!  

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Why Don’t You Write?

Kelly Babcock Leave a comment

Your computer is broken?

by Kelly Babcock

There are, it turns out one million four hundred and fifty three thousand and twelve reasons for my not writing at any given time. This number has been carefully calculated and I assure you of two things, one that it is accurate to within point oh seven reasons, and two … that I have no intention of counting those reasons again just to check.

I also, have no intention of going over the entire list with you. I will, in this space provided, list off some of the ones that are more likely to Read more

Be Audacious & Take the Risk

Lori Twining Leave a comment
Lori Twining on Twitter – #5amwritersclub

On Monday, April 5th, I posted a blog about “Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone,” and I dared you to do something completely different from your regular routine in your writing life… doing something that might scare you. If you haven’t already read that, you should. You can find it HERE.

It has been seven days since my scary adventure ended. I still can’t stop thinking about the incredible and invigorating weekend I spent with 19 other like-minded and passionate writers. I survived the daunting inaugural session of the UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS & INCREDIBLE JOURNEYS (#UCIJRetreat2021) virtual writing retreat presented by Ralph Walker. My fears were unwarranted. I absolutely loved it!

Many different kinds of writing events catch my eye, but this was my first virtual writing retreat where you are on a ZOOM call with 19 other writers—most of them strangers or people I have only met online. The schedule was intense, Friday night to Sunday night (approximately 17.5 hours), but it was designed that way with pure intention. It was brilliant. I didn’t want to miss even one minute of the conversations.

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