Tag: Inspiration

A Writer’s Confession

Seana Moorhead 2 Comments

I confess.

I failed at my goal. In my last blog, I discussed how I had started a new habit of writing for 15 minutes every day.  I did it faithfully for about four weeks and then I missed a day, then a second day. I felt miserable and reminded myself to restart but it didn’t happen. Another month went by and I did not write once.  A failure. And it seemed like such a good idea!

I have long admired those people who tackle a huge project by taking small steps every day.  It seems like such a sensible method to complete a big project – whether it is renovating a room, weeding a garden or writing a novel.  But I fail at this method every time I try.  Instead, I lurch from binge tackling of a project to long periods of stagnation until I pop into another binge round.

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Summertime And The Livin’ Is…Easy?

Tracey Richardson Leave a comment

I hear constantly from fellow writers that they have trouble carving out time to write. Or they have the time, but they’re often swamped by writer’s block.

I seem to be the opposite. I have lots of time (in theory at least) to write and I rarely have writer’s block (too many years of being a writer, both as a newspaper journalist and as a published author, have mostly inoculated me against this).

At the moment, I’m trying to give myself a writing break, mostly because the timing is perfect. I handed in my latest manuscript to my publisher in late May and there’s no rush to start another novel. I busied myself this spring with a sizable freelance writing project and other paid work. Summer is here now and, well, that’s the perfect time to kick back and enjoy, right? Read more

Breaking your Writing Resolutions

Diane Ferguson Leave a comment

Writing Resolutions

We just passed Beltane Day, May 1st, the mid-day between spring and summer. Time for some Beltane writing resolutions. They say most New Year’s resolutions are broken by January 12th. I’m happy to say I lasted a lot longer than that with my New Year’s writing resolutions. (We won’t talk about the other non-writing resolutions.) But I still fell short of my goal to have the first draft of my re-written novel done by the end of March. What happened? Read more

The Love (And Hate) Of A Great Book

Tracey Richardson Leave a comment

As writers, we love to read good books. We appreciate them, we celebrate them, we admire them, we lose ourselves in them. Why, then, does reading a good book sometimes cause our writing insecurities to rear their ugly little heads?

One of my writing acquaintances recently complained that while she was loving a book she was reading, at the same time she was finding it discouraging. Why? She elaborated, saying it made her feel like she could never write something that great and so why the hell was she even trying.

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Sometimes, I Surprise Myself!

Lori Twining 12 Comments

Sometimes, I resist trying new things, for fear of failure, but eventually, I force myself to do it. Sometimes, I regret the decision instantly and other times, I surprise myself.

All my writing friends know that I hate participating in writing exercises. Those on-the-spot moments where an instructor snaps her finger and says, “We have five minutes, let’s write something with the words: Baby, Police and Dietary Fiber in it. Go!” And, of course, she also mentions we will be reading the exercises out loud. Seriously, I’d rather stare out the window and count snails slithering by, than write something that will waste my time. AND, there is no way I want to read my drivel out loud into the room where every word can bounce back and hit me in the forehead, reminding me how stupid it sounds. Read more

A New Year’s Resolution to Keep!

Bernice Connell Leave a comment

A New Year’s Resolution to Keep!

2018 will not be a year of resolutions to get organized, set a regular housekeeping schedule or become vegan. Similar resolutions made in the past have been dropped by the wayside by February 1st. Typically, only eight percent of resolutions are kept for the year, according to a December, 2016 Huffington Post article. There will be no more resolutions designed to change an undesired trait or behaviour, for me. No more shooting for the moon and setting myself up for failure.

I plan to be part of the eight percent success statistic this year because I am resolved to retire in 2018.

Why do I need to make a resolution to retire? Read more

Writing Life Events

Bernice Connell Leave a comment

I’m a pushover for stories revolving around weddings, funerals, birthdays and holidays. Everyone has experiences of these relatable events.

Life events can make the most of storytelling by giving us a recognizable backdrop along with the unique twists and turns of each story. This is what intrigues me; the combination of the familiar and somewhat predictable components and the inevitable unfolding surprises. There are endless possibilities of tears, laughter, intrigue and celebration, possibly all happening on the same occasion. Not to mention the fun of getting to know characters as mundane or bizarre as you can imagine. Read more

Humility and the Writer

Tracey Richardson Leave a comment

Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble
When you’re perfect in every way
— from the song, “It’s Hard to be Humble”

You would think writers are the humblest people around.

They’ve become practiced at it from writing mountains and mountains of words, only for many if not all of those words never to see the light of day in the form of being published. Writers get used to rejections and criticism—from publishers, editors, reviewers, awards or contest judges, readers and even other writers.

With all that adversity, the writer’s ego should be in tatters, paralyzing him or her from writing another single word. And yet that’s hardly the case. Writers are some of the most resilient, tenacious people I know (they have to be if they want to continue doing what they love). Writers are also some of the most stubbornly egotistical people too. Read more