Here are seven things that keep me going, day by day, hour by hour. It’s a tough world out there in Hopeful Publishing Land and we all need a little help sometimes.
- Writing about what I wish I were writing. I just start tip-tapping, stream-of-consciousness style, about what I wish I could write and all of a sudden I realize—surprise!—I can write it. I want to write it. I probably am writing it.
- Taking a shower. I always have great ideas in the shower. As a bonus, I get extra-clean. Sometimes I get wrinkly.
- Walking while talking to myself. Or maybe it’s talking to myself while walking. In either case I take one of the dogs so I can pretend I’m talking to the dog.
- Cleaning. The grittier, dirtier, and more mindless, the better. I think, “I could be writing instead of doing this.” Pretty soon I am.
- My writing talisman. It’s a chunk of llanite from the Llano Uplift. Yours could be a lucky hat, a statuette, special pen, a piece of jewelry, an artifact from a historical era. The more you associate it with your writing, the more it will encourage your writing. Really.
- Plants. Fill your writing space with as many plants as you can fit in. They clean the air, and cleaner air means a clearer head. You can talk to them, too, if you don’t have a dog. Even if you do have a dog.
- Laughter. Find something that will always make you laugh. I like Cute Overload. Laugh good and hard, until your belly hurts. It truly loosens up all those impacted words you’ve been wanting to write but haven’t been able to.
What are your writing tricks? Enquiring minds want to know!
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I love your list! And I had to check out Cute Overload… wow, it sure is!
Some of my tricks are similar to yours: cleaning (with the subset of shuffling/filing/tossing papers. Of which there are always stacks and stacks).
Coffee. Strong, and lots of it.
Scribbling where I am/where I’m going on little sticky notes and putting them around the computer monitor to “jump start” me.
fun post!!
Goals: 1000 words a night when I’m focused.
Walking: five mile loop that is precious to me.
Showers: most definitely. sometimes i forget that i’m in there, though, and wrinkly is definitely the order of the day.
What IS it about showers?! I always find that a good way to bust through writer’s block.
Walks are good too.
Oh, yes! Coffee! Although only in the morning, because if I drink coffee in the afternoon I’m wide awake all night. Afternoons for me are green tea with ginger.