Presumably you're interested in writing if you've chosen to read this writing blog, but are you interested in the other arts as well? I don't mean are you any good with a paint brush or can you dance a nifty battement tendu. I mean, do you take the time to look at artwork, go to exhibitions, study sculptures, listen to Liszt, watch ballet by Balanchine?
If you're producing work in one of the arts on a regular basis, it's important to feed your creativity by taking in inspiration from other art forms. This is the reason why Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way advocates having a weekly artist's date - a time you spend alone doing something that will feed your creativity, like going to an art gallery or an opera or even spending time in a flower shop just taking in the colours, shapes, textures, scents of the blooms.
If you give, give, give of your creativity all the time, but never top up your reserves, your creative reservoir will soon run dry. See what you can do this week to feed your writing soul.
Showing posts with label article writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label article writing. Show all posts
Sunday, 13 July 2008
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Don't Write Alone- Get Yourself a Support Network
One of the hardest things about being a writer is that it can be a very solitary experience. Reporters get to meet colleagues in the office and go out and about where the news stories are. But if you're a freelancer working from home, as I do, you can quite easily feel as if the walls as closing in on you and the only sensible conversation you've had that day is with next door's cat.
It isn't just full-time professional writers who feel this way. If you're just starting out and writing in your spare time, you can feel as if you're working in a vacuum. Wouldn't it be nice to have somebody to share your concerns with? Someone who can tell you if you're on the right road or getting hopelessly lost?
I think for most writers a good support network can be a lifesaver. But how are you going to get one? How can you meet other writers?
Fortunately, there are lots of ways of doing this. Creative writing classes, like the ones I teach, are a marvellous way of getting advice and encouragement from an experienced professional writer and stimulation and support from your fellow students.
The money you spend on them will be a good investment. If you have a good tutor, you'll be shown not just how to write, but how to market your writing, so you'll have a chance of earning back your fees in competition winnings or commissions.
But more important than the money is the chance to share your writing with fellow writers who will be sympathetic and offer constructive criticism. Writing is a means of communication and it really comes to life when it's shared, even if all you do is read it out loud to the other members of the class once a week.
Lots of towns have writers' groups or authors' circles where people who write regularly can meet up to discuss their work, have competitions and workshops, and run competitions. These can be a good way of meeting someone who's a bit further on than you in getting published.
Groups differ in their entry requirements - for example, one of the ones that I belong to, Huddersfield Authors' Circle, will ask you to come along for one or two meetings to see how you get on. Then if they think you might be suitable, we will ask to see some samples of your writing. It isn't because we're elitist - it's purely because we're not a group for complete beginners who would be able to find more help and support at a writing class.
There are groups for people who have specific writing interests too, like Script Yorkshire, which is for people who write drama. And, of course, there are professional organisations such as The Romantic Novelists' Association, The Society of Authors, The Crime Writers' Association, and The Writers' Guild of Great Britain.
For those writers who are unable to get to a class or a group regularly, writers' conferences or holidays, like the ones at Swanwick or Caerleon, can be very exciting and stimulating, a great place to meet experts and to make friends with other writers from all over the country.
The Arvon Foundation also runs courses on specific themes, like Writing for Children or Television Scriptwriting. These are more intensive and more intimate than the big writers' conventions.
Don't forget that your own friends and family can also be a source of support and encouragement. But be careful who you share your work with. There's not a lot of point in showing it to someone who says that everything you write is absolutely marvellous, even if it's a load of rubbish. There's even less point in sharing it with someone who's going to tell you that it's a load of twaddle and suggest that you grow parsnips instead.
Why not sit down now and make your own 'Support Audit'? Work out what support you are able to receive as a writer and what steps you could take to get more, if you feel that's what you need. Then write down what your first step is going to be and a date when you'll have taken it.
It isn't just full-time professional writers who feel this way. If you're just starting out and writing in your spare time, you can feel as if you're working in a vacuum. Wouldn't it be nice to have somebody to share your concerns with? Someone who can tell you if you're on the right road or getting hopelessly lost?
I think for most writers a good support network can be a lifesaver. But how are you going to get one? How can you meet other writers?
Fortunately, there are lots of ways of doing this. Creative writing classes, like the ones I teach, are a marvellous way of getting advice and encouragement from an experienced professional writer and stimulation and support from your fellow students.
The money you spend on them will be a good investment. If you have a good tutor, you'll be shown not just how to write, but how to market your writing, so you'll have a chance of earning back your fees in competition winnings or commissions.
But more important than the money is the chance to share your writing with fellow writers who will be sympathetic and offer constructive criticism. Writing is a means of communication and it really comes to life when it's shared, even if all you do is read it out loud to the other members of the class once a week.
Lots of towns have writers' groups or authors' circles where people who write regularly can meet up to discuss their work, have competitions and workshops, and run competitions. These can be a good way of meeting someone who's a bit further on than you in getting published.
Groups differ in their entry requirements - for example, one of the ones that I belong to, Huddersfield Authors' Circle, will ask you to come along for one or two meetings to see how you get on. Then if they think you might be suitable, we will ask to see some samples of your writing. It isn't because we're elitist - it's purely because we're not a group for complete beginners who would be able to find more help and support at a writing class.
There are groups for people who have specific writing interests too, like Script Yorkshire, which is for people who write drama. And, of course, there are professional organisations such as The Romantic Novelists' Association, The Society of Authors, The Crime Writers' Association, and The Writers' Guild of Great Britain.
For those writers who are unable to get to a class or a group regularly, writers' conferences or holidays, like the ones at Swanwick or Caerleon, can be very exciting and stimulating, a great place to meet experts and to make friends with other writers from all over the country.
The Arvon Foundation also runs courses on specific themes, like Writing for Children or Television Scriptwriting. These are more intensive and more intimate than the big writers' conventions.
Don't forget that your own friends and family can also be a source of support and encouragement. But be careful who you share your work with. There's not a lot of point in showing it to someone who says that everything you write is absolutely marvellous, even if it's a load of rubbish. There's even less point in sharing it with someone who's going to tell you that it's a load of twaddle and suggest that you grow parsnips instead.
Why not sit down now and make your own 'Support Audit'? Work out what support you are able to receive as a writer and what steps you could take to get more, if you feel that's what you need. Then write down what your first step is going to be and a date when you'll have taken it.
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
Writing in the Zone
One of the joys of writing is the ability to lose yourself in your work, so that you lose track of time because you're so immersed in what you're doing. Some people call this experience 'flow', others 'being in the zone'.
It's not an experience that is unique to writing. Other people have it too - sportsmen, performers, artists. The feeling that, just for the moment, nothing else exists but you and what you are doing.
It's one of the ways in which we manage to bend time in an almost mystical way, by making it appear to fly by at a much faster speed than usual. One minute it's three o'clock and you're just sitting down to write, the next it's six o'clock and you think, 'Good heavens! Is it that time already?'
This afternoon, for the first time in a week or so, I had a whole afternoon where I could just sit down and get on with my writing without having to go anywhere or do anything. I decided to write an article for Triond about how to save money. I enjoyed doing it as it's a topic I haven't written about before and so I found it a refreshing change.
Spending the afternoon creating an entire article from start to finish was a very pleasurable experience. It was very satisfying to get to teatime with my three-page article not only finished but submitted at the click of a button.
I also like the fact that I'll probably hear tomorrow whether my piece has been published and be able to see it on the internet. I'm confident that it will be published as the eight items that I've submitted since I started writing for Triond a couple of weeks ago have all been accepted.
So I look forward to being able to tell you the web address tomorrow. Watch this space!
Why not set yourself the challenge of completing a piece of work in a specific period of time - a morning, an afternoon or an evening? It doesn't have to be as long as my article. It could be a poem or a 60-word story.
Look on it as a challenge. That way you'll enjoy the sense of achievement you get when you manage to achieve it. And once you set your mind to it and focus on the task, you'll be amazed to find yourself in the zone too.
It's not an experience that is unique to writing. Other people have it too - sportsmen, performers, artists. The feeling that, just for the moment, nothing else exists but you and what you are doing.
It's one of the ways in which we manage to bend time in an almost mystical way, by making it appear to fly by at a much faster speed than usual. One minute it's three o'clock and you're just sitting down to write, the next it's six o'clock and you think, 'Good heavens! Is it that time already?'
This afternoon, for the first time in a week or so, I had a whole afternoon where I could just sit down and get on with my writing without having to go anywhere or do anything. I decided to write an article for Triond about how to save money. I enjoyed doing it as it's a topic I haven't written about before and so I found it a refreshing change.
Spending the afternoon creating an entire article from start to finish was a very pleasurable experience. It was very satisfying to get to teatime with my three-page article not only finished but submitted at the click of a button.
I also like the fact that I'll probably hear tomorrow whether my piece has been published and be able to see it on the internet. I'm confident that it will be published as the eight items that I've submitted since I started writing for Triond a couple of weeks ago have all been accepted.
So I look forward to being able to tell you the web address tomorrow. Watch this space!
Why not set yourself the challenge of completing a piece of work in a specific period of time - a morning, an afternoon or an evening? It doesn't have to be as long as my article. It could be a poem or a 60-word story.
Look on it as a challenge. That way you'll enjoy the sense of achievement you get when you manage to achieve it. And once you set your mind to it and focus on the task, you'll be amazed to find yourself in the zone too.
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