My muse enjoys dancing in the rain

In typing in the title for this post, I now have the song “Singing in the Rain” on high volume slamming around my brain. And I think some memories of middle school chorus are trying to push to the front of my memories. Oh my!

It’s amazing what the writer’s mind does with words, isn’t it? And that leads into my topic today.

Intense rain storm and flooding

I’ve discovered that my muse is very active and vocal on rainy days more than any other type of day. In fact, just saying ‘rain’ gets her doing jumping jacks.

She feeds me a lot of character dialogue in no particular order or manner, and seldom related to a single story. On the day I took this intense rain photo (in July ’08), Ms. Muse had all sorts of things to say, including children’s dialogue as they played at the beach, dialogue from animals (a la Dr. Doolittle) relocating from the country to the busy city, and dialogue from two 20-somethings trapped at the top of a local mountain in a blizzard.

Glorious sunshine

On sunny days, my muse is open to exploring the outside world in search of new ideas. In a way, she likes to sun herself and take it easy. She lets the world be her cabana boy and serve ideas to her instead of going out to find the delectable fruits and seeds of ideas herself. (And, yes, sometimes she falls asleep in the sun without sunscreen on, which brings a lot of adjectives out.)

Snow and Sunshine

On snow days, she likes to gander at the landscape and wonder about the critters and people moving around ‘out there.’ She feeds me ideas about how the birds don’t fall out of the trees (after all, they can get a lot of snow on their shoulders!), and wonders if all the chipmunks found their way into a hole safely (and have enough food for their families to survive behind underground for a few days). Eventually she thinks about humans getting outside and unburying their world. More poetry flows through my muse on mornings like that, than prose.

On dismal, cold days, I’ve discovered my muse likes to play around with dark fiction and suspense, anything that gets my heart rate up. It must have something to do with the brisk air. She’s very ‘sharp’ on cold days, especially evenings. Everything is pointed (like icicles), brittle (like wind chill), and dark (like the short days). She brings me a lot of visuals, movies in my mind. There’s always an over abundance of activity with the characters that I can’t possibly keep track of everything, but I do end up warming up.

During the fall and spring, when a breeze can kick up a lot of scents (I love the lilacs right now!), my muse enjoys reminding me about such things as being in my grandmother’s kitchen while she was baking, being at the sea shore, and the moment I reach the peak of a mountain after hiking through the woods. A lot of journal writing pours out of my fingers at these times.

Now I have “America the Beautiful” on a loop in my head.

Does your muse react differently to the weather and temperature?

Lisa J. Jackson loves working with words in her own work and with businesses. She also loves New Hampshire and is focused on completing several 5Ks in 2013 as a way to get off the couch consistently. You can connect with her on LinkedIn, Biznik, Facebook, and Twitter. 

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Hanging out with writers is exhilarating…and exhausting

Writing can be a solitary life, right? Even when working in a noisy cafe, I can encapsulate myself as I focus on my work – be with/around people, yet still alone.

So when I purposely join a group of writers for a couple hours or more, it’s a bit of a emotional overload. I go from my own thoughts to learning about other writers, what they’re passionate about, what they enjoy reading and writing, and what they are currently working on.

And at those times, I wish I was a sponge and able to absorb *everything* and review it later. I do the best I can, of course, and scribble notes when I have the chance.

I attended a full-day writers’ conference on Saturday and am still recovering. I got there early and met several people right away.

• A neurologist who writes about addiction and recovery; he blogs and speaks to people who need his expertise – turning medical terminology into layman’s speak. And he’s 2/3 of the way through a book on the same topics he speaks about.
• A career-long technical writer adjusting to writing historical fiction and finding it challenging to shift away from linear writing with rules to the freedom that fiction allows.
• A newly published author who was attending the conference for the second time. Last year, her book was in process and after last year’s workshops and networking, the book has been published with a second scheduled with a publisher.
• A local radio personality who enjoys meeting people and coming out from behind the microphone is now transitioning into the writing world.
• An almost-MFA-graduate who was there to practice pitching a YA fantasy novel and to hopefully find leads into teaching opportunities.

Andres Dubus III was the keynote speaker. I’m not familiar with his work, but after hearing him speak, I want to learn more about his work. He was very down to earth and direct. I found it refreshing and motivating.

The workshops I took gave me new ideas for works in process and works not yet drafted. My workshops focused on characters, YA (young adult) & MG (middle grade) fantasy writing, and using maps as stories.

I also got to network with people in my area. It’s so nice to find local-to-me writers interested in getting together for coffee, or better, a writing group. It’s hard to find each other when we’re at home hiding behind our screens!

Bottom line is that I came away from the conference exhilarated with an abundance of information to evaluate. I recorded the workshops, but not my conversations, and it’s usually the conversations that have the priceless ‘nuggets.’

Back to my sponge analogy: after days like this, if I were a sponge, I could wring my thoughts into a bucket and take time to see what I captured. As it is, I usually need food to re-energize, and then quiet time to let everything settle — keeping a notepad and pen nearby to write down the thoughts that bubble to the surface.

Do you take time the same day to capture your ideas/thoughts after going to a workshop or conference? Or do you give yourself a day or more to let things settle?

Lisa J. Jackson makes a living helping businesses express themselves with words and writing about NH. She has decided to complete several 5Ks in 2013 as a way to get off the couch and away from the screen. She drinks iced coffee year-round, and needs a stash of Peppermint Patties in the fridge at all times. You can connect with her on LinkedIn, Biznik, Facebook, and Twitter. 

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Shutting off the internal editor for 30 days

Oops, I did it again! Signed up for National Novel Writing Month, that is. How could I not? It’s addictive knowing I can get 50,000 words down in 30 days.

I’m an official ‘participant,’ and on or before December 1, I plan to be an official ‘winner’ for 2012.

If you have any inkling at all about wanting to get a story out of your head and onto the page, I recommend NaNoWriMo. Even if that dark voice in your head starts whispering things like:

• You don’t have the time
• You’re already over worked
• You haven’t found time all year for your writing so what makes you think now will work?
• Ha! You think you have a good enough idea for a novel?
• There’s a long holiday weekend in November and you have to cook, clean, travel, visit, watch football, or be a couch potato.

What I love about participating in NaNoWriMo is shutting up that dark voice – and I bet you can turn off your internal editor, too.

I visualize my ‘dark voice’ as a yard gnome (I have nothing against yard gnomes in the real world), and stomping it with a large boot. But like the googly-eyed talking Twinkies, er, minions in the movie Despicable Me, (or the upcoming Despicable Me 2) my imaginary yard gnome doesn’t shut up, no matter what I try — EXCEPT during November.

In November, there’s some type of force field that separates me from the dark voice in my head when I’m writing fiction. And I think it works for a lot of other writers, too.

This is directly from http://www.nanowrimo.org:

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000-word (approximately 175-page) novel by 11:59:59 PM on November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

NaNoWriMo is free and you can be as involved as you want with other Wrimos (the name given to other, um, crazy people who have signed up) in your area or online.

You can try “word wars” where people agree to start writing at a certain time (top of the hour, quarter past, half past, etc.) and for a certain length of time (15 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.) At the end of that time period, post your total words, and see how you compare to other writers. Competition can really kick those endorphins into high gear.

Honestly, there is just a feeling of freedom knowing that the internal voice has no power and that the words can flow onto the page. Editing can start in December, but for November, how about joining me in getting at least 50,000 words down?

Lisa J. Jackson is a New England-region journalist and a year-round chocolate and iced coffee lover. She loves working with words, and helping others with their own. As Lisa Haselton, she writes fiction, co-blogs about mystery-related writing topics at Pen, Ink, and Crimes, has an award-winning blog for book reviews and author interviews, and is a chat moderator at The Writer’s Chatroom. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. 

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A Child-like Way to Make Your Stories Glow

Today’s post is from guest writer Dr. John Yeoman.

“Some of you write better than I do.”

Or so I tell my first-year students at the university where I teach creative writing. And I’m not lying. I’ve spent 42 years as a commercial author. I have a PhD in creative writing. How come 18-year olds, fresh out of school, have the edge on me?

“True, you still have a lot to learn about structure, syntax and language,” I tell them. “No, Jed, you can’t use a comma as an all-purpose punctuation mark.” Sharon giggles. “Or spread one paragraph across three pages, Sharon. “ Jed smirks.

Freshness. It’s the master ruse of art. Geniuses get better at it. The rest of us lose it, somewhere around our 20th year. Maybe even in kindergarten.

The Russian critic Schlovsky called it ostranenie – the gift of seeing life with perpetual freshness. Perception without interpretation. The thing itself. Gertrude Stein hinted at ostranenie: “A rose is a rose is a rose.” Her sparring partner Hemingway perfected it in his later stories. Language is pared to the bone. Incidents are selected and structured but the author is invisible. The story appears to speak for itself.

Great writers like Hemingway find the words to express something they have felt, as if it has never been felt before. Hacks struggle to fake an effect that they have never felt.

Here’s how to recover a freshness of perception – and convey it in your stories.

It’s the Epiphany exercise. I send my students out to the coffee shop for 20 minutes. (This exercise is very popular.) I ask them to stop at the first thing they see. Maybe it’s a chair, a blank wall, or a sandwich. “Take five minutes,” I say. “Just perceive it, with all your senses.” Within the limits of propriety, they should also touch, smell, hear and even taste it. (I warn them: “Watch out for the security guards.”)

They then return to class and write, in three lines or less, exactly what they observed or felt. The results are often luminous.

“I felt the sadness of a poster that nobody had ever read.” “Three red chairs were chatting up a round grey table. It didn’t know which way to turn.” “The coffee shop lady said: ‘You’ll have to pay on the other side. And she frowned at me like a hell fire preacher.’”

James Joyce did this when wandering the streets of Dublin. A snatch of dialogue here, an observation there. They litter Ulysses. Ripped out of context, they appear fresh, even shocking. Brad Meltzer does this in The Book of Lies. Glittering phrases and sly insights leap from every line. The crime thriller transcends its genre. Despite its pulpy plot, it verges on magical realism.

Of course, some of my students never ‘get’ it. They want to be journalists and write reportage. An event is an event is an event. Who needs poetry? Yet the finest poetry goes beyond a game of words. “Annihilating all that’s made/To a green thought in a green shade.”  “A green thought.” The phrase couldn’t be simpler. Andrew Marvell understood ostranenie.

No doubt, some people can never learn the trick of freshness. They must discard their comfortable labels, those neat categories into which we bundle experience. That’s dangerous.

For Thackeray – a comfortable, literal-minded man – the streets of London were just streets. For Dickens, they were a Jurassic swamp, evocative of mud and dinosaurs. The trick demands the raw imagination of a child, a willful capacity to take risks. There was much of rawness, experiment and the child about Dickens.

But anyone creative enough to write fiction can acquire the art. Simply look at any mundane object, say a bookshelf. Suppose, although otherwise experienced, we had never seen a bookshelf before? It might be a mouth of giant teeth, a Bauhaus tapestry, a mausoleum of mummified ideas…

The labels become dislodged.

Suddenly, we find ourselves playing with new phrases. “Sniggering paperbacks,” “A room that reeked of paint and fresh books,” “Plaguey thoughts, mummified in old leather”, and so on.

Try that ‘epiphany’ exercise for yourself. Your stories will glow with freshness. If you can do it in a coffee shop, a Dublin street, or a library, you can do it anywhere!

Dr. John Yeoman, PhD Creative Writing, has 42 years experience as a commercial author, is a former newspaper editor, and one-time chairman of a major PR consultancy. He has published eight works of humor, some of them intended to be humorous.

John judges the Writers’ Village story competition and is a tutor in creative writing at a UK university. His free 14-part course in writing fiction for the commercial market can be found at: http://www.writers-village.org/story-success

 

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5 ways to increase your exposure

You’re a writer who needs to get her name out in the world. You want magazines, businesses, and organizations to discover how talented you are and hire you to write for them. Here are five ways to get you started on a plan that will get yourself and your business better known.

Network, network, and network some more
You’re making writing your business, and like many businesses, it’s more about who you know than what you know, at least to get in the door. Networking, both in-person at events and online through social media, is a solid way to add new clients. Make sure to at least know who your target client is and what makes you the best writer for their needs. You can also think of who can introduce you to the person who can introduce you to the contact you really want to meet.

Ask for referrals
Sure you need to have clients to be in business, so you can’t ask for referrals until you have some satisfied customers, but referrals are a powerful way to build your credibility. When a client compliments you on a job well done, take that moment to ask them for a recommendation or referral. It’s nice to assume that that client will tell a friend who will tell a friend, but ask, and you’ll make sure it happens. Or it may be more comfortable for you to could offer a future discount to clients who refer new clients to you.

Publish content
You’re a writer, so, write something and publish it. It’s the best way to get exposure. You can publish online, through your blog or online article directories (as a way to start). Get your writing published in print newspapers or magazines. Starting with local and regional publications is fun (at least I’m enjoying myself immensely writing for community papers and a regional magazine). And then you can move up to  national and international publications. And a lot of print articles also end up online, so that multiplies your exposure.

Offer a freebie
Everyone loves giveaways, especially those that are relevant and helpful. Free reports can help you accomplish two goals at once. Report content can help establish you as a good writer and as a solid, credible source of information. Offering a useful freebie can entice prospective clients to your Web site and motivate them to hire you for your services.

Blog
Having a blog helps drive traffic to your business and your business site, and it builds your brand. Your writing ability will shine through in your blog’s content, but don’t make it all about you all the time. Make sure to include useful information for your visitors. Of course you want to share what you can do, but also offer helpful links to other sites, links to resources, ways for your reader to find events local to themselves, and other similar things.

What do you do to get your name out there and showcase your writing?

Lisa J. Jackson is a solopreneur who works hard to take her own advice. She’s also a New England region journalist and a year-round chocolate and iced coffee lover. She writes fiction as Lisa Haselton, has an award-winning blog for book reviews and author interviews, and is on the staff of The Writer’s Chatroom. 

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Hoarding Gemstones

            In addition to my self-assigned task of drafting a novel, and the pen-for-hire work I do for a major medical center, I write five essays a month: two posts for this blog, two Commentaries for Vermont Public Radio, and a column for The Commons, my local, independent, newspaper. The wonderful thing about these essays is that I get to write about whatever I want to, within generous parameters: For Live to Write, Write to Live, I write about the writing life; for the radio, I write about Vermont life; and for the newspaper, I write about life in Windham County.

Most of the time, I have plenty to say, and the challenge is to focus on a single topic in an interesting and informative way. But every once in a while, I find myself hyperventilating with anxiety because my deadline is fast approaching and I’m parched for ideas.

Somehow, I’ve always managed to squeak something out, but I don’t like the race the to wire, so I’ve developed a two-fold strategy to avoid this eleventh-hour brinksmanship: I keep lists of ideas, and I walk.

My lists are like a safe-deposit box filled with uncut gemstones. When I need to find a topic, I open the box and sift through the raw ideas until I find one whose heft feels right. I rub my thumb along a rough edge, turn it in the light, and pocket it for further examination. Some of these stored ideas spend years in the box – until the season or politics or moment is just right, and some may never see the light of day.

Once I choose a rough idea, I pocket it in the back of my mind. Just carrying it around for a bit helps me think my way around an idea while I’m performing other tasks of daily life. But when I’m ready to get serious about thinking something through, I go for a walk.

I walk a lot – four to six miles a day. It is during this walk that I find my way in to an essay – often I hear the first line, which gives me the voice and the conceit of the piece. When I return to my desk, I write. Sometimes, I hear this voice before I’ve reached the end of the drive, and sometimes, I don’t hear it until I’ve climbed to the top of the hill. Once I’ve got it, I look up and see where I am, sometimes noticing the weather or landscape for the first time that day.

Walking is not the only way I find my way in to an essay, but it is my favorite. I can also let my mind freewheel when I’m at the wheel of the car. I keep a notebook and pen on board, so I can make notes when I arrive at my outward destination, in order to remember these ideas when I return home.  There must be something about forward motion that helps me shake ideas into place.

In addition to warehousing ideas so that I can meet my deadlines, these strategies provide other satisfactions: When I’ve used an idea, I enjoy crossing it off the list; and when I’ve figured out my way in to an essay, I enjoy the exercise and fresh air of my walk.

How do you find topics to write about?

Deborah Lee Luskin is novelist, essayist and educator. She is a regular commentator for Vermont Public Radio, a Visiting Scholar for the Vermont Humanities Council and the author of the award winning novel, Into The Wilderness. For more information, visit her website at www.deborahleeluskin.com

[gemstone image from http://galaxygemsbrazil.com]

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Allowing yourself a pit stop along life’s roads

I bet you’ve heard the phrase “It’s not the destination, but the journey that matters” at some point. Am I right? Life is one long-term learning experience and I’m along for the ride.

On most days, I can go along and keep the bigger picture in mind and not worry so much about the set backs or the detours or the stress or the craziness I create for myself.

On rare days I can plan out every detail to a specific goal and follow that plan with precision. It’s not a surprise when I succeed. You must have had a few of those days, too, right?

It’s good to have a plan, a map, to help direct you to your destination. It’s also good to have a back up plan. And, I’ve found, it’s also good to have “Plan C”. Where all semblance of any plan is thrown away and you go with the flow because you just have no control.

There is one other type of day doesn’t get used enough. The “pit stop” day. The day when it’s best to just get off the highway of life and rest. Not due to stress or detours or for any reason than ‘just because’.

Of course if you take a pit stop day, it becomes a part of the journey. A pit stop isn’t as memorable as a detour or a set back or an insanely crazy day when you think back on life. But they can be the most refreshing.

I’m all for giving myself permission to let off the gas and take the next exit whenever I need to. Pit stops aren’t timed and aren’t planned, they happen spontaneously. They’re used for something entirely different from any other day. My “pit stops” generally do not include writing, reading, or technology (no TV, computer, phone, etc). They are days when nothing on the checklist gets marked off. Dirty dishes sit, the bed remains unmade, and absolutely nothing that requires planning or prep is done. They are days to just “be” in the world. A time out, if you will.

I fully believe that stepping back and taking a breather actually makes the next step of the journey more successful because it’s approached with fresh eyes, and a full tank of gas.

Do you allow yourself to take time off to do absolutely nothing?

Lisa Jackson is an editor, writer, and chocolate lover. She’s addicted to Sudoku, cafés, and words. She writes fiction as Lisa Haselton, has a blog for book reviews and author interviews, and is on the staff of The Writer’s Chatroom where she gets to network with writing professionals on a weekly basis — and you can, too! © Lisa J. Jackson, 2011

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Making the World Your Info-Oyster

Today’s post is by guest blogger Marlene Caroselli, M.Ed.

I’ve never understood writers who claim to have writer’s block. If you are alive, your brain is working. And, if it’s working, you have access to numerous article or book ideas every single day.  The content for a book or article might come from meeting a sexy octogenarian, from a news report, from a given sentence, even from a given word.

We writers, after all, all share a love of the written word. We are drawn to the nuances, the finely wrought juxtapositions, the resonance that is created by “les mots justes” or “the exact words.” Picasso asked, ‘Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing?’ Writers wonder the same thing about words.

To illustrate, I saw a news article about the president buying shaved-ice cones for his daughters while vacationing in Hawaii. Immediately, a new American word was coined–’Snowbamas.’ I used the word as the lead-in to an article about portmanteaux (word blending) and the flexibility of our wondrous language.

As you work to become more receptive to the possibilities out there in the universe, look, too, to what you’ve already written. I’m a strong believer in recycling, regifting, reusing; I try to optimize everything I write. So if I’m writing a curriculum, I’ll convert parts of it into several articles. And, if the curriculum has enough meat, I’ll flesh it out and create a book.

Even papers you’ve written for high school or college classes have some “meat” in them. People you know all have stories hidden inside them, wonderful stories seeking a writer. I swim at the Y several times a week. The other swimmers are a source of fascination to me.

For example, last week a septuagenarian told me Viagara caused a temporary memory loss in her husband–now there’s a great concept for an article about memory or a screenplay about sex and senior citizens. A 92-year-old woman told me she has been friends for more than 70 years with another swimmer. When the second woman’s husband died, the 92-year-old told her, “You will never have to eat alone.” She invited her over for dinner with her and her husband every single night. When the husband of the 92-year-old later passed away, the two women vowed to have one meal together each day.

My advice to writers old and new: Remain open to the world around you and let it suggest ideas. The “blocks” you’ve heard about don’t truly exist.

Dr. Marlene Caroselli is the author of 60 business books and uncountable curricula and articles. She has served as an adjunct professor at UCLA and National University, while conducting training for Fortune 100 companies and numerous federal agencies. Her assignments have taken her all over the country and the globe as well.

Hew newest book, Jesus, Jonas, and Janus: The Leadership Triumvirate explores leadership through the prism of historical figures.

In addition to books, Dr. Caroselli writes frequently for Stephen Covey’s Executive Excellence, for the Employment Times, as well as for numerous other print and electronic publications. She also writes podcasts for Workplace English Training E-Magazine.

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How PR Tools Can Help You Land Better Freelance Writing Gigs

Today’s post is by guest blogger Jennifer Mattern.

If you work as a freelance writer, chances are good you’ve heard of the Writer’s Market directory. You can use it to find editorial contact information for publications you might want to pitch. You can purchase a print book or get online access.

While the tool is okay for what it is, it has some problems. For example, I opted out of buying the latest edition due to poor organization and a high frequency of errors reported by colleagues. It’s also a very well-known tool in the freelance writing community, meaning there is a potential saturation issue — everyone you compete with knows to use the tool and they can all end up pitching the same editors.

What many freelance writers don’t know is that there are other, and better, directories like this available. They just don’t often target writers. They tend to target PR firms and internal PR departments. You’ll see them marketed as “media contact databases,” and getting access to a good one could put you way ahead of your competition when it comes to pitching.

How Media Databases Can Help You Land Better Writing Gigs

These media directories target those in PR who work specifically in a media relations capacity. Those media relations folks pitch press releases, interview opportunities, and story ideas to print and online publications all the time. Media databases provide editorial contact information to let people better target their pitches. And these are frequently the same individuals who are authorized to commission freelance work.

When you use these alternative databases, it’s quite possible that you’ll find publications not listed in the Writer’s Market collection. They may also feature larger staff lists, helping you target your own pitches more effectively to specific departments. Better yet, the chances are good that the bulk of your competitors still aren’t using these tools.

Premium Media Databases

The larger media databases are often the best updated (although none can be 100% on top of every editorial change as soon as it happens). However, they’re also the most expensive. You can easily spend several thousand dollars per year for access. They probably aren’t a good fit for a new freelance writer who doesn’t have the budget to work with. But if you’re already on the high end income-wise and you want to expand your network and opportunities even more, they can be more than worth the investment.

Here are some of the premium media databases around:

• Cision Media Database
• BurrellesLuce Media Contacts
• MyMediaInfo
• Vocus Media Database
• Marketwire MediaHub

Budget Solutions

Don’t worry if you’re not yet in the position to invest that much in your freelance writing business. There are other, less expensive, options around, too. The information might be less extensive and sometimes out of date, but the following tools can still help you identify new prospects beyond typical writer-oriented directories. Note, these aren’t necessarily targeted to PR professionals or writers, but they serve a similar purpose.

• Mastheads.org
• Journalisted (UK)
• The Internet Public Library (links you to newspapers and magazines)
• Congress.org Media Guide (also lets you browse and then visit media sources online)

I also highly suggest checking with your local library. Mine, for example, keeps a copy of the Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media in the reference department (a bit outdated, but still a good tool for initial research). Some libraries offer more up-to-date info with online access to similar databases. Better yet, if you have access to a university library nearby, check with them, too. If the school caters at all to communication majors they may also offer database access, and many schools let community members get a library card and access their online collections.

The point is this: If you want to excel beyond the competition in freelance writing, you need to think outside of the box. That’s especially true as markets become more and more saturated over time. Traditional resources targeting writers are a good start. But you don’t have to stop there. Media relations tools like media databases are one option. You can also build your own manual contact list if you have the time to invest. Just don’t rely on one or too few sources of information when your career is on the line.

About Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern is a freelance business writer and professional blogger who writes about freelance writing, social media, indie publishing, and small business. She also publishes e-books for freelance writers and is scheduled to publish her first nonfiction book, The Query-Free Freelancer, next year.

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Inspiring and entertaining the muse

Like my cat, my creative muse needs entertaining now and again. Also like my cat, the muse needs variety in the entertainment, otherwise it gets bored and stagnant. To that end, I’m always looking for new and stronger brands of catnip for my cat (I will get a laser pointer one day), and different methods and ways to excite and inspire my muse.

Here are a few that you can try. I suggest trying something new at least once, if you don’t like it, then never come back to it. I keep an open mind and give things a shot.  If I try something and don’ t like it, my subconscious still tends to find ways to use the experience in my writing.

Guided meditation – Mark David Gerson, a writer, has a (f-r-e-e) guided video meditation posted on YouTube called “You Are a Writer.” It’s less than 5 minutes long and can be a nice way to break from the page for a breath of inspiration. He also has “Rules for Writing” that may tickle the muse’s fancy. You can find those in the middle of this page.

Writer’s/Artist’s dates – Julia Cameron describe’s an artist’s date in her book The Artist’s Way. Lee talked about the weekly 2-hour blocks of time dedicated to rejuvenating the muse in this January post. I find these invaluable and wish I did them weekly. A few examples of what I do for a ‘date’ to absorb new creative energy:

• Go to f-r-e-e lunchtime summer concerts at my library
• Try my hand at sampler craft workshops (such as pottery)
• Pull out a box of 120-Crayola crayons and a coloring book every now and then (I don’t have kids, the crayons are just for me)
• Check out flea markets and craft stores
• I sit in on f-r-e-e lectures on topics I know nothing about
• Stroll the beach in the off-season
• Find a quiet spot near a lake and breathe in nature during the summer

Music – Different moods are made up of different rhythms. Different rhythms are different blends of sounds. Listening to new-to-me music tends to get the muse boogeying onto the creative dance floor. Pandora radio is great for finding new music and creating ‘stations’ based on types of music. You can craft your own ‘mix tapes’ based on a song title or artist or type of music. If you have speakers or earbuds, you can listen without leaving your computer.

What ways do you keep your muse entertained?

Lisa Jackson is an editor, writer, and chocolate lover. She’s addicted to Sudoku, cafés, and words. She writes fiction as Lisa Haselton, has a blog for book reviews and author interviews, and is on the staff of The Writer’s Chatroom where she gets to network with writing professionals on a weekly basis — and you can, too! © Lisa J. Jackson, 2010

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