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Find Inspiration in your Surroundings

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I was originally going to write a blogging tips post this morning but felt totally uninspired to do so.  It’s been a rather crazy busy weekend and my mind simply wasn’t on it.  So on this rainy winter day as my boys are gathered around me and the olympic bobsledding competition is on, I find my mind turning to what inspires people to write, and how one gains that inspiration.

Surround yourself for connection and inspiration, the things you love in people, activities and books.

We write what we know or we write what we can imagine.  Imagine you are a literary artist who loves to talk about fire.  If you are living in the middle of the city, how would you cultivate that love? Or you are a homeschool mom with a love for antiques and delving into the history of a piece…how will you cultivate the love?  Or a fantasy author with a love for dragons and chivalry?  How will you cultivate that love?

We need to surround ourselves with things that feed our loves.  Either by filling our lives with what we love (for instance going to antique markets) or by doing research, learning all we can about what we love.   When we do so, we will find that our writing will flow out more easily. 

 

Recently my son and I read a book called “The Scream of the Hawk”.   In this book one of the characters is an author who writes scary books.  He hired a girl to take care of his son because he needed to do some research.  He spent times in the library researching caves and learning about spelunking.  Once he had that done he planned a weekend away climbing through caves.   He ended up immersing himself into a world he nothing about so he could write about it realistically in his book. 

If we just live our lives and don’t spend time with the things we love and want to write about, we won’t end up writing about them.  We end up writing only about the things that we are immersed in.  We need to surround ourselves with people, books and experiences that inspire us and connect with us. We take this, sifting through what we know, and we write.  If we have nothing to inspire us… of what then would we write?

Makes sense doesn’t it?

I did up a worksheet if you want to want to work through how you can bring the things you love into your life.  You can find by CLICKING HERE.

Other Posts on Writing Well.

Using Adjectives Well. 
Organizing how you put your words to bring emphasis.
Your Identity. 
Begin Sentences with Subjects and Verbs.
Set a Goal, Regain the Love.

 

Create an Image: Use Adjectives Well

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How does one add colour to their poetry?   That’s the question before us today.   Last week we learned about the importance of using strong verbs. And using good verbs is part of writing good poetry, but if those verbs don’t have words to hang on to, then all you have is emotions and action that goes nowhere.  Using good adjectives is paramount to taking your nouns and verbs into the hearts of your readers.   It is the verbs and adjectives you use that lend excellence and quality to the lines of your poetry.  “The force, power and beauty of each phrase, expression and line grow out of the poet’s use of adjective or verb or both.”  (Fairchild)

Using adjectives well helps a poet create an image that draws people in.

When a poet uses a noun in his verb, the poet isn’t thinking about the tree… he’s thinking about the colours changing, a child swinging, of whistling choruses, and safe havens for birds, of seasons passing as weathered leaves flies to the lonely honking of the winter geese.    When a poet thinks of house she brings to mind sweet memories of overbaked pies, and voices raised in shock and smoke billowing as laughter fills a room at a stove forgotten.   The gleaming black of feather falling from the sky that lifts the soul to consider angels in the heavens.   

The poet personalizes these objects he finds bringing them to life and soul, drawing in our hearts as we see the world through her eyes. Use those adjectives, show the world how you see it.  The images we make are the anchor of our poetry.  It gives our readers something to hold on to and those images will bring them back. 

Remember.. this imagery we give our readers isn’t just visual picture but a precise language the evokes any of the senses.. taste, touch, smell, sound.   Consider this: The scared rabbit has soft brown fur.  OR  Plush velvet greets my scarred hands, chocolate hues fighting for freedom.  Which sounds more inviting?  Which gives you an image you can hold in your head?

The use of sensory language is what makes the adjectives used in poetry so inviting.  They help us see the world through the eyes of the poet.  Drawing and holding us in.   Use your adjectives well.  Give them a purpose… Create an image.

Would you like to practice this skill?     If so, click here for a work sheet.

 

Use Strong Verbs

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Want to improve your writing?  Do you desire to make it more interesting?  Writing that grabs people in and makes them to digest all that you have to say to them?  Then mind the verbs that you use.  Look for the active, use the passive only when you need to.   Strengthen your writing skills.

improve your writing, use active voice.

Did you know that verbs fit into three categories?

  • If the subject performs the action of the verb, we call the verb active.
  • If the subject receives the action of the verb, we call the verb passive.
  • A verb that is neither active or passive is a linking verb, a form of the verb to be.

Consider these lines from Treasures in the Snow by Patricia M. St. John: “His father wished he had known of this, so that he could have put a chocolate stick on the step, for he hated to disappoint his boy.  However, open the back door he must, to roll the milk churns across to the stable; so he lifted the latch.  In an instant Dani had dived between his legs like a rabbit, and was kneeling by his slipper in the snow.”   Oh… can’t you just picture it?  Doesn’t it draw you right in?

Use your verbs, use them well.   Don’t over use them…by adding too much colour with the active voice.  Be aware of how much passive voice you are using as you want to keep the action moving, or the emotions properly felt etc.  Using an active voice in your writing requires the use of strong verbs. 

What do strong verbs do?

Strong verbs convey characters, save excess words, and create movement. 

Remember that active voice has nothing to do with tense.  Tense is in the past, present or future.  It doesn’t convey action, just merely when an event occurs.  Voice is what defines the relationship between the subject and the verb, basically who does what. 

As you are writing, and rewriting, make sure you watch what you are doing with your verbs.  Are you conveying the feelings, action and characters they way you want?   Are you showing your readers what they need to see, feel and want to know?

Do you want to practice what you have learned?    Check out this worksheet. 

Interested in other writing tips?
Order Words for Emphasis
Setting Goals, Regain the LoveOn being a write - arrange

 

 

Setting Goals, Regain the Love

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Recently on a forum that I am part of, a gal mentioned that she “has lost the love of blogging”.  Or at least in essence that’s what her comment seemed to say to me.  People offered advise, which is well and good, but it got me to thinking.  What does one do if they lose that love of blogging?  Is there a way of bringing that love back? Set a goal in writing, find yourself regaining your love of doing so.

As I was reading in Pep Talks for Writers, I came across this chapter which spoke to my heart on this topic.  When I struggle with blogging, wondering what I can write about, I find myself starting to set goals for myself.  What can I blog about on Mondays, what love of mine can I share on Wednesdays, anything special I can come up with that fills a need in my heart, and perhaps might fill a need in the hearts of my readers?

And you know what happens?

It’s amazing.. because it happens EVERY TIME.

I feel inspired.  I go ah…. Wednesday I need an art post.. what can I talk about?   OH.. and Thursdays is my book study day …. and oh.. music, sharing music with others.. I gotta do that on Sundays, it’s a day of praise and worship.  Having goals ignites my creativity.

Having goals though leaves me with this question… what happens if I miss a week.  Will my readers become unhappy?   What if they miss me?  What if missing me a week means they don’t come back?  What if, what if?

Cause you know?   Life happens.  It does.  Kids get sick, symphonies need attending, husbands need loving, critters and laundry and weather… they all play a role in our lives and what gets done (or doesn’t). 

You need a plan

This creates a need for a plan if I get diverted, so what does one do?

I know what I do….I schedule like mad. Finding myself writing book reviews, hymn studies, and art books up WAY ahead as much as I can.  That leaves me with usually just a couple (or three) posts that I somehow want to/need to, fit in over the course of a week and since I spread out those “need to days” it’s easy enough to write half a post one day if necessary, and then another half post another day and bam.. it’s done!  NO STRESS… 

You know what else I’ve learned?  People are OKAY if you miss a day, they are.  Some might even ask “hey, you okay girl?” (which seriously is AWESOME).   So again.. NO STRESS.  

Goals are still set, creativity is still inspired, but the end result is my love is rekindled.   

Regain your love in writing. (if indeed writing is a love of yours). Regain it through setting goals, seeing the creativity that brings as you find what you are passionate about, share that passion with your readers, but set that goal.  Even if it’s just 250 words a day that you can write about, and by the end week you have one article, or perhaps even two… it’s a goal worth pursuing don’t you think?  A goal worthy of finding your love again?

As always, I made up a simple sheet to help you in your goal making…your desire to find your love in writing, cause having a goal, setting your deadline… brings about the magic of loving your writing again.   Really.. it does. 🙂   Download here.

 

On Being a Writer – Arrange

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The question this chapter asks us is this: How do you arrange your life to show that writing is important to you?   It also asks, how does writing spill out of you and are you comfortable with how it does so?

As a writer we need to arrange our tools, space, time, and mind.

How does writing spill out of you and are you comfortable with how it does so?

For instance, do you like writing long hand? Or does a computer work for you?  Maybe a typewriter is where it is at.  Do you need to play around with the different methods until you find what works best for you?

Do you write at a desk?  A table?  Sitting in a comfortable lazy boy?  Maybe you have a roll top desk that sets the mood for you?

Is silence golden or do you like the sound of your family about you or a radio/tv on for background noise?

Does clutter annoy or does it add to the creative process?  Is cleanliness the key to unlocking your creativity?

You know what the thing is right?   EVERYONE is different.  My hubby works best with noise around him, he can watch TV well and write and research all the time.   Me on the other hand… prefer silence when I write but I have learned during the course of our marriage, to tolerate noise, but I often miss what is happening in the TV show if I am really concentrating as I write.  BUT one thing I do love is writing and chatting with a friend online.  For some reason that brings out my creativity and SPEED.  Go figure eh?   🙂   Can I sustain that though?  No.  Works for about a half hour and then one or the other has to stop.   Hubby, if the house gets too messy, gets stressed and tense.  Me.. I just ignore it and move forward until I can’t find something and then suddenly it’s too horrible for words and the house gets cleaned top to bottom (or honestly until I get distracted by something).  🙂

How do you arrange your life to show that writing is important to you?

Admittedly, this can be a hard one.  One has to make a living right?  One has to school their children, raise them, keep the house in order, keep up friendships, indulge their hobbies, spend time with family, and all that other daily living stuff.  So how in the midst of all that good stuff….do you find time to write?  It’s hard!  

Sometimes it’s a real balancing act, as you work through real life needs and real writing needs. It is work to try to figure out what type of job you can do that will also allow you to be creative in your writing.  It’s a struggle to understand how to care for the needs of your family and still grab writing moments.  

Solutions that writers come up with: Grab 15 minutes here and there throughout the day.  Find a job that doesn’t use up your creative energy.  Book time away, a weekend if you must, an afternoon that is just yours to enjoy. Get up earlier in the day or go to bed later at night.  Forgo movie night with the kids so they can chill with dad as you write in your favourite spot.   What solution fits you? 

What it all comes down to.

Take the time to see what works best for you, learn what you need, help your family see it’s importance, get friends who will understand when you need to write instead of go to the latest movie.   The key is this, work to understand the following: What time works best for you to write?  Where do you write best?  What space is important to your creativity?  What do you need to do to spur on the creativity of your mind?  Do you have special tools that make the process go easiest?  

I made up a printable to help you work through these questions.  Click here or on the image below. 

Figuring out the tools, location, time that we need or can write is part of being an writer.Other posts on writing that you may find helpful.

Organizing how you put your words to bring emphasis.
Your Identity. 
Begin Sentences with Subjects and Verbs.

Liking to give credit where it is due, the original photo I used came from Photo by Neven Krcmarek on Unsplash.

 

 

 

Review: Pep Talks for Writers

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I’ve talked with you a bit already about what I’ve learning from this interesting book called “Pep Talks for Writers”, the most recent one being “Accept the Mess“.  This book gives you 52 insights and actions to boost your creative mojo, so basically one insight you can work on per week for a year!   What a way to increase your skill set eh?

So, like always, I assume you want to know what you get! 

You get a well made, what I consider, attractive little book with 52 chapters, one for each topic.   The chapter lengths are three pages each with a “try this” exercise at the end.  Some of these activities are very short, others will take you a whole weekend if not more, but it’s all in the pursuit of being a better writer eh? Questions to answer, decisions to make, changes to encourage, writing to do.  All things we as writers are encouraged to make.

Some of the Chapter Titles

  • you don’t need permission to be a creator
  • goal + deadline = magic
  • you are what you wear
  • fail often…fail better
  • new experiences = new thoughts
  • trusting in the absurd
  • know thyself

Does that just make you want to dive you?   For instance… why SHOULD you trust in the absurd?   How can you fail better isn’t failing, failing?  Deadlines = magic.. I thought they equalled stress…..so yes, I want to dive into these chapters and I want my questions answered… don’t you?

My Thoughts:

I love the set up of this book, the short chapters, the interesting chapter titles, the call to actions that close off each chapter.  It’s a method that works well for me, and I think would work well for you.  After all, a call to action helps to cement the learning doesn’t it?   The writing style is engaging and the points made, make sense.   Do you want to be a better writer?   This book will help. 

Pep Talks for Writers
  - 52 insights and actions to boost your creative mojo
Grant Faulkner
Chronicle books
trade paperback, 255 pages
Adult, writer, writing, resource, how-to

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Where to find: Amazon Link.

Writing Tools: Order Words for Emphasis with Printable

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The last time I used this book, Writing Tools, I talked about how you should begin sentences with Subjects and Verbs.   Today we’ll be talking about how you organize your words.  One should order words for emphasis. 

Why is this important?

In any sentence, the final punctuation acts as a stop.  The slight pause in reading adds emphasis to the final word in the sentence, so minding where you place words in a sentence adds additional emphasis.   For instance, let’s say there was a bombing at the school.  Which would be better: Parents arrived at the school dressed in housecoats and business suits.  OR Parents hurried to the school, arriving in their business suits and housecoats.   Being left with the image of housecoats imparts the sense of urgency those parents would feel wouldn’t it?

When you start and end a sentence with stronger words, it allows you hide weaker or supportive words in the middle.  This is especially useful when quoting someone, allowing you to list the attribution  in the middle of the quote “I have having the flu,” said the lad, “it makes my throat sore.”

Sometimes people call this the 2-3-1 tool of emphasis (here’s an interesting article on that).  The most important sentence comes at the end, the second most at the beginning, and the least important in the middle.    Or simply put the best first and last, the rest in the middle.  Follow this for sentences and for paragraphs, it will make your writing better overall. 

Printable:

To download click here.

Practice your skills at using this principle.

 

If you would like to follow along in writing tools, you can find it here on Amazon.

Linked up at Encouraging hearts. Homeschool review crew.