I came across another article about writing. The weird thing is that I started using some variations of these tips (before I read this article) over the last few weeks and they’ve been working for me.

Here’s the link:

http://writerswrite.co.za/how-to-defeat-the-dreaded-blank-page

Out of these tips listed in the article, the ones I’ve been using are:

1. I’ve found a new place to write in the mornings – on the screened-in back porch with our cat keeping me company. It’s now officially fall in Florida and the weather in the mornings is kind of cool and dry finally, so it’s pleasant to sit out there. When summer (which really starts in spring here) comes back around, I’ll have to find another place to write.
2. I know this doesn’t exactly coincide with this tip, but I have to say that I’ve been able to force (maybe trick would be a better word) myself into writing by committing myself to only writing one page a day. I used to write in spurts, sometimes going a few weeks between a few days of 40-60 pages. Now I make myself write only one page. I know what you might be thinking: One page? That’s it? I know it seems too lenient a page count to give myself, but it’s been working way better than I thought it would because one page leads to two, then three, and before I know it I’ve written ten to fifteen pages for the day. There’s something about just getting some paper and a pen, sitting down, and starting to write – it gets the creative juices flowing. I don’t worry about making this first draft perfect, and I realize that I may cut out a lot of what I’m writing later or make some changes, but at least I’m getting the meat of the story down on paper, having already formed the skeleton (the outline), and in later drafts I’ll add the skin, hair, and clothing (I know this is a gruesome metaphor here, but I’m a horror writer). I can probably type faster than I can write by hand, but writing by hand during the first draft is freeing for me; it doesn’t feel as permanent to me as typing the draft on the computer does. I know with this first draft I can just ball up a few of these pages and start over if it isn’t right.
3. (This tip is really for number 4 on the list) This kind of goes with what I said above – just by the act of writing by hand (for me at least) seems to open up the theatrical curtains in my mind’s eye. And I’ve found that as I start writing, ideas come to me, twists and turns that I hadn’t planned in the outline.

This article also offers a list of prompts at the end to kind of experiment with stories and flex your writing muscles. I’ve never used prompts like this, but if it works for you then great! One thing I don’t have a problem with is coming up with ideas for stories, novels, or scripts. I have more ideas than I have time to write.

In the next few posts I’ll talk about where ideas come from (at least for me), and I’ll talk about the importance of jotting down ideas in a notebook and the importance of outlining.

Hope this article helps someone and please feel free to share.

Until next time …