Posts Tagged writers block

A Little Space

By on August 16, 2021   /   Articles, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers  

It’s August. Summer is rapidly slipping away. How did the time fly by so fast? What about all those things I was going to do this summer? (Looks at 2021 Summer Calendar To-Do List and sees very few things crossed out.) School is either here or just around the corner. Teachers, librarians, readers, and creators of all stripes are answering the call to duty. 

It’s go time!

There’s is excitement in the air with the prospect and potential of a new academic year. But the pangs of summer fading into the sunset settle deep into my gut. (Looks again at the 2021 Summer Calendar To-Do List.) The innocent and once optimistic list of uncompleted writing and drawing tasks screams at me, “HAYS, DID YOU FORGET US?”

The tight-knit ball of creative anxiety in the pit of my stomach rapidly spins with enough orbital angular momentum to force the panic to rise. My heart races. My eyes flitter around the room. My sketchbooks, journals, notebooks, even my own published books gathering dust on the shelf, laugh at me. 

I run outside, look up into the expanse of a beautiful, northcentral blue Kansas sky, take a deep breath, and close my eyes. My heart no longer races. It’s beating with the steady rhythm of rolling down I-70 through the Flint Hills at dusk. 

John P Salvatore, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

I return to my office. The Summer Calendar 2021 To-Do List hangs unchanged on the wall. But it’s just a list again. A suggestion of potential things. A creative direction. The journals and notebooks are raw stories, packed with potential which hopefully someday find their readers. My published books on the shelf remind me I can indeed do this creative thing competently enough to give them a shelf life.

Ah…the beauty of space. The absolute raw power of space to put everything into perspective.

Space. What an awesome word!

Space is a Swiss Army knife word with so many uses and meanings. Space is a word we should celebrate and appreciate. A word we should vault to the top of the toolbox.

I need to make a token to hang on the wall or wear around my neck to remind me of the value and importance of space and creative space. I need the reminder that when stuck, a step back to create space is necessary in order to move forward.

As the season turns and we make fresh To-Do lists, it’s the perfect time to remember and appreciate the spaces in your life. The other night, I sat for a few minutes on the patio and took in the night sky hoping for a glimpse of the conglomeration of planets on the western horizon or spotting a meteor or two from the eastern sky. Unfortunately, cloud cover and poor timing thwarted these efforts but all was not lost. Mesmerized, as always, by the Big Dipper, I stared at the northern sky for a few minutes. 

Beautiful space. 

A reminder we are all impossible beings floating across the universe at 492,126 miles per hour. Insignificant and yet significant in everything we do. 

Amazing space. My relaxed brain started firing off the important “spaces” in my life. I made a list. 

  • Creative space
  • Outer space
  • Inner space
  • Backspace
  • Negative space
  • Garden space
  • Yard space
  • Patio space
  • Deep space
  • Near space
  • Public space
  • Private space
  • Workspace
  • Office space
  • Family space 
  • Spacebar (How about a Space bar?)
  • Writing space
  • Headspace
  • White space
  • Green space
  • Space Jam
  • Spacesuit
  • Open space
  • Wide-open space
  • Tight space
  • My Space
  • Personal space 
  • Closet space
  • Dream space

How about you? Have you ever considered the importance of space in your personal, professional, or creative life? Do you have a go-to space to open the mind or recharge the soul?

Have a great end of summer and enjoy the promise of tomorrow! 

If you find yourself running into creative walls, remember to take a step back, give yourself some space, and identify the best way to move forward. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly,

Space out, y’all!

The original uploader was Triddle at English Wikipedia.(original:Photograph taken by User:Triddle and User:Codedelectron), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Garbage Writing Exercise

By on May 6, 2020   /   COVID-19, For Parents, For Teachers, Writing  

 

 

If you need a creative boost for yourself, your children, or students…Garbage Writing is the perfect solution!

 

*Set a timer for 15 minutes.

*Write, write, write…nonstop!

*No editing. (Your internal editor will hate this…but it’s such a great way to get past all those judgments and fears of words not coming out right).

 

This can be rambling nonsense. A rant that lets you get all your anger and frustrations out on paper.

Or…if you have a story you’d like to write, an issue you’re working through, etc. you can keep that in mind during this exercise. But if you choose this option…you still need to let the words flow and not edit. Yes, there will be lots of garbage to toss at the end, but you’ll discover gems that gleam so brightly that might not exist without letting your words gush out like this.

Garbage Writing is great to do with writing groups, classes, etc. And you can do it daily or on weekdays to stifle your internal editor before jumping into writing or revisions for the day.

Happy writing! I hope you discover tons of sparkly gems. 🙂

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The Problem with (Too Many) Ideas

By on April 24, 2019   /   Articles, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers  

There are two kinds of people.

People who think like writers. And people who don’t.

Give a class of fifth graders blank paper and and tell them they can write about anything they choose. Those who don’t think like writers will stare at the page. They will fidget. They’ll gaze into the middle distance, as if to summon an idea from the atmosphere. Before long, the teacher will see the frustration begin to rise and she’ll remind them of the time the author came to school and talked about how ideas are all around us and we must only keep our eyes and ears open to find one.

But I want to talk about those who think like writers. Those students may also stare at the blank page, fidget, and appear filled with angst, but it’s for a different reason. Those who think like writers have no shortage of ideas. They have ideas stacked upon ideas stacked upon ideas. If they are hesitating, it’s because they can’t possibly choose between the many fabulous ideas they have swimming around in their brains.Image result for crossroads

Writers talk a lot about where to find ideas.  (Keep your eyes open. Keep a journal. Listen. Engage in the world around you. Observe the world around you. Read the newspaper. Ask questions. Etc. So on. You know.)

But we seldom discuss what to do about all of the ideas we have.

I’ve been struggling with too many ideas myself this past year. Some folks might be unsympathetic to this plight, especially those who feel challenged to come up with ideas. But, believe me, having too many ideas can be just as damaging to productivity.

That shiny new idea always seems better than the tired old one I’ve been working on for months years.

I bounce from project to project, working on many, completing none.

I can’t decide which idea to tackle today, so I flip through social media and waste a few minutes hours days while I consider which idea is the best one to work on.

When the going gets tough on WIP (Work In Progress) #1, I don’t stick it out. Why should I when I have WIP #2, #3,  and #4 through #47 to turn my attention to?

Let’s talk about what to do when we have TOO MANY ideas.

Triage. I love this word. And the first time I ever heard it applied to ideas was at Picture Book Boot Camp with Jane Yolen. Jane has TOO MANY ideas. You don’t publish over 365 books without having an abundance of ideas. But daily, Jane triages her ideas so that she can focus on THE ONE. She might do this several times a day, but that’s okay. We need to rank our ideas: those that will die without our immediate attention and those which can lounge around a while, waiting for us.

But by what criteria do we make these life-and-death decisions? I’ve identified five ways. Here they are, not necessarily in order of importance.

  1. The idea with a deadline. This is often a no-brainer. You work on the project that someone else is expecting. But just like a student with a homework assignment, it isn’t always what you’re excited about working on. Still, if an editor or agent is waiting, it makes sense to put this idea on the top of the stack.
  2. The idea that won’t leave you alone. These ideas don’t like to be pushed aside. They follow you home from work. They jump in the shower with you (of all the nerve!) They lay awake at night and make sure you do, too. If you have an idea following you around like a lost pup, then you might want to give it some attention. It will LOVE YOU for it.
  3. The idea that is new and exciting. Use caution here. Sometimes the idea that is new and exciting is nothing more than a distraction. But, once in a while, that new and exciting idea is one that can’t wait. To be honest, the idea probably can wait. But your enthusiasm carries some clout. If we’re really, really into something, we’re likely to give it our best attention. If you are passionate about a new idea, at least explore it a little. You’ll know soon enough whether it’s a distraction or your new WIP.
  4. The idea that is almost done. This idea used to be new and exciting. A long time ago. When it was new. And exciting. But now it’s the WIP that has been whipping you for months or years. The thing is, it’s still good, but you gave up too quickly (likely when Miss New and Exciting showed up) and now it feels like drudgery to return to the scene of the abandonment. But, consider the time and energy you’ve already invested. If you just put in a little more time, the results might be amazing. And, even if they aren’t quite amazing, you’ll have a completed manuscript. And that has much more potential than an incomplete one.
  5. The idea that is timely.  Sometimes an idea can’t wait. As I put the finishing touches on this post, which is scheduled for April 24th, I notice that today (April 22nd) is Earth Day. I also learned that this is the 49th anniversary of Earth Day. That means next year at this time, the world will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. If I had a brilliant idea for a book plot that centered around Earth Day, next year would be the ideal time to get that book out into the world. If I had such an idea (I don’t), it would have been worth setting aside something else this past year to work on it. In fact, books that will release in the spring of 2020 have already been written, submitted, accepted, and are in the editing process right now. For some ideas, timing is everything.

Having  too many ideas may make it difficult to focus our energy on just one at a time, but look at the bright side. We’ll never run out of inspiration. We’ll write until we can’t write any longer and, perhaps, leave some ideas behind for others to explore. It’s a lovely problem to have.

If you have TOO MANY IDEAS, embrace them. And triage with confidence.

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