Quote

Love this quote.

Foto Friday

Has anyone ever read a book about Easter Island, fiction or non-fiction?

http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/photos/3002989.jpg

Enjoy the Journey

Do you have a theme or motto this year? Something to motivate you and/or your writing? (My son told me his theme song, "Loser." Nice.)
My motto this year is: Enjoy the Journey.
I'm not a patient person. Food burns on my watch because I turn up the heat hoping to cook the meal faster.
I sometimes skim pages or jump to the next chapter.

I make awesome gravy over high heat.
My scrambled eggs are delicious.
You need nourishment for your journey, whether it's physical or mental or writing.
(Do you eat while writing?)
(Weird. All the above examples involve food.)

This year I will learn to slow down, enjoy everything about writing, even editing (ugh). As I take my time I will see better, comprehend more, get excited about the next hidden corner.
*sigh*
Everyday isn't a vacation in Utopia/Eden/Shangri-La. At times I remind myself to chill, eat a bite of chocolate, or put away the laptop and read (maybe a nap). Downtime is part of the journey too.

 What's your favorite part of writing? 
What do you do for downtime?

Writers are like cats

Maybe it's just me.
I like to be snuggled and handed my food and nap in the sun.

We can be more like cats:

Observant.
Ideas come as we sit still and observe the world. I love to watch people in airports. Schools are fun too. And parks. And Wal-Mart. Who am I kidding? My own house is fodder for stories! Has a story ever come to you from people watching?

Stretch.
Sometimes the way to break writers block is to go beyond our limits. Write something different we didn't plan on. Try paper instead of typing on the computer. Wake early or stay up late to find our muse.
Sometimes a nap works too.

Getting Stuck.
Writers get stuck. Sometimes we are the causing of getting stuck. Sometimes the characters are blocking us, telling us where they want the story to go and we aren't listening. What to do??

Let go.
Put the story on a shelf or in a drawer or in the pantry. Now go and play. Have fun. Go to the office supply store and buy a fun, new writing item to your stash. Watch kids play. They know how to have fun. Give yourself permission to let go for a while.

Buddy up.
Writing can be a lonely job. Writers need friends to give pats on the back, read the manuscript for the AGAIN or bring chocolate.
Going out for lunch is good for the creative soul too.

Hubby just asked if I'm having a hard time coming up with material to blog.
"No, why?" I asked
"You're posting about writers being like cats."
"It's funny."
"No, funny is herding people at a writers conference is like herding cats."

What other similarities do you believe writers and cats have in common?

Now is the right time.

“Your journey has molded you for the greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don't think that you've lost time. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time.”Asha Tyson (born 1970); Writer, public speaker

I. Love. This. Quote.
It totally applies to anyone. I like to think it was written for me, for us. Asha gives us permission to own the moment, right here, right now. What is in our heads and hearts is ready to be put on paper, breathed into stories. We are the only ones who have lived what we have lived, seen through our eyes the scenery. We haven't lost time!
Now is the right time.

Foto Friday

I think I see my muse!

http://photos.500px.com/196495/4

Henry Miller on Writing

The Commandments

1. Work on one thing at a time until finished.
2. Start no more new books, add no more new material to "Hemingway's Suitcase."
3. Don't be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.
4. Work accordingly to Program and not accordingly to mood. Stop at the appointed time.
5. When you can't create you can work.
6. Cement a little everyday, rather than add new fertilizers.
7. Keep human! See people, go places, drink if you feel like it.
8. Don't be a draught horse! Work with pleasure only.
9. Disregard the Program when you feel like it--but go back to it next day. Concentrate. Narrow down. Exclude.
10. Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.
11. Write first and always. Painting, music, friends, cinema,all these come afterwards.