writing inspiration

All posts tagged writing inspiration

The Write Mood

Posted by george on September 14, 2010
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , . 17 comments

Image from ConfidentWriting.com (Hi Joanna!)

It’s been a pretty busy writing week. I’ve a project that I pulled off the back burner, you see. Put it on the front burner and turned the flame to high, I did. I didn’t really have to. I was given permission to pace myself if I wanted but a funny thing happened on the way to the easy chair. I was swept over by the write mood.

After months of planning neglect I decided that last weekend would be the perfect on to hold my garage sale. I spent Friday getting everything together. Saturday morning, 8am. Me, in the garage, sun barely up and it’s freaking cold out. 38F. Yup, September has come to Alaska.

My plan was to try and get a little writing done whilst I kept an eye out on the hordes of shoppers. I drag down a wooden highback chair from the kitchen and a little end table kind of thing. Set up my laptop and I’m in business.

Are you getting the setting? Cold, sitting in a hard chair, bent over at the keyboard. My back is already singing.

I couldn’t possibly write anything that way could I?

I’m at a loss to explain but I got in some kind of writing mood. I finished a segment of the project and it spurred me on to complete another and another and another. Folks, I was on fire. I completed a great deal of my project. And if that were’nt enough, I actually tackled a few yukky catch up things I needed to get done! The write mood was working for me, it was.

What I found interesting is that as I was busy writing, I was thinking back to all of the things I had ever read (and written) espousing the necessity of a comfortable writing space. I did some of my best writing ever this last weekend. It made me wonder just how important environment is. It made me think that perhaps (as many writers advocate) it’s a good idea to stretch the ol’ wings and go somewhere completely out of your comfort zone to do some writing.

My problem is that I don’t know if it was the change of setting or if it was being in just the write mood that made such a profound difference. I’m inclined to think it is the write mood because it has extended itself into this week. My project is designed to be completed over an eight week span and I’m going to git ‘er done in about ten days. I don’t feel burned out at all.

So my question is, which do you think affects your writing more? Setting or mood?

Is Your Passionate Writing Fueled By Anger Or Inspiration?

Posted by george on June 1, 2010
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , . 36 comments

In the past, I’ve written posts about the importance of passion in your writing.  I know that some of my best writings have been done when I feel passionate about the subject.  When I go to other blogs, I can sense when a post was written with great passion and I can sense the posts that were merely “written”.

I don’t think that most of us write from a place of passion every single day, every single time.  I think the percentages probably favor passion when we are new, when we are fresh.  As times goes on our sharp edges round a little bit and for the most part we get into a groove that’s comfy – kinda like a favorite pair of slippers.

When you do write a passion post, I’m curious which pool you dip into.  I seem to have morphed a bit from when I first started.  Initially, my most passionate posts came from a pool of inspiration.  I had an idea about a topic and I felt a great need to get it out there and share with other writers.  In fact, the initial tag line for the tumblemoose site included “inspiring writers, every day”.

I have to confess that recently, a lot of my passion posts have been fueled by anger.  As I see injustices or come across something particularly inane and troublesome I feel the need to write about it.  These posts usually have great passion and my sharp tongue comes out swingin’.  I have to say that to some extent, I don’t like that very much.  It was not what I had envisioned when I started this blog.  And while the topics are generally appropriate for the writing niche, I wonder if maybe it would have been best to not write the posts.  I will say that often, the writing of the angry passion posts have been cathartic.  Even so, I don’t get the sense of joy and excitement that I normally have when I publish a passion post pulled from the inspiration pool and I have to wonder

Is that okay?

The answer is an absolute yes. No.  Uh, maybe.  Heck, I just don’t know.  On one hand if a post fueled by anger has got meritorious points, why shouldn’t I publish.  On the other hand does that belong on a blog born of inspiration?  As well, does the feeling of dread, shame and this-is-wrong give me a clue about if something should be published?

It’s an interesting quandary.  I wish all of my posts came from the inspirational pool.  I just wrote one for a client this weekend and it felt great!  It took all of about twenty minutes to write the 700 words and things just flowed from beginning to end.  It also felt great to publish.

The thought has crossed my mind to start another blog for the anger fueled passion posts.  Maybe thingsthatpissgeorgeoff.com?  Oy, the thought of starting another blog sends shivers up me spine, mates.

Maybe I should just quit whining about it and post whatever the heck I want.  Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead, blah, blah, blah.

So, I’m curious about how my fellow writing bloggers feel about this.  Do you ever write from anger?  How did that feel?  Do you do it often?  Do you ever feel a sense of regret after posting?  Do you always pull from the inspirational pool or do you mix it up a bit.

I really want to know.

Book Review: How to Fire Up (Or Just Fire) The Muse

Posted by george on May 14, 2010
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , , . 9 comments

Long time readers here know that a lot of what I post about has to do with inspiring writers to get on with it and just start writing.  It’s not always easy to do and in fact many folks lock up when it comes to the act of sitting down and making the words flow.  This great E-book will do wonders for helping folks get on track.

Earlier this week I received a tweet from Laurie Pawlik-Kienlin.  She has a number of websites that weave quotes into the content that help bring the intended points home.  One of these blogs is Quips and Tips for Writers.  I know Laurie through my interaction with her on that site.  I’ve always found her advice to be sound and every time I go there I learn something new.  So when I saw the tweet that she had a new E-book, I was all about writing a review.

When I received the E-book I was not disappointed.  It was full if the kind of wisdom I was used to getting on Quips and Tips.  At under 70 pages, it is a quick read and the format of the book allows the reader to take on whichever chapter “speaks” to them first.  This isn’t the kind of book that necessarily requires the reader to sequentially move through the chapters.

In a lot of ways, the title of this book really says it all.  The information here is designed to positively influence writers (or those who want to write) to get on with their writing.  It does this by identifying the most common attributes of being stuck and then provides real world solutions for setting things on fire.

The book is divided into three chapters:

  1. Solutions for Slow Starters
  2. Tips for Writers Who Keep Getting Distracted
  3. Tips for Tying up Loose Ends

Within each of these chapters, specifics are addressed regarding each topic.

I like the format a lot because it is easy to go to an area that I know is a weakness for me.  Once I’m there the words of wisdom are short, inspirational and easy to digest.  Her “world famous” quips really do help to drive the points home.  There is something about seeing these quotes from famous authors that makes me feel like I can do what I’m trying to accomplish.

I would recommend this for writers of both the new and the seasoned variety.  I know there are times when I’m just plain stuck.  My muse is MIA and nothing is getting put to paper.  It would be nice to have this book around to help inspire.

For a closer look at the table of contents or to order the ebook you can go to the web site: http://theadventurouswriter.com/fireupthemuse/

If you end up getting the book, I’d be interested in hearing what you think.

Hey Laurie, thanks for giving me the opportunity to review the E-book!

Ten Signs Your Writing is on Track

Posted by george on May 10, 2010
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , , . 17 comments

You slave over a hot computer all day.  Spent, you call it good and hang up your cape.  Sooo, how do you know you’re doing a good job?  Here’s some rockin’ ways to gauge your writing success:

Let’s Do It

  1. The president of Random House calls to personally offer you a book deal. Dang.  This is supposed to be a serious post.  Okay, the REAL #1 is:  A sense of pride, accomplishment and release when you press the publish button or the send button.  For reals, regardless of what others think, if you’re happy with what you’ve written, that is all that matters.  You go, girl.  Or, git on wi’ yo bad self.  Or whatever Yay Me phrase floats your boat.
  2. Inspiration is not an issue.  You don’t struggle with what to write next, how you’re gonna pump out four keyword articles in three hours, or what’s going to happen in the next chapter.  You can’t wait to sit at the keyboard.
  3. Others are finding your musings amusing.  Folks are liking what you are doing.  They are smellin’ what you’re cookin’.  They are pickin’ up what you’re puttin’ down.  Yo.  Making people laugh is one of the key powers of writing.
  4. Oliver sudden, folks are contacting YOU for work.  Instead of the other way around.  Maybe you’ve got more work than you can handle and you have to enlist the help of your writing buddies to help you out.
  5. Your number is up.  Umm, I mean your numbers are up.  As a bonafide recovering analytics-aholic, I know the heartache and exhilaration of looking at the numbers.  I gave up looking a long time ago, but if I had the sense my blog was taking off, I’d have a peek at the peaks.  Up numbers also includes your advertising revs.  An envelope from Google?  In MY mailbox?  Well, shucky-durn.  Gonna be some veggies in the squirrel stew tonight.
  6. You are finishing what you started.  You’re dusting off a few of those manuscripts that have been laying around and you’re holding their little hands whilst you tip toe through the tulips on the way to revision land.
  7. You’ve poked your head out of your hole and didn’t see your shadow.  Winter is gone so you open yourself up to your writing brethren.  You reach out to them and ask for advice, you join a writers group and you get off yourself enough to accept what other people have to say about your writing.
  8. Uh-oh.  #6 and #7 had rodent references.  Better head another direction.  Rats. You garner the courage to approach those businesses or people in your community that you always wanted to write for but didn’t think you were good enough to talk to them.  Say, how’s the view from Trump Towers?  Tell Donald I said Hi and see if you can figure out why he stopped returning my calls.
  9. At parties, instead of meekly responding with a quiet “I’m a writer” when queried about what you do, you loudly pronounce the fact.  In fact, you gush about your latest project and wax on about all of the things that are so cool about scribing for a living.
  10. Finally, your Mom, spouse, significant other, neighbor, friends all realize that this “phase” in your life as a writer isn’t going to pass.  They accept the fact that indeed, you are a living, breathing writer and that one day they may even get a signed copy of your book.

There you have it.  Keep on keeping on dudes and dudettes.

The inspired writer

Posted by george on January 6, 2009
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , , . 22 comments

I had kind of a revelation after I posted this article at Tumblemoose yesterday.

I was reviewing the comments and it occurred to me that most of the comments on this post – and almost all of my others include something about being inspired. And that got me thinking.

A few months back, I had my blog analyzed by Web Design Servers and one of the suggestions was to post more on the topic of writing. I had been doing the usual stuff about blogging, driving traffic, seo, the same as every one else. I slapped my forehead, went, “DUH!” and started to focus on writing. At first it was easy, there were a lot of writing topics to include but I quickly reached a point where I felt like posting any “hard” writing topics would turn away members of the base readership I had built up. I’ve been struggling with this recently and today that changed.

I thought about the inspiration aspect of my postings and the comments and I glanced at the tag line for Tumblemoose Writing Productions. The tag line read, “Freelance Writing and Writer’s Resources”. And while this is a true tag, in a sense it didn’t really tell folks much about what TM was all about and for that matter it wasn’t an accurate reflection of the posts. So, I went in and changed the tag line. It now reads, “Inspiring Writers Every Day”. I’m pretty happy with that. In addition to being more accurate, it more sharply focuses the writing niche and highlights my strength.

So while writing is still going to be the focus, expect the posts to be from the perspective of informing and providing inspiration.  This change in posting is going to be combined with the addition of a new service: Writing Coach and Cheerleader – no kilt cracks, please :-) .  To learn more about this service see the Rates and Services page.

I’m very excited about this new phase of Tumblemoose.  I feel like I’m getting settled in and entrenching my blogging niche even further.

So the lesson here is that stagnation can hold you back. Don’t be afraid to evaluate and look at what you are doing if you have a web site – be it blogging or writing or whatever.