Story Quarry

Let’s say you have a great character —

The story kind, not the moral excellence kind (although I’m sure you’re great in that department as well).

Anyway, we all know that a great character needs a great story.

And if you’re kind of, sort of stuck on the story part, then here’s something to try —

Write down a list of everything your character LOVES.

And I’m not talking about things he or she is namby-pamby about. We need some strong opinions here. That’s precisely why it’s LOVES and not loves.

Next, make a list of everything your character is good at.

What’s his or her skill set?

Finally, add a dash of his or her comfort zone.

Got all that?

Now it’s time to delve into the wicked side of your character (yes, now I’m talking about the moral excellence kind).

Take the opposite of every single item in the above list and…

Gift it, grant it, throw it, toss it, heave it, lob it, sprinkle it, shove it, fling it (you get the idea)…

at your great character.

Then stand back with pen in hand as you watch ‘em squirm, wiggle, flounder, wrangle, battle, struggle, and…

WIN!

Shazam —

Instant story.

PROMPT: Mwahaha!

Open Up and Say Om

We've all heard the news that meditation can reduce stress.

You know the drill — a daily dose of “om” can quiet the mind, reduce blood pressure, improve sleep, and blah, ba-blah, blah, blah…

But have you heard that meditation gives your creativity a super boost?

I didn't think so.

Because you’d be doing it right now!

Our friends in the field of psychology have discovered that “open monitoring” meditation can amp up creativity. Apparently, those who practice “o.m.” generate a greater number of new ideas than those who don’t.

Trust me, when you’re working on plot possibilities that kind of boost can certainly come in handy!

These research results were so compelling, that many corporations (Shell Oil, Google, and General Mills, for example) have begun using meditation to help their employees bring new ideas and solutions to the table.

By the way, “open monitoring” meditation means that you observe without judging. To do it, you simply sit, breathe, and remain open to all thoughts and sensations without focusing attention on any one of them. In other words, you think of those thoughts and sensations as pretty puffy clouds just passing through.

I’m thinking that open monitoring meditation sounds like a great excuse to get my butt into a lawn chair and call it work…

Ahhh!

I mean, Ommmmmmmm.

PROMPT: Would you like to give your creativity a super boost this week or take a chip off the old writer’s block? Then give this technique a 5, 15, or 30-minute whirl. Follow it up with a brainstorm of plot possibilities, and you’ll be rocking without blocking in no time!

Blackout!

Do you dread that first page in the morning?

Is its cold white stare creeping you out a bit, or worse —

giving you a certifiable case of tabula-rasa-phobia?

Well, suffer no more, Elbow-Benders!

Start your writing day the blackout way instead.

This method was developed by writer/artist Austin Kleon back when he was struggling with a pretty severe case of writer’s block.

At the time, one thought kept haunting him —

I don’t have any words.

But then he looked into his recycling bin and saw a big pile of newspapers.

Suddenly, a second thought popped into his head —

Right over there are millions of them!

So, Austin picked up a newspaper and pulled out one of his drawing markers. Then he began deleting words while leaving others to just float there on the page. He likens the process to those word search puzzles many of us enjoyed as kids.

So did it cure Austin’s writer’s block?

Let’s see…

Austin Kleon is now a New York Times bestselling author with three illustrated books in print: Newspaper Blackout, Steal Like An Artist, and Show Your Work!

Yeah.

I think he’s cured.

PROMPT:

Step 1: Get yourself a newspaper — you know, one of those quaint periodicals that lets you read yesterday’s news on actual paper.

Step 2: Arm yourself with a black permanent marker.

Step 3: Cross out everything on the page that's not a poem.

Step 4: Submit your poem to newspaperblackout.com and share it with the world! (The site publishes blackout poems from readers all over the planet and has over 125,000 visitors daily!)

Delete on!

Poetry Perks

As we launch into week 2 of National Poetry Month, you may be asking what poetry can do for you…

Besides save you from a miserable death, of course.

Well, poetry just so happens to be a terrific cure for writer’s block (I know, I know, a fate far worse than a miserable death for some).

The fabulous J.R.R. Tolkien often used poetry as a block breaker. Whenever he was stuck in the process of creating a story, he’d simply start writing out his thoughts in verse.

Tolkien wrote, “The first version of the song of Strider concerning Luthien originally appeared in the Leeds University magazine, but the whole tale, as sketched by Aragorn, was written in a poem of great length” (from The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien edited by Humphrey Carpenter).

Given this technique, it’s not surprising that Tolkien’s prose often reads with such a delicious cadence.

Research also shows that reading and writing poetry can make you more creative.

Poet, writer, and serious business dude Dana Gioia couldn’t agree more. He reports that when he worked in the business world… “I felt I had an enormous advantage over my colleagues because I had a background in imagination, language, and literature.”

And how did this advantage pan out?

Gioia happens to be credited with reversing a long-running decline in gelatin dessert sales when he and his team created the super-sensational…

Jell-O Jiggler.

Clearly, additional proof of the power of poetry is unnecessary…

But I’ll give you another bit anyway.

On the clinical side of things, poetry has actually been found to be a terrific weapon for fighting depression. 

A study in Great Britain found that 7% of depressed and stressed out patients were able to wean themselves off of medication through the simple daily practice of penning poetry.

So, if you want to beat the block, become a mover and shaker (literally) in the business world, or get a great big bunch of happy, now is the time to…

Rhyme on!

PROMPT: Use the Tolkien technique of putting your project in verse first. Try it with your current manuscript or as a way to jump-start your next one. Then shake things up a bit — I’m thinking an ode to the Jell-O Jiggler will do the trick.

Behold…

Back in the 1950s, Ray Bradbury was hard at work on a screenplay for the film version of Herman Melville’s classic, Moby-Dick.

But things were not going well.

The deadline was approaching fast, and he was stuck in one of those giant blocks made just for writers.

He was depressed.

He was desperate.

He had no idea how to escape his four-sided cell of wordless gloom.

Then one morning Ray awoke with a crazy thought.

So he ran to the mirror, gave himself a good long look, and said…

“Behold, Herman Melville!”

It worked like a charm.

Ray finished the script with ease.

In fact, I hear he had a whale of a time.

PROMPT: Use Ray’s recipe for instant success today. Pick your favorite famous author, grab a mirror and shout, “Behold, __________!” Then see what a little creative channeling can do for you. J

By the way, this fabulous story came from James Scott Bell’s The Art of War for Writers. If you’re in need of some inspiration, pick up a copy today and…

Fight on!

Small Change

Welcome to the YESvember homestretch.

Only one week and one day left of goal-getting awesomeness!

Let me be the first to say that you are a ROCK STAR!

But right about now, some of you might be feeling a little less like the star part and a lot more like the rock.

If this is the case, you are probably mired in a muddy middle. 

Symptoms of this bothersome affliction can include wedged wellies, sticky hands, insatiable carb cravings, and writing that smells like… wet dirt. 

Did I mention those carb cravings?

Anyway, if you ever find yourself in such a state, try one of the following to help yourself unwedge —

Change your writing time. If you've been writing in the morning, try afternoon or evening… or midnight!

Change your writing stretch. Sometimes even a 15 minute approach can be too much, so try doing your daily words in 5 minute blasts.

Change your location. Try a coffee shop, a laundromat, the frozen food aisle, a treadmill, a tree house, a library, a zoo, a train, a mud puddle… et cetera, et cetera.

Change your writing posture. Lie down, stand on your head, yoga pose it, and so on and so forth.

Change your writing method. Try texting, longhand, shorthand, or “Look Mom! No hands!” (AKA voice recording)

Change your words. Do a Mark Twain and substitute “damn” for every “very” in your manuscript. Oh, what delicious fun that will be.
 

Now get out there and have a damn good weekend!

PROMPT: Even if your writing is still humming along, try one of today’s tips just to see what it does for you. Because sometimes a small change = pennies from Heaven!

Write Now

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. 

Action breeds confidence and courage. 

If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. 

Go out and get busy.

 ~ Dale Carnegie

Today is a celebration day for me. By noon, I will finalize and submit another eight-pack of stories to an educational company. Yahoo!

You know, I've been doing this sort of writing for many of years. You’d think it would get easier. You’d think that I’d have a wee bit of confidence in my abilities by now…

But let me let you in on a little secret —

Whenever I get a request for a new batch of stories, I experience feelings of… well… we’ll call it PANIC. It’s like a great big Shop-Vac has come along and sucked every ounce of confidence from me. And it happens every single time.

What if I don’t have another eight stories inside of me? I say to myself.

Of course, to my editors I say, “Sure thing! No problem!” 

Then I take Dale’s advice. I get busy searching every corner of my world for those eight stories. Because dang it, they are out or in there somewhere!

And somehow, some way, by getting busy with the business of writing, I manage to find them.

I've talked to other writers, and many experience the same sort of thing.

Does this lack of confidence occur for professionals in other fields?

Take neurosurgeons, for example. Yeah, I’ll bet they have plenty of days when they find themselves leaning over a skull and muttering, “Hmmm, I just don’t know if I have what it takes today. I think the brain surgery Muse has left the building. I suppose I’ll try tomorrow.”

No way.

They show up.

Glove up.

And get the job done.

I wonder if there would be fewer cases of block in the world if writers did the same. 

But Barb, I hear you saying. That’s different. Neurosurgery is a matter of life and death.

Well so is writing, Cupcake. We’re talking about the life and death of a dream. And I’ll wager that a dead dream is one of the worst kind of brain disease out there.

And I, for one, have a dream of making my way in this world as a writer.

Maybe you do, too.

So…

Show up.

Glove up.

Get the job done.

PROMPT: You can do it! Write NOW! Then write a whole bunch of other stuff, too. Trust me, there are MILLIONS of stories inside of you. It’s time to get busy busting them out.

When All Else Fails, Throw a…

I ran across this little gem the other day –

“Writing about a writer's block is better than not writing at all.”

~ Charles Bukowski

I think that’s about the best bit of advice I've ever seen on the subject.

In fact, it’s 100% proof positive of another pocket pearl I've picked up along the way –

“When there’s no way out, there’s still a way through.”

~ Dave Carroll

There is ALWAYS a way through.

Anything.

Always.

Write on!

PROMPT: Have you ever had a writer’s block? What did it look like? What did you do with it? If that little cubed monster ever returns, use it to build something… like a character with a wicked block… a deadline… and a very hungry Chihuahua…