Break Out of Your Writing Rut with Change Guru Nancy Christie

 Please welcome change guru Nancy Christie, author of The Gifts of Change and a freelance writer and speaker. Nancy gives us tips on how to break out of a writing rut and get those words flowing again!  

Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of THE GIFTS OF CHANGE. Drawing will be held 4/5/10, and Nancy will announce the winner here tomorrow morning, so check back to see if you won!

Although writing is, by definition, a creative process, it is still possible to become “stuck in a rut.” That can happen when we write only on the same topics or in the same genre, when we work only for the same magazines or clients, when our writing routine is set in stone (only in the morning, only in the coffee shop, only on weekends).

Being in a writing rut can be detrimental to our creative spirit and our self-confidence. When we restrict our imagination to the same track, it becomes evident in the finished process. We use the same phrases—the same verbal layout, so to speak—that worked the first time, and the second, and the third and often don’t notice it until someone else calls attention to it. (When a friend of mine read an early draft of my first novel, he pointed out that two of my characters used the same phrase—“truth be told”—and that I needed to decide once and for all who “owned” it!)

Our work becomes stale, boring and repetitive because we have gotten lazy, complacent and unwilling to challenge ourselves.

What’s worse is the insidious effect a writing rut can have on our self-confidence level. Many times, we avoid taking risks with our writing—exploring new writing forms or subjects—because deep down inside we are afraid: afraid we can’t pull it off, afraid that our ignorance will become evident to the whole world, afraid, in short, that we will fail.

We stick with what we know because we believe subconsciously that that is all we can know, return to what we have done in the past because that might be all we can do in the future.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with establishing a reputation as a health journalist or a novelist or a marketing writer, we should push ourselves outside those self-defined limits periodically to see what else we are capable of becoming.

And it doesn’t matter whether we succeed or fail. As Dame Sybil Thorndike once said, “One should never be sorry one has attempted something new—never, never, never!” It’s the effort that is important, not the outcome. It’s the challenge that strengthens us as writers and as individuals.

Nancy Christie

Web site: www.nancychristie.com

Blog: The Writer’s Place

Use Your Intuition To Access Your Subconscious Creativity

"Women’s intuition” can be a useful tool for aspiring women writers, and men too, because it’s a link to your inner resources of creativity and wisdom. Intuition is your subconscious mind attempting to communicate with you and get creative material or guidance into your conscious mind. You might experience hunches, flashes of insight, or feel you should take some action. Your dreams may give you characters, plot ideas, or entire stories. Some people get a “gut” feeling. You may be guided to do something unusual. The late photographer Dorothea Lange got a gut feeling that she should turn down a deserted road in California while driving home from work one day. Even though she was exhausted, Lange yielded to her intuition and discovered a starving woman and children whose haunting photo became the face of the Great Depression.

Intuition springs from your subconscious mind, and there are several ways to connect to this part of yourself that often goes unheeded and unexplored. You can direct your subconscious mind to give you a dream solution when you find yourself in a spell of writer’s block. Keep a notebook by your bed and tell your subconscious mind before you fall asleep to allow you to dream about the next section of your story. Don’t be surprised if you wake up in the middle of the night with a sudden burst of inspiration. That’s what the notebook is for.

You can also induce the hypnagogic state to get in touch with your subconscious resources. The hypnagogic state is a naturally occurring phase of sleep that is characterized by altered consciousness; some people hear their name being called, others see flashes of light. What’s important for writers is that ideas that are not normally connected are seen as associated in this state. It’s a time fertile with creativity. To access it, lie down and hold one arm straight up while you attempt to doze. The tension in your arm required to hold it up will keep you on the verge of wakefulness even as your mind slips into an alpha state, which is conducive to creativity. Again, write down in your notebook any ideas or insights that come to you.

Stream of consciousness writing is a good way to access your subconscious mind. I used it while writing my novel, Grave Secret (Mundania Press, Sept 2007). One day, after a period of several difficult writing days, the character of Billy Powers simply walked on to the page. This character was not known to my conscious mind; he sprang from my subconscious. As it turned out, he was so integral to the plot that his appearance saved the story.

Heed your intuition because it is the golden key that opens the gate to your vast subconscious mind. Your writing will thank you for it.

Interview on How to Find Time to Write

When Kelly L. Stone interviewed bestselling author Cathy Maxwell for her books -- THINKING WRITE: THE SECRET TO FREEING YOUR CREATIVE MIND and TIME TO WRITE: MORE THAN 100 PROFESSIONAL WRITERS REVEAL HOW TO FIT WRITING INTO YOUR BUSY LIFE -- she never thought the tables would be turned on her, here at Romance Radio! Cathy is going to talk to Kelly about the instructive book and her constructive advice about how to use the power of our subconscious mind to maximize our creative output and attain all of our writing aspirations. So - aspiring readers, this is one episode of Romance Radio you DON'T want to miss!

Click here to listen to the interview; it's about 20 minutes:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/romanceradio/2010/01/14/kelly-l-stone--words-to-inspire-aspring-writers

Creativity Tip: Using Sudoku as a jumpstart to Writing

Please welcome my friend Walt Mussell, an author who has a unique creativity tip to share.

Ten Minutes in the Morning

When I read Kelly’s book, Time to Write, one of first things I did was to make myself a schedule, trying to find pockets of time to write. The result was that I had time in the morning before I went to work. However, as I started rising early, I realized one thing: I wasn’t “ready” to write at that hour. I struggled to put words on the page, I would check e-mail or surf the net. It wasn’t a productive way to spend time.

Finally, I discovered something that let me get my brain in gear, even quicker than taking coffee via an IV…sudoku. A math puzzle may seem like the oddest way to spark one’s creative side, but I’m a total left brain. I have degrees in physics, finance, and accounting and I gravitate to numbers. (In the spring of 2009, I was a contest finalist for about two minutes, and then the contest coordinator read me my scores. Hopefully, one day, my writing skills will exceed my ability to do math in my head.)

To start, I bookmarked a website (www.free-sudoku.com) and I visit nearly every day to do puzzles in my head. There are five levels on the site. With a pen and paper, I can do the hardest ones, but I don’t want anything that challenging. Instead, I use a lower level puzzle as I want to be able to do it on-line without having to write things down. This is enough for me to get going. Also, I only want to take ten minutes on the puzzle because I want to get to actual writing. The website I use has a timer, so you can keep track of how long you’ve been at it. Finished? Unfinished? It doesn’t matter. After ten minutes, or if I finish the puzzle in less than ten minutes, I start writing.

As I’ve gotten better at sudoku, I’ve increased the difficulty level of the puzzle I do in the morning. However, I don’t go beyond my pre-set time limit. This may not be the best way for some people to get started, but it does work for me. It also seems especially geared towards editing.

I’m currently reading Kelly’s second book, Thinking Write, and trying to find better ways to tap into my creative potential. I’ve set a dream log next to my bed and started writing things down. (Being male, or just really left brain, I chose not to decorate it.) However, as I continue with my sudoku in the morning, I wonder if my current morning kickstart isn’t my version of a “mirror,” “pendulum,” or “arm in the air” as a way to focus. Hopefully, Kelly will respond on that.

Walt Mussell
"Walt's Place" (Auburn football: Sun) www.waltmussell.blogspot.com
"Daddy Needs Decaf" (Parenting: Tues & Fri) www.atlantaparent2.blogspot.com

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Sudoku is one of those games that stimulates *right brain* alpha state creativity. It is similar to using the *arm in the air* technique that I write about in Thinking Write as a way to get in touch with the subconscious.

What games similar to sudoku have you found to rejunvenate your creativity? Leave a comment and be entered into a drawing to win a $5 dollar off coupon to one of Kelly's future online classes.

Do You Have Writing Goals for 2010?

Have you set your writing goals for 2010 yet? Setting goals is easy when you use the SMART format:

S= Specific. Identify a concrete product that you intend to create, e.g., a novel, a nonfiction book proposal, a short story, a memoir.

M= Measurable. Goals should include something you can count on a daily basis, e.g., finish five pages per day or two chapters per week.

A= Achievable. Set goals you know you can reach. Most people set goals too high, get discouraged, and quit. Setting goals you have a good chance of making sets you up for success.

R= Realistic. Again, set goals that are do-able for you and your lifestyle.

T= Time Limited. Give all goals a deadline and track your progress using some type of log.

Once you have goals, create action steps that you will take on a daily basis to reach these goals. This can include setting aside time after dinner each evening to write, going to the library on weekends to do research, or taking classes to improve your skills. I call this your Writing Action Plan™.

Post your plan somewhere that you will see it every day, and reward yourself weekly for making progress toward your goals.

Learn more ways to set and achieve writing goals in TIME TO WRITE: More Than 100 Professional Writers Reveal How to Fit Writing Into Your Busy Life-- No Excuses, No Distractions, No More Blank Pages (Adams Media).

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What are your writing goals for 2010? Leave a comment and be entered into a drawing to win an autographed copy of BREAK INTO FICTION by bestselling authors Dianna Love and Mary Buckham.

Where is Your Thinking Place?

A Thinking Place is a private spot where you can go, undisturbed, to think, create, and make plans. Many creative people have several Thinking Places that they retreat to on a routine basis. One of mine is a comfortable chair in front of a window with a scenic view. A Thinking Place is important because it allows you to access your subconscious mind and helps build a bridge to your innate creativity.

For an excellent book on the various Thinking Places of famous people, check out:
Thinking Places: Where Great Ideas Were Born by Jack and Carolyn Fleming.


Where is your Thinking Place?

Don’t Let the Holidays Mean a Holiday from Writing

Every writer has to deal with distractions on a daily basis, but the holidays present a unique challenge. It’s easy to get so consumed by the parties, shopping, cooking, traveling, and visiting with family that your writing suffers. People tend to work less during the holidays no matter what their line of business, and writers are no different. The result is that you lose touch with your work-in-progress and slow the momentum that had been pushing you along the previous ten months.

Here’s how to stay on track with your writing and enjoy your holidays, too.

Modify Your Writing Schedule. Unless you’re emulating Stephen King and decide to write every day including Christmas and your birthday, accept the fact that you are not going to get as much writing done during the holiday season. Plan accordingly by taking a proactive stance. Decide now, before the holiday chaos begins, what your writing schedule will be for the next six weeks. Take out monthly calendars for November and December and pencil in a scaled back version of your typical writing schedule. If you normally write five hours a week, plan on three. If you normally write three times a week, plan on one. Identify the days that you already know you will not write and cross them off your calendar. This exercise will alleviate guilt while also ensuring that you will get some writing accomplished over the holidays.

Modify Your Writing Goals. Along with your modified schedule, temporarily lower your word and page count goals. If you normally write 2000 words a day, lower it to 1000. If you usually shoot for five pages a day, aim for three.

Review Your Progress. The key to achieving any goal is to continually monitor progress. If you feel like you are getting totally off track as the holidays move forward, set aside five minutes and review your modified goals. Did you bite off more than you could chew? If you scaled your writing schedule back to three times a week but discover that you simply can’t do it because of holiday obligations, scale it back to twice or even once a week. Your aim should be to retain some semblance of your writing schedule—what that looks like over the holidays may be dictated by forces you cannot control.

Incorporate Writing Into the Holiday Lifestyle. Just as you weave writing into your day-to-day life at other times, strive to do the same over the holidays. Keep a notebook nearby to jot down witticism ms and snappydialogue exchanges that you overhear. Maybe eccentric Uncle Fred will spout out the perfect comeback line for your hero. Be alert. Families are steeped in tradition and complex relationships that all writers strive to get on the page. Take advantage of the dynamics swirling around you.

Touch Some Part of Your Writing Every Day. Even on days that you do not plan to write, touch some part of your writing life by making notes about your work-in-progress, thinking about a difficult plot point, or reading a paragraph or two in a craft book before you go to bed. Stay in touch with your writing self.

Be Present. When you’re writing, write. When you’re celebrating, celebrate. Be completely present with whatever you are doing at the moment.

Plan Your 2010 Work Now. Setting long range goals before the hype about resolutions begins often results in saner, more achievable goals. It also helps you avoid overextending yourself when the post-holiday slump sets in. The reason most people don’t keep their resolutions is because they set completely unrealistic targets. Setting yours before or right after Thanksgiving gives you a smooth jumping off point on Jan 1, 2010.

Taking a break for the holidays doesn’t mean you have to take a break from your writing life. Use these tips to stay in touch with your writing life and enjoy your family’s festivities, too.

©Kelly L. Stone. All rights reserved.

Question for comments: How do you plan to stay on track with your writing during this holiday season?