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Harness the Mental, Creative, and Emotional Benefits of Regular Writing

Harness the Mental, Creative, and Emotional Benefits of Regular Writing
My journal has without a doubt been a transformational tool in my life. Just taking a bit of time to reflect on how the last week has gone and to renew my intentions for the coming week really keeps me on track, and alerts me early to any negative habits I am developing. It made it painfully clear to me why my NY Resolutions failed in the past. For me personally, having headings according to all the parts i want to keep in check (family, physical health, mental health, etc) works really well because it keeps me focussed on a balanced life. I keep it weekly because thats a very useful timescale for goals. Finally what works for me is handwritten.

Give Your Writing More “Body” This month’s book review is an overview of my favorite “dead body” books. Whether you are writing a mystery, suspense, action, or any sort of fiction, these are excellent tools for getting the details right, plus they make for terrific Halloween reading. Another way you can use these books is as a brainstorming tool. It’s amazing what paths of thinking and creativity will open for you as you turn the pages. When you research with these books (as opposed to the web) no gruesome or sensationalistic photos will take you by surprise and keep you up nights. Both books are written and produced in a professional, respectful manner and are full of insights and inspiration to help your stories be realistic and believable. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach Entertainment Weekly called Stiff “One of the funniest and most unusual books of the year…Gross, educational, and unexpectedly sidesplitting.” Death to Dust: What Happens to Dead Bodies?

A new tip for productivity | A Writer's Journey As a homeschooling mom, I do all my planning for the week on Sundays. I use a spreadsheet that lays out the full week, organizes by topic, and lets me see in one page what needs to be done, and even how to do it. So it occurred to me the other day- Why don’t I use the same technique for writing? Writing Planner- I created a table with 7 columns for each day of the week, and the rows are broken up on labels such as; Appointments- to list important meetings I must attend (and I add the time). Writing- This is writing specific to stories and things I will publish. Blogging- With keeping a blogging schedule, I find its faster to post and even brainstorm ideas by knowing when I need to update a new post. Marketing- This includes things I do for my web sites, blogs, and my business (learnthepc.net). Other includes specific projects I’m working on. Exercise- This was recently added to remind me that I need to exercise regularly. Feel free to use my idea, and let me know if it work out for you.

Wordiness, Wordiness, Wordiness List absolutely essential = essential aforementioned = DELETE a bigger/greater/higher/larger degree of = more a considerable amount of = DELETE OR BE SPECIFIC a decreased number of = fewer a distance of 28 kilometers = 28 kilometers a lesser/smaller degree of = less/fewer He noticed a lesser degree of errors = He noticed fewer errors. a lot of = many, much a majority of = most, much of, many a person who is xxx = a xxx person A person who is dedicated will succeed = A dedicated person will succeed. a total of seven xxxs = seven xxxs added bonus = bonus advance notice/reservations = notice/reservations advance warning = warning advance planning = planning after all is/was said and done = DELETE After all was said and done, the trip to the well was a disaster. all across = across all of = all all of a sudden = suddenly all of these = these all-time record = record almost never = seldom along the lines of = like any and all = all are/is such that = DELETE Jack and Jill are such that they are doomed to perish.

25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer When George Plimpton asked Ernest Hemingway what the best training for an aspiring writer would be in a 1954 interview, Hem replied, “Let’s say that he should go out and hang himself because he finds that writing well is impossibly difficult. Then he should be cut down without mercy and forced by his own self to write as well as he can for the rest of his life. At least he will have the story of the hanging to commence with.” Today, writing well is more important than ever. Far from being the province of a select few as it was in Hemingway’s day, writing is a daily occupation for all of us — in email, on blogs, and through social media. So what can we do to improve our writing short of hanging ourselves? 1. Don’t just plan to write—write. 2. [The] Resistance knows that the longer we noodle around “getting ready,” the more time and opportunity we’ll have to sabotage ourselves. 3. Find your best time of the day for writing and write. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Treat writing as a job. 10. 11. 12.

5 of the Best Free Writing Software and Tools for Aspiring Novelists EmailEmail Whether you’re the next Jack Karouac or the next NaNoWriMo dropout, any novelist who takes the craft seriously is going to need the right tools to write. And let’s face it: Microsoft Office can spit out a decent business letter, but the thought of launching a full-blown office suite to do some creative work is a little… depressing. Most ordinary word processors are also priced out of reach of the starving artist crowd. 1. The best thing a writer can do is write. Best of all, Notational Velocity can automatically sync in the cloud with the free Simplenote service. 2. As with any large project, the hardest thing about writing a novel is getting started. This unit of work and a break is called a œPomodoro, and every four Pomodoros calls for a longer break of about twenty-five minutes. 3. Skim was originally devised as a way for scientists in academia to read and annotate PDF’s of scientific papers. 4. Distraction is the bane of any writer’s existence. 5. Google+

(More) tips for writing well (Austin Govella at Thinking and Making) Published Wed, Jul 8, 2009 by Austin Govella. Updated Wed, Jul 8, 2009. As an editor, I’ve noticed several recurring bad habits you heathens would do well to disabuse yourselves of immediately. Almost without exception, these bad habits instantiate themselves as a series of stock phrases and constructions that reflect a lack of focus, a lack of fully developed argument, or the kind of intellectual laziness that sets in as you slog through your first draft. These things happen, That’s ok. Editing helps you save yourselves from these offenses before your thoughts hit the world and everyone knows your dirty secrets. but you can edit yourself, and you should. 16 things to check when you edit Be vicious when you edit. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. After you edit… The finished piece should be so tight, terse, concise, and clear that it’s boring. Boring. Then sand off the rough edges. Write like you talk.

Point of View in Creative Nonfiction | AndiLit.com I read a lot of novels, and poetry, and even the occasional screenplay/drama. I enjoy them; I learn from them; I find them delicate, and robust, and powerful, and skillful and all the things that make good writing. BUT when I want to really understand something, when I want to feel it in the center of my chest, when I want my cheeks to be rasped with the reality of life, I turn to creative nonfiction. I’ve been trying to articulate the difference in connection I feel between fiction and nonfiction ever since my friend @karriehiggins were talking about it on Twitter the other night. For me, creative nonfiction makes me more readily willing to identify with the narrator. Perhaps that’s why when people like James Frey misrepresent their work as nonfiction when really much of it is fiction, I feel offended and disappointed and a little angry – because they have betrayed me. What do you think? *That’s not to say writers in other genres aren’t profoundly honest and risky and vulnerable.

8 Great Sites for Reluctant Writers 8 Great Sites for Reluctant Writers 1. Storyjumper Storyjumper allows you to create online books using a plethora of characters, scenes, and props. Teachers can, for free, create classes to register students so they each have their own account. As of this writing, there does not seem to be a limit as to how many student accounts you can create. 2. ReadWriteThink creates a lot of great educational resources. 3. Kerpoof is an online story and comic-creator which allows students to create comic scenes and stories, as well as animated movies, cards, drawings, doodles, and pictures. 4. Story Starters is a fun activity to inspire students to write. 5. My Storymaker allows students to create a story book with fun characters and settings. 6. Part of the larger Scholastic site, Writing With Writers provides an excellent resource for writing. 7. Zoo Burst is a digital storytelling tool that allows you to create lively 3-d pop-up books with sounds and actual pop-up effects when you turn the page.

Getting NaNoWriMo Done: How to Write a Novel in 30 Days With November 1st almost upon us, NaNoWriMo is set to begin. There are plenty of tools to help budding novelists achieve the goal of 50,000 words in 30 days, but what about the reasons behind committing to such a daunting task in the first place? Surely, many of those taking on the challenge have other priorities that they have to deal with – myself included – so adding on the pressure of pushing through those commitments and the occasional bout of writer’s block is going to take herculean effort, right? Well, yes…and no. Just as there are many people who have yet to give NaNoWriMo a try, there are many who have – and have met the challenge while maintaining a modicum of their regular lives (and sanity) in the process. There are those who have taken on the challenge and have fell by the wayside again, myself included), but there are things you can do to keep you on track to finally typing “The End” at the end of your rapidly-created opus. Set Up Rituals While Writing Wash my face. Keep.

Creative Writing For Dummies Cheat Sheet Rewriting and editing helps to tighten up your work. But it can be difficult – what to chop and when to stop may not be clear, and you may change your mind more than once during the process. Ask yourself whether you need to take out: Unnecessary information and explanation. Passages of dialogue that go on too long. Clunky descriptions that give too much detail. You may need to add or expand: Something you know but have forgotten to tell the reader; perhaps the age of the main character. You may need to move: Dramatic sections to make a stronger opening. In your final edit: Check for grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes.

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