Writer's block, an owner's guide: Power Writing
I wish I could show you Daphne Gray-Grant’s “Power Writing” newsletter. What do I like about it? It is as short as possible. It wastes none of my time selling the author’s services (so I’m more likely to buy them). Sometimes, it even says things I’m glad I read.
It’s aimed at professionals writing corporate communications, and it’s none the worse for that - more purposeful and practical than much of the advice in those books you paid for. Possibly - Daphne is reticent about herself - it comes from Vancouver. Since there’s no archive, the best advice I can give you is to read the one lonely online sample, which will take you two minutes, and then sign up and try it.
From the latest newsletter: “I sent my friend a note saying how much I enjoyed her article and she replied immediately and succinctly: ‘It was newsletter hell — very hard to write.’ While this didn’t exactly surprise, because I’ve had the same feeling so often myself, it did make me reflect on our tendency as writers to mix up process with product.” Which she does, concisely, clearly, and with practical tips.
Published on November 9, 2007 at 5:01 am. Linking to this article? Thank you! The permanent address is http://www.todayiwrite.com/journal/power-writing.html
Writer's block, an owner's guide: Unwritten
I just want to share these two sentences by Michael Slezak. “There’s
no better cure for a mid-afternoon bout of writer’s block than
listening to Natasha Bedingfield’s ubiquitous hit “Unwritten.”
Seriously, when the gospel chorus explodes into the refrain —
“Staring! At the blank page before you! Open up the dirty window!” — I
never know whether to stand up and sway, or stay in my seat and type
frantically.” The rest of the Entertainment Weekly article is about something else.
Published on October 12, 2007 at 6:38 am. Linking to this article? Thank you! The permanent address is http://www.todayiwrite.com/journal/unwritten.html
Writer's block, an owner's guide: Species of writer’s block
Another item from my pile of links to other sites. Here’s Nancy Fulda on different strains of writer’s block. I think she’s right to say that “Writer’s Block, like ADD, has become a blanket term for a series of symptoms that do not necessarily share a common cause.” I’ve been writing here for years that block doesn’t really exist as a thing you can easily define and grab hold of.
And it’s still difficult, and still worth fixing, and it is fixable.
Published on August 26, 2007 at 11:31 am. Linking to this article? Thank you! The permanent address is http://www.todayiwrite.com/journal/species-of-writers-block.html
Writer's block, an owner's guide: Californication
Something else I told you about months ago was the upcoming cable show (cable in the US, where human bodies, and the everyday things people use them for, are so obscene that we pay to watch) Californication.
It was going to feature David Duchovny as a blocked writer. And now it does.
It’s an entertaining show. I laughed quite a lot. Many of the smart remarks are smart. Possibly, as Duchovny told the Houston Chronicle, “at its heart this is a drama that plays as a comedy.” I haven’t decided whether to watch episode 3 but I’ll be recording #2.
It’s not about writer’s block. No reason it should be. Nobody said it would be. But it earns a place on this website anyway. Why’s that?
Because of how it came to be written. Its “creator” Tom (Dawson’s Creek) Kapinos says he wrote the pilot as a way of dealing with his own writer’s block. Isn’t that interesting?
“I came off Dawson’s Creek and was completely miserable, and all anyone wanted for me was the very same thing,” he told the Chronicle. He wrote pilots for four or five proposed shows, “and each of them hit the wall at the last second. So I wrote this as an exercise.” And he decided to write something that he would want to go see.
Paratelic, you see.
Published on August 14, 2007 at 8:30 pm. Linking to this article? Thank you! The permanent address is http://www.todayiwrite.com/journal/175.html
Writer's block, an owner's guide: Block on screen
ABC announced that its Thursday lineup will change in a few weeks. “October Road” will debut at 10 p.m. March 15. This drama focuses on a popular author dealing with writer’s block by returning to his hometown, where he learns some unsettling things.
Published on February 26, 2007 at 12:00 am. Linking to this article? Thank you! The permanent address is http://www.todayiwrite.com/journal/block-on-screen.html
Writer's block, an owner's guide: Removing the pressure
I have little to say, even after a long rummage in the Heap of Inspiration, so here’s a quick potboiler. Today’s thought about the psychology of writer’s block comes from Ash: “I stopped focusing on making writing a career and now prefer it as a hobby. Removing the pressure removes my writer’s block.”
Published on November 27, 2006 at 6:56 am. Linking to this article? Thank you! The permanent address is http://www.todayiwrite.com/journal/removing-the-pressure.html
Writer's block, an owner's guide: Have You Scheduled Your Goofing-Off Time Today?
It’s a really good question, and Scott Baradell makes a good case for “research” as an essential part of the writing day. I’ll leave him to tell you about that. Me, I want to remind long-term readers about the Unschedule. But wait…, although I mentioned it here in something like 2004 I’m not sure if I ever really said what it was. So rather than have the embarrassment of Googling my own site to find out what’s on here, I’ll assume I didn’t say it.
Here’s what it is in one sentence. When you make up your calendar for the week, schedule the playtime and other downtime first and then fit the work around it.
I think so. The work will get done anyway, you know it will. The other stuff, not so much.
Published on November 7, 2006 at 8:57 pm. Linking to this article? Thank you! The permanent address is http://www.todayiwrite.com/journal/have-you-scheduled-your-goofing-off-time-today.html
Writer's block, an owner's guide: Just a diversion
I told you I was busy. I am impossibly busy. But the “Stumble Upon” plugin for Firefox is really destructive to productive work. Through its evil machinations I have lost a half hour of my life twice in different months to a long, long piece of writing that makes me lol repeatedly. And makes me feel blessed in my marriage (even though it’s written in the long, long English tradition of the innocently foolish narrator). Do you dare? The writing in question is “Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About.”
Mil sums up the power of his work to make others procrastinate when he mutters, “I’m off to Germany for a few weeks. Apologies if my absence results in your doing any work.” Well, fine, and I apologise for sharing it with you, but you didn’t have to click on the link, did you.
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Published on October 13, 2005 at 11:36 pm. Linking to this article? Thank you! The permanent address is http://www.todayiwrite.com/journal/just-a-diversion.html
Writer's block, an owner's guide: Movies about writer’s block
Here’s a random list of movies about writer’s block. Do you know one I haven’t mentioned? Of course you do. Take ten seconds, type its name in the Comments box at the foot of the page and click “Post.”
8 1/2
Adaptation
Barton Fink
Cats and Dogs (no, not “The Truth About”)
Croupier
Deathtrap
Deconstructing Harry:
“make peace with your demons, and your block will pass”
Educating Rita, I think?
Secret Window
Shakespeare in Love
The Shining
Throw Momma from the Train
Writer’s Block (there are several movies called Writer’s Block, such as this one).
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Published on April 22, 2005 at 7:40 am. Linking to this article? Thank you! The permanent address is http://www.todayiwrite.com/journal/movies-about-writers-block.html
Writer's block, an owner's guide: Library of Unwritten Books
I just came across this “library of unwritten books.” What a marvellous idea. It celebrates Britain’s blocked writers, and makes me proud to have been one for so many years. By the way, in the matter of the Royal wedding, well done sir! it’s about time!
I wish I, and my readers throughout the world, could contribute to this library. One of us should probably start an online ripoff.
Published on April 21, 2005 at 8:50 pm. Linking to this article? Thank you! The permanent address is http://www.todayiwrite.com/journal/library-of-unwritten-books.html
