Once you get rolling on a good bit of writing, you don’t want to stop. After all, the more you create, the better your end product will be, right? However, you might just be what the Japanese call a manuke, or fool. This is a person without the awareness of ma — a philosophy that cherishes the space between things. In order to writer better, writers must harness the power of ma.
Tag: writer's block
Target Fixation is a Trap for Writers
As writers, we’re constantly pushing ourselves to get those words on the page. To finish the job. We work ceaselessly for months on end, pursuing the elusive goal of a completed novel. This is target fixation and it’s a phenomenon associated with bike racing and driving that can lead to disaster. Chasing after word counts and pages may accomplish the goal of having a completed manuscript, but is it any good? As it turns out, target fixation is a trap many writers fall victim to.
The Flame of Willpower (Writers Should Embrace Rejection)
Does this sound like a familiar scenario? You start up a new writing project and after a few pages or chapters a new, even better idea comes along. So you shift gears and start work anew. Yet after months or years, you’ve never completed a single thing? This relates to the fourth weapon for writers: willpower. Graphic artist and writer Alan Moore believes that most writers shy away from completion for a simple reason: if you never finish, then you can never be judged. Yet writer should embrace rejection because putting your work out there is the only way to get published.
The Care and Feeding of Your Muse (How to Cultivate your Creative Side)
We all yearn for that flash of inspiration that pilots us through the next difficult chapter or short story. Yet our Muse is not the kind of creature to clock in at a regular schedule. Nor will it perform on an empty stomach. The care and feeding of your muse is essential if you want to cultivate your creative side.
Architect vs Gardener Plotting for Writers
Do you write more with your head or your heart? That’s the dividing point between Architect writers and Gardener writers.
Use Layers in Your Writing to Meld Spontaneity and Planning
Often us writers want to create a perfect chapter right out of the gate. But this just isn’t practical.
How to Escape the Abyss of Procrastination
There exists a space between the desire to write and actually sitting down to get the words on the page: This is the abyss. Too many writers fall into it and never return.
Don’t Fear the Blank Page
Sometimes the words won’t come. Or your pencil hovers over the page, unsure what to draw. These are all symptoms of art-block.
Think Inside the Box
Everyone keeps telling us to think outside the box. But what if that’s the wrong advice?
Mastering the Boring Parts
Sitting down to write a novel can seem glamorous, but it takes a serious commitment in work and attitude. Yes, there’ll be those moments when the muses seems to sing and pure genius flows from your fingertips onto the page.
