poetry

Writer’s Wisdom 79

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Change your daily routine – fool your Muse.

Most of us have a daily routine for writing.  You might wake up early in the morning, turn your PC on, while waiting for a cup of coffee, or maybe you check your email right away.  Well, one thing leads to another, task after task, and soon you are following your usual routine.  Sometimes, you feel inspiration may have left you for a while, and you fall into a writing rut.

Sound familiar?  It may take, a simple change, such as sitting outside to write (weather permitting) or just move to your living room with pen and paper instead of your PC, to break the rut and feel inspired once more.  Maybe your Muse was asleep and you surprised her by changing your routine.

Give it a try, and see if it changes the atmosphere for you.  Surprise your Muse!

Writer’s Wisdom 78

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Writing for Pleasure

You have deadlines to meet, and many writing projects awaiting you, but there are times when you just need to write for pure pleasure – just for you.  It is important to nurture this part of writing and give it a place in your hectic schedule.  If you only write because you want to get paid, you will be missing on this important aspect.

When you write for pleasure, you enter a realm of enjoyment, and you are opening the gates of inspiration.  When this happens, ideas can come from anywhere, and you will experience the power of the written word.  Many of us are so worried about making the deadlines and earning a living (out of necessity,of course) that we forget to take a bit of time to just relax and write for ourselves – just for the pure enjoyment of it.

From time to time, relive the early days of your writing career, and take a few minutes to write for the simple pleasure of it; recapture the magic.

Poetry

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To start the kick-off of Inkspeare Poetry Month I will post my latest poems.  I’m far from being a poet, and my poetry does not follow any rules.  So, think of it a freestyle poetry – if there is such a thing.  To view some of my poetry, please visit the tab Totally Inspired on this blog.

Writer’s Wisdom 73

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About Private Level Rights packages

Mostly known as PLR packages or bundling, these are articles on a theme that are sold together, such as ten articles about gardening.  Due to the fast request and search engine hunger for content, these packages have become popular.  Many freelance writers will bundle a few articles and sell them as a package.  PLR packages can be packs of 10 -20-25 articles. 

Packaging your articles will allow you to sell them faster to interested buyers and also to play with the price, as it is easier to price a package than sell one article.  You may or may not discount the price, it is up to you.  If you feel that your single articles are not selling fast enough, maybe you should try bundling them instead.  This can also be applied to any other artistic material you may have such as photography or e-books.  Test the waters and see what best works for you as a freelancer.

Writer’s Wisdom 72

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 What stops you from writing?

Since I can remember I’ve had a love affair with the written word.  I’ve been an avid reader my entire life.  My desire to write was in the back of my mind for many years.  Deep down, I knew that I was meant to write, but I could not start.  It was always something I would do one day, when I had more time, and life wasn’t so busy.   Many years passed, and life got busier and busier, and I completely forgot about it – or at least did not think about it that much.  It wasn’t until a series of unfortunate events, that I was forced to slow down and look into my soul.  There it was, my desire for writing.  Since I had nothing to lose, I gave it a try.  It felt like a good pair of well-fitting jeans – comfortable and fitted.  That day, I decided that no matter what happened I was going to continue writing – and I have.

There are many things on my plate now, but I won’t stop writing.  Take a look into your soul – what is stopping you?  For me it was the illusion of more time and the fear of not knowing what to write.  At one point I was petrified, to glance at the piece of paper in front of me.  It took something bigger than my doubt to put things in motion.

If you have thought about writing, but it seems very far in the future, get that image out of your mind.  Pick up that pen or PC and start writing whatever comes to mind.  It is just that first step away.

Writer’s Wisdom 70

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Balancing emotions

Emotions are everywhere, there is no way to escape them.  From the very happy cashier to the very upset man next to you in traffic, from the time you wake up till the time you go to rest – even in your sleep, while having some very emotionally charged dreams.  So, if emotions are all around you, why wouldn’t they be part of your writing?

When writing a piece, pay special attention to the emotions of the characters.  Emotions should match the situation, and the character type.  It would be weird to have a character that just suffered a heartbreaking loss, be worried about triviality (just to continue the story) – unless it is done on purpose to stress the unusual personality of this character or the particular way to cope with trauma.  Such is the case of the serial killer experiencing ecstasy while murdering someone.  It is all a balancing act.  When you balance emotions in a piece of writing, it helps the natural flow of the story.

The question is, can you use emotion to dictate the story?  Some pieces of flash fiction are a very good example of this.  It starts with an emotion and the emotion develops the story to the end.  Do a little experiment; when writing your next piece, pay special attention to what the characters are feeling and see how it is relating to the flow of the story.

Writer’s Wisdom 67

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Between the lines … a Writer’s Heartbeat

While reading a fellow writer’s article on how much of a writer’s life and beliefs are reflected on a piece of writing (see link below) it dawn on me that the adage “we are open books” is not so far from a writer’s truth.  I agreed with the premise and my comment to her was the following:  “There is always some truth about the writer hidden in a piece. Even when the piece is written on a subject totally alien to the writer. I find poetry a good example of this. You can express anything on a poem, even something that does not agree with your values (such as a poem about betrayal) – but somehow a writer’s truth will emerge between the lines. Other times, the writer let’s it all out.”

Soon a question emerged – how much of yourself do you let others see in between the lines?  And when is much too much?  The answer is as unique as an individual’s privacy and disclosure preferences.  And as a reader, how much do I want to know about that writer?  And again, the answer is as unique as that particular reader. 

There is also one thing to consider – with every heart beat amongst the lines, there is an image of a writer being born to the reader – growing, and developing.  Mind those beats.

Here is her article.  

http://writinghood.com/writing/how-life-reflects-in-your-writing/

Writer’s Wisdom 61

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Free Style Poetry

Poetry can take many shapes.  I am not a poet, but sometimes I feel inspired and have to write it down.  The poem does not follow any rules, it just comes out – it just is.  However, many think that you have to be in a certain mood or inspired in a particular way to write a poem.  I disagree.  I find that when I feel a “certain inspiration” – not sure how to describe it – I tend to write just poems.  They don’t follow a specific feeling, they could be as far to one another in that sense, but they do follow a theme – usually.  That is the way it is for me.  Other times, I could write about a love affair and next about taxes.  That is why I don’t call myself a poet – I don’t follow the rules of poetry.  If there would be such a thing, mine would be called “free style poetry.”

Check the Poetry section on this blog – Totally Inspired.

If you have never written a poem and sometimes feel the urge but think that you can’t write poetry, write it down anyway.  Let the inspiration flow, don’t think about it, write free style – embrace your Muse and let it out.

Writer’s Wisdom 60

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Befriending Uncle Sam:  A Writer’s Responsibility

It is the beginning of February and tax season is almost here- in the USA (April).  I have started to prepare my documents and crossing my fingers.  As a freelance writer you might get many assignments and jobs here and there.  Being used to the odd flow of things, record keeping may be a bit relaxed sometimes.  It is important that you keep track of your paid work and develop a system to track your income and the documentation you need for your taxes.  If you come up with a system that you have easy access to while you are working, you can log on any items daily and avoid last-minute rush.

Think of all the benefits that an organized system will get you.  Number one is having more time to dedicate to your writing and a clear mind to tend to your muse.

Writer’s Wisdom 59

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Green Writers

There are little ways in which you can contribute everyday to reduce waste and care for the environment.  Think twice before crumbling that piece of paper.  If the back is blank, cut it in half or four pieces and use it as scrap or doodle paper.  Staple a couple and use it as a small note pad that you can carry in your bag, for when ideas come to you.  There are many other uses that you can think of.  Use it as packaging material, shredded or crumbled.  Or as paper to test your pens before you write.

How about that ink cartridge?  Take it to your supply store when it is empty, sometimes you get discounts for recycling them.  Print in fast or economy mode to save ink.  Print in black and white if you don’t need the color; why waste color ink if you don’t need it?  You can reuse the small plastic container where the ink cartridge comes and use it to plant seeds.  Keep your PC in energy-saving mode if you are going to be away from it for a while.

There are many things that you can do to contribute to a greener environment as a writer.  I am sure you can come up with some according to your daily writing routine.  Be a green writer!