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I told you all awhile back that I was learning the art of Creative Lettering. Yes, well that WAS true, but then I fell into the well of creative distractions, to avoid the headlines and to run away from HOME. My WRITING home. The place where I go to stay SANE.
It is so easy to procrastinate. To make lists only to finish the items at the bottom, while the number one priority continues lurking at the top.
However, a simple case of stomach flu, can disable the best of us. Allow weakened muscles to relax, and to literally drop the pen. Which I did.
Luckily I had enough strength left to do a bit of research. A touch of homework to help me get back in the groove. Which resulted in the following letter to any and all aspiring, yet blocked writers like myself. It is a stream of consciousness bit of rambling, but perhaps you will find it a worthwhile ride. It might even trigger a flashpoint for you as it did for me.
Dear Writer Wanna Be,
Write the world through a child’s eyes, fresh for-the-first time images, sights and sounds reinvented in child speak.
Start small.
Write about what you know.
Write about what you love.
Write local.
Write a book review.
Write a novel parody.
Write a song.
Write Ad Copy for an Only Seen On TV product, the more absurd the better…think Snuggies.
Create a writing space. Set the mood. Music or no. Headphones. Cut out the distractions. Just PLAY.
Write in ink in long hand on a yellow tablet.
Write in magic markers on large blank sheets of butcher paper.
Luckily I had enough strength left to do a bit of research. A touch of homework to help me get back in the groove. Which resulted in the following letter to any and all aspiring, yet blocked writers like myself. It is a stream of consciousness bit of rambling, but perhaps you will find it a worthwhile ride. It might even trigger a flashpoint for you as it did for me.
Dear Writer Wanna Be,
Write the world through a child’s eyes, fresh for-the-first time images, sights and sounds reinvented in child speak.
Start small.
Write about what you know.
Write about what you love.
Write local.
Write a book review.
Write a novel parody.
Write a song.
Write Ad Copy for an Only Seen On TV product, the more absurd the better…think Snuggies.
Create a writing space. Set the mood. Music or no. Headphones. Cut out the distractions. Just PLAY.
Write in ink in long hand on a yellow tablet.
Write in magic markers on large blank sheets of butcher paper.
Use an old typewriter.
Discover your favorite font.
Doodle Art in the margins.
Dictate into a tape recorder. Your very first podcast.
Discover your favorite font.
Doodle Art in the margins.
Dictate into a tape recorder. Your very first podcast.
Keep a NOTEBOOK with you at all times, especially beside the bed. You’ll tell yourself that you’ll remember in the morning, but you WON’T. Oh, and a PEN.
Write a letter to someone you love.
Write a letter to someone you can’t forget, but wish you could.
Write about cooking with kale for the first time and the last.
Pull up photos. Caption them. Write a photo story.
Write about your favorite TV show, when you were a kid.
Write about something that scares you.
Write about BACON.
If you need music in the background, don’t use anything with lyrics. They mess up your head and your concentration. Too many neurons firing all at the same time.
Mine your life. Dig up a memory. An event that changed your life.
Write about anger, What color is it? How does it sound? Where do you feel it most in your body?
Celebrate your otherworldliness. Remember that MOST if not ALL writers are misfits.
Treasure yourself for loving words, languages, dialects, conversations, arguments, affirmations, chaos and resolutions.
Write about the power of VINYL .
Think about your readers. Will they identify, recognize something familiar in your work? If they do, they’ll recognize you as a friend they would like to get to know better.
Find your VOICE.
Be prepared to WAIT.
Write a letter to someone you love.
Write a letter to someone you can’t forget, but wish you could.
Write about cooking with kale for the first time and the last.
Pull up photos. Caption them. Write a photo story.
Write about your favorite TV show, when you were a kid.
Write about something that scares you.
Write about BACON.
If you need music in the background, don’t use anything with lyrics. They mess up your head and your concentration. Too many neurons firing all at the same time.
Mine your life. Dig up a memory. An event that changed your life.
Write about anger, What color is it? How does it sound? Where do you feel it most in your body?
Celebrate your otherworldliness. Remember that MOST if not ALL writers are misfits.
Treasure yourself for loving words, languages, dialects, conversations, arguments, affirmations, chaos and resolutions.
Write about the power of VINYL .
Think about your readers. Will they identify, recognize something familiar in your work? If they do, they’ll recognize you as a friend they would like to get to know better.
Find your VOICE.
Be prepared to WAIT.
It takes PRACTICE.
Play to your strengths. Humor. Devilish dialogue. Strong characters. Intrigue. Sarcasm.
Develop your Point Of View Writing Style.
First Person POV= I…I…I
Third Person POV= I own this guy’s head and heart.
Crown your work with a TITLE. The Title needs to be a Lottery Winner. It is the tongue sticking out on the bookshelf, nagging PICK ME. READ ME.
Remember please…it is so much fun to make stuff up.
Be sure to have pockets full of kindness and compassion. Every character has at least one redeeming quality. Find it. Even if it is a villain, try walking around in his shoes. Then take his shoes off and rub his aching feet.
Set the table. Practice writing settings and locations. Describe scenes so vivid, your reader can SEE the view outside your window,
P.S. Do Not Forget your love of POETRY. Music, lyrics to a song that you hum along to in the car. A few stanzas that deliver the message in short but sweet repeating rhymes.
You love to read. Read EVERYTHING. Even the back of cereal boxes at breakfast.
Write when you are worried. It helps to sort yourself out, and can make worries wither from enormous to not-so-much.
In the beginning, write FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. Good writing is private until you are ready to publish.
Play to your strengths. Humor. Devilish dialogue. Strong characters. Intrigue. Sarcasm.
Develop your Point Of View Writing Style.
First Person POV= I…I…I
Third Person POV= I own this guy’s head and heart.
Crown your work with a TITLE. The Title needs to be a Lottery Winner. It is the tongue sticking out on the bookshelf, nagging PICK ME. READ ME.
Remember please…it is so much fun to make stuff up.
Be sure to have pockets full of kindness and compassion. Every character has at least one redeeming quality. Find it. Even if it is a villain, try walking around in his shoes. Then take his shoes off and rub his aching feet.
Set the table. Practice writing settings and locations. Describe scenes so vivid, your reader can SEE the view outside your window,
P.S. Do Not Forget your love of POETRY. Music, lyrics to a song that you hum along to in the car. A few stanzas that deliver the message in short but sweet repeating rhymes.
You love to read. Read EVERYTHING. Even the back of cereal boxes at breakfast.
Write when you are worried. It helps to sort yourself out, and can make worries wither from enormous to not-so-much.
In the beginning, write FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. Good writing is private until you are ready to publish.
Turn off technology. Tune OUT to TUNE in.
Finally. Phew!
Become a wordsmith. Invest in a thesaurus, a book of cliches. Be a WORD NERD. Use historical and hysterical vocabulary.
Finally. Phew!
Become a wordsmith. Invest in a thesaurus, a book of cliches. Be a WORD NERD. Use historical and hysterical vocabulary.
The End….
Or...
Labels: ad copy, Creative Lettering, humor, podcast, point of view, sarcasm, titles, voice, writer's block, writing
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