People Watching
by Laura @ Word Grrls ideasinspirationI don’t think you can really be a writer unless you are also an avid people watcher. I really like to sit with a coffee and watch the people around me. I don’t write stories for them, I just observe and come to my own conclusions about who they are, what they think and feel. Do they seem tired, grumpy, cheery, clever, amused, interesting, rushed or laid back? Are they well dressed or a bit too casual? Does that hair style really suit them? You can go on forever.
5 Writing Topics I Don’t Blog About, and Why
by Joanna @ Confident Writing ideasinspirationI’ve been doing a bit of blog stock-taking recently, looking back at the things I write about, the posts I enjoy the most and also the writing that resonates the most with you.
I also started thinking about the things I don’t write about.
There are at least five big writing topics that I know I avoid:
Freewriting – a Game Your Unconscious Likes to Play
by Bill Henderson @ Write a Better Novel ideasinspirationtechniquesFreewriting is a form of conscious writing that you do for a specific period of time. It’s not trance writing, you’re very aware of what you’re writing. It’s not presentational writing–it shouldn’t be written as though it will be read by others. It can be sloppy, ugly, incomprehensible, ungrammatical, as elliptical as a grocery list: because no one will ever read it, none of that matters. It has only one rule. For the 10, 15, or 20 minutes that you’ve chosen to freewrite, DO NOT STOP.
Finding writing inspiration
by Debbie Ridpath Ohi@Will Write For Chocolate ideasinspirationWhen I was in my early teens, I used to write fan letters to my favorite authors. In retrospect, I’m surprised at how many wrote back; some of them must have received hundreds of letters like mine on a regular basis. Here’s a letter that Stephen King sent to me, for example. I asked Michael Crichton where he got his ideas…proudly thinking at the time, I’m sure, that I was asking an incredibly interesting question he had never received before. To Crichton’s credit, he graciously responded with a handwritten note in which he also thanked me for my letter. His answer to my question about where he got his ideas: They just happen.
Writing 911! 5 Tips to Breathe New Life into Your Writing
by Karen Swim @ Confident Writing ideasinspirationWhether you write as part of your profession, or as a hobby there may come a time when your writing feels flat and lifeless. You put the words on the page and they seem dead on arrival.
You are all out of ideas and procrastinating because you are bored and certain your readers will be too. For those “must do” writing tasks, you may get it done and the mechanics are all there but the magic is decidedly missing. Don’t worry, you can rescue your writing from the valley of dry bones with these 5 tips guaranteed to breathe new life into your writing.
Chasing After Ideas With a Paper and Pen
by Samar Owais @ The Writing Base ideasinspirationtoolsSince my post on recording ideas (in which I practically stuffed a pen in your bags/briefcases/pockets), I decided to add something to my pen carrying habit. Instead of just being satisfied at having a pen in my bag, I decided to make sure to take the pen out every time I had a few minutes.
10 Things to To Do When You Lose Your Blogging Voice
by Joanna @ Confident Writing ideasinspirationtipsThere are times when blogging seems easy. Natural. Maybe even like breathing. Other times though when it’s hard. Awkward. Perhaps you feel like you’ve become a stranger on your own blog. Or that there’s nothing more you can add to the words that pour out into the blogosphere, day after busy posting day. Perhaps it starts to feel like you’re losing, or have lost, your blogging voice.
How Dreaming at Night Inspires Famous Writers
by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen @ The Adventurous Writer ideasinspirationSome successful writers believe that dreaming at night is the heart and soul of good writing – while others can’t remember their dreams at all! Here’s a roundup of how dreams inspire some famous writers…and a dreamy question for you, fellow scribes.
Coming Up with Fresh Content
by James @ Men with Pens ideasinspirationOne of the largest problems freelance writers might have is creating something new and exciting to generate interest. The Internet makes it easy to find all sorts of information within minutes with just the click of a mouse. The many angles of a topic or subject might already be covered by someone else. Been there, done that. There is a unique twist to everything, and part of the challenge and fun is finding that something special for your material. Stay away from the writing about the same-old that you find anywhere – it’s safe, sure, but why do you want to be the same as everyone else? What will make your material more likely to be picked out, if it isn’t unique? To stand out from the crowd, you have to go that extra mile to find something different and interesting.