Dive In

"Today, I'll take a deep breath and plunge into the calm lake of creative material within me."

What a promise to oneself and terrific way to begin a new writing week! These are the words I read this morning in WALKING ON ALLIGATORS. Susan Shaughnessy continues to inspire me on a daily basis with this book. In today's exerpt, she discusses the fact that "the only way to write is to dive in." The rest will come later, but we must not linger on the edge of inspiration, we must dive in--use the stories and ideas to plunge ahead and create.

Let me leave you with the words of Beverly Lowry who speaks to the heart of this:

"The material's out there, a calm lake waiting for us to dive in."

Let's take the plunge, shall we?

Inspiration

For your reading pleasure...a list of quotes I've been keeping for some time and turn to in times of needed inspiration and motivation. I hope you find something here today that will enlighten and help your writing week!



*The way to gain a good reputation, is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear. - Socrates

*The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.
Robert Cushing

*When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.
Helen Keller

*Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.
Aristotle

*Happiness resides not in posessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul.
Democritus

*People with many interests live, not only longest, but happiest.
George Matthew Allen

*In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.
Albert Schweitzer

*Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.
Aldous Huxley

*If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes.
St. Clement of Alexandra

*We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

*I have spread my dreams beneath your feet. Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
W.B. Yeats

*Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau

*Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
Harriet Tubman

*Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
Pamela Vaull Starr

Changing Gears

I wanted to share something with you today that I read this morning in WALKING ON ALLIGATORS. I seem to keep finding such inspiration in this book! In today's exerpt, Anne Tyler was discussing the partitions around her writing persona and ordinary life. It made me realize how important it is to recognize the separate, yet intertwined, lives we lead as writers. Focus and concentration are necessary in our writing but also necessary in our day-to-day lives in many ways.

The discussion in today's reading spoke about "the ability to change gears from ordinary life to writing" being "priceless to writers." How true this is...it is so much easier to focus on the daily chores and requirements demanding our attention after fulfilling our duties as a writer. The following words really brought this home for me...

"Today, I'll tune out my regular life and write for the period of time I have available. Then I'll tune in again."

I'm going to find a "switch" that allows me to move back and forth between these worlds to allow the greatest degree of concentration possible in any given arena. How do you make this work for you? I'd love to hear your strategies if you care to share.

Writing Time

Today's passage in WALKING ON ALLIGATORS includes words from Margaret Atwood. She discusses the terror of a blank page inspiring her to write and how she had times of procrastinating and worrying until such time as the anxiety to write kicked in.

Reading the passage that followed Ms. Atwood's words, I was struck by the truth that one needs to write when he/she has time to write and to make that time to write if needed. The author of the book, Susan Shaughnessy, talked about how we shouldn't be so quick to envy full-time writers as it is often too easy to procrastinate and do other things rather than write. Whereas if one has only one specific hour a day to write, he/she is going to write during that time and not be hindered by the anxiety of not writing the rest of the day, therefore, increasing productivity. She suggests those few hours "may save you days of dithering." I chuckled heartily reading the word "dithering" as it so aptly describes me and how I approach many of my writing days. It is too easy to be pulled in the many other directions that call rather than to sit, butt in chair, and write. So...I will follow Ms. Shaughnessy's words and...

"Today, I'll accept the fact that there's no easy way to buckle down. I will write anyway."

MUSE Online Writers Conference

Thank you, Lea Schizas!!! What an incredible opportunity you provide to all writers with this wonderful conference. I am very appreciative of having been able to take part in some of the conference this year and will be posting about different aspects in the days to come once I've had time to sort through all of my piles.

For those of you unfamiliar with the MUSE conference, I highly recommend learning more about it. While it is too late for this year's conference, there is always next year. The information gained, experiences shared, networking and "meetings" made possible by Lea were well worth the time invested. Check it out! http://themuseonlinewritersconference.com/

BIC

In reading the author interview accompanying this week in my Bylines Writer's Desk Calendar, I was reminded again of very important advice: butt in chair! This is particularly important this week as I embark on my first ever MUSE Online Writers Conference.

In the interview, Diane Stark discusses how she uses her daily life events--field trips with kids, weight loss, marriage, divorce, etc.--as the basis of her writing. Ultimately, that is what we writers do--turn daily events into something others want to read. What helped me this morning was Diane's advice to...

"Live your life, paying attention to the story ideas around you. And then apply the seat of your pants to the seat of the chair and write." Great advice and reminder to start out a Monday and new writing week. Thank you, Diane!

Perfectionism

Perfectionism is the bane of many a writer. Read Kelly L. Stone's wise words in LIVING WRITE: THE SECRET TO INVITING YOUR CRAFT INTO YOUR DAILY LIFE.

"If perfectionism is inhibiting your ability to write every day, list all the reasons why your writing has to be perfect. Then tear up the list, throw it away, and move to your work-in-progress."

Very sound advice, wouldn't you say? I think the physical act of tearing up the list will be very invigorating indeed. I'm going to give it a try. Care to join me?