Category: Uncategorized

How to Slow Time for More Relaxed, Creative Writing Sessions

Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

A hand, holding a pen in its fist, rises out of a pile of paper.

by Colleen M. Story, @Colleen_M_Story

“Oh, I want to write today, but I just don’t have the time!”

You’ve probably felt this way more than once. In fact, if you’re like many of us in today’s world, you’re feeling frequently pressed for time, and like you just can’t find enough of it—especially for writing.

The bad news is that when you’re constantly under the gun, creativity suffers. In a 2002 study, researchers analyzed more than 9,000 daily diary entries from people who were working on projects that required high levels of creativity. They found that stress, in the form of time pressure, resulted in less creative projects.

“When creativity is under the gun,” the authors wrote, “it usually ends up getting killed.”

The good news is that you don’t have to feel this way. Here are five tips that can help you slow your perception of time so that when you do get a moment to write, you can approach it with a calm, relaxed state of mind.Continue reading

Twitterific Writing Links

Twitterific, Uncategorized

Bluebird with beak open and 'Twitterific Writing Links' by ElizabethSCraig superimposed on the image

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 40,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Continue reading

Comfort Zones and Writing

Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

 

Garry Ryan's Matanzas

If you venture out of your comfort zone and can’t find your way back, maybe it’s all good.

by Garry Ryan, @GarryGarrettRya

This story probably began in Singapore. I spent the last two years of high school in a sweaty multicultural concoction of diverse languages, foods and monsoons. It was jarring and I had to adapt. An unexpected dividend was the ability to become a student of the inner workings of societies.

Back in Canada, the kindness of Casey and Pablo exposed me to First Nations’ perspectives. Sometimes the intense heat of a Blackfoot sweat lodge left burns on my shoulders. It also allowed me to see – with more clarity – the connections between humans.

Hummingbird

Continue reading

Twitterific Writing Links

Twitterific, Uncategorized

Bluebird with beak open and 'Twitterific Writing Links' by ElizabethSCraig superimposed on the image

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 40,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Continue reading

The Relaxed Release

Business of Writing, Uncategorized

Woman in hammock overlooking a wooded, mountainous scene with the post title, "The Relaxed Release" superimposed on the top

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I remember how stressed I was whenever I had a book launch for Penguin Random House.

For one thing, the launches were happening pretty regularly, since I was writing two series for them.

But mostly, I was stressed because their expectations were high.  Any marketing related emails or calls were more centered on what were my plans for the release and less on what they were doing to promote it. (Let this be a heads-up for anyone thinking of pursuing traditional publishing for marketing support.)

Oh, the publisher’s publicity person did usually do one thing: set me up on a book blogger tour.  But who was doing all the work? I was–I was writing the posts, sending them over to the bloggers, and answering comments.Continue reading

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