Part Five: Take a mini mind vacation

Take a mini mind vacation

Writer's block could be a sign that your ideas need time to gestate. Idleness can be a key part of the creative process. Give yourself time to gather new experiences and new ideas, from life, reading, or other forms of art, before you start again.

I know I sound somewhat contradictory be we have to compromise with our creativity, sometimes. Yes you should have schedule and stick to it. But when you are done, give yourself a break.
I met a famous NY Times bestselling author (I of course can’t reveal her name) at an RWA conference. She joined in a on a writer’s block class and not to give perils of wisdom. She was there because she was suffering from block.

Reduced to tears she shared with the class, that while she was listening to the speaker, it had hit her. She was suffering from writers block, maybe. But if she was it was simply because she was burnt out. Something she enjoyed to do—loved was nothing more than a hectic job. A lot of unpublished writers mumbled in the back, “must be nice to have your problems”. I understood that they were indeed serious problems. For the last ten years, she was being forced to crank out a book every three months contractually, for the publisher to take a year or more to put the book out.
For her being a NYT bestseller didn’t mean money in the bank and BBQ’s with the family. It meant real frustration, no time to spend her money, nor time with her family.

As a publisher I urge you not to take on a contract that limits your life and creativity to that point. Being famous doesn’t have to be like it is for our anonymous NYT best seller. If you read Diana Gabaldon or even Anne

Rice, you know you can wait a long time for a book from either one of them. I am not saying don’t work hard, I am not saying don’t take a contract from a big house. I am just saying if you handle things just right you can “have it all”.

There is a famous horror writer that certainly can’t be getting joy out of writing any more. He is cranking books out so fast not only do they stink, but the last one had so many errors that it made the nightly news.

So finish that book, send it out to publishers and take a break and fire up that grill. And when the ideas flow, get back to writing, which I always recommend after you send to publisher. First take a break but then don’t stress being published, write something else. Not stressing when you send your queries out is so key, that very subject will be another blog when this ten week course is over.

This is a ten part series regarding the prevention of and the handling of writers block. Come back next week for Get help! There are prizes for being involved in the ten week Tuesday editor course, you have to be here 8 weeks out of ten to qualify for the grand prize.

There are prizes for being involved in the ten week Tuesday editor course, you have to be there 8 weeks and out of ten to qualify for the grand prize. However anyone that leaves a comment will qualify for the other prizes.
3rd prize- an eBook of your choosing from our hot reads collection
2nd Prize- Two eBooks of your choosing from our hot reads collection
1st Prize- Two eBooks of your choosing from Hellfire Publishing
Grand Prize: Two eBooks of your choosing from Hellfire Publishing and a live video chat with Hellfire Publishing’s executive editor Dawn Binkley.
Prizes deliverable after Ten week course is completed. There are also Prizes available at www.askapublishedauthor.org, free help for writers.
If blogger is still acting up you can post anonymous and place your name in the comment box or you can comment on our Facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/hellfirepublishing
Dawn Binkley
Executive editor
Hellfire Publishing
www.hellfirepublishing.com/

Also known as:
Keira Kroft,
www.keirakroft.com

Part Four: Don't Be Too Hard on Yourself.

Don't Be Too Hard on Yourself.

In fact, don’t be hard on yourself at all while writing. Anna Quindlin wrote, “People have writer’s block not because they can’t write, but because they despair of writing eloquently.” Turn the critical brain off. There is a time and place for criticism: it’s called editing.
Laurell K. Hamilton said the following or something to that effect in one of her interviews and it’s always stuck with me. Because at the time, I kept rewriting the same story over and over again. “Never rewrite your story, because it’s never going to be good enough in our own eyes.” Laurell, you are so right!
This is a ten part series regarding the prevention of and the handling of writers block. Come back next week for implementing a writing schedule. There are prizes for being involved in the ten week Tuesday editor course, you have to be here 8weeks out of ten to qualify for the grand prize.
There are prizes for being involved in the ten week Tuesday editor course, you have to be there 8 weeks and out of ten to qualify for the grand prize. However anyone that leaves a comment will qualify for the other prizes.
3rd prize- an eBook of your choosing from our hot reads collection
2nd Prize- Two eBooks of your choosing from our hot reads collection
1st Prize- Two eBooks of your choosing from Hellfire Publishing
Grand Prize: Two eBooks of your choosing from Hellfire Publishing and a live video chat with Hellfire Publishing’s executive editor Dawn Binkley.
Prizes deliverable after Ten week course is completed. There are also Prizes available at www.askapublishedauthor.org, free help for writers.
If blogger is still acting up you can post acting up you can post Anonymous and place your name in the comment box or you can comment on our Facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/hellfirepublishing

Dawn Binkley
Executive editor
Hellfire Publishing
www.hellfirepublishing.com/

Also known as:
Keira Kroft,
www.keirakroft.com

Horrorscopes have Moved

                        NOTICE:

Due to circumstances beyond this writer's control, the HORRORSCOPES have moved.

That's right!  But don't despair--I would never leave you guys to face your week alone. 

The new home for the HORRORCOPES is my blog at: http://carsonbuckingham.blogspot.com/ where you will also find my weekly column "OH, THE HORROR..." which is a humorous rant about things that really piss all of us off--such as being dragged to a second-grader's dance recital, taking the bus to work, flesh-eating plants, tending bar at a party, doctors, buying a bathing suit after putting on a few pounds over the winter, Albert Einstein, and modern art.

Stop on by.  I'll leave the lights out for you....

Your friend,

Carson Buckingham