Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
Tom Stoppard quoted in Writers' News: March 2012 www.writers-online.co.uk/
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Friday, 17 February 2012
Do Job Applications Count As Writing?
There has certainly been some form of Creative Writing going on this week!!
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
How to make this the year you stick to your resolutions
According to Januaery's Brainstorm & Focus e-bulletin, written by Jurgen Wolff (www.timetowrite.com) if you apply three key ideas that come from the scientific study of effective change, you have a very good chance of succeeding.
One of the first places I encountered these ideas (Jurgen says) was in Bill O'Hanlon's book, "Do One Thing Different." He considers himself the world's laziest successful person because he's learned to let reality guide him to success. This is a great, if sometimes difficult thing to do at first. Let's say somebody cuts you off in traffic. How much energy will you expend on rage or resentment? How many minutes or hours later will you still be seething? Does that serve you? Does it punish him?
The following three points are a PhD in dealing with what is, and turning it to your advantage:
1. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
2. One way to solve a problem is not to analyze why the problem arose, but to change what you are doing to respond to it. (The exception is when figuring out why it arose can help you prevent it from happening again.)
3. The secret of getting better results is a two-step process: One, pay attention to repetitive patterns you are caught up in or that others are caught up in with you, and change anything you can about those patterns. Two, notice what you are doing when things are going better, and do more of that.
Recognize this? It's evolution. Darwin's idea wasn't survival of the fittest, it was survival of the most flexible in responding to changing conditions. And if there ever was a time when conditions were changing, it's now! This is not to say that we should accept things as they are, just that we should choose our battles wisely.
ACTION: Do this interesting experiment: for one day notice and jot down everything that upsets you or annoys you in any way. At the end of the day, count how many of those you can control or influence and the how many just reflect the reality of a world that isn't likely to declare you emperor anytime soon. If there are a lot of the latter, it may be time to look into meditation or relaxation techniques so you can change your response so you have energy to change the things you can.
One of the first places I encountered these ideas (Jurgen says) was in Bill O'Hanlon's book, "Do One Thing Different." He considers himself the world's laziest successful person because he's learned to let reality guide him to success. This is a great, if sometimes difficult thing to do at first. Let's say somebody cuts you off in traffic. How much energy will you expend on rage or resentment? How many minutes or hours later will you still be seething? Does that serve you? Does it punish him?
The following three points are a PhD in dealing with what is, and turning it to your advantage:
1. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
2. One way to solve a problem is not to analyze why the problem arose, but to change what you are doing to respond to it. (The exception is when figuring out why it arose can help you prevent it from happening again.)
3. The secret of getting better results is a two-step process: One, pay attention to repetitive patterns you are caught up in or that others are caught up in with you, and change anything you can about those patterns. Two, notice what you are doing when things are going better, and do more of that.
Recognize this? It's evolution. Darwin's idea wasn't survival of the fittest, it was survival of the most flexible in responding to changing conditions. And if there ever was a time when conditions were changing, it's now! This is not to say that we should accept things as they are, just that we should choose our battles wisely.
ACTION: Do this interesting experiment: for one day notice and jot down everything that upsets you or annoys you in any way. At the end of the day, count how many of those you can control or influence and the how many just reflect the reality of a world that isn't likely to declare you emperor anytime soon. If there are a lot of the latter, it may be time to look into meditation or relaxation techniques so you can change your response so you have energy to change the things you can.
Saturday, 4 February 2012
National Libraries Day
Everyone is welcome to walk through the door.
It really doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor.
There are books in boxes and books on shelves.
They’re free for you to borrow, so help yourselves.
Come and meet your heroes, old and new,
From William the Conqueror to Winnie the Pooh.
You can look into the Mirror or read The Times,
Or bring along a toddler to chant some rhymes.
The librarian’s a friend who loves to lend,
So see if there’s a book that she can recommend.
Read that book, and if you’re bitten
You can borrow all the other ones the author’s written.
Are you into battles or biography?
Are you keen on gerbils or geography?
Gardening or ghosts? Sharks or science fiction?
There’s something here for everyone, whatever your addiction.
There are students revising, deep in concentration,
And school kids doing projects, finding inspiration.
Over in the corner there’s a table with seating,
So come along and join in the Book Club meeting.
Yes, come to the library! Browse and borrow,
And help make sure it’ll still be here tomorrow.
Julia Donaldson
http://www.nationallibrariesday.org.uk/2012/02/library-poem-by-julia-donaldson/
It really doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor.
There are books in boxes and books on shelves.
They’re free for you to borrow, so help yourselves.
Come and meet your heroes, old and new,
From William the Conqueror to Winnie the Pooh.
You can look into the Mirror or read The Times,
Or bring along a toddler to chant some rhymes.
The librarian’s a friend who loves to lend,
So see if there’s a book that she can recommend.
Read that book, and if you’re bitten
You can borrow all the other ones the author’s written.
Are you into battles or biography?
Are you keen on gerbils or geography?
Gardening or ghosts? Sharks or science fiction?
There’s something here for everyone, whatever your addiction.
There are students revising, deep in concentration,
And school kids doing projects, finding inspiration.
Over in the corner there’s a table with seating,
So come along and join in the Book Club meeting.
Yes, come to the library! Browse and borrow,
And help make sure it’ll still be here tomorrow.
Julia Donaldson
http://www.nationallibrariesday.org.uk/2012/02/library-poem-by-julia-donaldson/
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Post Christmas / Birthday Flu
As is usual around this time of year I catch some form of cold. This year there was a cough attached to it. It arrived on my birthday and is still here. I have this week been given antibiotics for it. so hopefully it won't be around much longer. Jamie has also been suffering and while I had a days sick leave, Jamie had to be taken out of Nursery for two days. This has meant a lot of juggling and of course has meant no time for writing......
I am still glad I did the workshop for the Lindum Scribes as this has focused my mind on what I want to achieve in the coming year. Unfortunately, January is nearly over and there are two resolutions that have already failed!!
Fingers crossed that this week I am feeling better and can concentrate once more on giving time to my writing. I have at least booked in a number of annual leave days for the next couple of months so will have the luxury of a few days to myself....
I am still glad I did the workshop for the Lindum Scribes as this has focused my mind on what I want to achieve in the coming year. Unfortunately, January is nearly over and there are two resolutions that have already failed!!
Fingers crossed that this week I am feeling better and can concentrate once more on giving time to my writing. I have at least booked in a number of annual leave days for the next couple of months so will have the luxury of a few days to myself....
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Summary of the Key Points from Kickstart
* Time is precious. We all have a tight budget of just 24 hours.
* Prioritise the things in your life that are important and getting rid of things that are not.
* If writing is truly important to you as a hobby or career, then you will FIND time for it.
* Book an appointment with yourself into your diary and just WRITE!
* Record it as an appointment like you would any other important commitment.
* Don't feel guilty. This is your time.
* Treat your writing as a proper job - with a start time, production goals and deadlines.
* Start small. Don't get overwhelmed with the thought of the whole project.
* Break your project up into bite sized chunks and it will seem more manageable.
* Just because someone throws you a ball, doesn't mean you have to catch it!
Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.
* Prioritise the things in your life that are important and getting rid of things that are not.
* If writing is truly important to you as a hobby or career, then you will FIND time for it.
* Book an appointment with yourself into your diary and just WRITE!
* Record it as an appointment like you would any other important commitment.
* Don't feel guilty. This is your time.
* Treat your writing as a proper job - with a start time, production goals and deadlines.
* Start small. Don't get overwhelmed with the thought of the whole project.
* Break your project up into bite sized chunks and it will seem more manageable.
* Just because someone throws you a ball, doesn't mean you have to catch it!
Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
KickStart Your Writing Year Workshop
Led my KickStart Workshop at the Lindum Scribes last night (see previous posts) and was very pleased with how it went. Members had completed the exercises in very different ways; including one member who had written that she 'never wrote resolutions' but then did give us a few anyway.
As I have said previously the majority of the workshop was based on quotes and articles that I have collected in the 4 years I have been writing this blog, so it would be daft to reproduce my workshop notes here. If however, anyone would like to see all the materials I produced I am more than happy to send them to you.
I split the workshop into 4 sections: Focus / Enthusiasm / Prioritise and Allocating Time, and gave out two handouts. The Jam Jar Illustration - to emphasise the need to allocate time to our writing (see: http://theonlyconsequence.blogspot.com/2009/05/jam-jar-illustration.html) and another entitled; Setting Goals, which asked members to assess whether or not their resolutions were SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Targeted.
My main aim was to get members to really think about what they wanted from their writing and to look at how important it was to them; compared with the other 'stuff' in their lives. Therefore I used a few shock tactics including reading out Regrets of the Dying http://theonlyconsequence.blogspot.com/2011/06/regrets-of-dying.html This led to a lively discussion about why we feel the need to do so many other things before we allow ourselves time for what we really want to do i.e. upbringing, guilt, wanting to be 'nice', not wanting to appear 'selfish' etc.
As I said in the workshop; Just because someone throws you a ball, doesn't mean you have to catch it!
One of the members resolutions was 'To get rid of this Writers Block'. This led to a very interesting discussion regarding possible reasons for the blockage and possible solutions i.e. setting realistic goals, breaking his work down into chunks and Jon suggested 'morning pages'. The need to always have a notepad handy was re-emphasised as was the need for writers to think positive about one's work.
Another member discussed his desire to read, read, read this year, to which another member agreed and added he would like to see more plays and attend the theatre this year; as that was something he was interested in writing. There was talk of editing, writing, reading and more writing so I foresee a busy year for members of the Lindum Scribes.
A number of members were missing which was a shame and I suspect the reason for this may be that they had not written their resolutions. I for one see it as a good exercise if only to reassess what we want to achieve with regards to out writing in the coming year and give us a signpost.
As I have said previously the majority of the workshop was based on quotes and articles that I have collected in the 4 years I have been writing this blog, so it would be daft to reproduce my workshop notes here. If however, anyone would like to see all the materials I produced I am more than happy to send them to you.
I split the workshop into 4 sections: Focus / Enthusiasm / Prioritise and Allocating Time, and gave out two handouts. The Jam Jar Illustration - to emphasise the need to allocate time to our writing (see: http://theonlyconsequence.blogspot.com/2009/05/jam-jar-illustration.html) and another entitled; Setting Goals, which asked members to assess whether or not their resolutions were SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Targeted.
My main aim was to get members to really think about what they wanted from their writing and to look at how important it was to them; compared with the other 'stuff' in their lives. Therefore I used a few shock tactics including reading out Regrets of the Dying http://theonlyconsequence.blogspot.com/2011/06/regrets-of-dying.html This led to a lively discussion about why we feel the need to do so many other things before we allow ourselves time for what we really want to do i.e. upbringing, guilt, wanting to be 'nice', not wanting to appear 'selfish' etc.
As I said in the workshop; Just because someone throws you a ball, doesn't mean you have to catch it!
One of the members resolutions was 'To get rid of this Writers Block'. This led to a very interesting discussion regarding possible reasons for the blockage and possible solutions i.e. setting realistic goals, breaking his work down into chunks and Jon suggested 'morning pages'. The need to always have a notepad handy was re-emphasised as was the need for writers to think positive about one's work.
Another member discussed his desire to read, read, read this year, to which another member agreed and added he would like to see more plays and attend the theatre this year; as that was something he was interested in writing. There was talk of editing, writing, reading and more writing so I foresee a busy year for members of the Lindum Scribes.
A number of members were missing which was a shame and I suspect the reason for this may be that they had not written their resolutions. I for one see it as a good exercise if only to reassess what we want to achieve with regards to out writing in the coming year and give us a signpost.
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