Today is Your Day-- Set It Up!

Today...right now is the opportunity for you to change your life. How?

Start a new writing project. Of course you're working on something else, and I'm not telling you to put your current manuscript away, but I am telling you to write one additional thing to prepare for the next project. What can you do today to start the chain of events?

You can write one of the following:

• Five writing goals
• One page for your next novel
• A web of phrases for your next article
• Ten characteristics about a new character for your next novel
• A letter to someone you love or someone who hurt you

Don't let this distract you from what you're currently doing. Just look at this brief exercise as a set up for your next project, and doing this should prevent you from ever experiencing writer's block again.

Now put this away for later and go back to your current project. Remember, it's always important to finish what you've started.

If you do this exercise once a quarter, you will always have something to write and you'll be able to write on a consistent basis.

Get Out of Your Funk!

Have you ever gone through a phase where you couldn't think clearly? You had a blah attitude about everything, (even the important things), and you felt like doing absolutely nothing? For instance, on some days, eating a pint of chocolate cookie dough ice cream seemed to be the most productive thing you did. I've been through this phase a few times in my life and I call it "The Funk"

During this phase you may not even feel like writing, but I beg to differ with you on this. You can write about your funk. How can you write at a time like this you ask? Below you'll find some topics you can write about while you're enduring this temporary phase:

Write about:

• Your feelings and emotions - use adjectives and colorful words!
• The things you see and hear
• The foods you're tasting: describe how they look and taste

While you don't need to write a book about your funk, you can one day use some of these segments for future chapters or characters in a book, an article, or another writing project you'll eventually work on. Whatever you do, let this funk you're experiencing be a temporary situation so you can start writing again with a clear mind and live a life that includes more than eating a pint of ice cream to get you through the day.