It's a New Year. Yay? (Penny Rader)

Joël, Evelyñ, François
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I have a secret, one I've never admitted to anyone.  Not even myself.

I dread the new year.

Sounds silly, doesn't it?  A new year should be, well, all fresh and shiny…and new, filled with anticipation and all sorts of possibilities.

I do wish I felt that way.  Instead, a new year brings new expectations.  It means I have to set goals for the year.  Goals I know I won’t reach – I haven’t met many goals I've set for several years.   I keep telling myself “baby steps.”  And I’ll occasionally make one or two of those baby steps, but they’re very few and far between.

Since negative people are such a drag to be around and I don’t want to be one of those people no one wants to be around, I work hard to keep a smile on my face and have a positive attitude, to be kind and non-whiny (yeah, big fail on that today), yet here I am in the new year:

• Still not organized.  

• Still not healthy or slender.  Mostly sick and tired of being sick and tired.  Have lost a few pounds, but still have quite a few to go. Blood tests always come back as normal.  Migraines and tummy issues flare up at really inconvenient times.  Sometimes medication helps, sometimes not.   Would love to have steady amounts of energy instead of almost constant fatigue, instead of looking at upcoming events and wondering if I’ll even have the energy required to participate in whatever family event, etc, is approaching.  I’m embarrassed by how relieved I am when there’s nowhere I have to be on the weekends or after work.  Too bad energy can’t be conserved and stored for withdrawals later.

• Still haven’t finished another writing project.  Have barely made any progress on writing at all.  I've had one book published…over four years ago.  If I were a Harlequin author I would've been expected to have written 8 -12 books by now.  If I were a single title author with one of the big NY publishers that number would mostly like be 4 – 8 books.  At the minimum I figured I’d have at least another novel drafted by now (I am a slow writer) and working on polishing it (which is my favorite part of writing).  Writers write and I haven’t been.  

• Still haven’t defeated my nemesis: fear.

So now that I've thoroughly depressed myself (and probably you, if you're still reading), I went hunting for some quotes to lift me out of my funk.  I figure if they inspire me or make me smile, then maybe they’ll be helpful to someone else.

Conor Thaxton
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“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I'm afraid of. ”  ― Joss Whedon

“One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I’m going to do my five or 10 pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I’ll have lost nothing—writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off.”
— Lawrence Block

“Remember: Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.”  —Ray Bradbury

“Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer.”
―  Barbara Kingsolver

Jennifer
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“Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.”
―  Jane Yolen

“I learned that you should feel when writing, not like Lord Byron on a mountain top, but like a child stringing beads in kindergarten, --happy, absorbed and quietly putting one bead on after another.”
―  Brenda Ueland

“This is for writers yet to be published who think the uphill climb will never end.  Keep believing. This is also for published writers grown jaded by the process.  Remember how lucky you are.”   ― Terry Brooks

"Believe in love. Believe in magic. Hell, believe in Santa Claus. Believe in others. Believe in yourself. Believe in your dreams. If you don't, who will?" ―  Jon Bon Jov

avrdreamer
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“A writer is like a bag lady going through life with a sack and a pointed stick collecting stuff.”
―  Tony Hillerman

“Don’t forget – no one else sees the world as you do, so no one else can tell the stories that you have to tell.”  ―  Charles de Lint

"Don't look back. Write a page, turn it over, and move on. It's easier to make changes to a book that's finished."  ―  Mario Puzo

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you'll make one.” ― Elbert Hubbard

Teresa Robinson
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“One of the things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. Something more will arise for later, something better.”  ― Annie Dillard

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun”
― Mary Lou Cook

“No one can tell the story you can tell. No one knows it. No other human can feel the emotions swirling around your characters or feel emotion on behalf of those characters unless you put those characters on the page…. Have I convinced you that if you’re a storyteller who’s not telling stories, then the rest of us are deprived?”  ―  Beth Hill

BK
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What do you do to get yourself out of a funk and rediscover the joy of life, of creating?

What Affects Writers and Their Writing? (Penny Rader)

http://pinterest.com/pin/235594624226690802/

I poked around the Internet to see what I could find about what affects writers and their writing.  Found some interesting pieces and posted snippets below.  I do hope you’ll click the links and read the entire article by each author and perhaps find something of benefit to you.

Book Writing Tips: How Does Where You Write Affect Your Writing? (Lisa Tener)

 … where you write can affect your creativity and productivity, as well as your tone, how well the writing flows and the quality of the writing itself.

Try writing in:

• A café 
• Your office
• By a warm fire with a cup of tea
• Outdoors (if you’re not in New England in January)
• Bed
• Curled up with your cat or dog on the couch
• On a plane, train or ferry

Compare the writing and see how the venue affects it. What works?

http://bit.ly/xeQiCH  

Breaking Out of Writer’s Block (Apryl Duncan)

Common Causes
Unrealistic Goals
Stress
Neglecting Our Writing
Perfectionism
Research-related

The Cure
Revisit
Change of Scenery
Rewrite Another’s Work
Use Real Pictures
Doodle
Object Focus
Building Blocks
Life Events
Network

http://bit.ly/xQ7OcM 

Butt OUT of Chair (L.S. Taylor)

Yes, L.S discusses something I’m in dire need of: exercise.

• Resistance Training
• Sports
• Water
• Sleep
• Stretching

Fear – And How It Affects Writers (Laura E. Bradford)

http://bit.ly/whYzUS 

Fear leads to stagnation.

Stagnation leads nowhere.

… fear also leads to writers closing Word documents and saying "Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week."

… take that fear and put it into your work. Don't let it paralyze you. View it as something positive--something to help you improve.

Healthy Eyes: Tips for Reducing Eye Strain (Robyn Chausse)

http://bit.ly/yutaOZ 

In this article, Robyn discusses:

• Office Ergonomics
• Rest and Exercise
• The Stretch
• Zen Vision
• The Painter
• Lubricate

Knowing Your Personality Type Can Make You A Better Writer--Here's How

The Keirsey Temperament Test is a well known psychological test derived from Jungian psychological theory.  Through a series of short questions, the test will assign you a basic personality type--there are 16 possible types. Finding out your personality type can provide insights into your writing style, its strengths and its weaknesses.  If you are having problems with deadlines, writer’s block, or other wiring related difficulties, this test might lead to a solution.

Note from Penny:  This is pretty cool.  There’s a link to the test, which takes 10 minutes or so.  After you take the test, click the link called Your Personality Type and Writing.  And then, if you want more info about personality types, there are several more links to check out.


After you take the Kiersey Temperament Test, you might be interested in Andrea Wenger’s posts about the 16 Writing Personalities.

Music Affects My Writing (Steven Symes)

Part of my writing methodology involves music, since I have found music to be one of my writing muses.

I actually create a soundtrack or a playlist of songs. … I listen to different parts of the soundtrack or score as I write different parts of the story, since the music has the general feel I want to create for the story.”


Plotters vs Pantsers: How to Make Sure Writers Block Doesn’t Kill Your Dream (Glen C. Strathy)

Novel writers fall into two basic camps. On the one hand, plotters are those writers who like to plan their novels from beginning to end before they start writing. Pantsers (or pantsters), on the other hand, simply sit down and start writing, trusting that they will figure everything out as they go along. (The name comes from the fact that they write by the seat of their pants.) Both approaches have their advantages at certain times, but both can fall prey to different forms of writer’s block, which can prevent them from finishing their novel.

Fortunately, whether you are a plotter or a pantser, you can avoid this problem by knowing when to adopt a little bit of the opposite approach.

http://bit.ly/zhottI 

Sensory Tips for the Distractible Writer (Therese Walsh)

I am so distractible. Dealing with that aspect of myself is one of my greatest challenges as a writer. Though my doc has assured me that I do not have an adult version of ADD, I’ve wondered a time a two.

Being distractible can be caused by a whole slew of things—like genetics, parenthood, stress, and anxiety—but that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it.

Check out Therese’s article for more tips:

• Minimize visual distractions
• Maximize visual helpers
• Minimize auditory distractions
• Maximize auditory helpers
• Maximize olfactory helpers
• Maximize gustatory helpers

That Only Happens to Other People! - When Tragedy Affects a Writer's Livelihood (Karen Carver)

"What if" you were in an accident or came home from the military missing one or both hands? "What if" you were diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Parkinson's Disease, Diabetes, or Multiple Sclerosis? And what if you were a worker who made his or her living solely from writing or data entry? What if an accident or disease were to dramatically affect or possibly cut you off from doing what you love - writing? And what about that loss of income?

http://inkwellsplatters.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/dreams23.jpg

Writers' Dreams – How Do Dreams Affect the Writing Process (Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen)

Stephen King – Part of my function as a writer is to dream awake

James Hall – The more you pay attention to your dreams, the more you seem to dream or the more you recall what you’ve dreamed

http://bit.ly/yQ3Uoa  

Writing Ergonomics: Top Tips for Proper Posture, Alignment, and Movement (John Soares)

Freelance writers and everyone who writes or works at a computer needs to pay attention to proper body posture/position, alignment, and movement — if you want to be a faster writer and be a happier writer, you must learn about ergonomics.

• Your Writing Chair
• Your Writing Posture
• Your Typing Hands
• Movement at the Computer
• Using a Laptop

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I'd love to hear your thoughts.