Writing Exercises

What are Your Writing Priorities?

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

To be successful writers, we are encouraged to set goals, make writing a priority, establish a daily routine, stick to it, and we do.

We set word goals, weekly goals, join challenges, write story prompts, and enter contests, all to improve our craft, establish a platform, and reach the ultimate goal – A completed novel, publications in a prestigious literary magazine, and validation.

However, life isn’t always that simple. I attended my critique group for the first time in six months or so. It was like a breath of fresh air and a shot of energizing encouragement. Maybe, I would resume writing. I hadn’t stopped writing, I couldn’t write. It wasn’t a lack of time or writer’s block. I just couldn’t write.

I have an autoimmune disease, which I’ve lived with since 1983. Last June my disease became active and the last year has been a battle. In times like these, you choose your battles and rearrange priorities. I’ve read a number of articles recently about finishing the things you start. I believe it’s an admirable value and one I do my best to live by. I have two novels and memoir I plan to finish when is not as clear now as before.

I realize die-hard writers will say you can find five minutes a day to write. Hell, I think in one my last blogs, I said ten minutes. Sometimes, we have to eat our words. The truth is, it boils down to choices, sometimes you have one, sometimes you don’t, and sometimes you have to make one.

When I began writing, I wanted to leave a legacy to my children and grandchildren. I thought completing my novel would be an incredible accomplishment for me and a gift for them. We all want to be remembered.

This year has been tough not just on me, but our entire family. I’m improving, but as I prepare to sit with my forty-year-old, step-daughter for her first round of chemotherapy, comfort the other step-daughter as she helps her forty-three-year-old husband recover from his first heart attack, or babysit my grandchildren when my daughter is recovering from an acute Crohn’s attack, my priorities must change.

I’m not negating all the advice we receive as writers to work hard toward success. I embrace them, I too pass them on and encourage others to set those same goals and priorities. I love to write, I want to write, and hope one day to have books and stories for my children and grandchildren to pass down. But, the legacy I want most to leave is, Mom was always there when we needed her. 

Do you choose your writing priorities or do they choose you?

So It Is With Writing…

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

Aw spring, my favorite time of the year is finally here. Budding new birth is everywhere you look; people are taking inventory, spring cleaning, clearing out cobwebs, and the clutter of their lives.

As a girl, we started every Spring by opening the windows and letting fresh air blow through the house removing the winter’s stale air. Then, we moved down mama’s list, decluttering closets, washing windows until they sparkled. We whitewashed scuff marks off baseboards, mopped, waxed, and polished the hardwood floors until they shined.

It was an exhausting time for my sisters and me, one we always dreaded, until lying on our beds late at night we inhaled the smell of a freshly spring-cleaned house as the breeze stirred the sheer curtains and the sounds of crickets serenaded us to sleep. Some things are worth the hard work.

So it is with writing …

You outline a novel and fill in the plot or as some do, fly by the seat of your pants until you reach the end of the story and a satisfactory word count. Of course, I’m over simplifying, but you get my drift. When things need to be done, you do them and cross them off your list. Not unlike when I was young and checking off mama’s spring cleaning to-do-list.

Perhaps you’ve wondered why no one was minding the Cow Pasture. Suffice to say; I was hard at work. Not writing, but working on something much harder so I could get back to writing – my health. In 1983, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, Sjogren’s syndrome and others, but over the last five years, things had stabilized.

I thought I had this plot figured out, so to speak, but then what’s a good story without a twist, right? After many years of being manageable, the sleeping giant began attacking my central nervous system. Talk about a twist I wasn’t expecting, this was it. I didn’t know how to talk or write about what was happening, even in the Cow Pasture.

Over the last six months instead of working on my novel, blog or writing short stories, I’ve been outlining a plan to combat this disease and improve my outcome. I’m happy to say things are on track.

Some things are worth the hard work. 

I’m writing again, not using many outlines or sticking to a strict schedule, but writing when I can. Musing from the Cow Pasture Chronicles may include exerts from my novels, Hello Hell, Call Me Florence, a short story, flash fiction, writing topic, an opinion piece, or a chapter from my memoir. Who knows what I’ll share, I’m pretty much a panster these days.

Some things are meant to be enjoyed.

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When You Can’t Think of a New Idea

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 4 Comments

working handWhen you can’t think of a new idea, and it feels as if your mind is running up against a blank wall,what do you do?

It happens to writers no matter their skill or level. There are a zillion reasons why it happens, but sometimes it’s as simple as life overload. It can be very distressing and if you allow it, take the joy out of writing. However, there are easier ways to find new inspiration and reignite your writing.

1. Sometimes reviewing the basics help me remember things I’d forgotten. After looking back over notes and articles important points about character, settings, or plot are once again fresh in my mind, giving me new ideas. Every Writers Resource is currently offering free online writing courses beginning with the basics. The lessons are brief and the assignments get you back to writing in no time.

2. Utilize prompts.Your choice. It doesn’t have to be a link-up or complicated, just write. I like using Oneword, a 60 second prompt with no link-ups, but there are many other sites where you can share the prompt with other writer’s. 750words.com is another site which encourages you to write by  keeping count of the number of words each day. It is completely private and worth checking out.

3. Join a writer’s group. The support you receive from your peers will be invaluable. Whether it’s a group for instruction, writing prompts, guest speakers, or critiques, the support you receive from one another will make you a better and more informed writer.

So, find a way to inspire yourself. This is your chance to tell your story, one word at a time. Happy writing.

 

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