With the demise of Nanowrimo it’s now Novel November. So what better time to get those words down and making them count?
Great idea, but, as writers, we all know that awful feeling of the dreaded ‘Writers Block’.
Imagine the scenario – for once, we have found time to write. We’ve made our favourite drink (coffee for me, white, no sugar). We are in our favourite place to write with no distractions (in the office, window to the estate in front of my desk so I can look up and see what is going on outside every so often – me? nosey? no! seeking inspiration…). We open our writing implement of choice (laptop) and navigate to the blank page… Fingers poised over the keyboard we wait… and wait… we know words are there, we’ve done it before, we had loads of ideas half an hour ago when we were boiling the kettle and preparing ourselves for the epicness that was about to be unleashed from our souls…
… and, dejected, we drink our coffee, close the laptop and walk away, telling ourselves that we will try again tomorrow.
So, what we need to do is break that block, do something that will get the flow going and those tetchy fingers typing away like there’s no tomorrow.
“How do we do that though?’ I hear you ask – You are, I know you are….
Well, there are plenty of things on the market for you to purchase that are designed to help you through this – but, as those of you who have been with me for a while know, I’m always on the lookout for saving money and doing something that is free or at minimal cost. Beating writer’s block is no different, after all, we are creative beings are we not? Surely we can come up with some creative DIY writing prompts?
So, I’m going to do a series (because nobody wants to read me waffling for hours on end in one sitting- I’ll be kind and break it down into much more enjoyable chunks) of different ways that we can prompt ourselves to get writing. Today. Right now in fact.
I’ll start with an oldie but goodie.
The Random Book Prompt.
Grab the closest book to you – don’t cheat – and open a random page. With your eyes closed, point to anywhere on the open page. Write the closest sentence down and use it to prompt a piece of writing.
- It could be the opening line of a story.
- A poetry prompt.
- Dialogue from a character.
- Scene or mood inspiration.
As an example, I have just done this exercise and here are my results from just ten minutes writing.
The book I choose was a book on Tarot – I’m already on a hiding to nothing when that was the closest book and it really does prove that I didn’t cheat!
The sentence was ‘Rest and relaxation is needed here.’
And this is what I came up with…
‘Rest and relaxation is needed here,’ she said to me, authority oozing from every syllable of her consultant doctor’s title.
‘I know, but it’s easier said than done,’ I replied.
‘If you don’t make the time now, then your body will force you to. It’s already starting the process or you wouldn’t be sitting in my office now.’
I hung my head dejectedly. She was right. Of course she was. but there was too much that I had to do and nobody could do for me.
As if she read my mind, she continued, ‘You’re no use to them if you burn out. They need to help you f or a little while. Put yourself first and do something you enjoy. Go for it a walk, or a swim. Hug a tree or read a book. Do anything that will help you de-stress. Even five minutes will help.’
I picked up my bag and nodded at her as I walked towards the door. ‘I’ll try,’ I said, knowing that I couldn’t.
He’d kill me long before he would help.
Ok, I know it will never be Oscar winning material, but for a quick exercise to get the brain going, it’s ok… I think…
I’d love to hear what you thought…
Or let me know what you came up with…
#writingprompt #amwriting #creativewriting #writingcommunity #writingprompt #diywritingprompt
Meanwhile, everybody keep their fingers crossed for a successful grade for my Masters please, altogether now….. CROSS!!!
is basically a set amount of time where you decide that you are not going to spend any money…on anything apart from your normal direct debits. Household bills aren’t included in this as i don’t think the mortgage company are going to agree if you tell them that you’re not going to pay the mortgage this month because its due date falls in your no spend time….
If you want to keep a track of how much you are spending, then make it visual. There are many ways to do this, and you can be as simple or creative as you like with it. Keep a money jar and put into it the money that would have spent if you had gone to the shop. Write a list of how much you haven’t spent. Go all out and get yourself a spreadsheet on the computer and input all of your savings. When you can visually see what you are saving all the time, it gets easier.
So, set a date, set a length of time and plan ahead. Use whatever psychological tricks you need to in order to help you to achieve your goal and go for it. You’ll be surprised at just how imaginative you can be when you really don’t want to break into that fiver.
that is reduced for quick sale because it cannot be sold after its best before date.
All of these can be very helpful at Xmas time as, usually just for those closest to me, i will make something unique and individual for them that is suited to their personality and cannot be purchased in the shops. 
fabrics that i felt suited them. It is harder with the boys, but bean filled phone holders and crocheted blankets have gone down really well. All these cost me is the price of the individual parts (fabrics/wool/charms/chains etc) and the time it takes me to do them.
One thing that i haven’t yet mentioned is that i also cook. And i quite enjoy cooking
pickles and preserves and so, most years, i put together home made hampers of pickles, chutneys and jams for family and close friends. I have the staple ones that i make every year of orange marmalade, lemon marmalade, strawberry jam and sweet chilli jam and then i will usually cook one or two others just to vary it up a bit.
Ones that i can recommend are rhubarb and ginger jam, green tomato chutney (this is a brilliant way to use up those green tomatoes you grew that never got round to turning red), spiced apple chutney and one of my favourites that i can never do again i called autumn chutney and was a random assortment of vegetables that i had grown and needed making into something. Really wish i’d written that recipe down, it was delicious, especially with some cheese on crackers.
packaging them. Up until now, this has always been with a roll of cellophane and a pretty bow, but with my plan to help the environment out and stop using single use plastic, that plan has now been scuppered and i’m going to have to find another way of doing it for next year. No idea what yet, i have another 9 months to figure that out though. Watch this space.
Another source of help can be friends and family, even if they don’t have the time to do the physical stuff for you, they may be willing to have a conversation to help you, and the older generation are generally a minefield of information about the make do and mend lifestyle. There was a time when they didn’t have a choice, and they didn’t have the internet to help them either. If they wanted something, they had to either work out a way to provide it or go without.
I would also leave space for comments and reflections. What if something doesn’t happen the way you wanted it to? What are you going to do then? How are you going to stop yourself from feeling a failure when real life decided to kick you up the Jacksy just to make your day? These are important points to note as well, Life can truly be a right pain in the arse sometimes and there is very little we can do about that, but we can do something about how we react to it.
i had to purchase two new front tyres and have a wheel alignment on my car? Cost me over £200. That was a pain in the arse. Wasn’t expecting it. But it did save me from having a tyre blowout which could and probably would have cost me an awful lot more, and maybe not just in money.
shop and gives you 5% back on selected in store goods. That money is stored in your membership account and can be redeemed against another purchase whenever you want. I like to wait until i get up to about a tenner on it and then feel like i’m getting a load of shopping for free. Quite often, when you swipe your card, you will also get a coupon spat out of the till as well giving you money off other products in store. And it’s usually products that you will use. i got one yesterday for 50p off milk products.
On top of this card, i am also a student and therefore qualify for an 
then about £40 for the year instead of the usual £80. this gives you free one day delivery on Prime products, access to the Amazon Prime video streaming service and lots of other offers (these are just the two that i use regularly).
As you are by now no doubt aware, i am into crafts. Therefore, one of my favourite shops is The Works who also have their own 
Hampers, but you can go to the above website and buy them direct. Personally, i prefer to spread the cost of them throughout the year rather than just buy them outright. Once i have finished paying into my account the full amount of the vouchers i wish to purchase, they are sent to me direct and i get to use them like Monopoly money going into whatever shop i wish to (that accepts them obviously) and pop presents for everyone (and maybe a few for me) into my basket without feeling guilty. I usually make sure i have enough to last me into January as well. This also makes present giving to far flung relatives easier as you get to post them a lot cheaper than you could a present.
Piskie Dreams 