It's the age-old challenge and the age-old question. Writer's block. How to solve it? Everyone faces it, some more often than others, and, as an author, I get asked the question:
What's your solution?
My solution to writer's block is to write.
Yes, this sounds like the sort of answer that doesn't really help, but the truth is the only way through anything is, well, through it. Like the old Nike commercials: Just do it. When it comes to writing, if I can't seem to get going I just make myself write. Something. Anything. I don't worry about how horrible or how dumb or how anything what I'm writing sounds. We live in an age of electronics where we can type and correct and type and correct and fix and remove and type again. There should be no pressure to get a first draft anywhere near perfect. In fact, the final result may be completely changed from that initial effort.
Don't get hung up on getting it exactly right. Not even close. Especially not the first time. The more you try to edit as you create, the more it bogs you down. Stream of consciousness. Get it out. Just ... get it out. Edit later. Type "blah blah blah" if you can't think of the words; put in raw ideas for now, even if you can't think of the exact, most eloquent way to say it; just get it out of your head and come back and make it make sense later.
Write. That's the solution.
Writing absolutely destroys writer's block.
:-)
#TeamStarAngel
#MakeItBetter
TeamStarAngel.com
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Being A Hero
Each of us can be a hero.
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, all scales of action. This is obvious, of course, but Hero is such a big word we often use it for only the absolute biggest things. Superman saving a city is a hero. We can all agree on that (excepting those tiny voices of dissent -- there's always someone who disagrees). But what makes a hero? Do you have to save a city? How about setting aside a day to help a friend do something they can't do alone? Does that make one a hero?
My contention is that it does.
I'm not out to skew the definition, but most of us know what constitutes heroics. You know when you're in the presence of one.
The official definition of a hero is this:
"A person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities."
That's a good definition. Put that way it seems we could all be heroes, almost on a daily basis. Being a hero has a broader meaning than saving a city or even a life. Heroics great and small.
At the end of the day heroes make it better.
The Star Angel books are entertainment, but there's no reason we can't practice heroism in our everyday actions. People are watching, and the things we do get noticed. By setting a heroic example we spread that message, even if only a little, and the positive effect travels. Be a hero in all things, great and small, and the effect will be wide. Leave a trail of good deeds behind you.
It could be fun. If more of us made a game of it it might spread. In truth there's more positive in the world than negative. More good. Despite the merchants of chaos running the typical news hour, despite all the bad things made all the worse, all the more serious by the fact that they get the most alarming coverage, the evidence supports the fact that, mostly, we're good. We haven't killed each other yet. Wars, yes, terrible crimes against each other, of course, but over the millennia we've gotten better. The world has advanced. If the balance of our actions were destructive than we wouldn't be here today. Man -- the vast majority of us -- is good, and no cynic, no matter how clever, can change that.
But there's room for improvement. To turn the spiral in the other direction. To push it up, rather than down.
In Star Angel the hero, Jessica, inspires others to action, and by the end of the story each of the major players has become a hero in their own right. Star Angel is filled with those who rise above.
And so let me stop rambling. That's the message. Be a hero, in every way you can.
Can you imagine a planet full of us? :-)
__
Note, this is taken directly and shamelessly from the Team Star Angel web site. I had a huge hand in the creation of the site, so I feel within my rights to borrow. :-)
#TeamStarAngel
#MakeItBetter
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, all scales of action. This is obvious, of course, but Hero is such a big word we often use it for only the absolute biggest things. Superman saving a city is a hero. We can all agree on that (excepting those tiny voices of dissent -- there's always someone who disagrees). But what makes a hero? Do you have to save a city? How about setting aside a day to help a friend do something they can't do alone? Does that make one a hero?
My contention is that it does.
I'm not out to skew the definition, but most of us know what constitutes heroics. You know when you're in the presence of one.
The official definition of a hero is this:
"A person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities."
That's a good definition. Put that way it seems we could all be heroes, almost on a daily basis. Being a hero has a broader meaning than saving a city or even a life. Heroics great and small.
At the end of the day heroes make it better.
The Star Angel books are entertainment, but there's no reason we can't practice heroism in our everyday actions. People are watching, and the things we do get noticed. By setting a heroic example we spread that message, even if only a little, and the positive effect travels. Be a hero in all things, great and small, and the effect will be wide. Leave a trail of good deeds behind you.
It could be fun. If more of us made a game of it it might spread. In truth there's more positive in the world than negative. More good. Despite the merchants of chaos running the typical news hour, despite all the bad things made all the worse, all the more serious by the fact that they get the most alarming coverage, the evidence supports the fact that, mostly, we're good. We haven't killed each other yet. Wars, yes, terrible crimes against each other, of course, but over the millennia we've gotten better. The world has advanced. If the balance of our actions were destructive than we wouldn't be here today. Man -- the vast majority of us -- is good, and no cynic, no matter how clever, can change that.
But there's room for improvement. To turn the spiral in the other direction. To push it up, rather than down.
In Star Angel the hero, Jessica, inspires others to action, and by the end of the story each of the major players has become a hero in their own right. Star Angel is filled with those who rise above.
And so let me stop rambling. That's the message. Be a hero, in every way you can.
Can you imagine a planet full of us? :-)
__
Note, this is taken directly and shamelessly from the Team Star Angel web site. I had a huge hand in the creation of the site, so I feel within my rights to borrow. :-)
#TeamStarAngel
#MakeItBetter
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