August 22, 2006

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR WRITERS …

Lee Goldberg’s comment about not being able to force creativity got me thinking — because in a sense he’s right. While it’s one thing to sit down daily at 3 a.m. and force the words to come … year in and year out … it’s quite another to get burnt out, hit the wall, or bonk – as they say in endurance sports Writers do. And then sometimes they simply quit. Even good ones, well-pubbed ones.

I don’t believe you can vibrate with fresh, edgy, creative, energy when the fire inside is, well, dead. The inspiration is simply not going to come if you’re that physically, emotionally, mentally drained. It goes to the heart of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. You need the fuel first.

And you need your habits, to be sustainable.

So while the discipline is clearly necessary, so is pacing if you plan on going the marathon haul. As is nourishment and care of the writer — both body and soul. So today I leave you with this – scriptwriter Derek Rydall’s Ten Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters.

It’s been around for some time. I have a copy pinned up on my bulletin board, and I think it truly covers all the bases. While it’s written for screenwriters, I believe it serves just as well as a Ten Commandments for Novelists who plan on going the distance.

Maybe that really is the secret of the giants in the industry — they’ve found a way to contiually feed the fire.

And let’s hope I’m over this naval gazing by tomorrow, eh?

My Path: Old Mill Road, Panorama

My Time: 51:02 mins — interval training.

My Beat: Simply The Best — Tina Turner

Victoria Marathon — 47 days to go!! (eep)

Honolulu Marathon — 110 days to go.

Posted by Loreth @ 10:36 pm | THE RUNNING LIFE, THE WRITING LIFE

3 Responses to “TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR WRITERS …”

On August 23rd, 2006 at 12:16 pm
Kimber An Says:

Beautiful website. I’m not far from you over here in Alaska. The scenery is very similar. I wish I could say I’ve read your books and loved them, but I don’t read romance. It’s kind of funny because my critters loved the romantic parts of Star Captains’ Daughter and I just couldn’t figure out why. I’m still not quite exactly sure why, but, hey, whatever makes them happy! Sometimes, I feel like such a numbskull writer when my critters pick up things in my stories that I don’t, but then I just think, well, maybe my subconscious mind is playing tricks on me. “Woah! How’d that get there?” Ever have one of those moments?
On August 23rd, 2006 at 12:26 pm
meretta Says:

Thanks for sharing, Loreth! And thanks to Lee, as well. Writers are such giving and kind folk.
On August 23rd, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Kristen Says:

The scenery is absolutely gorgeous. You never see things like that in Texas. In fact, what you’d see more would be what my name’s linked to. Not that that isn’t pretty, it’s just not the same.

Thanks for the tips. =) That’s really helpful. Writers are really a great set of people, I agree! =D

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SEDUCING THE MERCENRY earns Cata award