Check out the details of the annual IWSG Anthology Contest Today!
For me IWSG is a place to hold hands with other authors who are waiting to hear some news about their books:
- Will the agent of my dreams like what I’ve sent?
- Is the publisher going to send a contract sometime this century?
- Is my Indie book edited and formatted properly or did I screw up again?
- Will anyone buy my book while I’m still alive?
- Will anyone read my book?
- Where are those reviews?
If any of these questions have every bugged you as a writer, SIGN UP HERE and let’s hold hands. Excuse the bones. I’ve lost a bit of weight during my book launch this summer.
September 7 Question: How do you find the time to write in your busy day?
When I think of something–no matter where I am–I write it down, and when I can get to my computer, I put those ideas into whatever I’m working on. That’s why my manuscripts scare me senseless. There are random notes between scenes. There are images I think I can use to help me describe something or capture the mood of a place or the look of a person. There’s egg salad splats because I ate lunch during an epiphany.
Yesterday during yoga, I had this brilliant thought while I was standing on my hands. Attribute it on blood flow to the brain. So as soon as my hands were free, I wrote that thought down. Last night it became a scene that will go someplace in my book. I’m counting on another handstand to tell me where.
What’s your answer to the September 7th question? I’ll be coming around to read what you have to say.
There will be no hand stand epiphany in my future, lol. I've had some egg salad moments though. Delicious.
I love and hate when thoughts come to me but I'm nowhere near even a notebook!
Thanks for co-hosting!
It can definitely be difficult to find time to write. That's great you keep notes throughout the day though!
I'm so down with that…though not downward dog…I jog to brainstorm plot. I guess we all use our endorphins in different ways! Yoga on!
I'm impressed that you can do a handstand! Yoga does work wonders for body and soul. There's no rhyme or reason to when I come up with ideas. I agree that the trick is remembering them!
Julie
I drive around a lot. I seem to get my best ideas in the car….
Inspiration can come in the strangest of places! Love it that it came to you while in a handstand! That's awesome!
Wow, I wish a book launch made me lose weight; it probably wouldn't take me so long to finish a project. Then again, I haven't tried standing on my hands; maybe I should. Thanks for co-hosing this month.
I try to write things down when I can too. So hard to lose ideas! 🙂
~Jess
I've found that getting used to rejection is the key to getting that final "yes" at the end of the day. Agents and publishers often say "no," but eventually, one will say "yes." 🙂
Better to have the ideas down amongst the egg splats than not at all.
I so wanted to join in ISWG this month, but it was my daughter's first day of school and a lot of angsty teen drama preceded it.
I always get great ideas while out taking walks. There's definitely something to exercise–whether it's yoga or swimming or jogs–that gets our creative brains going.
I am not so good at writing those little ideas down immediately, and consequently, I lose some of them.
There's a small thing I wanted to change in my manuscript before my agent submits it. I wish I could remember what it is!
Ah, I forgot to answer the question! I write ideas all the time, too, which helps me focus my thoughts. By the time I write, I've usually figured out where I want to go in my head.
I wish I could do a handstand. I do get ideas when I'm power walking and lifting weights.
You paint a vivid scene of you, standing on your hands, the blood rushing to your head, giving you awesome ideas. Now, I'm waiting for a new story to see what that idea is. I love your sense of humor, and what you say is absolutely true. The skeleton is perfect.
My ideas don't come when standing on my head but rather sitting behind the wheel. Always . . . the best lines of dialogue during rush hour with no time to jot them down. Thanks for hosting IWSG!
Sounds like you catch the inspiration to write when you can. I love getting inspiration when I'm just thinking while doing something else like your yoga example.
I am seriously trying to make a come back into the blogging world and thought IWSG would be a good place to start, but alas, I did not make it this month. At the least, I am visiting some old friends looking for inspiration and motivation. I need some serious hand holding.
Your suggestion is a good one and I have copious notes floating around. I think that maybe going through them may help me with my I & M.
I knew this was a good place to come today, even if you did not provide a fabulous new recipe for egg salad. (I was kinda hoping.)
I was so curious to find out what the egg salad moments were going to be LOL. Love the image of you doing a handstand and suddenly having a eureka moment.
And sadly the waiting for sales hits a little close to home LOL.
My ideas come when I'm gardening, mostly. I tried yoga once – ended up lying on my back for three weeks! Ouch. Sales? Reviews? – I've asked myself those questions every day since publishing my book of short stories in July. Hmmm.
Have a super September.
Writing down all these points make them something to work toward.
Writing down those ideas is a good idea. Wouldn't want to lose them.
What a great way to find inspiration. When I worked out ALL the time, I used to have lots of ideas. I need to get back into it. Then I'll become a writing machine… Lol
Keep standing on those hands. LOL
Just like a writer to have a notebook on hand during yoga class! lol 😉 One of the best ways I've found is the 100-4-100 challenge that my writers' group does sometimes: just to write 100 words a day everyday for 100 days. It sounds like a lot, but it can literally be done so fast and once you're in the groove, it's often easy to keep going.
Alexa
thessalexa.blogspot.com
verbosityreviews.com
I once plotted out an entire chapter during meditation at yoga class- I know we aren't supposed do that – lol – but the whole thing just smacked me in the brain.
Tweeted.
http://victoriaadams.blogspot.com
Writing down those ideas when they come to you is the best way to go. Whenever I think, "I'll remember that!" I never do and the brilliant idea is lost forever.
I like how you have epiphanies during yoga and a particularly difficult pose. I love to workout for the same reason. It somehow relaxes my brain so My brainstorm sessions are clear 🙂
That's so cool!!! I love that image of getting ideas in a hand-stand. I don't think I could do a handstand at the moment, but maybe I'll try a Mork from Ork kind of pose later . ..
Happy writing, C. Lee! Holding hands is good. 🙂
Oh man, I love that 'waiting for sales'. How did you get my x-ray anyway? :))
Love that image of you on your hands having your brainwave. That deserves a cartoon. Glad you find inspiration wherever you are!
Love, love your skeleton picture. So inspirational! I also jot down ideas when they come to me, so my desk is littered by pieces of paper with my scribbles. Once in a while, when I get an urge to organize, I collect them and put down the ideas into files in a special folder on my laptop, called – you guessed it – Plot ideas. Sometimes I even consult that folder and come up with something interesting.
Blood to the brain gives you ideas?? I'll have to try that sometime 🙂
Thanks for co-hosting!
You know, all summer I've been trying, kinda, to attend a yoga class, but have not done so. I think you just gave me a good reason to go!! I'd say you should've eaten more ice cream this summer to add a few pounds. hee hee
JQ Rose
This reader is sooooo grateful to all you writers. The invitation to tour parts of your crowded minds is priceless.
I like the idea of sticking any ideas right into your current manuscript. I keep getting ideas I think would work well in another project i plan to hopefully one day write… But perhaps it's better to strike while the inspiration is hot! Those other projects may never even come to fruition, right?
IWSG September
I'm picturing a skeletal handstand…a rattling affair! LOL
Wondering if I should give the handstand a go…not sure about my balance though…
Thanks for co-hosting this month, Lee!
You had me at "standing on my hands." It's been far too long since I've done yoga (my how I miss it!) and I didn't get that advanced. I'm impressed by your skills!! 🙂
Thank you for co-hosting today!
I like that, handstands for inspiration! Would love to try but I have a nasty inner ear problem and I'd only end up unconscious. LOL I think I'll stick to long walks on the beach. 🙂
Yes, you do need to eat, and relax – the sales will come, but it'll require a real push during the holidays. Folks love giving books as gifts!
That's awesome!! Hope that handstand works out for you! 🙂
Thanks for co-hosting this month, C. Lee. I mentioned a writing app in my IWSG post today that I recently got to help me stash ideas in my phone as they come to me. Enjoy the rest of IWSG day. Eva
Nothing better than getting that inspiration when you weren't expecting it. I tend to get a lot of those while commuting to work, so I finally downloaded a voice recorder on my phone so I can save them before I forget about it.
I store so many detailed scenes and ideas in my head, even entire books! My second Russian historical was carried around in my head, memorized backwards and forwards, for about half of my life (plus my eventual chapter-by-chapter notes), until I was finally able to write it down. It came together a bit differently than I'd originally envisioned it, and a number of unplanned storylines revealed themselves, but it was the same basic idea I'd hatched at 15. Then again, I have a memory like an elephant.
You live dangerously – notes and pics decorating your pages, egg salad splats, handstands in themselves tough enough much less as inspiration, and scenes written out of place. I bet your muse wears a leather jacket and rides a motorcycle!
I too, write as it comes to me, but I look forward to my afternoons to get it all in where it should be! Thanks for co-hosting this month!
I need to get into the habit of carrying my notebook everywhere with me, it's always a good idea to have somewhere to write ideas when you're out and about!
Thank you for co-hosting #IWSG for September. Good job on getting ideas while doing a handstand. Excellent idea to take notes whenever an idea pops up. Trying to recall a burst of enlightenment the following day never works very well.
Egg salad is good for epiphanies.
I thought these questions were for those who didn't know what to blog about during a particular month, but now I see everyone is answering them, so perhaps I missed the point. Oh well…
How do I make time for writing? I give up sleep, exercising, and often a social life. Hoping to find more balance in the New Year. I've got a plan…
I also can get ideas in the strangest of places and need to jot them down. My most recent crazy one was while I was on a book Youtuber's twitter and feeling jealous of some drawing. I got the idea for talent stealing muses. No idea exactly when I can start this novel idea but you bet your ass I wrote it down. Beware talented people…..*evil laugh* Oh and thanks for helping Alex co-host IWSG this month.
I love your description of the handholding! We definitely need supportive writing buddies who get it to endure the rejections and waiting. I had a friend recently say to me I needed to get used to how editors change over reguarly, which is a reality sure, but the flippant tone felt like a dismissal of my very legit frustration with having an editor change out on me mid-edits. Vent to safe people!
Thanks for your post. This is a great community!
Here's my September IWSG post – my secret tool for finding writing time
Haha "did I screw up again" The story of my life. So much to do, so little time.
I love that–that the thought you got in yoga became a scene later that day. Me, it's usually an idea for a new book, or a completely unrelated idea for my WIP which stalls me.
Maybe I should try yoga.
Excellent write Lee, good idea about writing one's thoughts down.
Yvonne.
Those thoughts sure do come at strange times, don't they? Yours was absolutely due to the increased blood flow to the brain. 😉
It's funny how thoughts pop into your head at the most unusual times. Sometimes I get a opening line for a review and if I don't write it down right then, I can't remember it when I go to write the review.
Thoughts in Progress
and MC Book Tours
Hehehehe I should try to stand on my head and see if that works for me.
My ideas usually come to me when I'm doing something else (sleeping, showering, working…)
I'm not as disciplined as you are. Many a time a brilliant idea pops into my mind, gets forgotten or niggles at me for days. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
Hi Lee – I must organise my note taking … and make it simpler … if I was on my head – then I definitely wouldn't remember when I'd got myself upright …
Take care – cheers Hilary
Great, uh, photo? I have CRS syndrome. (Can't Remember S#!+!) so I forget ideas almost as quick as I get them. I started using my iPhone "notes" when I'm out and about to jot down ideas–and then struggle to decipher my shorthand when I get home. I'd probably break my neck if I tried to do a handstand, so I'll have to pass on that for coming up with ideas.
I'm not as agile as I used to be. I tried standing on my hands but I couldn't bend over enough to put my hands under my feet.
I need to start writing down ideas like I used to do. I think of a lot of ideas that seem pretty worthwhile and then I forget them.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Great post and ideas. Ideas flit through my mind normally when I am doing something else and can't stop in that moment to run with it. I try to write it down.
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit
Here's to inspiring handstands and good blood flow to the brain! Great description of how and when you write and get inspired. I need to carry notecards around with me again. I did this while writing my play.
Thanks for co-hosting IWSG!
Mary at Play off the Page
Hi, Lee! (Please let me know if you prefer to be called Cheryl.)
You revealed that you are "Jumping up and down at my computer." Typically I jump up and down ON my computer. 🙂
Yessum, I am referring to the sometimes laborious process of giving birth to a story, one with all of its fingers and toes. Like you I seem to get all of my best ideas at the worst times. The light in my head goes on when I am in bed trying to get to sleep or when I am in the shower. Just the other day a brilliant turn of phrase came to me like a bolt from the blue as I was delivering the keynote address to the United Nations General Assembly. 🙂 My mind is like a sieve and I can't rely on it to hold thoughts until a more convenient time. For that reason I make sure to keep pad and pen within reach wherever I go and whatever I do.
Enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend Lee!
haha handstands giving ideas is a new one. Ideas sure pop in when ones least expects it though.
Thanks for co-hosting, Lee. With your busy schedule I know what it takes to get it all done.
I'm addicted to post-it notes… I scribble things down and still in the binder of the story I'm working on and hope it makes sense later. 😀
Yes, I learned the hard way that if I don't write ideas down, I often forget them. 🙂
Good advice. I am one of those people that write anywhere and everywhere. That's why I have my iPad with me at all times. I use the evernote app and have special notebooks set up for each manuscript that I am working on.
Thank you also for co-hosting this month.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat Garcia
Thanks for co-hosting, Lee. I love how your mind works. I actually had a dream last night that seemed a lot like a fantasy story to me. And I was the male lead, too! Bizarre. Will it ever turn into a novel? I'm not sure, but the sheer fact I dreamt it gives me pause.
I've got scraps of paper and post-its and pens all over my house because I never know when or where an idea will strike. No egg salad stains though. Just coffee. 🙂
Ha, ha, great ideas do tend to come at the weirdest times. I always carry a little notepad around, too, because if I don't immediately write the idea down, it disappears forever. And questions 3, 4, 5, and 6 plague me all the time. Thanks for co-hosting with me!
IWSG Co-host at http://lorilmaclaughlin.com
Thanks so much for co-hosting this month! Oh my goodness! I so feel you with those random thoughts. I get mine any and every time I'm around water: the ocean, the rain, in the shower. Usually in the shower, where I can't write a thing down. I've considered getting those bath crayons they sell for kids to draw on tile but I haven't gone that far…yet! I'm learning (slowly) that my stories are built better on random work than on fully fledged ideas. I'm enjoying chasing one right now and boy has it got me scared senseless! Cheers!
Thanks for being a co-host this month. My random thoughts usually come when I'm exercising or doing chores. It seems when my muscles are busy, my brains works extra.
Sometimes those random notes end up looking like scrambled eggs. Like Christine, most of mine hit while I'm trying to sleep.
I also have good ideas when I'm away from my desk. Sometimes it's during a run or washing dishes. I really need to train myself to write them down though. My memory is terrible these days, so too many ideas are lost.
Great ideas strike me at odd times too. Like just when I'm falling asleep! Thank you for co-hosting today. 🙂
It's great to write ideas down when they come to you! I use the same method occasionally, but I have to be careful to make it detailed…or else I find myself saying "what was I trying to convey here?!"
Thanks for co-hosting this month. My ideas come in the car while driving. A little hard to write them down when they hit. I've never done a handstand in my life. Nowadays, I'm lucky if I can get up off the floor after looking under the bed for my shoes. LOL
My inspirations also happen at odd moments too. When I'm in bed I tell myself to remember, but I never do in the morning. Once in a while if I repeat & repeat it, I remember. In fact, I just thought of something as I'm writing this.
I used to have a paper & pen by my nightstand, but then I take it with me in the am and forget to put it back. Or when I'm cleaning or walking. Thanks for co-hosting Lee!
My ideas always come to me in the shower. I've seriously considered moving my desk into the bathroom.
Thanks for hosting 🙂
Ideas come by the thousands. Time to write them all? Not so much–thus my need for time manipulation. Right?
If handstands bring ideas, I'm willing to try!
Thanks for co-hosting today.
Ideas come to me out of nowhere, while doing laundry, cooking, listening to a song, on the bus, train, etc. That's why I always carry a pen and mini notebook to note it down before I can get to a computer.