Warm up for Writing

A Fine Romance?

Some of you reading these posts see writing as a tool. A left-brain activity to lead you to promotion. Or world acclaim in your field of expertise. For you corporate writers, writing may mean coherent Annual Reports for your department head, witty after-dinner speeches for your chief executive or clear expositions of your own research results.


Worthy though these activities are – have you ever thought you could relate to your writing in other ways? You and your writing could have a much more intricate and personal relationship than you’ve ever dreamed of. Creative writing is a powerful route to the successful exploration of who you are and what you really want. And, in Spring – a month, when relationships are uppermost in the minds of many – it’s worth spending time on this.

OTHER ‘WRITING’ RELATIONSHIPS!

Perhaps, put simply, writing could be where your passions lie. And love of writing shows itself in many ways!

The Right-brain Writers Quiz

Do you write because you must?

Are you – like me – entranced by English? And does the sound of beautifully-composed English language – Shakespeare, Dylan Thomas, Alexander McCall Smith – make your toes curl?


Do you – like me – come from a long-line of story-tellers? And, when you were a child, did you – as I did – write your own stories because no-one else was writing what you wanted to read?


The relationship between ourselves and creative writing can be a passionate, obsessive one. Which can cause problems for other passionate, obsessive relationships in our lives.

So what to do?

Well, we could give up. There’s little enough encouragement to carry on writing – even at the best of times. But we don’t, do we?

Better by far is to get everyone on board. If someone you love is resistant to your writing, there will be reasons for their resistance – jealousy, insecurity, protecting you from the disappointment of rejection, protecting you from the apparent drain on your resources that creative fire involves. You see – it’s not all about them. So talk.

And, ask them to change their attitude. If they can’t do this straight off – and it is a BIG request – perhaps they could try smaller changes – such as resisting any temptation to tease or interrupt or sneer. Do they mean to hurt you in that way? Ask them. Perhaps they don’t realise . . .


In her classic creativity book, The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron recommends an Artist’s Date – a time in the week when you take yourself out on your own for some re-creative activity. For me, it’s yoga practice, a walk in the country, a visit to an art gallery or a bookshop. This, Julia Cameron swears, will put you back in touch with yourself. And this is desirable. Writers need solitude at times. For reflection. And to do the business.

But, don’t forget, you need people too. Apart from the emotional support and the fun, human relationships can be a writing resource. These are the stuff of much adult writing – from soap operas to novels. At your own peril – as a writer and as a person – you neglect yours. Especially, in February!

And – if your relationships are suffering because of your writing – perhaps you should make some time for your nearest and dearest. What was it you so enjoyed when you first got together? How long is it since you . . .? What are you learning from this? Is it time for a ‘date’?


‘Dates’, of course, needn’t just be for lovers. Friends need lunch too. Is the dog walking round the house sighing and carrying its own lead. And – when did you last see your father?

MIXING WITH THE BEST

From time to probably increasingly regular time – you may also need a professional ‘date’ to keep you on track.

This may be a group of writers and to find a writers’ group near you, contact the National Association of Writers’ Groups (www.nawg.org.uk).

Or see www.writers-circles.com – a directory of registered writing groups with links to just about everyone and everywhere in the country to make you feel less lonely.

Or access a virtual group on the Internet. Now you’re really thinking big.

OR RING UP YOUR EDITOR!

Good editors know their readers. With finely-tuned sensors – good editors flag up anything which will confuse, be irrelevant to or disturb the delicate relationship of reader and writer. They are as passionate about defending their readers from your self-indulgence and excesses as you are about what you write. A good editor will also defend you. And reward you. So take them out to lunch and listen to what they say. Remember – a bad editor can throw you to the wolves. Cherish the good.


THEN - BACK TO YOU AND THE PAGE!

Writing like any other exercise requires a warm up. So here’s a little game – remember childhood parties – to start you off.

· Take a blank sheet of paper.
· Start writing by hand and keep writing for ten minutes. If you can’t think what to write next, keep writing gibberish – until you start making sense again.
· At the end of the ten minutes, stop – even mid-word.
· Stand up, walk round the garden, go and wash-up.
· Go back to your paper.
· Read through and with coloured crayons highlight:
o Themes
o Metaphors
o Recurring phrases
· Ask yourself – what have I learned from this?
· Ask yourself – do I feel a story coming on?
· If necessary, say to yourself: “I must get on with my report/article/synopsis now so I shall put these ‘nuggets’ into the ideas file and let them inspire me another time.”

Nothing need go to waste. But you are now ‘warmed up’ and relating well to your writing task of the day.

Ready to Write?

Some writers prefer their own company. Some don’t. The last few weeks will certainly have sorted out the party animals from the quiet-lifers. Personally, I rather like parties but I can’t remember when I last managed a famous bit of purple prose while balancing a cocktail sausage and a glass of Chablis. Can you . . . ?
During the normal course of your life, you may have to ring-fence writing time. But – in a party season - with the strains of last night’s 1970s tribute band ringing in your head – the page may look blanker than ever.
Now – you have a choice.
If you find yourself going off to wash the dishes, you’re resorting to displacement activity. And you probably need to take time out to consider why you’re procrastinating.
If you’re writing for personal achievement – a novel, poetry, an autobiographical piece – you may feel this is genuinely not the moment. And that this time would be better spent building up your creative resources for the next real push forward. So do that.
But, for those of us who write for a living, or would like to, waiting for the Muse is not an option.
People ask me “How do you motivate yourself?” Well, as a general rule, I find electricity bills help. But even utility companies stand little chance at the moment!
So what to do?
You probably already use what neuro-linguistic programmers call ‘anchors’ to trigger your writing state. And you may already have attached these anchors to something sensory – essential oils work for some. Peppermint, I believe, is good. Or music. This works for me. Faced with distraction, you need to find your anchor and then, trigger it!
A small exercise to help:
1 Think about your next piece of writing – a chapter? An article? A newsletter?
2 What images come up? Happy ones, I hope. (If not, see me!)
3 How do you feel about these images? Which makes you feel most ready to write? Do you associate one with a piece of music? The scent of a flower? Or a taste?
4 Conjure this ‘experience’ to trigger your writing mode whenever necessary.
At home, this is easy. You can organise your workspace to kick-start your writing self – filling it with triggers such as photographs, plants, Mozart, chocolate, what you will. Triggering your writing state while working on a park bench or in the local Starbucks may take a little more imagination. But – it’s still possible. It’s like pinching your collar for luck!

Creativity for emotional, spiritual and mental health.

Just a note to say I've joined Ecademy's Divorce Club which offers coaching and support for those going through divorce. I am particularly taken with the concept of Collaborative Family Law and how - working with other professionals such as lawyers, family therapists and financial advisers - creativity coaches such as me can help people recover much faster. In the process of divorce, people neglect their mental, emotional and spiritual health. Because of this, they are not in a fit state to move forward 'after the event'. They need to release these aspects of themselves to be able to think creatively about their futures. See my website and my free newsletter for more information.

A Story to Tell

Lonely Furrow Company comes across lots of different stories. At present, my writer development coaching is helping a travel writer, a psychologist, someone suffering with depression who wants to use creative writing as a way to make sense of her state, an inspirational writer, a novelist who suffers from a tendency to procrastinate, a financial expert and so on and so forth.

And, as a ghostwriter, I am helping two people with their autobiographies. Whether these ‘books’ are published or not, they don’t mind. They just want to tell their story. These people – in my view, wrongly - lack the confidence to write on their own. But each has something very special to say. And the world would be a poorer place if they didn’t say it.

But does everyone have something to say? I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t - only a few people who don’t believe they have. Do you belong to this group?

If so, perhaps you’d like to take a moment to do this exercise.

Think of something that happened to you – as a child. Write it down. Leave it for a day. Go back and think about it carefully. Ask yourself these questions:

· Why does this memory stick in your mind?
· What did you feel about what happened at the time?
· What do you feel about what happened now?
· What strengths did that event reveal about you?
· Could you use those strengths more in your present life?
· What weaknesses did that event show up?
· Could you do more of something to prevent any weaknesses still with you today from getting in your way?
· What would you say to you as a child about handling that event?
· What could your child-self tell you to help you in your present life?

And what will you do with this new piece of knowledge?

You may need to think about this memory a little longer so you can use the insights it gives you to make sense of something in your life. You may feel upset – and need to turn to a friend or someone who can help you in this. Or you may feel empowered.

And you may have the beginnings of a creative piece of writing here.

Phoenixing

Well, that’s it. Autumn’s here. Time for a surge of baking and thinking about Christmas – although personally I’m still mopping up after a dreadful summer – and I’m not just talking about the weather. Here, we’ve had two bereavements and a serious diagnosis in the family.

This could have been expected to keep me out of the shipping lanes – except that some beguiling experiences were offered to me. And I couldn’t resist. I’m a freelance journalist, after all.

As a result, I found myself visiting a nuclear submarine (the Astute) in Cumbria, interviewing farmers about rural suicides in Devon and Northamptonshire and whispering to a wonderful horse called Seren in the Cotswolds. All articles will be published this Autumn.

So why am I telling you all this? Well, the thought for the month is: throughout all the traumas, I found that of the two aspects of work/life balance, work was the more restful and restorative!

Particularly the writing bit. The mindfulness required means you come away from writing in a state of total relaxation – with an almost divine serenity. And the truly wonderful thing is: you can go back there at any time. All you need is paper, pen and a story to tell.

The wake of trauma.

Hello! I'm back - after a dreadful summer - bloodied but unbowed. I won't go into the details but - suffice to say - I currently feel jangled by the superficiality of everything. I'm seriously concerned about over-planning at the moment and need encouragement to get started again.
Has anyone any suggestions?

Seafarers' fatigue

Any stories to tell about the above?

I was talking to an old salt the other day about fatigue and he explained that he used to sit in a small boat offshore for 48 hours on watch on 4.5 hours sleep. As an eight-hours at least sleep person, I can't imagine caring whether ships bumped into each other or not after a while. In my usual state, I'd care very much. Poor sleep means poor decisions. How do you keep fresh on watch? Answers please to Lizzie Gates.

And very many thanks.