Play.
That’s all.
Forget about niching, target audience, stats.
Play.
Write three sentences about one of your kids’ curls. A pea smashed into the carpet.
Or: walk away from motherhood, parenthood, cooking, IT–whatever it is that your “niche” is. Write about something beautiful. Irrelevant. Important. Or not. Take a picture: and make a list of the adjectives it inspires in you.
Pull a quote from a book you’re reading. Do things to it. Let it do things to you.
Spend some time on Brain Pickings. Maybe start with Famous Advice on Writing. Or, no, no, read this, Susan Sontag on Sex:
“If only I could feel about sex as I do about writing! That I’m the vehicle, the medium, the instrument of some force beyond myself.”
… and see where that takes you.
Read Stephen King’s On Writing.
Here, in this space, your space, there are no rules but the ones you make.
Play.
Watch the Words, words, words playlist from Ted Talks: a collection of 12 fabulous talks for people who love words.
Write.
xoxo
“Jane”
PS Unless you’re getting paid for it and you’re on deadline. Then suck it up, grit your teeth and get it done (hopefully not while crying). But here? Writing for you?
Play.
You’re welcome.
Nothing By The Book 
Great advice. I agree!
Thanks. Which means that when a client wants something other than play… 😉
Yes – great advice! This is how I write ‘normally’. I expect nothing from it, hope that it will possibly help others, help others get to know me, and hope it will be something I enjoy looking back on one day. Of course, I also have little time to write these days and ALL I want to do is write…but that’s a different dilemma.
Thanks for this!
Sometimes, insomnia is the answer. No, wait, insomnia is never the answer. Um. Become a Timelord. That’s it. Become a Timelord.
I loved Stephen King’s “On Writing” As someone who doesn’t write for a living I have the unmitigated and sheer blissful luxury of just writing for pleasure, whenever it takes my fancy, and my muses don’t tend to let me down. I think the secret is not to try to harness them but to just go with the flow, you are right, head off sideways, muses, like everyone else, get bored and just like everyone else are EXCELLENT at procrastinating whenever there is a tight deadline on the horizon.
The definition of “professional” versus amateur, I think, is that the professional has trained herself to deliver when the muses are busy fucking off…
That would make me a rank amateur then by proxy 😉
There are many worse things to be. 🙂
Indeed and I stand proud in my elevated status 🙂
Thanks. I needed that. 🙂
You’re so welcome. Now go play.
Me too. Needed it. xo
Playing yet?
Inspired.
And now I know what I’ll be reading next.
Also, Anne Lammott, Bird by Bird. But you knew that already.
thank you. As always.
Hello, stranger! Speaking of play–we should. Next week? You know where to find me. xo
Great simple info! I just wanted to let you know I quoted you in my most recent post. Thanks for the inspiration.
Tx. I think…
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