Trying a New Thing

How Spiffy Can I Get?

I want to experiment today with doing an HTML post on my blog. I'm doing this for a class that I'm taking on blogs and how to make them look spiffy. If you want, you can visit the blog of my dynamic instructor by clicking this link http://julieanne.powerfulintentions.com.

Do you still take classes to learn how to do things you love to do in a better way? I continually take classes to upgrade my skills and to stay up with the latest, especially when it comes to technology. Today, write about your attitude towards life-long learning.

• Do you continue to take classes to upgrade you skills?
• If not, why not?
• Are you tired of studying because you've done it for so many years?
• Did you just not think about it or do you think you don't have enough time?

Meanwhile, I'm making this post extra spiffy with my HTML converter stuff. What do you think?

Out with the Old!

Do you hang onto writing pieces that no longer have a use in your life? When writing on paper, it’s fairly easy to throw out what doesn’t work. But online it’s a different matter. It is easy to hit the save button and put half finished writings with no direction into a file designed specifically for unfinished work. Hundreds or even thousands of words could be sitting in your online files, clogging your writing files, and clogging your mind. You tend to focus on old titles you feel you “should” finish instead of getting to the fresh ideas that want to come out.

Guess what!

It’s alright to erase or delete stuff that is just not working. It’s alright to get focused on your writing and to start over.

Today could be the time to go through your files of unfinished projects and delete those that just don’t work. Delete

*The ones that will never get finished.
*The ones that make you angry for starting them because you don’t like the direction they’re taking you in.
*The writing that gives you excuses not to get finished with your real projects

If you’re not sure if you want the writing or not, make a printed copy and put it in your writing folder, binder or where ever you keep your printed copies. Download it to a CD for “works in progress” and file the disc away. If the writings want to be reborn later to fit into a piece that is working, or you fall in love with the topic again, you will have the pieces. If not, you can discard them all over again later.

After clearing some files, put your timer on and get ready to write for 20 minutes.

“If you had $50,000 to go off and write about anything, what would be the topic and where would you go to write about it?”

Tell us about it in the comments.

Writing Practice Prompt

Write to this prompt:

"The smell made me remember ..." Write for 20 minutes.

Want to share? Post and comment on what it was like to write to this prompt.

Write with a Purpose

Practice can make perfect but practice should also lead to progress. If not, it doesn’t “make perfect.” Too many times, you want the writing to be perfect but forget that writing must also lead to something. It must also have a purpose in order to make you a writer.

It is great to know that you can quickly whip out many words. You can let the muse flow and fill page after page with words that can be eliminated or not go anywhere except into writing practice. But never forget to also have a project going that also has a purpose.

If you don’t have a writing project, select something today that you can write with a purpose; something that has an ending to it. Write with a purpose and a focus so you know that your writing matters, that it has a reason to exist. What writing project will harbor your writing purpose? When will it start, where will it end?

Morning Irritations

Every night I want to get things organized so I can get right to writing in the morning. I'm irritated this morning because I can't find a pen. Does that ever happen to you? Here you are a writer and can't find your primary tool? What a time waster.

Right on my desk, I have a black, mesh pen holder that I really like. I try to keep it filled with pens but it's so convenient that I tend to grab a pen, carry it with me, and inevitably, end up with an empty holder. Periodically I have to go through the house, gather my pens and put them back in. So this morning is a gathering morning and I'm irritated because I want to get to my writing. Tonight, I will be sure the pen holder has pens in it so tomorrow morning I can get right to the work.

Do you have something that really irritates you in the morning related to your writing? Write about what you can do to control that.

Learning to Focus

By committing to write each day I become conscious of how I focus my writing or not. I realize that a lot of my writing is not focused on a particular project. I like to respond to emails, write notes concerning creativity clients, and engage in other distractions. I’ve committed to finishing a book over the next few months which means I must open the file to write on that book for an hour per day. I’ve decided to use my kitchen timer to make sure I stay put for an hour of writing. It doesn’t always work. The timer does; it’s on. But staying focused on the project doesn’t always work.

I’ve become more aware of the ways I allow myself to be distracted. It’s so much more fun to just jot down information and notes, start new projects, and let my “Monkey mind” hop all over the place than to focus. Focusing and writing takes real discipline. Disciplined writing is something the writer must practice.

Have you stopped to think about the focus of your writing? Do you stay focused long enough to reach your writing goals for each day?

Start Writing

Writers write is a saying most writers recognize. "Doing" writing is the part that takes discipline. Writers need to write everyday in order to hone their craft. Daily writing also helps to crack through writers block.

You don't have to have writer's block. You WILL have writer's block if you don't write everyday. This is the coaching blog for creative baby boomers who write. It is for those of you that follow my creativity coaching.

What You'll Find Here
You will find writing prompts, exercises, and my responses to my daily writings. Follow my thoughts as creativity coach as I blog my writing experiences. I am commited to writing daily. Write along with me in your own forum and create your legacy in words.