Get Writing with 3 Questions – Week 1

Get Writing with 3 Questions – Week 1

F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

I strongly believe that everybody is capable of being a writer. We all live extraordinary lives. We all have inspiration around us and it just takes a little work to get it down on paper.

If you are able to talk, then you are able to write. The thing is, the more you write, the better you will be at writing. That’s why I have decided to spend the next nine weeks sharing with you creative writing exercises to make you a better writer.

Welcome to week one.

Today’s exercise is called: Answer 3 Questions.

That probably sounds like a weird exercise, but hang in there.

For this exercise, you will come up with the answers to three questions. This is supposed to help you stimulate the writing process. The great thing is, you can come up with the three questions yourself. Of course, I will provide you with some examples.

Try to answer your questions as quickly as you can, and use whatever ideas come to mind. You can write as much or as little as you want, but the point is to let the creative juices flow. Try not to think too much.

Here are some example questions:

Why is the window open?

Who just snuck through that window?

Why did they have to sneak through?

2.

Who is Stephanie?

Why is she so happy?

What is she going to do next?

3.

What are Theresa’s plans for the day?

Why does she hate going to the doctor?

Where are her children?

That’s your first day. Come back next week to get the second creative writing exercise.

There is no greater agnoy than bearing an untold story inside you. – Maya Angelou

10 Ways to Find Writing Inspiration

10 Ways to Find Writing Inspiration

F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

Being a writer isn’t as easy as some people think. It takes time. You have to come up with ideas. Then ultimately you have to write it down into a cohesive manner. After a while, you will find it hard to find inspiration. Inspiration has evaded me before, and there have been times where I had to make myself write. I don’t like feeling like I’m being made to do something, and I’m sure most of you are the same way. If you’re looking for some inspiration to help you get motivated to write, I’ve got a few tips for you.

  1. Books

What better way to find inspiration that with a book. You don’t even have to go with inspirational books, but you can. Any type of book; fiction, non-fiction, young adult, fantasy, horror, whatever your favorite type of book is. That book might just hold that piece of inspiration you’ve been looking for. Stephen King’s book IT helped me figure out how I wanted to organize my book.

2. People Watching

This is my favorite. I’ve always been a fly on the wall type person. Or a wallflower. Whatever you want to call it. So sitting around and watching other people has always been entertaining, and it’s the perfect way to get inspired to write.

3. Brainstorms

Sit down with a pen and paper and start writing things down. Write the different ideas you’ve been playing. Don’t worry about organizing anything, just write. Something on that paper could end up becoming your next big success.

4. Writing Journal

This is great for any writer. It’s not something you have to write in every single day, but it’s there for you if inspiration strikes. You can write down quotes, snippets, plot twists, characters, or dialog. All you need is a simple spiral bound notebook.

5. Dreams

This may not be very easy, but keeping up with your dreams may give you some ideas on what to write about. There was one morning I woke up and I could remember a dream I had that night, and I wrote it down because I thought it would be a great plot for a story. I’ve not used it yet, but I still have it written down and ready if I ever want to write it.

6. Exercise

Breaking a sweet is a great way to find inspiration. There’s something about physical exercise that gets the brain working.

7. History

It’s amazing but looking back at history can give you inspiration. Look back at some of the greats like Leonard di Vinci, Helen Keller, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, and Gandhi.

8. Nature

Tired of staring at a blank screen? Take a walk outside. Spend some time and nature and let your mind relax. Appreciate the things around you. Notice the beauty of a sunrise or sunset. You’ll be amazed at how well this will help you find inspiration.

9. Friends

Have real conversations. Spend time with people you like and just talk to them. You never know what’s going to come up, and it might just inspire something inside you.

10. Music

Find some music that inspires you and play it while you’re writing. This could be classical, hard rock, metal, whatever gets your mind working.

That’s my tips for you today. I hope some of these help you to find inspiration the next you are stuck. If you have some tips to help people find inspiration to write, please share them in the comments.

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today. – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

 

Mark Your Calendars

Mark Your Calendars

F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

You’ve heard me talk about my book Loved by Death over and over again. Well, I’m excited to tell you that I have finally finished it completely, and it will be available for purchase on August 31.

I can’t really say how I feel about it. I still have a lot to do, and a lot to worry about. I have to make sure I promote it properly, otherwise, it won’t go anywhere. And that would just be depressing. I’ve spent years working on this book and I want other people to enjoy it and love it like I do.

I also have to make sure I don’t let myself get carried away or too frustrated if things don’t happen as quickly as I think they should. I feel good about the book overall. I think it’s the best I could do, and I do love the story.

I’ve got some last minute things to do to get the book formatted and ready. I’m also going to see if I can get some people to read it and leave me ratings on Amazon to help with promotion. FYI, if you’re interested in leaving me a rating on Amazon for my book, I would send you a free copy of the book.

The book will be available as an ebook as well as paperback. That’s my message for the day. Just some crazy ramblings from my brain about how anxious and scared I am about publishing my first book.

If you have experience in this area, please, leave a comment and let me know how you dealt with the stress and worry.

There is marvelous peace in not publishing. It’s peacefull. Still. Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. – J.D. Salinger

The Killer of all Great Writers

The Killer of all Great Writers

F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

Today we are going to talk about the biggest killer of all writers.

 

Writer’s Block

 

Calm the screaming. I know, it’s scary, but it doesn’t have to end your career. There are ways around it, and I’m sure I will write many more posts on the subject. There’s no need to feel bad. Every writer gets it. Even the best most famous writers have to deal with writer’s block. I’ve got 14 ways to help you work through writer’s block.

Before we get into how to combat writer’s block, let’s look at what could be causing the block.

  1. Timing – Maybe it’s not the right time for you to write. Maybe you need to let your ideas stew a little bit more before they can be written down.
  2. Fear – A lot of writers will struggle with fear when it comes to actually putting their ideas down on paper. They are afraid of sharing a part of themselves. They are afraid of being criticized and judged. They are afraid that it will be the only thing they write. I know fear has been what has slowed me down on getting my first book out.
  3. Perfectionism – For a writer, the book is never done. Even once its gone to press, you’ll still be thinking about how you could have changed something. At some point, you have to be finished with it. Perfect doesn’t exist. It’s only an excuse.

While dealing with writer’s block is tough, here are some things you can try to break through the wall.

  • Find some inspiring quotes and read them for inspiration.
  • Make bullet point lists of ideas.
  • Call somebody you haven’t spoken to in a while.
  • Spend some time with a person that lifts you up.
  • Come up with a regular schedule.
  • Make some coffee.
  • Listen to music.
  • Freewrite.
  • Read a book.
  • Switch up your environment.
  • Play.
  • Exercise or do something that keeps your blood pumping.
  • Get rid of your distractions.
  • Take a walk.

The important thing is to create some momentum to get over that wall.

If your still not sure what to do, here are some things that you should not do to try to overcome the block.

  • Refusing to write until you are inspired.
  • Wallowing in self-pity.
  • Making excuses or procrastinating.
  • Watching TV.

If you’re looking for that magical fail-proof way to overcome writer’s block, here it is:

WRITE

Don’t waste time waiting for inspiration. Begin, and inspiration will find you. – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Catch Me On Facebook

Catch Me On Facebook

F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

This one is going to be short and sweet. Since Facebook has made changes to their sharing policies, I have made a page specifically for my writing, blog posts, book promotions, and so on.

This way my blogs can be shared immediately after I publish them. I was just sharing them on my regular page, but Facebook made that harder.

I will probably also post regular updates to Facebook that I don’t publish here, so make sure you follow me there to stay up-to-date on everything that I have going on. I also have Instagram and Twitter if you want to follow me there. I post every day things on Instagram so you would get a bit of an insight into my everyday life.

I’m working tirelessly to get my exposure up before I publish my first book so that it is a success. I’ve tried publishing short stories and the like before, but they never did well because I didn’t put the time and effort into it. I have spent several years working on this book, and I plan on writing several more books for Wolfsbane Chronicles, so I want to share it with the world. This is my passion and my dream, and I am going to make it a success.

Twitter Handle: @mylidlradio92

Instagram Handle: @mylidlradio

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/author.feliciah

Search without Google is like social networking without Facebook: Unimaginable. – Evgeny Morozov