When you travel or go off on a well-deserved outing, do you take your writing with you? Unlike electricians, plumbers, welders, store managers, secretaries, etc., a writer is a writer for 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. And if you put away your pencil, turn off your imagination and shut down your sense of awareness and observation, you could be missing out on some of your best writing ideas and prompts.
As a writer, you can go away, relax, enjoy new and different surroundings, have lively conversations with interesting people and still continue to work on your writing. How?
• Listen to your thoughts as you relax. I get some of my best article ideas or chapter enhancements when I take a meditation walk—free my mind of everyday concerns and allow random thoughts to enter.
• Note interesting concepts that come up in conversation and the unique way people present themselves. You might be able to use some of these things in dialogue while fleshing out one of your characters. Sometimes, during conversation, I get questions about something I’m working on—questions that inspire a new chapter for a book I’m working on or a new article.
• Observe others and the way they react to various situations. You can learn volumes about portraying people through your writing by paying attention to real people.
• Be prepared with a pad and paper (or a laptop) in case the mood and the opportunity to do some fun creative writing presents itself. I’m often inspired to write poetry when I’m in deep relaxation mode in a lovely nature setting.
• Get names and numbers. You’re bound to meet people who would make good interviews for some of the articles (or books) you have in the works. Many of my articles over the years stemmed from fascinating people I met while away from my office.
I’m taking an overnight trip today and I’m not leaving my writing behind. It is impossible for me to do so after a 35 year writing career. Perhaps when I return, I’ll have a new and interesting perspective to share with you through this blog.
In the meantime, be sure to order your copy of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book so you will be absolutely prepared to enter into the daunting world of publishing. Order it before you start writing your book or at least before you send it off to a publisher or printer. This book will help you to make sure you’ve written the right book for the right audience. And if you don’t know how important this is, you really, really need to read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html
If you have a book that is not doing well and you don’t know how to breathe new life into it, order my ebook, The Author’s Repair Kit. http://www.matilijapress.com/author_repairkit.html.