Story Sensei

(This article originally appeared on another blog in 2010 but I’m reposting it here.) I’m talking about balancing your writing with your “other stuff” as opposed to balancing your checkbook or not tripping over your feet every time you walk (I do the latter quite a lot, actually ...). Let’s face it, sometimes life gets just SO crazy busy you feel like you need to sleep for a YEAR to recover, except, oops, you only have time for a 2 minute nap before you have to do something else. My creativity reeeeeaaallly does not like to be hemmed in by schedules. Or discipline. Or deadlines, for that matter. It will pout in a corner just when I absolutely need a burst of some artistic brilliance to explode out of my fingers onto the computer screen. So I have learned to achieve balance between life and writing by compartmentalizing. Now before you run away screaming, hear me out. I’m not talking about anything rigid or (heaven forbid) disciplined . I’m talking about some tips and tricks...

(This was originally published on another blog, but I reposted it here.) Camy here, talking about the one thing I struggle against the most when it comes to writing—myself. I don’t like it, but I am a very emotional writer. Meaning, my writing motivation is often fed by my feelings. I find I write less in wintertime because the season makes me a little depressed, more sluggish, less motivated. I know I’m not alone. Other times during the year, when something happens to emotionally impact me, my writing goes out the window. High stress situations will also sap my creativity. This is not a good thing when I’m under deadline. While my editor might be sympathetic, I’m still UNDER CONTRACT to turn in a manuscript. A publishing house is a business, and I have been hired as a freelance contractor to deliver goods (my manuscript) on time. In short, I’m still struggling to find a way to write despite depression, despite stress, despite distraction, because it’s my JOB to write, and ...