Uniquely Yours Craft Journal

Dear Fellow Journalers,

Do you warm up your mind before writing? I struggle sometimes in writing this blog, especially this year. It’s easy to skim articles and write blithely about topics related to journaling. It’s quite another thing to plunge your mind and body into content journaling.

I had help though this year in that I taught a journaling class at a local library and my students shared their stories with me. I picked the topics last December and figured I’d always be upbeat and enthusiastic however, not this month! Maybe it’s the weather, temps over 85°, illness – whatever the reason, Your Next Novel remained illusive.

The kaleidoscope of ideas crowed my mind and I found it hard to focus. The inner critic reared its head big time – “You are an imposter!” “You’ve never had anything published!” “You can’t write a novel.” Hmmmm.

I literally threw the critic’s ideas in jail and checked out for warm ups for writing. Here are some of my tips:

1. Listen to music. Music is a great way to free your mind from conscious thought, especially if it’s a tune you like.
2. Drag out your adult coloring books. You have to focus on composition, color wheels and your creativity.
3. Do a crossword puzzle. You’ll broaden your vocabulary as you wordplay.
4. Write about how you can’t focus. (Basically that’s why I am writing now!) Write about all the things that you’d rather be doing right now.
5. Play a brain game on the internet.
6. Here’s an interesting thought: take your main character out for a spin. Write about his/her adventures in another genre, time frame or relationship. I just finished reading Murder In Time by  this book is the summer read for the Big Read (an international ebook Club). The murders are set in England in 1815 and the heroine is a modern FBI agent who got sucked into a time travel tunnel. Imagine if this murder mystery was set in 2016 in America – different huh?!

Flex your writing muscles, gang and let’s go!

‘Til next time,

~Sallie