{"id":9905,"date":"2021-01-14T15:21:49","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T22:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/?p=9905"},"modified":"2021-01-14T15:22:21","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T22:22:21","slug":"writers-block-argh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/writers-block-argh\/","title":{"rendered":"Writer\u2019s Block = Argh!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s Guest Blogger is Lisa Alpine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally published on her blog, Lisa Alpine, Dancing Through the World of Words<\/a>, Lisa shares her thoughts about how to crawl out of the swamp of writer\u2019s block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stuck again in the swamp of writing defeat and word avoidance even though I love writing my stories. What\u2019s up?  I\u2019ve been a writer for 35 years. Holy moly. Can\u2019t I just sit down and write? Why do silly menial chores seem suddenly inviting?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I have found, once I chain myself to the blank page and force words to be birthed, with a story in mind, I thrash but the engine thrums and starts. Those dang words begin to flow. I\u2019m ready. I\u2019m willing. I\u2019m psyched. The story emerges\u2014but only after a hell-of-a struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I have a method:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I make an agreement with myself that I will write for one hour with no interruption. I set a timer. I turn the phone off. I don\u2019t check email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the hour is up, I give myself the option to go outside in the garden and look at birds, bees, weeds, whatever. The important task is to move and get circulation back in my derriere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I allow myself 15 minutes of distraction then it is back to the chair for another hour commitment\u2014still not checking email or voicemail. Both of those are alluring rabbit holes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh boy\u2014another hour of diligent word-sculpting achieved! The carrot of the garden or yoga\u2014some form of movement\u2014is grabbed for another 15 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intrigue of my story\u2014as it comes into focus on the page\u2014draws me back. I\u2019m over the hump and the opposite effect takes place. I need to force myself to walk away from the page(s) and keep my life rolling forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try this daily\u2014or a few times a week. Your writer brain will hum with activity and the story will call you back to complete it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give it a try and see what happens for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note from Marlene:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa Alpine will be a Writers Forum<\/a> presenter, along with Kate Farrell<\/a> and Mary Mackey<\/a>, on February 10, talking about “Storytelling for the Armchair Traveler.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please join us for this free Zoom event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa is a contributor to Story Power<\/a><\/em>. A copy of Story Power<\/em> will be given away at both the February 10 and the February 18 Writers Forum events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa Alpine<\/a> is a renowned dance teacher, travel writer, and author of Dance Life: Movin\u2019 & Groovin\u2019 Around the Globe, Wild Life: Travel Adventures of a Worldly Woman<\/a> and Exotic Life: Travel Tales of an Adventurous Woman<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her award-winning, dynamically delicious stories grace the pages of many anthologies, including Travelers\u2019 Tales Best Travel Writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When not wrestling with words, exploring the ecstatic realms of dance, swimming with sea creatures, or waiting for a flight, Lisa divides her time between Mill Valley, California and the Big Island of Hawai\u2019i, where Pele\u2019s lava licks at the edges of her writing retreat. Read her timely posts <\/a>about travel, dance, writing, culture, and inspiration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s Guest Blogger is Lisa Alpine. Originally published on her blog, Lisa Alpine, Dancing Through the World of Words, Lisa shares her thoughts about how to crawl out of the swamp of writer\u2019s block. Stuck again in the swamp of writing defeat and word avoidance even though I love writing my stories. What\u2019s up?  I\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-bloggers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43Dj8-2zL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9905"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9916,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9905\/revisions\/9916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}