The Writing Cave

In the fog of early morning - the kind that comes from lack of caffeine - a signal shines on the ceiling. The silhouette of a writing quill beckons from the darkness. Who will rescue the people from passive voice verbs?

To the bat cave! Er... I mean... To the writing cave!

If only it actually worked this way for writers. Our goals of writing 2000 words a day never seem like a matter of national emergency. Instead loads of laundry and a list of errands interrupt productivity.

So what's a writer to do?

First, call yourself a writer. Say it aloud with me - "I am a writer." When I fill out forms at medical offices, I no longer write "homemaker" in as my occupation. Once I started calling myself a writer, I defined my daily purpose. My keyboard is priority number one.

Rachelle Gardener, literary agent, describes the life of a writer with a book contract. "What are you doing to prepare for the reality of being a contracted author?" Gardener asks. She offers suggestions for streamlining household duties and using your time and resources for your career as a writer.

Once you call yourself a writer, it's time to act like one! When Batman is wearing those ridiculous tight pants, his entire persona shouts superhero. I'm not suggesting that you waste time creating a costume and fake name. But what if your "writing cave" housed tools of the trade like a cool filing system, books of secret tricks, and a password.

Batman knows that his mission is important. Do you act like your mission is valuable? Today when you sit down to tackle that article or devotion or 90,000 word novel, compose your thoughts as if the world depends on it.

Holy Word Count, Batman! It's time to write!

(Hmm... I think extra espresso is a creativity enhancer. Or it just makes you have flashbacks to your childhood.)

Writing is Yoga for the Mind

After two cups of coffee this morning, I headed off to the gym for yoga class. Our group doesn't get caught up in the mystical aspects of the exercise. As a matter of fact, I pray through scriptures that seem to correspond with different poses. I can center my thoughts on the Lord and ignore the fact that my ankle is over my head.

As I stared at my toes from the downward dog pose, I realized that yoga and writing have a lot in common. (I couldn't come up with a verse besides "A dog returns to its vomit." Not very inpsiring.)

Writing and yoga slowly stretch me beyond what I thought was possible. With the right encouragement and determination, I go a little deeper. Writing demands that I ask myself hard questions and come up with creative answers. The only way to limber up the writing muscle is to push a little farther tomorrow. What will I write tomorrow? A novel? An obituary? A love letter?

Writing and yoga gradually strengthen me. I condition myself by toning my muscles with good exercises. Yoga-goers know that poses are more than just aesthetically pleasing. They burn those quads and make them strong. Crafting phrases into stories works much the same way. Can I revise objectively? Accept criticism? Will I be able to burn away the "fat" and trim down to a well-toned piece?

Writing is yoga for the mind. Tomorrow as I raise my arms up in the "Son" Salutation pose, I'll imagine I'm in the throne room of my King. Then who knows? I may write a song.

To Tell the Truth

In a recent article, Beth Henderson calls fiction writing the "business of telling lies for a living." Maybe that's my trouble. I enjoy real life too much.

My friend Lori Poppinga and I encourage one another in the writing process. We attend conferences together, blog, tweet and even use a real telephone to keep up with the latest writing endeavors.

Through the process I've discovered that I really love writing about real life. Frankly this scares many of my family members and good friends. Inevitably their names will end up in print, for better or for worse. But whether its humorous or devotional, informative or editorial, I get a kick out of living every moment.

Sure, I play the "what if..." game like most people. This leads to most of my humorous posts or emails. But most of the time, I observe the world in living color and tell what I see.

Maybe I should consider the occasional fiction story. As Beth explains, it gives us permission to imagine all the possibilities and then "prepare to tell lies." What an awesome world we live in!

Check out Beth's article HERE.