Writing Productivity — Using an Idea Log

Some writers know exactly what they want to say. They merely have to start typing and passion flows from them. This doesn’t necessarily mean they write well, but they don’t sit around wondering what to write about. Most writers, however, need a little prodding. Sometimes they have great ideas, and sometimes they stare at their computer screen waiting for something to come to them. If you fall into the second category, you can reduce your time spent staring at the screen by creating a log of your good article ideas when they come to you. You can also spend those slow times looking at a few tried and true idea resources and seeing what ideas you can grow for the future.

What is an idea log?

An idea log is a way of cataloging your ideas for articles, posts, fiction, poems, essays and stories. Your idea log can be as simple or as fancy as you wish. Some people create file folders for their ideas. They fill them with notes, clippings, pictures and whatever else will assist them. When they pull out the folder, they have all they need to start work. This can be a great system, but it is a lot of work, especially if you never pursue that idea later.

Many people take advantage of their computers. They write quick notes, or even put them in the form of a query to an editor, and keep them in individual documents or add them to a database. This is an excellent system and one that can also get you going quickly once you decide to write because part of the document is already written. You just have to expand on it.

The third way that I propose is simpler and not as thorough. I use it myself, however, because of its ease and portability. I keep a stack of 3×5 index cards in which I jot down my ideas. I put a title and description at the top then jot down the note below. I rarely fill up more than one side of one card. It isn’t as thorough as a file or as ready to roll as a computer note, but it keeps me from prattling on about what is just a single idea that I may or may not follow. Plus, when I have a stack of these cards, I can pull them out and thumb through them quickly, more quickly than going through a file folder or a computer database. I can also take these cards with me anywhere and jot down the ideas as they come. I am a big fan of computers, but for this task I really do prefer the simplicity of a 3×5 index card.

What do you like? What do you hate?

A great place to start looking for ideas is to look at your likes and dislikes. What makes you happy and what makes you sad or angry. These are the things in your life that will provoke your most passionate writing. This can range from politics, entertainment, to a lump in your carpet that you’d like to get rid of. It all depends on what interests you enough to upset or please you.

Who do you know?

The people in your life can be one of your greatest sources of ideas. They have jobs, hobbies, interests and problems that make them experts hundreds of things. Your architect friend can now be interviewed about what makes for a good or bad home design. Your divorced friend with three kids probably has much to say about child support issues. With a little fictionalization, the annoying woman at work might make for a great short story. Look at the people around you. Evaluate them as article sources, interview topics and as story ideas.

Who would you like to know?

People often portray writing as a solitary task, but one of the great benefits of being a writer is that you can use it to meet people. Think about the respected or famous people you would like to talk to: writers you respect, experts in fields you are interested in, actors and politicians. Some of them will be difficult to meet, but many are easier than you think. While the ten most famous writers in the world may be hard to contact, most writers do not spend the majority of their time fending off interview requests. The same is true of experts in most areas. Politicians and actors are probably the hardest to get an interview with, but even then you might be surprised. Just remember that the top few in those fields are nearly impossible to interview without some clout behind you, but there are plenty of others in the field who would be happy to answer your questions.

Where have you been?

Travel is a great way to generate ideas. Look at the places you’ve gone and the things you’ve done there. Think also of the trips you would like to take. From travel guides to the settings for stories, your journeys can be a great source of ideas. Whenever you travel, it is a good idea to keep a journal and write down your thoughts and impressions. You never know where you might find your next idea.

What have you been doing?

Take a look at your areas of expertise. What jobs have you held? What hobbies have you had? What have you studied? These are your areas of knowledge. You may not be an expert, but in writing it is generally enough to be an intelligent amateur as long as you are willing to do the research for your story. Just as your friends are great sources of information, you are your greatest source. Not only do you know something about these things, but also you can rely on yourself, more than anyone else, to do the work required to find out more. Every job, from working in a warehouse to being a phone solicitor to managing a small office, has requirements and areas of interest. Think about how these things can become articles or stories.

What have you been reading?

If you are a writer, then chances are you are an avid reader, and it pays to keep a few notes while you read. The daily paper, magazines, the Internet and the books you read are great sources for ideas. My favorite example of this process is the movie The Player, in which a studio executive challenges anyone to read him a newspaper article and he’ll come up with a movie based on it. Over and over he turns the most mundane articles into feature film ideas. Ideas are everywhere.

What happened to you?

Beyond the jobs and hobbies you’ve had, there is plenty more to your life. There are hundreds of high points and low points in every person’s life: people found and lost, love shared and unrequited, accidents, plots, plans, choices and mistakes. Most of your memories are worthy of a story or article, because chances are you haven’t managed to remember the ordinary and mundane parts of your life, just the highs and the lows and the elements that contribute to who you are. Your life is an endless source of material if you have the talent to make it interesting to others.

Ideas are all around you. If you go through the items above, you will have plenty of ideas to work with, but beyond that, you just need to keep your eyes open and your other senses ready to back them up. Ideas will come to you if you are paying attention. Just remember to have some system to keep track of them, even if it is just a notebook for you to jot things down in. Your ideas are fuel for your writing. Keep plenty of fuel handy.

Building a Financially Sustainable Writing Career: Body Work

Everybody Hurts

My career as a writer has not been good for my body. I weigh far more than I should because I spend most of my day sitting. I have a perpetually bad back and stiff neck from poor positioning. At the end of a long day in front of a computer my vision starts to get fuzzy and I have to increase the size of the text on my screen. For almost a year in the nineties, I could barely type due to a repetitive motion injury to my left elbow. During one particularly tense stretch at a company that shall remain nameless, I developed a tick in my right eye that nearly drove me crazy and an earache that didn’t go away until the day after I quit that job.

Writing is hard, not just mentally but physically. It isn’t professional athlete hard or standing on an assembly line hard, but there are plenty of hazards to be had. If you want to build a financially sustainable writing career, you need to take care of your body. Fixing your body is expensive and doing without it impossible, so taking care of it is your best choice. Here are some keys to building a sustainable writer’s body.

Think Locally, Act Ergonomically

Seek out chairs that are kind to both your butt and your back. Invest in a trackball or other ergonomically designed mouse. Get the largest, crispest monitor you can afford and make sure your text is clear enough to read for hours. Make sure everything is the proper height and distance. For more information read here.

Get Up Off Of That Thing

Try to get up, stretch, and walk around at least once every hour. No matter how comfortable a chair might be, it isn’t meant to hold you all day. When you maintain the same position for too long, tension starts to build in your body. Movement helps to relieve the tension.

You Can Dance If You Want To

You don’t need to be an athlete, but for the sake of a sustainable body, you need to get at least three sessions of moderate exercise in every week. There are hundreds of ways to exercise. If nothing else, go for a walk. Try to sustain some exercise for at least a half hour, three times a week.

There’s The Rub

Massages are a great way to reduce stress and keep your body healthy. I try to get an hour massage about twice a month.  It is one of the things I can look forward to that keeps me sane during the high-stress times.

Doctor Feelgood

Preventing health problems is always easier and cheaper than fixing health problems. Get that annual check up. Figure out if there are any danger signs that you need to deal with before they become major issues.

Crack That Back

On New Year’s Day, 1987, I drove my car off of Dead Man’s curve on River Road. I flipped the car and although I “walked” away, I suffered from severe back pain and decreased mobility. It took me two months to talk myself into seeing a chiropractor. By the end of the first visit I felt almost like myself again. When your back gets into trouble, a good chiropractor can help, especially if you go before it turns into a crisis.

Get a Peaceful, Easy Feeling

Stress release is the key to long term health. Stress builds up in many ways and for many reasons, from the way you sit to the pressure of a project to personal problems. Find a way to release that pressure when you need to. Learn to meditate. Find a relaxing hobby. Take a hot or cold shower. Get some sleep. Do what it takes to manage your stress before it becomes a problem.

All About 30 Poems in 30 Days

30 Poems in 30 Days is an Internet writing project. It is an attempt by myself, and anyone who wants to play along, to write thirty poems in a month. As part of the project, I will be posting an article about poetry every day. At the end of the article there will be a poetry writing prompt. The prompt is there to help. There is no requirement that you follow the prompt. I may not even follow it myself. The goal is simply to write poetry. This project is similar in some ways to National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRIMO). In fact, this year I have adopted a clever acronym – PD30 (pee-dee-three-oh).

How does PD30 work?

Every day in September I (or a guest writer) will post a short article about a poetic concept, a poem, a poetry form, the poetry world or a poet / group of poets. I will follow that with a poetry writing prompt. The prompt may be related to the subject of the article, but it may not be. As a participant, I would like you to either post a poem or at least post a note saying that you wrote a poem and perhaps include a line or two from the poem. It is also nice to comment on the poems that other participants have written. Additionally, because some writers do not want to post their poems publicly (for a variety of reasons) but still want to participate, I have created a private workshop. To get an idea of how this works, you may want to look as last year’s project.

Do I have to write a poem every day?

No. The goal is 30 Poems in 30 Days. Some people write in batches, other people write every day. As the moderator, I prefer daily postings because it keeps the conversation moving, but I understand that different people have different styles of working.

Do I have to do them all in September?

No. Once the posts are up, they’ll be there for the foreseeable future. You can start and end at any time. Do not expect, however, to have very much feedback after September because most people will have moved on.

I really, really, want feedback. I need to know if I’m any good. Will I get lots of feedback?

First, stop worrying about how good you are and just try to enjoy the assignments. Second, like any group project, the way the project develops depends on the group. If there are people who love to comment, that will be very helpful. I can’t guarantee feedback though, and I can tell you that begging for feedback rarely helps. It tends to annoy people.

How can I access the private workshop?

You can use my contact form to send me a note asking to take part in the PD30 private forum. I will then send you further instructions.

Is the private workshop better than the public posting?

I really have no idea. It is a new experiment this year. It may turn out to be where all the action is or it may be as dead as the careers of VH1 reality show participants. A forum is really only as good as the people who participate in it. There are a few tools in the forum that are nicer than comment tools. There is also less risk of your poem getting caught in the spam filter. Participation is really what will make the difference though.

Can I join the private forum but still post my poems in the comments at poewar.com?

Of course! I would be thrilled to see people participating in both places.

A Career in Technical Writing: The fax about outsourcing

The Bullet Points

• Outsourcing means contracting with another company to provide a service that would otherwise be performed by an employee. This is often done for projects because they require a temporary increase in resources.
• Offshoring means relocating a job (either by outsourcing or through your own company) to a foreign country because of costs of other considerations.
• When you get a new job, there is always paperwork involved whether you are a regular employee or a contractor.
• The fax machine remains the dominant source of communication for signed forms.
• Typical paperwork includes contracts, confidentiality/non-disclosure agreements, direct deposit forms, right-to-work and tax information.

Outsourced, not Offshored

The term outsourcing gets misinterpreted pretty often these days. Most people, when they think about outsourcing, think of some guy in a foreign country who answers the phone when you call customer support. While that person may or may not be outsourced labor, the better term for sending a job to another country is offshoring. Outsourcing simply means that a company contracts with another company to provide a service that would otherwise be performed by an employee.

Outsourcing is a very common practice that often takes place locally. Companies outsource using temporary employment agencies, consulting agencies or simply companies that specialize in a service. They might outsource such things as their advertising and marketing, public relations, custodial services or their technical support. Individuals also outsource. They outsource when they hire people to do such things as their taxes, their laundry, their housekeeping or their landscaping.

In my case, when I first went to work as a contract technical writer, I was providing an outsourced service. I was working for a company in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina. That was the company that signed my checks and provided my benefits. They were also the company I would go to if I had an employment related problem or grievance.

I was working at a company in Tucson, Arizona. That was the company that required my services and the company that gave me most of my marching orders. They told me what they needed and they had the right to review my job performance and even end my contract if they were dissatisfied. I was essentially working for two companies. This created a lot of paperwork and resulted in a lot of faxing.

A Flood of Faxes

It started before I even showed up for my first day of work. The first thing that WTW, the company that paid me, faxed me was my contract. I was a contractor after all. The contract gave the details of my pay (both the amount and frequency), my rights (a short list), and their rights (a long list). I think they also slipped in a couple of chapters from On the Road translated into pig-Latin. With the low readability of a fax it is hard to tell sometimes.

The paperwork amounted to over twenty pages of small type and they had to fax every one of those pages to me. I then had to sign on the long blank lines, initial the short blank lines and fax it back to them. Pages got lost in the transition so they would then fax the paperwork back to me again. I objected to the wording of one portion, so they had to rewrite it and refax it again. In addition to the contract, I had to sign and fax non-disclosure / confidentiality agreements, tax forms, right-to-work forms, direct deposit forms and copies of my identification. All of this took the better part of a day.

Fax machines are pretty ancient technology at this point. These days, email and PDF forms have made the paperwork process a bit easier. In the end though, signed forms still have to be faxed or at least scanned into a computer and emailed. It is a tedious but necessary process.

The Weekly Fax Regimen

I wish I could say that that was the end of my faxing, but it was just the beginning. The process continued once I got to work. As a contract employee I had to have my hours reviewed and signed by a manager (or at least a real employee) and then I had to fax that form to WTW every week. If I didn’t fax in the form, I didn’t get paid.

All of that paperwork and faxing delayed the start of my contract for three days. This distressed the company that requested me because they were in an incredible hurry to get me working. There was a lot of documentation to be done and they were way behind. It was vital that I get started right away. I needed to hit the ground running. At least, that’s what they said…

Further Reading

• Outsourcing vs. Offshoring: What’s the difference? by EC EDI: The terms are not identical.
• Document Hack (A Technical Writer’s Journal): Interview & Negotiation by John Hewitt: A discussion of another interview and hiring session.
• Internet Fax Service List by Kevin Savetz: If you don’t want to use a clunky fax machine, these online services will also send and receive faxes for you.

Discussion Questions

• Do you trust yourself to review a twenty page employment contract on your own?
• Can you think of any services that your have outsourced?
• Have you ever lost a job to outsourcing or offshoring?
• When is the last time you had to fax a document?

Next Time

I begin my life as a newbie technical writer and find that the world isn’t quite what I expected.

Six Suggestions for Sustainable Writing: Inspiration from Frank Herbert’s Dune

Article By Morgan O’Donnell

Writing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in your surroundings, your environment. Frank Herbert’s Dune-a classic science fiction novel-offers some important ideas to apply to your own writing environment.

Build Community

Although the so-called, romantic idea of the solitary writer has been around for ages, the truth is that good writing, like many other things, needs the support of family and community to flourish. Whether it is the Fremen tribes, the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, or the Atreides clan, the support and knowledge of others play a large role in Dune. Even the evil Baron supports his own family, albeit in limited and twisted ways. By building your own writing community, you can find others to commiserate with, seek feedback on your projects, receive positive support, and discover new ideas. Join a writer’s group or an online discussion board and make new writing friends.

Overcome Your Fears

Writing is magical. By putting words on paper, you are shaping reality. Additionally, writing often causes you to reflect on yourself, your life, or even the world. Self-reflection and shaping reality can be scary at times. In Dune, Paul uses the Bene Gesserit Litany against Fear (a kind of meditation) taught to him by his mother to help him face his fears while being tested by the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam. Figure out what helps you face your fears then use those tactics. Maybe journaling about that new writing project helps you recognize areas that worry you. Maybe talking with someone from your writing community will allow you to discover the fears holding you back. Try the power of positive thinking. Write or say to yourself that you will accomplish your task.

Recycle

All good writers recycle. Frank Herbert certainly recycled in Dune, pulling ideas from a variety of sources: Native American tribal practices, Arabic words, mythology, and religion. He even used what he had learned reporting on the growth of sand Dunes in Oregon. The Fremen were master recyclers, reclaiming the water of their bodies through their ingenious stillsuits. Read. Read a lot. Read the masters in your genres. Find new ways to use old ideas. Find new connections.

Listen to the Land and Yourself

In Dune, the Reverend Mother tells Paul that a good ruler must learn his world’s language, “the language of the rocks and growing things.” The Fremen also pay attention to the environment in Dune from the feel of the wind to the sounds of the desert animals. Furthermore, both the Fremen and the Bene Gesserit acknowledge that there is much to be learned by listening to yourself such as through meditation or examining dreams. Writing ideas are all around you. What is happening in the news? What are the hot topics in the field? Keep a dream journal. Use ideas from your journal to kick start your articles, poems, or stories.

Train, Practice, Learn

Dune is filled with examples of the importance of training, practicing, and learning. Paul trains and learns from early childhood how to be a duke, a leader, and a warrior. His mother has trained her entire life in the Bene Gesserit way. In order to increase your writing skills you need to exercise and practice them. Do some mental stretches. For example, if you are writing an article about solar panels, try writing it as a poem first. If you are writing a poem about the beauty of a blue jay, try using the blue jay as a character in a short story. Take a class or even earn a degree. There are a variety of options from a bachelor’s in English to a Ph.D. in technical communication. Try a local Artist’s Way class. Most important of all, write. Write something everyday.

Live Your Life and Replenish Yourself

There will be nothing to write about and no one to write it if you don’t actually live your life and take time to replenish. Even amidst all the politics, deaths, training, and battles, Paul still finds time to fall in love with Chani and start a family. Although the Fremen battle daily for survival in the desert they still find time to “share the Water,” as well as celebrate tribal births and honor those who have died. Take time to watch a movie, go swimming, or spend time with your loved ones. And, don’t forget to eat healthy and exercise.

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Morgan O’Donnell muses on nature, poetry, writing, and the search for a sustainable life at Red Raven Circling. A longtime Dune fan, she continues to recycle Frank Herbert’s novel in her pursuit of a sustainable graduate career.

A Newbie’s Advice

Article by Sebastian Keller

Walk some meters in his shoes

What’s the best that could happen to a writer? Probably that someone is going on vacation to write a whole lot of poems and asks you to walk some meters in his shoes. Meters? Well yes, sorry, I’m from Germany. It’s still meters here and I’ll get to the point why that is of some importance later. (And just for reasons of “delectare et prodesse”: No, we don’t have that book-burning dictator here any longer and yes, there’s electricity countrywide even outside the Oktoberfest…)

So, I’m from Germany and a newbie in writing. What could I probably have to tell you seasoned veterans? Come, walk with me just a few meters and find out. Because there is always something to learn, something to gain even from the most improbable sources. That’s not only the difference between good art and bad art, but also between a good artist and a bad one.

Good art inspires

Good art inspires. If you see, hear, smell, taste and feel it, you want to start creating and in your brain all those little lights you never noticed before, are starting to blink.

And a good artist is inspired. Not only by art, but by virtually everything. That’s because her or his perception evolved to a point where inspiration is omnipresent. It’s a small step to complete madness from there, but it’s a long way to that kind of evolved perception. Peter S. Beagle (yes, he’s still alive and writing!) worked with the painter and sculptor Lisa Snellings-Clark, or to be precise, with her artworks. He was forced to sit in front of some pieces of art for hours staring at it, until a story emerged. Thus he created “Strange Roads”. Out of the blue, so to say.

Start with a blank screen

If you want to try a method more pure, start with a blank screen or paper and your own thoughts. You did that already, you say? No, you didn’t. You tried to fill that blank space, smash it with words and cover up the abyss that lies beyond as quickly as possible. “He who stares into the abyss for too long…” Nietzsche said and he was right. But he didn’t tell you that one can choose the abyss to stare into.

Read a good book about magic or ask a practitioner of the occult and he will tell you, that the first step in the journey is to develop that magical perception. Everything is meaningful, everything is inspiring. I’m not talking about black candles or voodoo here, but if you trick your brain into seeing inspiration everywhere, it will be inspired.

Writer’s block begone? Hopefully so, but don’t count on it. There are always pitfalls.

The more uncommon, the better

And at this point art comes to the rescue. The more uncommon, the better. William S. Burroughs once said that the state of writing is at least 40 years behind painting. I don’t know if he was right, but I admire that he dared to compare writing and painting. It’s like comparing architecture and medicine. If you dare to compare such things you also dare to question the so called rules of your craft. It’s easier when you are still a newbie without experience. Experience is like a bunch of bodyguards, who keep many troubles in a save distance, but they tend to go easy on the friend-or-foe-thing after a while and try to keep you on the beaten path. Which isn’t the worst of things to happen, but only if you’re the guy with the map who knows, what’s the best path.

Recently Michel Thaler wrote a 233-page novel called “Le train de nulle part” – without using verbs. And there is Ernest Vincent Wright who gave us “Gadsby” a novel of 50100 words and not a single letter “e”.

Try to omit a vowel or a group of words in your writing, too, and you will know that one has to be truly inspired to make it through such pains. But it can be done.

Open Your Eyes

Even if you don’t write for artistic reasons you can open your eyes to see walls, seemingly empty but engraved with “Mene mene tekel u-pharsin – the days of your kingdom are counted and ended by God.” A bad thing to happen for bullheaded Nebuchadnezzar, but a free source of inspiration for you. Rules are a good thing, but only as a tool like all the other tools.

So, the best thing is you continue to be a newbie and walk a few meters in the shoes of others from time to time. Just for fun. Just for the inspiration.

Oh! There’s one thing that’s even better: Go on a vacation and write a lot of poems…

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Sebastian Keller
www.schriftstellerwerden.blogspot.com

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