To the writers among us
Question:
Sheena wrote >Dear m.j. you schmeichel mich, as the germans would say *blush* >yes, as a teenager I was a very active writer *and poet sometimes* but I >never got around publishing anything. >I didn t *still dont* condsider my self as a writer. Now, Teresa, thats a >writer. >But to tell you the truth m.j. I only feel really happy when >I m creating something. I have no idea how to go about publishing though:) >As soon as I get my hands on some of the old poems I ll post one, if you >like. >What about your stuff? I m interested now. So many talents here, we should >name the place alt.artists >Oh, this aint no drivel by the way, I mean it:)
Dear Sheena, Thanks for the compliment – I think. I dont know any German so I dont know what a schmeichel mich is but I think you’re muy simpatica anyway. I havent written anything in quite a while. I had a few news stories published quite a while back. I have a bunch of unfinished stories which I’ve probably thrown away and a bunch of cartoons I did which are also among the missing. I did take some classes in creative advertising and I still have my ads from class. That was a great creative outlet. I need to find another one. And please post some of those old poems (or better yet, a brand new one 
I’d love to see them. Adios, m.j.
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Ooops. No I havent forgotten what this ng is all about. I was just so exited by the presence of so many *kindered souls* around here. Sorry. Cant sleep tonight, not the only one, this was one hot day – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
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sheena wrote: > Ooops. No I havent forgotten what this ng is all about. > I was just so exited by the presence of so many *kindered souls* around > here. Sorry. > Cant sleep tonight, not the only one, this was one hot day
Sheena, this group is about "support for loneliness". You and the others have been supporting and caring for each other in your discussions about writing. You have not been doing harm or espousing harm, only sharing. Writing is all about "sharing" and sharing is definitely a supportive function of ending loneliness. Hugs, J — Just you and me On this island of hope A breath between us could be miles Sarah McLachlan
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Dear m.j. you schmeichel mich, as the germans would say *blush* yes, as a teenager I was a very active writer *and poet sometimes* but I never got around publishing anything. I didn t *still dont* condsider my self as a writer. Now, Teresa, thats a writer. But to tell you the truth m.j. I only feel really happy when I m creating something. I have no idea how to go about publishing though:) As soon as I get my hands on some of the old poems I ll post one, if you like. What about your stuff? I m interested now. So many talents here, we should name the place alt.artists Oh, this aint no drivel by the way, I mean it:)
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Well said Liz l…@lizdan.demon.co.uk wrote in message
<35784B86.7…@lizdan.demon.co.uk>… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Raffaele said >> I’ve not read everything and I don’t want join the flame war if not needed. >> But let me say that I find it an over-dramatization. >I agree. But it’s like this on-line. Some people react strongly to >small stimuli because we’ve all led different kinds of life. People on >this newsgroup are here because they’re lonely and so we tend to be >sensitive souls anyway. But sensitivity can take many forms. What >constitutes >a flaming to some people is just a little cigarette lighter on its way >out to me, yet in everyday life I can be singed by a badly chosen >word spoken by someone in the flesh. The intonation does it for me. >A mailing list I subscribed to became the playground of some kid >sending hatemail. I was the first ‘victim’. I thought it was funny and >sent it ‘reply all’ to the list for a laugh. Then I got letters >commiserating me on my ordeal, which was touching but showed me how >different we all are. Before we found out that this person was just a >kid, someone sent me a copy of a message which he’d received which he >considered to be the product of a sick and psychopathic mind. The >message said >simply "Fuck off, go away!" The recipient was genuinely upset but the >fact is saying Fuck off does not make a psychopath. >This ‘psychopath ‘ was just a kid. I know , having been brought up most >strictly , that sometimes you have to be bad in order to get good. You >can’t be good just because someone constantly tells you it’s wrong to be >bad. You have to be set a decent working example , preferably not by >someone in The Bible.What I’m saying is that we should tolerate the >different levels of >maturity and ‘niceness’ here. >This may be a village but we don’t actually own the land. No aristo’s – >no peasants!
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Way to go, Sheena! It’s like the old saying goes, writers write. I’ve got to get my butt in gear and take the plunge (to quote bill. ) Let me know how it’s going. BTW, did you ever have any novels published? If so what are the titles so I can look for them. m.j.
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If you want to read some of my parenting articles, you can check out: www.todaysparent.com Click on "Steps and Stages" and then you will have whole list of things to choose from. If you click on my name (Teresa Pitman) you will get a photo of me with my co-author Holly Bennett (I’m the blonde!) and a brief bio. Holly and I also wrote a booklet on discipline called "Yes, You Can" and the text of that is also given at this site. Most of this will be pretty boring for you if you don’t have kids, but there it is! Teresa> – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
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Raffaele said > I’ve not read everything and I don’t want join the flame war if not needed. > But let me say that I find it an over-dramatization.
I agree. But it’s like this on-line. Some people react strongly to small stimuli because we’ve all led different kinds of life. People on this newsgroup are here because they’re lonely and so we tend to be sensitive souls anyway. But sensitivity can take many forms. What constitutes a flaming to some people is just a little cigarette lighter on its way out to me, yet in everyday life I can be singed by a badly chosen word spoken by someone in the flesh. The intonation does it for me. A mailing list I subscribed to became the playground of some kid sending hatemail. I was the first ‘victim’. I thought it was funny and sent it ‘reply all’ to the list for a laugh. Then I got letters commiserating me on my ordeal, which was touching but showed me how different we all are. Before we found out that this person was just a kid, someone sent me a copy of a message which he’d received which he considered to be the product of a sick and psychopathic mind. The message said simply "Fuck off, go away!" The recipient was genuinely upset but the fact is saying Fuck off does not make a psychopath. This ‘psychopath ‘ was just a kid. I know , having been brought up most strictly , that sometimes you have to be bad in order to get good. You can’t be good just because someone constantly tells you it’s wrong to be bad. You have to be set a decent working example , preferably not by someone in The Bible.What I’m saying is that we should tolerate the different levels of maturity and ‘niceness’ here. This may be a village but we don’t actually own the land. No aristo’s – no peasants!
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Thank you Teresa, very sound advice. I really admire that you can make a living from writing. Is it possible to read some of your stuff? I d like to.
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Those were words well spoken. Man, I m busting up the seems ready to write a supernovel after all that good advice I recieved today.
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Thank you anne, I m happy to know that there are so many creative people here
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Writer’s block : I play with magnetic poetry ( I’m sure most of you know what that is .. it’s everywhere… at the mall) and usually what happens is after 2 or 3 lines I’m looking for a piece of paper and a pen and I don’t need the magnetic words anymore.. it gets thoughts going.. Also, I freewrite. you know.. that stream of consciousness stuff… Laura My poetry can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/al/poetryetc
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Re writers block, I think writing is the most challenging of all forms of self expression and the most painfully annoying. It is also lonely as your audience tend to be imaginary. My blocks are frequent, I think they occur when I can’t put a face to the imaginary audience, so there feels to be no support at all. Past support and flattery doesn’t seem to count. You really do have to hack and waffle on, anything will do as long as it is words, even made-up nonsensical ones. If you write random phrases that will usually tell you what state of mind you’re in – it’s unlikely that there IS such a thing as random. Sometimes that state of mind needs to absorb new esperiences and think about not write. But a thinkabout need only take half an hour, you could run a bath or have a walk. There was a Portugese poet who wrote under several different personas, can’t recall his name. I shouldn’t think he ever got a writer’s block because he could just become someone else. I haven’t tried that yret, so cannot recommend it! The good thing about writing something whatever every day regardless of whether you’re inspired or not is that it’s spontaneous and unrelated to achievement. That is it’s not meant to be anything. Well that’s what I do anyway. I don’t discard any ideas, and it’s all very untidy but if I have a serious block one of those ideas usually comes to life as though it was "just waiting for that moment to arise" or "arrive" Do not know which.
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In article <35774e1…@news.one.net>, "Mike Taylor" <michaectay…@remove.juno.com> wrote: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> sheena wrote in message <6l6vsn$5v…@news.metronet.de>… > >What do you guys do about the so-called writersblock, > > I d appreciate any > >thoughts to the matter. > Usually the best way to overcome writer’s block is to take your mind off > something for a moment and start writing about something else. I don’t know > how many times I’ve written about one subject only to hit a brick wall….then > I start on another subject and soon ideas go through my head about my previous > subject! > So the answer is to keep writing…don’t stop to second-guess yourself or > you’ll end up over-analyzing your work and won’t complete it. Guess you can > say writing is a microcosm for some of our problems in life overall? If we > just kept living, without thinking about it, maybe we wouldn’t have so many > problems. > Mike
Sheena– Ezzzz-zact-ly. I second most of what Mike says–even if it’s about nothing, really, keep writing. And no second-guessing allowed. That’s what I try to do–and I’m in PR–I gotta write for a living–nothing like being under the gun and having to come up with something absolutely fabulously perfect and having absolutely no idea… Sometime I’ll try writing a letter to someone, anyone, about what exactly is pissing me off about the job I’ve been given to do/write about. That usually gets me loosened up again. When I’m at home, I’ll start writing gibberish–one or two lines of so-called poetry or whatever you’d call it. Sometimes I come up with a direction to go from where I got blocked by doing that. Hope this helps. Don’t beat yourself up over it, ultimately. Anne —–== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==—– http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
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For writer’s block, I have two suggestions: Have lots of writing projects underway, so that if you get stuck on one you can turn to something else. I keep an ongoing notebook and file of ideas to refer to. If it’s really bad, go for a walk, do some laundry, wash dishes, go for a bike ride – do something else, something fairly mindless, and when you come back you’ll probably be ready to write again. It also helps me to look at the stack of bills I have to pay… Teresa>
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Dear Mike -Taylor-, of course I meant you , I hope we see a book of yours not before long. Thanks for the advice, and another thing: Please dont be offended but somehow the name Bukowski springs to my mind when I think of you. I mean it as a compliment.
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Thank you m.j., after succesfully finishing several novels as a teenager I havent been able to write in six years. But darn it, this time I ve got an idea and right after the exams I m going to put all this advice to practice *hey, hop, one – two – three – four – *
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sheena wrote in message <6l6vsn$5v…@news.metronet.de>… >What do you guys do about the so-called writersblock, > I d appreciate any >thoughts to the matter. >PS. Mike, I have read some of your stuff -highly entertaining- in my >humble >opinion I think you have a talent.
I don’t know if you’re referring to me or not –if you are, then thanks! Usually the best way to overcome writer’s block is to take your mind off something for a moment and start writing about something else. I don’t know how many times I’ve written about one subject only to hit a brick wall….then I start on another subject and soon ideas go through my head about my previous subject! So the answer is to keep writing…don’t stop to second-guess yourself or you’ll end up over-analyzing your work and won’t complete it. Guess you can say writing is a microcosm for some of our problems in life overall? If we just kept living, without thinking about it, maybe we wouldn’t have so many problems. Mike
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What do you guys do about the so-called writersblock, I d appreciate any thoughts to the matter. PS. Mike, I have read some of your stuff -highly entertaining- in my humble opinion I think you have a talent. Only the good die young
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>What do you guys do about the so-called writersblock, > I d appreciate any >thoughts to the matter.
When I get writers block it usually helps to not get all hung up over the part I’m stuck on. Instead I will change the font on my computer to bold and just write what I want to write about even though I can’t find the words. I just write it as close to what I want as possible. Pretty soon I come to a point in the story or paper that just flows easier so I go back to the normal font and I’m back in business. Later on, I go back and look at all the stuff in bold font and rewrite it. It’s usually a lot easer then. Also, when I’m stuck for ideas I usually go to Tower or Borders and leaf thru the magazines and any bizarre books I see. I find myself going on weird tangents which helps me come up with ideas. Another great ways to get ideas and just let your mind wander is to try new experiences. Check the paper and find something you’ve never done before or do the most bizarre thing you can find. You should at least have something to write about! My problem is finding the motivation to write. I havent had it in a long time. That’s what I need to work on! Hope this helped a little. m.j.
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Filed under: Loneliness
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