You’re heading towards the latter part of the week and you’ve been churning out more words than you care to count. If your brain is scrambled and you’re in need of a literary break to refresh the creative palette, here is a little distraction for your viewing pleasure – this time courtesy of a Mr Charles Bukowski… Continue reading
In today’s virtual world, working from home is becoming an increasingly popular option for many, as it provides the freedom, autonomy and flexibility that a traditional PAYE job often can’t.
Although working from home sounds great, it is very easy to get distracted by familiar comforts such as the TV and occasionally, without a regimented office schedule or the chance to talk to colleagues, a severe lack of motivation or inspiration can occur – this is never good, particularly if your livelihood depends on your own creativity.
So, apart from setting yourself up a suitable work station, what can you do to get inspired when working from home? Here are a few tips…
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As many of you may already know, this Sunday is Father’s Day
You could argue that Father’s Day is just another one of those annual money making scams created by the sweaty palmed, suit wearing big wigs at Hallmark Towers, but that would be a bit cynical… Continue reading
A manifesto is a public declaration of policy, aims and promises. These are mainly issued by political parties just before a big election and it’s fair to say, that many of them are not worth the paper they’re written on.
As a huge fan of Flash Fiction, I’d like to share some of my own work, and encourage others to do so too.
As a result of this, I have launched Flash Corner – for the time being, this will be an integral part of the Catchy Content Blog, however, next year I’m looking to make it a full time blog and entertaining literary resource.
So, to kick things off, here is a piece of Flash Fiction simply titled The Smoking Area…
He blew a smoke ring which spiralled into the air and merged with the wall of grey above his head.
He looked down at his feet, then out at the pane of glass that separated the smokers from the rest of airport’s thriving activity, he was alone but he wasn’t happy.
Through the haze of the smoking tank, he could make out lots of people in their various costumes, doing various things and going to various places, all for various reasons.
Stalked legged stewardesses wheeled their cases proudly to their vessels; rotund mothers chastised their kids for dragging their heels; yuppies glanced at their phones with sour faces, and moist eyed singletons marched in sorrow to their respective gates. Everyone had somewhere to go. Everyone had an agenda and all the while, he just stood there watching. He lit up one more and inhaled deep.
He only had a few minutes until he had to move on himself, and used them to puff and think. Thinking about his children made his palms sweaty and say to himself “what must they think of their old man?” to which the answer was “a real piece of crap”
They hadn’t been in his life for a good five years but he knew they were better off without him and would be doing well at school. He didn’t carry a picture in his wallet – their faces were firmly printed in the back of his mind should he ever wish to see them.
He stubbed out his cigarette and as he picked up his stuff, wondered if he would actually pluck up the courage to go and visit them. He opened the door, let the cloud out into the terminal and in doing so, picked up his broom and went back to work.
By Daniel I Hughes
I hope you enjoyed the story. If you are a writer of Flash or Short Fiction and would like to be considered for Flash Corner, please drop us a line via our inquiry form with your name, a short bio and your work included in the body of the email.
For those who make their living out of words, writer’s block can be a real plague.
Your fingers hit the keys, your eyes go out of focus and your start to sweat – as you’ve just realised that you can’t string one engaging or even legible sentence together. Frankly, it’s a nightmare.
If you’re currently browsing the web because you’re suffering from a bout of writer’s block, here are 5 quick fire tips that will help clear your head, and get back on that all-important wordy horse…
Before we go any further, the first thing to remember is – don’t get discouraged. This writer’s block business is only a fleeting thing and you can overcome it.
Step away from your writing and do something else that’s creative: make a collage, take some photos, paint a picture. Whatever you do, it is sure to free you from the shackles of your slump and leave the mind feeling fresh.
Try Freewriting: get into the habit of doing this for around 10 minutes every day. What do you do? You just write. Get up a fresh word doc or blank piece of paper and put down whatever comes into your head, ignoring standard structure or punctuation. This will allow your thoughts and ideas to spill onto the page organically and help you get back on track.
Cast away distractions: Your phone, television, personal emails, social media, magazines, radio; basically anything that will take you away from stringing a solid thought together. Yes, audio and visual things can help give us inspiration sometimes, but when you have a serious case of the block, it’s essential to be able to focus when you are at the screen. In this case, a neutral, silent, internet free room without gadgets is just what the doctor ordered!
Write at the pinnacle time of day: Research suggests that many of us are at our most productive, alert and creative, either very early in the morning, or very late at night. Depending on your personality and situation, pick what’s best for you, then stick to it for a while. Take a decent writing break in the middle of your day, and tune into your words at your pinnacle time – from personal experience, this really helps your writing to flourish.
Get moving: with creative disciplines, positive stress if often the key to creativity. So if you’re in a little bit of a rut, head outside and do something active. Go for a cycle, jog or a long walk – this has been scientifically proven to help relax the mind and re-set the cogs so that you’re essentially working with a blank canvas. As you are in motion, you are bound to connect those missing dots and when you return to the computer, you’ll be a lean, mean word churning machine. If walking etc. doesn’t work for you, meditation also has very positive creative effects.
If you’ve been sat staring aimlessly at your screen for a long time and don’t know what to do with yourself, read over these tips, step away from the computer, free your mind and before long, you’ll be back to your old creative self.
Please let us know how you get on by leaving a comment below: have these methods helped your writing, or have you found others that have proved effective?
Image: Drew Coffman via Flickr
Words are a powerful thing.
To demonstrate the power of words and how they can make us feel, I’d like to share this video put together by Rethink Homelessness.
Recently, a group of homeless people in Orlando Florida were each asked to write down a personal or interesting fact about themselves and show it to the camera, and it’s fair to say the the results is pretty amazing…
So there you have it: The Power of Words in action.
Keep your eyes peeled for more from this series over the coming months.
What do words mean to you? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Image: David Blackwell via Flickr
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