Update on my work being podcasted and creative writing in real life moments

I got another email from the Writing Center, and though I wasn't the winner, I was a close enough second that they want me to come in too! I'm so excited! I go in on Wednesday for recording, and the podcast will air sometime in December. Here's the link for the podcast: Word of Mouth.

Also, some pretty crazy/unusual things happened to me this weekend, and it made me think that all the not normal things that happen to us are exactly the kind of thing we writers are looking for. For example, this weekend I dropped my phone in a bowl of cereal. It died. I now have a new phone. Also, I had my first eye exam ever and ended up with a prescription for glasses. At least I found some cool shnazzy red ones. Ok, so maybe killing your cell phone and getting your first pair of glasses aren't such out of the ordinary things, but at least for me they are telling things; telling about what makes a difference to people, about personalities, relationships, and its those real life details that make characters and plots seem real life.

So don't let those telling moments pass you by unnoticed, use them for artistic/creative writing inspiration. I hope your in the middle of a weekend full of them. Hopefully the good kind.

Sarah Allen

Ways to advance your creative writing career during dumb classes and meetings

So, while I was in my afternoon class (wicked grin), sitting there wishing I didn't have to worry about school and just write and work on the stuff I wanted too, I thought to myself, why not do both? Obviously its important to get an education and earn a living, but there's such a thing as multi-tasking. So here are some things I thought of during my class that writers can do during boring classes and meetings, especially with no computer, to help get done whats most important to them.

-Write/Outline: For an artist or designer, meetings and classes are a perfect time to sit and doodle. But at least for me, its hard to be sitting in a class and actually get any good writing done. If your brain can manage that, more power to you, but what I was thinking is that perhaps this might be a good time for character sketches or plot outlines. Maybe fill out your main characters best friend, our outline the next chapter of your book. Or maybe look out the window or around the room until you find something you want to write a poem about. There's my first and most obvious suggestion.

-Edit: What spurred this whole idea for me is that in my class I was wishing I had brought a hard copy of some short stories to edit. This may be a good time to polish up some shorter pieces before sending or re-sending them out as submissions.

-Memorize: If, like me, you think that knowing good writing helps you create good writing, why not scribble down a poem or snippet from your favorite book in your notebook and work on memorizing it? This will not only help your writing, but make you sound really smart.

-Text Marketing: Text anyone in your phone who you know is involved in blogging or some online community and tell them to put in a good word for you; put in a link to your blog or your book on Amazon. Remind them of your upcoming book release. Every bit of marketing helps, and you're probably texting during class anyway, right?

-Plan/Write your next Blog post: Guess what I worked on during my class today? *wink*. The more you can consolidate things that don't involve working on your creative projects, the more time you can spend working on those projects.

Work and school are important, and you can't afford to slack off on those parts of your life, but when you feel like you can manage it, why not multi-task and work on the part of your life that's most important to you?

Hope this helps, and happy writing!
Sarah Allen