Writing in a Cafe - Fashion Friday #5

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I think we can all agree that sometimes it's just hard to be productive in your own home. You get distracted so easily, sometimes by all the wonderful things you could be doing instead of writing or even by all the horrible but responsible things that you should be doing instead of writing. Essentially, that is my life. I get distracted so easily or my family keeps barging into my room and the bottom line is that it ends up being impossible to get anything done. In this situation, my absolute favourite thing to do is to make my way to a nice, cheap cafe with good WiFi and just bust out a few hours of writing. Granted, I don't always have the time to do all the hours I want to because school but writing in a cafe always manages to make me more productive.

Obviously I have an overly romantic view of what one would wear to said cafe but I feel like if you're going to go out to a public place to be a writer, that's so romantic and movie-esque that why not dress the part? So obviously wear whatever you want on your writing days but this is my closet for those days you just decide to take some time and head out to get some writing done.

The most important aspect is probably the leggings. I tried to pair some good leggings with a nice button-down shirt that was casual but still not "I've been in my pajamas all day" sort of thing. You want comfort but you still want to look like you did go through some effort to appear nice in public. Professional but tousled, urban but simple.

And simple is the key word here. I've put out many primary colours and because it's fall, there's a lot of maroon in here since that is probably my favourite fall colour. A great knit beanie, a pair of sturdy boots, and a strapped bag all in blues, maroons, and browns are always a staple of any fall wardrobe, regardless of where you're going or what you're doing.

Also, this would definitely be the kind of rainy day to go super easy on the makeup and just take a break from a full face. Put on some simple lip balm, maybe some concealer and you're probably done. This kind of outfit is perfect for a mood where everything is chic yet very laid back.

 But I think that going to write or do you work in a cafe at any time is the perfect time to look erudite and trendy, the perfect look to be walking around the city or later snuggling up with a cat, some fairy lights, and a notebook.

PS obviously don't wear the glasses if they look unbelievably stupid and everyone will laugh at you for wearing glasses with fake lenses of any kind. The glasses are optional.

Have a Brettastic day!

How to Deal with Satan's Worst Minion AKA Writer's Block

 

You read the title of this blog post and chuckle to yourself. "Wow, Brett's being dramatic," You think. "Comparing writer's block to the devil, she sure is crazy about this."

WRONG

Writer's block is truly the devil of life, affecting everyone and constantly the bane of everyone's existence. There is no feeling worse than wanting to write or knowing you probably should and not being able to. I like to  think that it's about as comfortable as sitting on a porcupine. Writer's block is literally word constipation and it sucks.

"Oh," You think, as you scroll down with nothing better to do. "She's talking about writer's block and maybe I'm not a writer. This is probably going to relate to my life about 0% so I think I'll just scroll along."

NOPE, wrong again.

Writer's block affects everyone. Even if you're not a writer, you still have to write school papers, you still have to file reports. You still have to write cards to your relatives and maybe you're an artist or musician, you still have to write lyrics or paint your painting. The horrible feeling where you want to write, you want to be productive but you just have no motivation or no ideas - yeah, I umbrella that all under writer's block.

It affects the best of us, we all fall prey to it's demonic tentacles. It's horrible when you have a deadline and it's even worse when you have the words and/or ideas inside you and just can't get it out. Like I said, word constipation.

Unfortunately, there is currently no market for idea laxatives, otherwise the inventor of that would probably be a billionaire. Word laxatives have to come from inside you, from conditioning and practice and it's hard to get going, but there are a few little tricks that I have that I would like to share. Obviously it's a personal journey to find a way to throw off writer's block and I don't know if everyone's methods are in fact different, but as I have had practice with this (and no, my methods are not 100% proven to work, they just sometimes work for me) so maybe you'll see that these overlap with some of yours or pick up something new.

1. Music
I have multiple playlists that I use for writing but these aren't just for writer's block but for writing in general. They tend to be slower songs, more Ed Sheeran and Imagine Dragons rather than Panic! at the Disco or pop music, songs that could fade into the background if they wanted to but also make me slow down enough to think about my next move. However, I listen to this playlist all the time, not just when I'm writing, and that means that when I have writer's block these songs might tug at my trapped writer's bladder but also they might leave me hanging. So, the way I fix this problem is that I have two songs that I have assigned writing emotions with - so that whenever I listen to them, my fingers itch for my notebook and pen. even if I'm in the middle of something or have no ideas whatsoever. The two songs that do this for me are Some Nights by Fun. and Winter Winds by Mumford and Sons and one of the best ways for me to want to write is to listen to these songs. I think having songs that you can assign these emotions to are a great starting point to doing some writing.

2. Rereading
I know that it's annoying to reread your own work, especially when you don't want to start editing it cause - let's face it - there are so many mistakes! It can be stressful but it can also give you that jump of writing-adrenaline that you might need to get excited again, remind you of what you were thinking when you wrote this line or that plot twist. Also, no one likes to admit it, but there are of course those amazing moments when you read a soul-shattering, spasm-inducing line that makes you go "Oh my GOD, did I actually write that???" and, come on, you do get very pleased with yourself. Rereading is such a great idea to remind yourself of why you loved the story originally and it's always a great tool to cure writer's block, or at least help. If you're writing a story, however. I don't think your stock report will get any more interesting the second time you give it a read-over...

3. FanFiction
Obviously this one will only work if you're writing a story, a novel because I think you might have a hard time writing fanfiction for a history paper or business report. Now, don't get me wrong it can be done (cause let's be real, I have come across some crazy stuff for Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton) but it is DEFINITELY going to distract you and make you not want to write your actual paper on how Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson's political philosophy so I recommend refraining on that account...but for most other situations, this one is great! It doesn't have to be smut (if you don't know what that is, you didn't read it here) or anything super crazy, it can just be your characters spending time in a bar, or having a sleepover, or you getting to write a situation that has no way of ever getting into the actual story but is still fun to write. This exercise always gets me excited about my characters again and it has never failed to make me want to continue writing, coming up with new plot points, and making myself write is so much easier when I'm excited about my story.

4. Character Charts

In relation to #4 and getting excited about your characters, one of the best ways to look deeper into characters and examine how developing them will help you come up with more ideas for your story is through character charts. These can be found on the Internet or they can be created with a bit of elbow grease and a little imaginiation. My favourite hits to make on this chart are always to do the bests and worsts, to really get to know your characters. Best quality, worst vice. Closest friend, worst fear. Worst dream, best memory. Stuff like that, create a three-dimensional character that might not come out that easily when they're being wrapped up in the plot. Character charts are a fun way to get to know your character in a way you might have never expected and to make even the most minor characters important and influential.

5. Run a blog!
Obviously I am a huge advocate for running a blog since, well, obvious reasons. But all that aside, I think that opening a blog has been one of the best things I could have possibly done for my writing work ethic. Having to adhere to a deadline is somewhat terrifying but also a great discipline to learn and something that I definitely needed a lesson in when I started this project. Honestly, I have never been happier with a decision. With this blog, I get to practice writing whenever I come up with whatever idea strikes my fancy and it's awesome. I mean, I'm no journalist, I only like to call myself a writer because in reality, I'm an amateur. This is excellent practice and, let's face it, when I do this, I can always pretend that I'm a famous writer posting blog articles people actually care about. That always gives me inspiration to write so that one day that might actually be my reality!

I hope this list has helped a little, or maybe you scrolled through it and just laughed and went "That is literally me!" or, the more likely option, "I have no goddamn idea what she's talking about". It's okay, I get it. Maybe you've never been squeezed by the evil oozing pestilence that is writer's block, in which case I want your soul immunity. But, if it is the case that you've never had writer's block, maybe this post is something you stick in your back pocket for the future, in case you do ever suffer from it's evil wrath. Maybe it'll give you some ideas when your brain seems like a desert and ideas are waterfalls - yeah that's writer's block.

Have a Brettastic day!

(Image credit: http://www.saffronmarigold.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/sm-writing-on-paper1.jpg)

Why Writers Will NEVER Let You Read Unifinished Work

This is it. You've asked a million times before and you're about to ask again. I mean, they're your best friend and they're good at telling stories. They won't shut up about this "secret" book they've been working on but they won't show it to you either. You want to know what it is, to tell them what you think. You open your mouth and those dreaded words "Can I read it?" are about to escape, you feel the wind coming up your throat...

NO!

I will stop you right there, you suck back in those words, you hold that air, you leave them alone, and you sit back and relax as I explain to you why, as a writer, you will NEVER get to see our unfinished work. I don't care if you're a sister, brother, mother, father, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, I don't care if you're Jesus, the odds of me showing you my unfinished stories are still in the negative range and that's where they'll remain. Just like artists don't like hearing "Oh, will you draw me?" the dreaded words to a writer are always "Oh, can you send me your story?"

I mean don't get me wrong. We are generally amiable people aside from living in our own world half the time and maybe we'll nod. "Oh, yeah, totally! I'll send it to you, tell me what you think!" ERRRR. Wrong. You're not getting that story no matter what they said (If you do get the story, you'd better understand that you are one of the most important people in their life and appreciate that). These kinds of promises, for me, are like boxes of chocolates; the minute I remember they're there, they're empty in an instant.

You might ask, why don't writers show unfinished work? That's kind of like saying why is the sky blue? You could get a long, complicated answer or you could just accept the simple fact that it is. However, to shed some light on this situation from a personal standpoint, I will make you, a genuinely interested friend, a list explaining why no matter how many BFF heart necklaces you buy, you're never getting that goddamn story.

1. Unfinished business
Having a story that is unfinished yet in the hands of another human being is like having an itch you can't scratch. I mean, any self respecting reader would want to breathe fire down on an author who published an unfinished book and as writers, well, it's kind of our entire existence to understand the reader. So, basically, willingly giving someone an unfinished story is like having peanut butter without the jelly. Or an ocean without the salt. Or a British person without the accent. It just feels wrong. And as the reader of an unfinished story, no matter how breathtaking the plot might be, there's always the undercurrent of knowledge that you're reading a rough draft. And nobody likes that. Especially the author because, believe me, revisions are a writer's best friend and having to constantly update someone to revisions made to early-on events is just not fun. You feel like because this person read a crappy version already, they won't want to give you feedback on the finished version. It's overall, just a bad experience for everyone.

2. Extra pressures
There is always the hope among authors that people will enjoy their story and want more - but when you're writing and suffering from writer's block (as always seems to be the case) or just busy all the time, it can be so stressful to have someone enjoy your book and not have anything else to give them. You can't fangirl about characters together if you have to explain an unfinished plot to them - that's just a horrible idea from the get go. Again, it's like an itch you can't scratch but when you have a friend or reader breathing down on your neck, it feels like someone's going "FINISH FINISH FINISH" in your ear and, surprisingly, this makes me want to actually finish about 0%. It's a cruel cycle, I know, but nobody ever said life was fair. Do artists and musicians have this problem also? I wouldn't know. But what I do know is that this extra pressure is a big no-no if you want to even contemplate ever having a finished product.

3. No one means it
I get it. You're excited, your best friend said they would love to read your story so the first thing you do when you get home is email them the document and eagerly refresh Facebook to see when they'll message you telling you what they thought. Newsflash: they probably won't. Not that night, not ever. People rarely mean what they say when they go "Oh, can you send it to me? It sounds really cool!" They. Will. Not. Read. It. It's easier to just say yes and then "keep forgetting." All that happens if you cave and believe these liars people is you will end up regretting the fact that another person now has a copy of your unfinished work. And believe me, that's much more stressful than some people might assume. There is nothing worse than knowing that at any moment your work could not be your work anymore and maybe that's an exaggeration but better safe than sorry. Also, again, they're not going to read it anyway.

4. Over excitement
Every young writer wants to be told that their book is good enough to be published, that they'll be the next J.K. Rowling and actually, I think it's great if you have people who encourage you like that in your life. But...chances are they're just being nice. I mean, we all want to be the next big writer. And maybe you have the potential. Maybe you don't. But the most important thing a writer can do is not forget that if you go into any project with the attitude that your first draft is your last draft, you're setting yourself up for failure. Even if your friend absolutely loves this part, if you think it needs to go, it needs to go. It doesn't matter if your friends are the "target" audience or if they make you feel good about it. As the writer, we need to make impartial decisions about what stays and what goes. That's not to say that after completion your friends and family aren't an extremely valuable source of revisions. But with an unfinished product? That's just a recipe for bad luck.

5. More fans!
For the love of god, understand that if you, as a friend ask for a story, everyone will suddenly think they care. And as writers, we know that they don't. Also, we know that you probably won't even read our 50k+ word story even though you think you will. But attention to an unfinished story is SCARY. It can feel very intimidating to have people constantly asking you about something that was previously at least somewhat private. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about asking after a project if your friend talks about it all the time but unless you have been hired as a personal marketing consultant, keep your trap shut where an unfinished story is concerned. Considering all the past points, it's enough to have one person asking after an unfinished story but more than one makes a writer feel like they're swimming in a sea of thumbtacks. Maybe that's over dramatic. But it's not fun. So maybe just don't ask in the first place?

In conclusion, asking a writer for an unfinished story is basically like asking Satan to drive you. You're both not going to enjoy it as much as you might think. Wait...anyway, you get the point. Let this be a lesson to everyone who asks for an unfinished story and ESPECIALLY let these reasons be a lesson to any writer who thinks it's a good idea to give your bestest friend ever your unfinished story - IT'S NOT. You will inevitably make this mistake and it's okay. You'll recover, you'll learn. And if not then that's your fault, honey, don't blame me if your writing career ends up being like the bad parts of this list in a drier on permanent spin.

Have a Brettastic Day!

(Image credit: http://weheartit.com/entry/130652259/in-set/25608967-journals?context_user=kimberly64&page=2)