Motivating the Writer

First let me apologize for posting this blog so late. Normally I have it up in the morning, early morning like right after midnight. This week though, I must be fighting off a flu bug or something as I’ve been sleeping a lot and having a lot of headaches. Then of course, it could be the totally new food regime that my naturopath has put me on. LOL! Time will tell.

On Saturday of this week a group of eXtasy authors joined together and were part of the very first Las Vegas Book Fair. It was held in the oldest school in Las Vegas and right downtown. I loved the old hacienda style place and would love to have a house like that one someday. And they have restored it beautifully. The book fair was held in this grand old place over three days. There were poetry readings, a children’s area and over 80 local authors showing what we’ve done.

I just love getting together with my fellow authors and talking about writing. We talked and talked and talked. We talked about eXtasy, we talked about NYC, we talked about other markets, and plotting and just everything. There is nothing more motivating than getting together with other authors. It energizes you and makes you want to accomplish all those things you have been putting off for who knows just how long.

So, I decided to look at some of the other things that motivate me as well. There are lots of them but for today, I’ll only look at two of the things which motivate me to be a better writer as well as to just write every day.

The first I want to touch on is TV. Now this one can be a blessing or a curse and every writer knows this. But those also in the curse column would be email, blogs and the internet as they can pull you off task very easy. For me, I decided to start recording all my shows to watch during some down time. And I have a long list of shows. Right now the ones I watch regularly are Sanctuary, Stargate Atlantis, House, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Fringe. These are all my very, very favorites and if just one of them doesn’t happen during a week a feel deprived.

From each I get something. From Sanctuary, I get my oddity fix as it is about a group who offers a haven for those who are different. From Stargate Atlantis, I get my hunk fix as I really have a thing for Ronin Dex and then there’s the need to roam the universe. From House, I get my irreverence fix. From Private Practice, I get my doctor/patient fix. From Grey’s Anatomy, I get my adrenaline rush. And from Fringe, well, let’s just say that Fringe is one of those series which get under your skin almost immediately because it is so off, it’s fantastic. Sigh.

Yeah…I love my TV…I know you’re wondering just how does that help me as a writer? Well, every time I watch one of those different shows, I get something for a book I’m writing. Stargate, Sanctuary and Fringe constantly give me ideas and various different things for the sci-fi books I so love to do. In the others, I find something for the contemporary works I do.

Another one of my motivators is music. Believe me, I listen to a gamut of different sounds. One on my favorite is movie themes. Many times a specific scene is brought to mind by the music and many times that scene is exactly what I need to spur the creative juices to flow. I also like soft jazz and Celtic music. My iTunes has so many songs on it that I can listen for at least 5 full days before I would need to buy something new. And everyone of the songs there gives me something new every time I listen to it.

All these things can move me to write more and better stories. What motivates you to become the best you can be?

Until next week.

Lynn