I have a strange fascination for ceiling fans.  There are great starters for stories.  Such as…

The squeakiness of the fan annoyed me, yet I enjoyed the sweat that rolled down her skin.  I tasted its salt and swished it around my mouth for a few moments before I leaned forward, gently pushing my lips against her lobes.  No words.  We sat there exchanging quiet kisses and sometimes we just stopped.  I wiped the tears from her eyes while she grabbed my cheeks.  Her stare shot right through me.

Or

An old broken fan sat next to clock that did not work either.  Dusty damn place.  The only thing you could see from my window was last night’s trash, and the trash from the day before, and the trash from day before that.  It was sickening feeling but I love it, I loved my window, without its panes, and clear view of everything.  I never had to close it and never had to open it up.  I could leave at anytime and find my way back home bythe angle of the bin.  I could find it with its green ugly color and unmistakable stink.

1. Don’t Believe the Hype

A writer revealed to me that she does not believe in writer’s block.  So, just don’t believe a block exists.  Focus on the work. Mediate on it. Release the fears. I liken writer’s block to stage fright; you just have to do it to overcome it.

2. Rebel with a Pause

In the middle of writing that long passage, an assignment, or blog post—stop. The wall comes up suddenly. That’s okay. For some of us, it is how our brain works. Take a moment to recalibrate, reassess your writing. Notate any problems for a few moments or just walk away. I like pacing, it helps me think. Think about your direction and continue writing.

3.  Let Pen move on Paper—Keep Writing

This point is the antithesis to no.2. If it is easier for you to keep writing, then do it. If you like to finish, yes knock it out in one setting, quickly do your edits, and then rewrite. I am a firm believer that each person has their own process or approach to the work. Discover or rediscover your process. Write.

4. Fake it

If you feel that you’re brain dead and your eyes are circling a blank screen, searching for something, copy the paragraph of a book you like or a sentence just to get yourself moving. It may be completely unrelated to your subject but that’s fine. The goal is to move the fingers on the keys or on the paper. Generate enough momentum, so you can write.

5. Record it, Video it, Stick figure it

Walk around with a digital recorder, record it from your phone, or record it from your computer. Talk about your writing and talk about the block and release it. If all else fails, try drawing stick figures or some other drawings. Many people work visually, and it is a good method to elucidate your thinking, the subject that you are developing through a visual medium.

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Backyard Burner

If you have a backyard with a deck, outlet, sitting area with some shade, this is a great place to write especially in the spring and summer. It creates a home within a home atmosphere. Please don’t worry about cleaning up your yard or getting a tan unless you want one. Focus on the writing.

Café Express

Find your favorite café to write. She does not have to be of the commercial flavor. You might find an independent lady—an eclectic joint with colorful sofas, frothy shakes, and free Wi-Fi. To make this experience repetitive and useful, consider these additions for your backpack or briefcase: an extra battery and power strip.

On the Road again

Are you feeling like Kerouac? Are you taking that summer vacation on the road despite high gas prices? Do you ride on the train to work? Does your mate do all the driving? This is another great time to write. I love writing on trains, observing people, over hearing and recording their conversations, and watching their curious looks. Savor this moment:   book a ticket to your favorite travel destination, gather your notebooks, and go write!

Honey, I’m stuck between the stacks

The local library offers another great experience to write. You might get lucky, and find a quiet table or room to yourself to concentrate. If you are seeking quiet moments, a place where the noise level is enforced like the olden days when the librarian paced the floor with her finger on her lips, enforcing the quiet, then seek a library off the beaten path like a French Society reading room. These places might not have all the best attributes of a main library—good seats and Wi-Fi but for the most part, it will be quiet and have less distractions, unlike popular libraries with heavy foot traffic, chatter, dirty bathrooms, and no place to sit. Also, visit your local college and university libraries. Some only require an ID or an application for entrance. If you’re an alum, you might be able to get a library card.

Fast Food joints and Bars

Many fast food restaurants now offer Wi-Fi. If you can stomach the smell of McDonald’s french fries, lingering in and out of your nose for a few hours, write at a fast food joint. I spent many hours in Chick-fil-A finishing projects for school. Now, I have never written at a bar, but I have included this place because some bars and restaurants don’t mind your patronage for a few hours as long as you buy food and drink.  Some restaurateurs might welcome your presence especially if you make it big. The late, award winning playwright, August Wilson wrote in bars and cafes early in his career.

Box yourself in a cubicle

Most likely with the housing crisis, there is available office space in your town to share or rent. Because of the increase of virtual workers, many workers are getting out of their home offices and are co-working. This environment provides a space out of the home and a space that you share with other workers. So, if you are tired of being the lonely writer or the lonely worker, click over to the co-working wiki and find a spot.  Hopefully, it will get your motivated and increase your productivity.

The Art of an Organization

Visit your local art organization like a theater or literary circle. Many of these organizations have open spaces or extra offices—great places to write. Consider volunteering to use their space or pay rent or arrange a combination of both. Organizations are always seeking donations in one way or another. Also, there are art organizations like the Writers’ Room of Boston and the Atlantic Center for the Arts which offer dedicated spaces, time, and residencies for writers to work.

Weekend Residency

Carve out and schedule three days for yourself and your writing project, find a cheap hotel, and go.  Now, if you’re going to implement and initiate this plan, take it seriously and have focus. I have done this a few times and it is easy to feel that you’re “on vacation.” A weekend residency is a set time; it is a perfect period to start it up a project, gain momentum in the middle of a project or finish a project.  The last two choices are preferable because starting projects are tricky, some many questions to answer.  This time should be for dedicated, uninterrupted writing, rewriting, or editing.

1. Treat Twitter like the Office, and not the Office Water Cooler.

Twitter is a great place to share your opinion. Yet, you still must be careful. Think about who you represent and how your image is represented in the media. Silence is the golden rule, especially during sensitive times.  Look at the case of Rashard Mendenhall, who tweeted his opinions about 9-11 and the recent elimination of Usama Bin Laden.  Champion, his corporate sponsor, has dropped him because of his controversial tweets. As I have said before:  Think Smart before you Click Dumb.

2. Be yourself, with an asterisk.

Even though Mendenhall’s image  was damaged by his actions,  a comedian or political satirist may have not received the same criticism for similar remarks. Moreover, if you’re known for your controversial remarks, most people will not surprised by your statements. So yes, be yourself to a point, but if your opinions are too loaded, yes, you will attract a crowd, but not necessarily the crowd you’ll like,  want, or need. Listen to that voice on the inside and know yourself, as you tweet and select your followers.

3. Don’t subject us with your subjects

For some, talking about that boyfriend or girlfriend who hurt your feelings is not a bad idea. And Twitter, offers # hashtag subjects to share your opinions, jokes, or sayings like the famous #blackparentquotes. But avoid emoting too much. Your audience is not your best friend, that friend you call 2 AM in the morning to discuss your relationship problems. Instead, find a relationship blog, text your best friend, or just keep it offline.  Keep it light.

4. You and your crazy followers and follows

Like Facebook, not all followers are the same, and some of the people you follow are not the same either. Watch their responses. Their values may not match your values, so you will either need to un-follow or block. Always review your lists, followers, and follows to insure you are in the right group of people.

5. Create an alias, penname, or pseudonym

—if you want to vent, act crazy, and say anything under the sun. This is the best way to avoid trouble, and protect your real name. Instead of ruining your brand with a stupid tweet,  create an alias to share or shout your opinion. With backlinking, you can still use your controversial opinions to drive traffic to a website or build a following.

When you are not writing or during your down time, it is a good idea to keep your mind sharp through exercise. Personally, I play Wordscraper on FB, I have another friend, a reporter who solves crossword puzzles in his free time. Try these activities in your off time to maintain or build your verbal skills.

1.       Play word games, puzzles, and other type verbal games

As I noted above, I am an avid Wordscraper player. The game has introduced new words to my vocabulary.  Playing word games may help you too.

2.       Buy and study GRE\SAT practice cards

Gearing up for graduate school, I bought a GRE book and GRE cards for testing. Even though I ultimately did not use the cards for the test (I applied to a school without a GRE), I studied quite a few words, improving my vocabulary. With sets from 500 to a 1000 words, you’ll have plenty of words to study, and add to your vocabulary.

3.       Study the dictionary

Sounds crazy? The legendary Jay-Z studied the dictionary when he was a child to create his rapid, flowing style of rap.  Learning different etymologies can be interesting, and it will improve your understanding of different words. Go to a used bookstore and buy an old dictionary. Sometimes these dictionaries offer different meanings and words that you might not find on the internet or in current dictionaries. With numerous Internet dictionaries available, you can sign up for Word-for-the Day and other services.

4.       Make a list of words

When writing, there are times you’ll run into a snag. You try word after word, but nothing works. Help yourself out, and build a list. Create a list of your favorite verbs, nouns, or adjectives. Make a list of words you don’t know or a list of words you hate.  You can also create lists of phrases, quotes, idioms, etc. These lists are great resources for writers and others when creating work.

5.       Read

As basic as it sounds, yes, reading is the sure-fire way to enhance your vocabulary.  Read authors who incorporate a variety of words in their writings like a Jack London or a Phillip Roth.  Read technical journals, literary and art magazines, and critical film magazines like Film Comment.

1.       Write every day

It is the cliché we hear all the time but it does work. Writing everyday creates momentum. It forces you back to the well to drink more water, creating a relationship between you and your work

2.      Writing is Rewriting

Hard writing makes easy reading and easy writing makes hard reading.

This is the best quote I have heard that speaks for the need of rewriting.  Put forth the effort—revise and revise again.  Do yourself a favor and save those revisions, sometimes your internal editor deletes the good stuff.

3.      Write long

I read about a writer who wrote 12 hours day. I will gladly admit that I am not that type of writer unless I am under deadline. Yet, learning how to write long, without stopping is great skill to own. It slowly builds your acumen as a writer. Many successful artists over time, learn through practice, how to work for long periods of time. This practice not only changes your writing, but it also changes your thought process.

David Mamet says:

The purpose of any technique, the purpose of any skill which is learned through cognition and repetition in the arts, or in sports for that matter, is to break down the barriers between the conscious and the unconscious mind so that you don’t have to think about what you’re doing. You can only be free if your unconscious is unfettered. There are a lot of people who don’t have technique but whose unconscious is unfettered: children, psychotics, some artists. But for most of us, we need a technique to enable us to get out of our own way.

4.      Experiment with different forms of writing

Craft blogs, create advertisements, write jokes, pen plays, compose poetry, etc. Expand your skills.

5.      Voice

Developing your voice is a goal for any scribe. Your voice is your word choice, style, diction, and tone. Your voice may change depending on subject or genre. I look at it this way, there are ways that Stephen King writes compared to a Philip Roth or compared to a Toni Morrison. Each one of these writers, make different choices as he or she writes, with implementing and revealing the story. Poetry is a great genre to study voice because poets may create multiple voices in one poem. Yet some writers do not believe in voice.

6.      Copy

I do not mean stealing or plagiarizing. I mean copying to learn. It could be fiction, magazine articles, or poetry—select a writer and copy his work word for word by paper or by computer but using paper is a better process. Copy the same passage or an article every morning for several days to help you uncover the writer’s voice, style, and method.  It will teach you how he or she wrote piece—how he or she uses research in their articles, their sentence structure and vocabulary.

7.      Study writers

This is the second step of copying passages. Select three writers that you admire and study their works. Examine their backgrounds and analyze how they became successful, start to finish. Choose a variety of writers. Sometimes, it’s best to compare writers of like genres—three novelists, three poets, or three news column writers.

8.      Write on paper

With the vast array of digital products, writing on paper has become “the lost art.” Writing on paper connects us to our thinking. Adding “paper practice” to your daily regimen is great for your writing process. It’s a good thing to do.

9.      Get a writing mentor

A writing mentor can show you the ropes and lead you into the right writing direction. The main requirement is to have a writing mentor who will take the time to understand you and your writing. Find a mentor who fits your needs. Just don’t sign up with a mentor because you like his or her work. Do your research and interview your potential mentor, especially if you are paying.

10.  Employ writing exercises in your writing regimen

There are numerous writing books packed with writing exercises and methods.  Currently, I am using Naming the World, an anthology of writing techniques and practices by authors, writers, and teachers.

11.  Workshop your work

Join a group or design a workshop with your fellow writers. Workshops are geared towards creative writers; however, other writers may still meet, discuss, and work to improve their craft. The most effective workshops have a set structure and set goals for each writer. During the summer time, many festivals and conferences offer workshops and classes with writers. These conferences, workshops, and festivals range in price and expertise. With these workshops, you may develop old work and create new work depending on the goals of the instructor or the course.

12.  Analyze your own writing

What makes you tick as a writer? What is your passion? What pushes you to write? What are your nuances? Understanding how you write, the way you think is part of your metacognition—you learn how you think—it’s the learning of learning.

13.  Write and read poetry

Learning how to read a poem and learning how to write a poem are good skills to have. Many famous writers started as poets moved into other genres.  Poetry builds your core writing skills:  concision, word play, rime, meaning, intention, voice, vocabulary, and imagination.

14.  Find your niche in writing

Fiction writing is your love, but blogging is your best talent. This paradox is difficult to accept for some writers but I say embrace it. Conquer that niche with your best efforts, and let it flow into another genre or style of writing.

15.  Record your writing

Whether you are creating a script or writing an article like reporters of the past, recording your writing to craft creative work is a great method.  You might just record your hot ideas. Since most electronic devices are equipped with a sound or video recorder, it is easy to do.  But, if you want to be nimble, you might consider buying a separate, stand alone recorder.

16.  Use how to’s books but don’t over do it

I know from experience, it easy to become enamored with the latest writing guru or so called guru.  Read their books, take some notes, and put it aside. Develop your own acumen.

I am working hard to make this blog a great blog to read; I am working hard to make this blog a great resource.

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Imagine if you had three dedicated months to finish a writing project?  All that time for you and your project?

Think about it!

You don’t have to pay rent (get someone to house-sit for you), you don’t have to worry about the utilities, and you don’t have to worry about food—you will receive a food stipend. Here and there, you may be asked to participate in some community activities. At the end of this great writing vacation, better known as a residency, you will perform/read a fantastic reading of your work. Heck, if you want to do other readings or work during this time, it is up to you, as long as you do one thing—write and write and write.

The Kerouac Project of Orlando, Florida is seeking writers for their residencies from June of this year to May of next year (acceptances are sent out in May). Yes, the deadline is near…like this coming Friday, April 1, 2011. But please don’t feel overwhelmed. I am sure that you can make this deadline!  Most writers are prepared for last minute circumstances, especially when it involves contests, residencies, and fellowships.

So brush off that manuscript, scrap up 20 bucks from your best friend, wife or significant other, and apply!

As a former writing fellow, it is a very inspirational and awe-striking experience, living in the home where Jack Kerouac penned his famous novel, The Dharma Bums. I did not know a lot about Jack Kerouac before I applied. However, after moving in, I read On The Road and some of the biographies on Kerouac that co-founder Bob Kealing and others had compiled including Bob’s book, Kerouac in Florida: Where the Road Ends.

I learned how Jack Kerouac spent years developing his lucid and iconic—stream of consciousness writing. He spent about 10 years or more developing this method by trial and error, by experiencing and reading about Buddhist techniques, by traveling and just by experiencing life. In this light, he was a visionary because he knew, he was developing a style but he did not know its exact boundaries, it’s feel, but he kept working toward it diligently, page after page—a writer’s true craft.

So that’s what you need to do! Create craft, page after page and finish that project.

Again, Apply by Friday, April 1st, to get the chance to write full time for 3 months. It is an experience that you will always carry with you.

1.)    You only read your own writing. You never read the works of other writers.  You’re that good, right?  Reading is just bad.

2.)    The first draft is the best draft. Why on Earth would you rewrite?  It’s an obvious waste of time.

3.)    Steal the identity of another writer. Think about it, you could pose as Stephen King, Malcolm Gladwell or even Julian Smith.  No one would know.  Take the risk; get in trouble.

4.)    Rob a Border’s store and steal your own book.  Published authors, this is the absolute best way for free promotions because Border’s is closing many of their stores.  You would be helping them out.  The NYT cover would read:  “Brazen Theft—Robbers take Beck and Obama books.”

5.)    Fill your boot wid a loot of typ-os.  Yet, I met a writer who became successful because he was known for his mistakes in his books.  I’m still scratching my head.

6.)    Bribe an official of a writing contest.  Quid pro quo is in.  Exchange favors.  Post a video link to Craigslist and make the headlines at TMZ.

7.)    Delete your own book or writings. It’s horrible to lose a document, your hard work by computer crash but suppose you deleted your work by accident like umpire Jim Joyce and pitcher Armando Galarraga who wrote a 240 page book and erased it—“De-lete.”  WARNING:  After completing a manuscript, Thou shall not use control-A!

8.)    Steal the work of another writer and say it is your own.  With copy and paste, unfortunately, many writers do this all of time:  “Dam the copyright.  These words are for the taking.”

9.)    Never share your writing. If you keep it to yourself, I guarantee no one will know how good or bad you are.

10.) Believe your own hype. This description may be applied to any field.  If you think you’re too good, a top notch super star, you’re bound to write something stupid.  Find a biography by a Hollywood star or a politician and you’ll know what I am talking about.  Hey, we are only good as our last word.

Yet being a man, I realize that I am in the minority when it comes to self-reflection and writing.

In a Living Right Living Well article, it points out that men don’t express their feelings—6 million men are depressed in the United States. Many men hold in their emotions, they do not express their feelings, and they do not write about their feelings when they should. Instead, men run through those old doorways:  anger, withdrawal, drug abuse, and risk taking—not noticeable behavior for some men, unless it is excessive.

Yet, there are some ways to cope.

I just read about photographer Iman Woods, who started a site where she accepts letters from readers who are writing love letters to themselves (she is offering $2000 dollar empowerment package for the most inspiring story). These self-addressed letters (art therapy) are a good way to deal with problems and just ruminate. Woods started the site after writing herself a love letter because she was experiencing postpartum depression.

Unfortunately, the website, the Inner Beauty Project is for women and not for men–yeah! the name alone would run off most guys like a chick flick on steroids! Yet, I think writing a letter to yourself is a good idea for anyone who needs self-therapy. You do not have to share the letter with the world, unless you want to, you only have to share it with yourself.

There should be more creative outlets for men, places for self-expression and examination—some eat, drink, pray, and say damn bro stuff.

I found a site called the Goodmen Project ( a woman friend of mine thought that the title was oxymoronic. Sorry LS, there are good men). I like the website/magazine because it is trying to go beyond the typical men’s magazine, yet it is not a men-need-to-do-this-to-be-good magazine. There are different columns on fatherhood, men’s rights, and personal essays on manhood.

So…man, if you are in a difficult situation, write it out.  Know thy self.