Is your writing sickly?😷

There are writers out there, even some very successful ones, whose writing is in desperate need of a transfusion. Or vitamins. Or first aid. Or something!
  Why, you may wonder, do I say this? Because  as a writer it's not enough to simply put words to paper. In order to get your readers fully engaged, your writing must be too! You must inject those pesky blank pages, whether prose or poetry, with life! Your reader should find that your words are healthy, perky, and full of life. If not, your reader will quickly lose interest in your anemic writing and move on to more robust fare. Too many writers, and this is totally understandable but wholly unforgiveable, are more interested in having written than in the actual act of writing. So the writer gets lazy or loses interest, and just goes through the motion of putting words to paper without the requisite passion required for a reader to invest in it. Thus, this writing simply limps along in an unhealthy manner until it expires with a dusty wheeze of unrealized potential.
  Below are five ways you can diagnose whether or not your writing is sickly:
1. It bores you - If you're tired of your own writing, chances are good that your reader will be too.
2. No research involved - If you couldn't be bothered to invest much time into research, your reader may not be bothered to invest in your writing either.
3. Refuse to edit - Editing your own work can seem scary and tedious in the extreme, but it's essential!
4. Refuse rewrites - The bane of many writers, this is actually an opportunity for cleaning up and tightening down. Now is when you prove your dedication to your craft!
5. You don't READ - How in the world can you produce good, sound, healthy writing if you don't read? The answer? You can't!

  Here's a quote (that's actually two) on the subject from a well-known writer:
"I always have strong feelings when I write a book. Sometimes when I'm writing a book, I even cry when I'm writing. Once I read a quotation that I thought was very true for me, which is: 'No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.'" - Eve Bunting.
  So, if you think that your writing could use a shot in the arm, give it a boost with some vitamin YOU! Inject your passion, your time, and real effort into your writing and watch it become infused with the rosy, robust glow of good health!

Writers see sideways.

Ever have someone admonish you to "stay focused," "zero in," or "Stay on task?" Ever wonder why you have a short attention span, find it hard to just drift off to sleep or stay asleep? Ever wonder why your view of the world sometimes seems a bit skewed compared to a lot of other folks? Well, despite what worried relatives and armchair physicians may tell you, those are all symptoms of a condition known as escritorus profundus (okay, I made that up. Sorry).
  Look, the fact is that you're a WRITER (or other creative person), and you simply cannot see the world as others do. In fact, one can argue that it's your job to see and experience the world differently than ordinary folks. A writer should see the world at a slant, or at least through slightly "slitted" eyes. The world is chock full of mysteries, wonders, and splendors that can only be seen or appreciated by a writer's sideways stare. Really, you know that your perspective is unique; folks have probably been hinting that to you all your life.
  So don't try to make your view of the world match everybody else's, don't try to tamp down your enthusiasm for the tilted, skewed, unpopular, or unusual. Step out of conformity and into yourself. Embrace the writer in you that must look at the world sideways to make it work.
  Sideways can be beautiful.😃

A Journaling we go...

Writers, in general, write. That's just how it is. We work on our poems, scripts, stories, blogs, novels, what-have-you. It's how we're wired. Yet there's an area of writing that many writers overlook, even though many of us may have been introduced to it as kids in elementary school. Yes, that's right, I'm talking about the dreaded JOURNAL.
  A journal can be pretty much anything, but it's usually just a small notebook that you carry around and keep handy, so you can jot down your thoughts or ideas... or (horrors!) your feelings. A lot of people equate the keeping of a journal with the diary you or your sister may have kept stashed under your pillow and into which you poured your deepest, darkest secrets when you were a child. Well, yes and no. I would say that a journal is not like a diary or even a blog, although it probably contains elements of both.
  You may opine that you already do a lot of writing, and I'm sure you're right, but a journal is different. In your journal you'll capture fleeting ideas, sights, sounds, thoughts and smells. The feel of a dandelion covered in dew, the minute fragrance of a woman's perfume as she passes by in a crowd, the shape of a leaf's shadow on a hot summer sidewalk.
  In your journal you can quickly snare an elusive idea for your next novel, chapter, non-fiction book, or Haiku. Your journal is like a net that can help you catch and keep the bits of flotsam and jetsam that your muse lobs your way a thousand times a day from a million directions. Your journals can then, in essence, become deposits of literary ore just waiting for you to mine them for inspiration, information, and ideas, "Whether you're keeping a journal or writing as a meditation, it's the same thing. What's important is you're having a relationship with your mind." - Natalie Goldberg
 A relationship with your mind, that's a beautiful thing. Sometimes we, as writers, get caught up in the process or art of writing, and let our relationship with our mind suffer. Keeping a journal allows you to keep that relationship vital. Many times over the years we may wish that we could revisit certain moments in our lives: the birth of a child, a graduation, a marriage proposal, a goodbye... well, in lieu of a fully operational time machine, a journal would do nicely. A quick scan of an old journal where you mention the time you thought you lost your child in a department store would bring back a slew of thoughts, feelings, etc. that you could use in your writing. Not to mention that writing is what we do anyway. So try keeping a journal, it doesn't have to be filled with deep, thought-provoking lines meant for posterity. Just jot down everyday thoughts and experiences. Once you do, looking back at what you have written there, you'll be glad you did.
"Writing in a journal reminds you of your goals and of your learning in life. It offers a place where you can hold a deliberate, thoughtful conversation with yourself." - Robin S. Sharma