It’s Saturday and I’m so stressed I could....

It’s Saturday and I’m so stressed I could bite the head off a pit viper and survive. That is a good metaphor, because it is fresh and expresses the way I feel. Metaphors are good writing tools, but they have to be fresh. They have to be interesting and they have to express the feeling.

Stress is also a good writing tool, but only if you can use it in a poem, story, or article. Stress without an appropriate outlet is dangerous. Stress can cause all sorts of physical and health problems for a person if it has no place to go. Writing is a good outlet for stress.

As a writer, I can use the stress I feel as the subject of a poem, story, article, or blog entry. I find that the problem, when writing about stress, it to find a good metaphor to express the feeling. In a private journal entry, it does not matter if the metaphor is lousy, because I am the only one reading it and I can always rewrite the if I want to post the entry to my blog or use it in a story. A metaphor used in a published work should not be overused rather it should be fresh.

Writing Tools: Daily Newspaper

Until today, I never thought of a daily newspaper as a tool for writers; however, this morning’s paper an intriguing article that suggested a story. The article was on the religious page and it concerned nails from the Cross. Apparently, those nails are religious artifacts and are supposed to confer some type of power on the person who has them in his or possession.

I am going to read the daily paper a little more closely from now on. In addition, I am keeping notes on any articles I find that may suggest a story or poem.

Writing Tools: A Time to Write

An author needs a time to write, period during the day to sit down at the computer and compose a novel, article, short story, essay or poem. Some writers chose a specific time to work, while others take extra seconds, minutes, and hours they can find during the day or the night. Picking a specific time is best, but sometimes this is not possible and you have to take moments away from another activity because a writer must write.

Scheduling a specific time to write is like going out of the house to work every day. If you have a writing schedule then you can schedule a day off and take a break. Scheduling a specific time to write require discipline and emphasizing to the people in your life that this is your job and you are working. It also allows your muse to know when to begin composing your creative effort.

A schedule is good because besides writing time, you can include housekeeping, shopping, etc. on the schedule. When setting the schedule, an author needs to understand and expect interruptions. Sometimes the interruptions are emergencies, but often they are doorbells, telephones, and companions wanting attention.

The author must decide which of these interruptions need handling immediately and which to put off until later. The best way to handle these interruptions is to give them A, B, and C priorities. Once the priorities are established then it is up to the author to respond appropriately to the interruptions.

Searching for Writer’s Tools

Words a writer’s tools
Black words typed on a white page
A fresh perspective

I did an internet search for writer’s tools and found some helpful sources that I will review in later posts. Some of the sources were of no help because they were out dated. This caused me to think about words, the basic tool of a writer.

Words make up phrases, sentences, and paragraphs, which we use to create posts, stories, poems, and novels. The words we use must be fresh, so when we research our sources must be recent. In stories and poems, our words find their basis in memory, imagination and research; therefore, the sources of our research must be fresh to help spur on our words.