Sunday, January 21, 2007

Motivation- Part II

My last article was on finding motivation and discipline to write. Well....Eureka!! I think I found it!

My boyfriend, Don, is a professional musician. I have been to many jams with him, which are usually parties with a lot of mingling, music and a lot of laughter. I have been fortunate to meet other writers at these parties. After all, musicians and writers understand the artistic side of each other.

In my last entry, I wrote about difficulty in finding motivation and discipline for writing. Well, on Saturday, Don asked me if I wanted to attend a jam with him at one of the local classy coffee shops. All I could think about writing.

"Sure, I'd love to," I said. "I'll bring my laptop and work on my story."

The jam was fast paced blues and lasted about 3 hours. I set up at a nearby table, got a mocha and worked on my current story that I'm writing for submission. I was so into the music and writing my story I was sorry when the jam was done. The best part is that in those 3 hours, my writer's block was lifted (if that's what you want to call it, when you don't know where the story is going so you just stare at the screen) and I added about 700 words to my story, along with some much needed editing. It feels great to have been on a word roll!!

I took a short break while writing and a gentleman next to me struck up a conversation about my computer, which led right into writing.

"I write science fiction," he said. "I'm just learning how to do it on computer rather than the old fashioned way."

"Are you published?"

"No," he said. "I write songs, which is really what I do. But, I wouldn't know where to submit by stories."

I wrote down the address of Writer's Market, as well as where to find the hardcover book. This interaction got me to thinking: wouldn't it be great to establish a writer's group and hold it at a coffee shop? http://www.writersmarket.com/

After such productivity this weekend, I have decided music jams are my new venue for writing. My next goal is to get a writer's group going and become part of the writer's community.

© 2007 Susan Littlefield

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