Music. It’s therapeutic, it’s fun, it’s sad, it’s inspirational. But does it help fill the blank page?

The answer is, yes, it can. Try music the next time you’re staring at the blank page wishing you had a creative thought you could commit to paper.

Hook up the headphones, and turn on your favorite CD. Or, you could try Pandora…if you haven’t tried that before, check it out here: www.pandora.com. Another great option is Spotify at www.spotify.com. (Both of those are free by the way.) Find your favorite song and open up a document.

Then start typing…often before I know it I’ve found my inspiration and time is passing and songs are playing and I’m really enjoying myself. And the pages are filling up.

Music. Give that one a shot!

Writing is a lonely business. Generally speaking, one does it alone, and the silence is deafening when the page is blank, hands are poised, and nary an idea is present.

How to fix this? Get some friends to suffer along with you. In the best scenarios, you’ll all suffer less. In the worst, you’ll make each other continue suffering until the pages fill up. Either way, words fill up the pages.

I met some writing buddies on a writer blog years ago, and we still get together for Word Wars whenever we can, usually via Yahoo. We open up a chat room, set a timer, write for a set amount of time, stop, chat a little and commiserate, then do it again. My buddies and I have spent entire weekends doing this. It’s much easier to stay focused for a specific period of time – say 20 minutes – then know that someone who is in pain with you will soon chat you up, and remind you that writing doesn’t have to be so hard.

Next time you’re feeling alone with your blank pages, use one of your lifelines—phone a friend! Get them on their computer and write together. It’s therapeutic and productive!

More than 15 years ago, I ran across one of those websites where they insist you can be a writer…that you are, in fact, already a writer although you may not know it. They were selling something (that I didn’t buy), but the test to see if you were, indeed, a writer stuck with me.

Here was their shtick: They gave me 3 random, unrelated words and 3 minutes to write. The only rule: I had to include the 3 words in whatever I wrote. Then they said “go.”

I have no idea what the name of the company was or what exactly they were trying to get me to buy, but that little exercise has stayed with me all this time. I did the 3 minutes, and I used all 3 words. When I reread what I’d written, I remember how much I really liked it…it was sort of clever and completely spontaneous.

The confinement of having to use the 3 specific, arbitrary words did the opposite of confine me…it set my imagination free. I had to find the common thread in the three items and find a way to tie them in.

Whenever I get really stuck, I do this little exercise again. I pull out a dictionary and point to a word on three different pages. Then I go for 3 minutes. It gets words on the page, and it reminds me how fun writing can really be.

Try it, and let me know if it’s as fun for you!

Voice Activated Software has been around long enough now that most of the bugs are worked out and it works rather well. Standing around talking your novel is much easier and more fun than stressing your carpel tunnel nerves.

The one I use is Dragon Dictate by Nuance. Here’s how I do it. I get my story outlined (a little or a lot…whatever works for that story). I think about what I want to accomplish in the scene I’m getting ready to do. I close my eyes…and start talking.

The machine types it all for me. Now, there are two schools of thought here, and I’ve been to both schools at various points in time. You can watch the computer screen type the words…and fix the mistakes as you go along (which does tend to slow the flow of your work), or you can ignore the screen, keep your eyes closed and let yourself drop into the story you’re telling. (This will leave you with stuff to fix later because no matter how good the dictation software, it will make a few mistakes…some of which will be hilarious).

The software is getting cheaper all the time. The last one I bought was a couple of years ago. It came with a microphone and the software and ran about $100. Totally worth it in terms of filling the pages (not to mention the break for my wrists).

Let me know how it goes if you try this!

I noticed that I’ve been working on these 10 items for a while…and #6 was over a month ago. That got me to thinking about time and writing and how not enough of them both leaves pages empty.

Then I remembered THE TOMATO. You know, the pomodoro method.

Say huh?

Stick with me…I promise this will make sense. From the website:

What is the Pomodoro Technique?

It is a time management method created by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980’s that helps you accomplish what you want to do by transforming time into a valuable ally. Why is it so popular? Because it is easy to use, and most of all, because it works!

I used to do this all the time, and I’ve come to realize once more that simple is best when it comes to getting things done.

So, here’s what you do. Go to the website, sign up for a free account on their website, set your first timer, and write. www.mytomatoes.com

Go forth…set a timer, and fill those pages!

I have 11 manuscripts that are complete—in first draft. Know why? Because I hate editing . Also because I got stuck. I had some full pages (a lot of them!), but even full pages aren’t finished pages…so frankly at this point, they might as well be blank.

So, I got to thinking, how do I turn these stories into finished manuscripts I can submit? I needed a plan to edit them.

And I got to thinking about this program I used years ago called Autocrit. Ever hear of it? You paste in your writing and get feedback on it…kinda cool.

Here’s what I put in there:

The taller man was easily six-five. He was mid-20’s with brown hair to his shoulders and wore a navy suit. Unlike his companion, he had a friendly smile that looked natural on his face. The cohort who’d suggested she close the doors of her business was shorter but still over six feet. Probably ten years older he had the countenance of ex-Army or ex-Marine. The identical suit was a costume on him as if it concealed warrior camouflage.

Had she left the front door unlocked in her haste to dive into work? How they’d come up the squeaky staircase without making any noise was unnerving. Nicole removed the bag from her shoulder and smoothed her hands along the buttons of her blouse. “We’re not officially open, but how can I help you?”

The taller one removed a wallet from the inside of his jacket and flipped it open. “Good morning. My name is Agent Black and this is Agent Greene. We’re with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

“The FBI?” Fallon turned to Nicole, her eyebrows disappearing beneath her auburn bangs. She walked up to Agent Black and looked at the badge. “Wow. Nicole you and I have moved uptown. And you? Where’s your badge?”

Agent Greene removed a matching wallet from inside his jacket and held it out for Fallon to see. He had a smudge of dirt on his knuckles and a scowl on his face. “Just a few questions about reports you’ve received on the disturbance last night.” His unblinking stare tugged a chord somewhere low in her belly, and his voice vibrated that chord.

Nicole took a deep breath and steadied herself. “Calls we’ve received? Has the U.S. government tapped my phones?”

The two men looked at each other and tucked their badges back into their jackets. “No, ma’am,” Agent Black said. “This business is the location to report possible sightings of unidentified flying objects, is it not? The FBI assumed yours was the venue for sending reports. Were we mistaken?”

And here’s the feedback I got.

So I started cleaning it up. (To be completely honest here, I had already run it through once and fixed it! It was much worse the first time! LOL)

So, give it a shot…you can sign up for free and try it to see if it will help you get those words on the page–the right words.

www.autocrit.com

Sometimes the only thing holding me back from filling the page—is me. I’m not typing. I’m not typing, and the pages stay blank.

When I get stuck like this, I fire up this fantastic app called Write or Die. I bought the desktop app, but there is also a free version online. http://writeordie.com/#Web+App

From the website:

Write or Die is a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. Start typing in the box. As long as you keep typing, you’re fine, but once you stop typing, you have a grace period of a certain number of seconds and then there are consequences.

Many people find themselves unable to write consistently. I believe that this is because their reason to write is intangible. For instance, I want to write and finish a book because I want to be published and make a living as a writer. That goal is a long way away so I often find it difficult to sit down to the task of writing.

A tangible consequence is more effective than an intangible reward.

The software was written by a guy named Dr. Wicked who I don’t actually know but I love. This software has gotten tens of thousands of words on pages for me.

My first piece of advice before beginning: get a picture in your head of what you’re trying to do—you need to get a character from one place to another? Good. Someone needs to fall off a cliff—cool. Get that picture in your head, then set the timer and go.

Second piece of advice—keep everything you just wrote. Write or Die allows the subconscious to work in its mysterious ways, and the conscious mind seldom appreciates it. Copy what you wrote to your file, and move onto the next scene. Let the words sit there unedited, simmering for a while. If you read what you’ve written right away, you won’t be as impressed as you will be later.

Give it a try…and go fill those pages!

This is the fourth installment in a series on filling the blank pages as an author.

Great blog title, huh? Every writer at some point in their life has probably googled this. (And probably been disappointed in the answer.) After all the reading and digging, here are the answers we get:

Write every day. Write a lot. Read a lot. Study the market. Blah, blah, blah.

No magic??!! Are you kidding me??

But wait! There are lectures and writing conferences and books and software programs and professional organizations! There are Charts and plot generators and Snowflakes!! Don’t they have the secret?!! Why can’t I find it??

Well, I’ve found the secret, and I’m going to start using it. And I’m going to tell you what it is.

Gather close…here it is.

Time.

I’m not kidding. The secret is time. With enough time, anyone can become a bestselling author. Anybody.

Of course, the time can’t just pass like it has been doing. It has got to be used for stuff the google search revealed…writing and reading and studying. Plotting and learning and snowflaking or whatever plot developer you decide to use. Submitting and editing and writing some more.

Good news is…we all get time. 24 hours of it, every day. So, it’s not like you have to buy some or steal some or beg for some. You get it free.

Today, this very day, use this well-kept secret. Use time (shh!) and write the bestseller inside you. During your “time” don’t do anything else…just produce the novel that is going to fulfill your dreams of being a bestseller. Live in that moment and fill time. You know now—you have the power.

And remember with great power comes great responsibility.

(This is the third installment in a series on filling the blank pages as an author.)

Ever watch a movie and think, “That’s not how that should have happened?

Ever yell at the television, “No *way* he would do that!!!”

Ever walk out of a theater thinking, “Man, that could have been good if…”

This happens to me all the time. I’ll admit (even after reading the books), I wasn’t happy with the ending of the Harry Potter franchise. No one can convince me that Ron and Hermione belonged together. I didn’t buy it then, and I don’t buy it now. If I’d written it, (man, who doesn’t wish they could write something that amazing?), I’d have put Harry with Hermione, or I’d have left him on his own. The whole Jenny thing? Seriously? Never bought into it.

So, after I watch a movie, I start thinking…what worked? What didn’t? How would I have changed it?

Then I open up a page and jot down the problems I saw and brainstorm some ideas that would have fixed it.

Seldom fails, I come up with an idea for a slightly different story, and I make the world rotate the way *I* want it to.

Give it a try sometime.