Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Writer's block?

I had drinks today with my most talented author.  Sadly, after seven books, two screenplays, a book of poems and another of haiku (not to mention three children), he was running low on creative juice.  The dreaded Writers Block.

I suggested he try visiting this site.  Originally begun to help creative types in advertising, it soon expanded to help all sorts of other industries, like publishing.

Just type in two or three key words from your novel-- "spy" "buxom" "blonde"-- and you get back a host of suggestions!

Try it, it's amazing!

27 comments:

Kristin Laughtin said...

If nothing else, it's fun!

But it probably would really help me if/next time I get writer's block. I tend to get my inspiration from weird combinations of words, which then twist and evolve and take on a life of their own, sometimes no longer resembling the original inspiration!

Josin L. McQuein said...

Writers blocks should always come with letters on the side, then we can use them to spell new things that will turn into books.

:-P

Rick said...

I am slightly embarrassed to admit that it took me a while to get the joke.

Bryce Daniels said...

Silly shark.....

And I'm a sillier pseudonym for checking it out. But, hey. Desperate times and desperate measures, right?

Elanor Lawrence said...

How long do they go on for? It's a pretty awesome site, but I expected them to stop the 'live streaming' after about a minute and they didn't...

Anyways, not terribly useful for my writing, but very amusing. :)

80s Queen said...

That is too funny! I'm going to have to put that up on my blog.

Sir John said...

Janet, I just watched the movie Limitless where a writer, Bradly Cooper has writer block--a great insight into what a writer goes through.

Johnny (Sir John) Ray

Rick Daley said...

I always thought drinks were creative juice.

WORD VERIFICATION: wasec. A plea for more time, after several rounds of creative juice.

Rick Anderson said...

I liked the do something you love post better...just saying.

sherry stanfa-stanley said...

Hahahaha!

Yeah. Sadly, this is pretty much a peek into my life.

And the word verification was "peakin." No lie.

Gary Baker said...

Can't help wondering what your other clients thought about the ".. my most talented author" remark.

Alexa said...

Fantastic. I feel like this most days.

Lynn(e) said...

I'm not going to lie, I was just bitten by the Shark. :/

CathrynLouis said...

Too funny.

J.P. Kurzitza said...

HILARIOUS!

Kati said...

I would suggest your friend needs a new side project or medium for creativity, but everybody's different. If he's not having fun anymore at his level, though, I think there's a problem. I hope he's not super-ritualized about his writing...that's something I struggle with and it can be so imprisoning.

I'm reading Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw. One essay is about a novelist named Ben Fountain who quit law to write; he had a self-described "dark period" that lasted for half a decade. o_O I guess it's important to not get too wrapped up in your method and just go for something new sometimes.

Shane Scollins said...

Wow those guys are amazing, what a brilliant solution, my books are going to sell millions of copies now.

I do think they are kidding themselves with that "instant" claim. But, I guess two hours is not a bad wait for such genius.

Laila Knight said...

LOL. That's just wrong. I sat there for two whole minutes before I realized you were pulling a fast one. Hey, they can do most of anything with electronics now. Why not tackle writer's block?

stacy said...

One of 'em just took out a bottle of Johnny Walker! LMAO!

Marsha Sigman said...

I watched that damn thing for ten minutes.

I want to make it my background now.

kitty said...

I know this is off topic, but I thought you'd like to hear Samuel L. Jackson reading Go the F--k to Sleep. :)

Wendy said...

I want that as a little pull-out window that I can park at the top of my screen while I'm doing some of that myself. At least I wouldn't feel like I'm staring off into space by myself.

Beth said...

Shit. You got me, too. Hilarious. I watched for at least three minutes. Wait. It's almost here. Soluting coming. I so bought into this. lol Can't wait to share with my writer friends.

Angie said...

Funny. Tell your writer to go to Italy, his block will disappear. Go to Puglia not Florence or Rome.

jessica handler said...

and... rimshot! Excellent, and I intend to use this when I teach.

Tawna Fenske said...

Ha! Is it wrong to admit I want to watch that all day just to see how long the video keeps going?

Tawna

A Writer from India said...

After that brilliant post on creativity having no boundaries, I had high hopes about this one! That was a sharky post, Ms. Reid, but thanks for the laugh :-)