The Canadian English Dictionary will be the first new general Canadian dictionary of English in two decades. It is being developed by a not-for-profit consortium including Editors Canada, the UBC Canadian English Lab, and the Strathy Language Unit at Queen’s University.
Writing may be the loneliest profession. We begin alone with a blank in front of us. Alone, we must come up with something from inside our well of experience, knowledge, intellect to fill the void and create something which someone else can enjoy and understand. You may never literally bleed onto a page (outside of papercuts) but we do leave something of ourselves imprinted in everything we write, non-fiction included.
No wonder we get writer's block. Writer's burn out. Writer's run dry and writer's can lack inspiration. Writer's can lack motivation too but often the necessities like bill paying and the onslaught of a deadline will help with motivation.
Is there a Cure for Writer's Block? Are you so stuck you can't imagine writing another word? Ever?
Of course not. You can write as easily as you can read. So write a grocery list. Give it a spin. Write something else ordinary next.
After awhile you'll be itching to write something less ordinary again.
What do you do when you can't find the inspiration to write?
I've thought about changes to the structure of my story and how I use narration, or don't use it all. Should I change the point of view to another character? I've thought about great ways I can mess up a character who has become too good to be true. I've written about how I feel about writing in notes to myself. I'm making an effort to vary sentence length in fiction and non-fiction - something I was working on but forgot about.
Every writer goes through a dry spell. We all need to have some inspiration at some point. It helps all those times we are alone, sitting with a blank, empty page in front of us, depending on our wits to fill it with greatness.
He came to an unexpected fork in the road. It wasn't on the map he'd been given.
Still, there was the choice of left or right, or to just go back and forget about the whole trip. But, having started this mad adventure it seemed a good time to keep going, to not give up. So, left or right... To the right he could plainly see the road leading to the town, fairly far in the distance yet. To the left, the road led into a dark forest. Studying the road, it seemed to disappear into the darkness thick with trees.
Well, what was an adventure without some mystery, a little danger, a bit of risk? He was a master of all the video games he had ever tried... no problem.
He walked to the left, into the forest, and was never seen again.
Writing Prompt: Pick a phrase you hear, something that tends to stick in your mind. Write a really short story around it.
A monthly zine prompt to spark creativity.
Other zine writer/publisher resources I found this week:
Working with the University of Guelph.
Our archive showcases over 200 Ontario diarists from 1800 to 1960. Discover and Meet the Diarists are good places to get acquainted with these people from the past. Learn how to unlock the riches within their daily entries and escape into the past. You can read and Search through typed nineteenth-century diaries. Help us Transcribe other handwritten ones online to make these valuable sources accessible to all.