Today I was thinking about what you like in the background as you write? Music is the most likely background. I flick on the radio to an oldies station and then I ignore it completely while I write. Some of it likely leaks into my brain but I couldn't tell you even one of the songs that played.

Anyway, today as I was working I thought of a new background inspiration. Smell! So, I bought 4 bottles of aromatherapy/ cologne stuff. (I found some fairly cheap at the department store). I bought two of the Gingerlily so I could give one to my Mom for Mother's Day. Here are the four scents: Gingerlily (for positivity), Green Tea (for enlightening), Tangerine (for energizing) and Jasmine (for sensuality). How does that sound? Well, it smells great. Gingerlily is especially interesting, though the smell fades faster than the others.

I bought them to give me a boost when I'm writing. You know those days when you feel like all your words have already been written, all your ideas have already been explored and all your thoughts are stale, having breathed their last during the first Ice Age. On those kinds of days an appeal to a different sense might help. After all, we may write about smells but we don't use much of our sense of smell while writing. Its not so easy to tune out as the white noise of the radio either.

So, if you're looking for some extra inspiration or something to keep you going give my idea a try. Or come up with something that appeals more to you.

"I'm an optimistic writer. I don't want to ignore the ills of the world; I want to offer workable alternatives to those ills. I want to remind people of the wonders that do exist, and those that might. "- Charles de Lint

I wrote this in my blog tonight. What do you think? Do you feel the same way?

You have no idea what a big fraud I feel like. I'm no expert in or about anything and yet here I am writing newsletters for Pagans, travelers, gardeners, decorators, and so on. Who do I think I am? But, more than that why do they listen to me? There's the real mystery.

It's weird isn't it? When I'm writing I have in my mind the critic who keeps shouting over my shoulder that someone could poke their eye out if they listen to me. But, I keep going. I keep writing anyway. The sending for publishing part is even harder than the original writing part. If you actually try to publish your unexpertness someone is bound to catch you and report you as the fraud you are.

I admit I know nothing beyond the contents of my own brain. Maybe that's good enough. I do have a lot up there after all.

Those brain contents and our research are all any of us have to go on really. Think about that next time you feel like you're a writing fraud. If someone can read your words and come away with something concrete or something they see as good then you're doing your job as a writer. You don't have to be the perfect expert with all the answers. Sometimes it just takes someone to write it, even if all they really know are the questions.

Happy Writing and Happy Spring!

Squelch your own pessimism. Grab it in a claw hold and squeeze relentlessly until you feel it oozing out between your fingers, put the screws to it just as it's been doing to you for far too long. Kill it, kill it now! Crazed laughter echoes around the room

There! Now don't you feel better? Isn't it time you gave yourself a break? You know you can write, the mechanics are there for anyone to read, study and perfect. The heart of writing and the style are things you bring from within yourself. You know you have plenty to say, endless thoughts and stories to tell. So, what's holding you back? Pessimism, that bloated ghost of "I can't" rotting away your optimism and spirit of adventure. So, fight back. Take back your words and get them on the page in spite of all the reasons you're afraid to take the chance.

Do you think the editors of the world are going to be peeved at you for submitting your work? Of course they won't. They need content. Don't be stupidly careless and submit your work without proofreading, that's a given, right?! So, don't let fear of editors hold you back. They want what you've got. You just have to send it to them cause they have no way of knowing you've got what they want.

What else do you fear or let hold you back? Family and friends not quite fully on your side? Get those people out of your mind. You can't ignore them but you could push them to the back seats long enough to get your writing going. Besides, most of them will shut up when you have a couple of cheques to show for your work. That's really what their biggest argument is about. At least in every case I've heard so far. I have to wonder in my case, are they attacking the writing career or me? Bet you wonder the same thing though you may never put it into words. However, if you can get the career off the ground, that will become a moot point. So do yourself a favour and just keep on trucking... err writing. Keep trying and have faith in yourself.

What else brings you into major pessimistic mode? Those are the biggest two for me. Lack of faith in myself due to family/ friends and lack of faith that anything I write could possibly of interest or good enough for an editor to put into print. But, it's interesting that in spite of my lack of faith in myself other people feel just the opposite. If you look I'm sure you can find people who think you're wrong about yourself too. Somewhere there is someone who is your biggest fan and it's not just that optimist inside your own head. Look for your fans, support them as they support you. When the pessimism gets hold of you the best thing you can do is remember your fans and drive ahead through the storm till you get to the other side.

Good luck to all of us.

How do you get ideas? It's not like you sit down in front of your computer and automatically you know what you are going to write about and how you are going to write it. Not each and every time anyway. There is some planning and organizing involved.

I keep a messy idea file. Most of it is in a notebook which I keep in my purse. I use it to note down the ideas as they occur to me. But, ideas tend to pop up at the worst times, as far as being able to make notes. That's because its usually when I'm doing something else that I get my best ideas. Driving along to work, running a bit late, suddenly I have a great idea for a new story. I can't just pull over and start writing. Traffic would be in a mess for one thing.

So, I try to remember my idea until I can write it down. Usually I do this by focusing on a key word and depending on that to jog my memory later. It doesn't always work but it's something.

Anyway, back to how you get ideas. If you're lucky you find an idea in something already published. Those can be kept easily enough. Just get a copy of the article and store it in an idea file at home. Try to keep them organized so they actually are useful and not just a collection of paper you will use 'someday'.

Other ideas can come from freewriting and brainstorming. Two versions of the same thing. Freewriting is just letting yourself write, without stopping to think too much along the way. Write until you're finished. Ignore proper grammar, don't check spelling and leave punctuation nitpicking for later. Just write everything that comes to mind about a topic or don't even start with any one topic in mind. Brainstorming is the same but I always think of it as making a list of points more than writing in sentences.

Need more ideas? Read! Start with the newspaper and work your way along to magazines, books, newsletters, cereal boxes and so on and so on. The more you know about the more you will bring into your range. You could be writing about buttery toast and add in all kinds of information from what you know about butter, safe use of knives, etc. But, if you don't know about using a knife to butter toast you won't know to write about it. If you don't know what to look for you won't find it.

Something I do when looking for ideas to add links to my BackWash column is randomly combining words. Just think of topics, things you are interested in and put them together in ways you've never thought of before. It's really interesting what you can come up with. Sometimes you find really unique ideas this way. Best of all is finding a group of people who have had the same ideas. That is always a gold mine to a writer, a research gem.

However you get ideas, don't forget to talk to people. Talk about all kinds of stuff. Everyone has different life experiences, you can't experience everything yourself. So learn to pick up what you can along the way from the people you bump into. Great ideas are all around you it's just a matter of keeping your senses open to them. If you do get stuck, take a break. You're most likely to come up with something when you stop trying too hard.

I've long denied the existence of writer's block. I've had no shortage of things to write about, if I took a minute to think. But, the past two weeks I have run into a dry spell.

Not block, just a bit of aridness in the brain cells that control my freedom of thought. I mean, I can write. My fingers are firing away here as I type this and I'm thinking of all sorts of ways to twist myself up in the words. But, the ideas are a bit on the stale to non existent side.

So, you're going to have to make do with links this week. No worries, I'm sure this is temporary. I've always found it easy to come up with ideas. I think it's more a mood thing than a writer thing. After all, I've had the same job for almost 6 months now. Six months in a row even! I need a trip, something to break up the long hours of employment. I'm thinking of an over night hotel trip to some small townish place, sometime after the Easter holidays, right after pay day. Travel, it's good for the mind!

Happy writing!