the best way to beat writers’ block

Here are sixteen activities that can help you tap into the creative part of the brain and get you jazzed to put pen to paper. Many of them are completely unrelated to writing, but in my experience that’s the best way to beat writers’ block. Bookmark it for the next time you’re out of creative juice!

1. Tackle that problem area in your home. The icky kitchen floor, the less than dazzling-clean fridge, the drawer that desperately needs organizing. Cleaning something ‘til it sparkles white can truly set the tone for a productive and refreshed few hours of creativity.

2. Do something extremely generous. Call an overly busy friend and ask her what she needs from the shops today. Offer to babysit for an hour for your stressed out neighbor this weekend. Go drop off that killer dress to the friend who has a wedding to attend this weekend. Generosity is calming and uplifting. Practicing generosity regularly deserves our attention and helps us get out of our own minds for a few minutes.

3. Walk or drive to your nearest independently owned coffee shop. Order your favorite hot beverage, make interesting conversation with your barista, and leave a generous tip. Return home with caffeine, a smile, and triple the energy to write!

4. Use your hands to make something awesome. A card for your niece, a flower arrangement for your Ma, scones for your colleagues. Experimenting with your hands taps into your creativity and helps you get centered.

5. Throw all that unnecessary stuff out—books, clothes, magazines, CDs you never listen to, take-out fliers. Recycle. Notice how refreshing the cleanse feels.

6. Stretch, just ike you used to in gym school. You’ll feel waves of energy flow right through you.

7. Get three ugly things you’ve been dreading doing out of the way. Pay that bill. Reply to that email. Cancel that subscription. Enjoy the small achievements and clear up mind-space for fantastic ideas to pour in.

8. Try a brain-dump on 750 words of drivel, for no-one else to see but yourself. Now that’s out of the way, start writing the good stuff.

9. Music. Tune into a genre that you once loved but barely listen to anymore. TuneinFM has stellar reggae, jazz, and 60s soul stations. Dancing is optional, but highly recommended!

10. Be someone’s anonymous angel today. Order the book your friend really needs to read right now and drop it off at his door. Buy a stressed out relative a gift voucher and send it anonymously. Do a chore your spouse usually dreads and don’t mention it.

11. Email an author you love and admire, and tell them what you love about their work. Let them know specifically how it has impacted you. Don’t expect a reply; simply express your gratitude. Hitting send is optional.

12. Go somewhere you’ve never been before but have always been curious about. Head to that park, library, or café you always drive past, and take your pen and paper. Delight in the adventure, and notice how new environments awaken your senses.

13. Spend fifteen minutes looking over an old photo album of happy memories, online or off. Relish in the good times, lighten up and laugh. Close that file, and get to work.

14. Shower, put on some lipstick or aftershave, and get ridiculously dressed up for no reason. Make a huge pot of tea or coffee, sit at your desk, and fantasize that you’re Virginia Woolf or Ernest Hemingway. What would they do right now? Write!

15. Read a chapter of your absolutely favorite, life-changing, earth-shattering novel. Close it, take five, and go pen your own masterpiece.

16. I’ve saved the best ‘til last, because this one never fails: Rain or shine, head out in nature, walk for twenty minutes, and breathe. Go home and write your little toosh off.

There you have it. Any other red-hot energizing ideas you’d like to invite to the party?

PRACTICE

sumber : web

Ritual Menulis

Is one of your goals writing more, or writing more regularly? If so, establishing some simple rituals may be helpful.  Many writers do have a ritual and sometimes they’re pretty strange.

Honore de Balzac drank gallons of coffee—possibly as many as 50 cups a day.

Truman Capote said “I can’t think unless I’m lying down.”

Victor Hugo wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame while nude (so he wouldn’t be tempted to leave the house and do something more enjoyable instead). He did allow himself to wear a large shawl against the cold.

Maya Angelou liked to write in hotel rooms, “a tiny, mean room with just a bed and sometimes, if I can find it, a face basin.”

Obviously the answer is to write in a hotel room in the nude while lying down and drinking a lot of coffee. Or maybe not.

And there are a few probably best avoided, like Friedrich Schiller’s trove of rotten apples. His wife said he could write only when stimulated by that smell.

Some writers have a ritual that gets them started. It’s a way of separating everything else in the day from the time to write. This can be moving to a particular location. Joseph Heller wrote Catch-22 in the evenings sitting at his kitchen table. Thomas Mann worked in his study between 9am and noon.

The location itself can also become associated with being productive. Vladimir Nabokov liked to write in a parked car.

Another ritual is reading something before you start writing. John Milton, who was blind, had someone read to him from the Bible for 30 minutes before mentally composing lines that a helper later would write down.

Linking writing with another activity also works for some. Wallace Stevens wrote his poetry while walking. He used slips of paper and later had a secretary type what he’d jotted down. Not a bad idea for us mostly sedentary types!

Some writers swear by using a particular kind of pen—probably now supplanted by using a particular software program or specific font.

John Steinbeck always kept a dozen sharpened pencils on his writing desk.

Andre Dumas used different color papers for different types of writing (fiction on blue, and when he ran out he felt his fiction was not as good).

It can also be useful to have a ritual or practice with which to end your writing session.  This can be as simple as recording on a chart the number of words or pages you wrote, or putting away the pen or pencil you write with if you write longhand, or setting a timer for your writing period and stopping when it buzzes, even if you are in mid-sentence (Hemingway advised stopping mid-sentence so that you always had something to start with the next day).

Obviously the best rituals are ones that don’t take much time. You could put on a particular bit of music or read a couple of pages of inspirational prose. Or you could put on a cap or hat that you wear only when writing. If you have a ritual that works for you, feel free to share it here.

sumber : web

Kunjungan Bukune

Alhamdulillah program Author Visit dari Bukune telah diselenggarakan 30 November kemarin. 
Hadir mbak Riawany dari Kepri dan mbak Iwied dari Jakarta. Sekitar seratus-an peserta hadir mengisi Aula Pesantren Alfattah yang luas. 

Berikut ini beberapa oleh-oleh yang didapat dalam sharing tersebut :

mantra nulis: komitmen, konsisten, ngotot. Komitmen utk nulis sampai selesai dan komitmen nulis yang bagus

yg hrs dimiliki penulis MRT Motivasi, Rencana, Target. 

menulis adl aktivitas integral antara pikiran, perasaan&wawasan.ketiganya hrs sinergi, shg butuh power.

langkah nulis novel:rencanakan, outline, tulis, self editing, kirimkan, tunggu konfirmasi

ide didpt dr:perhatikan sekitar, amati dg seksama, baca&nonton film, what if, pinjam kisah, tulislah apa sj, siapkan buku kata2 keren, catat mimpimu, cari pemandangan berbeda utk dpt inspirasi yg beda

tulisan bermanfaat tdk selalu krn ada pesan yg ekstrensik. Tp bahkan tlsn yg menghibur&bikin org tertawa&fresh itu juga bermanfaat

tulisan bergaya bhs populer seringkali jd pintu bg mrk yg tadinya blm minat membaca,utk kemudian tertarik membaca. The rest is history

PREMIS

Di saat membaca sebuah karya tulis, kadang karya tulis tersebut melekat kuat dalam ingatan kita sebagai pembaca, tak jarang karena kuatnya ide sentral yang dibawakannya. Pun, di saat kita menulis, terutama cerita, baik cerpen atau novel, ada satu ‘tema besar’ yang kita bawakan dalam cerita itu. Tema besar tersebut menjadi sebuah ide pokok, yang nantinya bisa dikembangkan sehingga menjadi satu cerita yang utuh. Tema besar itu bisa juga disebut premis. Sebelum memulai menulis, ada baiknya jika kita mencoba untuk membayangkan sebuah premis yang ingin kita sampaikan dalam cerita. Menentukan premis sebelum menulis bisa membantu kita untuk memberikan gambaran atau bayangan kemana cerita itu akan kita tuliskan. Premis itu bisa kita kembangkan lagi ke dalam subpremis.

Misalnya, dalam salah satu novel sastra karya Mochtar Lubis, Jalan Tak Ada Ujung, premisnya atau tema besarnya adalah ‘Menghadapi ketakutan.’ Dari awal hingga akhir cerita, hal tersebut menjadi ide sentral dari jalan cerita. Bagaimana seorang guru, Guru Isa, selalu merasa ketakutan karena hidup di zaman penjajahan. Ketakutan itu, menjadi tema besarnya. Dan untuk ‘membumbui’ tulisan tersebut, tema ketakutan itu diperluas lagi menjadi subpremis-subpremis, seperti pergolakan batinnya sendiri, masalah yang dihadapinya dalam rumah tangganya, ketakutan akan ditangkap oleh penjajah, keinginan untuk pergi dari rumah, dan seterusnya. Namun, semua subpremis itu tetap ada dalam satu benang merah: yakni bagaimana Guru Isa menghadapi ketakutannya tersebut.

Contoh lain untuk cerpen, adalah cerita pendek yang terkenal, Robohnya Surau Kami, karangan A. A. Navis. Membaca cerpen ini, kita bisa menangkap garis besar yang ingin disampaikan penulis, yakni pentingnyahabluminannas, pentingnya hubungan antar-sesama manusia. Premis tersebut kemudian dikembangkan menjadi subpremis seperti terlalu sibuk beribadah tanpa mempedulikan lingkungan sekitar, dialog dengan Tuhan, matinya sang penjaga surau karena bunuh diri, dan seterusnya. Subpremis tersebut adalah bumbu yang memperkuat premis di atas.

Sebagai penulis yang baik, kita bisa mencoba untuk memikirkan premis kita terlebih dahulu, mencoba untuk menyampaikan hal yang menjadi ide sentral dalam tulisan kita. Salah satu keuntungan bagi penulis yang memiliki premis sejak awal, yakni membuat tulisan tersebut menjadi sangat ‘kuat’ dalam tema, tidak terkesan sembarangan, dan ceritanya tak mengarah ke subtopik yang tak ada hubungannya. Dengan begitu, tulisan akan lebih terarah, dan juga konsisten dari awal hingga akhirnya. Dalam novel Harry Potter yang terkenal itu pun, mempunyai satu premis besar, yakni ‘Bertahan Hidup’. Premis tersebut, adalah acuan yang membuat novel tersebut konsisten menceritakan tentang pengalaman Harry Potter bertahan hidup dari buku satu hingga tujuh. Berbagai kejadian lain yang Harry Potter alami, seperti kehilangan orangtua, berhadapan dengan musuh-musuhnya, dan seterusnya, tak lain hanya pengembangan dari premis ‘Bertahan hidup’ tersebut.

Disadari atau tidak, setiap penulis yang baik akan berusaha membawa premis tertentu dalam karyanya. Premis tersebut, bisa kita tangkap secara jelas, karena langsung tertuliskan, bisa juga terasa samar, karena tak diungkapkan terang-terangan. Namun alangkah baiknya, kita juga sebagai pembaca yang baik, tak hanya membaca secara sepintas, namun berusaha menangkap apa tema besar yang ingin disampaikan oleh penulis. Sehingga kita bisa menjadi pembaca yang baik, yang bisa mendapatkan ‘sesuatu’ dari apa yang dibaca, tidak begitu saja menguap dan menghilang begitu selesai membaca. 

sumber : juzzythinks/wordpress

7 deadly sin of writing

In a thought-provoking, writing tips based ThrillerFest panel provided by WD managing editor Zachary Petit, four popular authors shared what they believe to be the deadly sins of the writing craft. Here are seven of their offerings. Have you committed any of them?

1. Laziness
(David Hewson, author of the Nic Costa series)
Intellectual laziness is something all writers are prone to: as in writing the same type of book, and doing it annually. “I think you really have to fight against laziness and constantly keep challenging yourself.” Like great art, books aren’t ever finished—they’re abandoned. (In other words, don’t just finish writing a first draft and call it a day.)

2. Trying to be a good student
(Lisa Gardner, author of The Killing Hour)
Gardner said it’s a thrill to rope a lot of cool forensic facts in the research process. But the danger is in going home and regurgitating all of them in your novel—“When really thrillers are all about entertaining. …” Keep that story moving forward.

3. Marching down the outline
(John Sandford, author of Buried Prey)
This occurs when you sit down to write and follow your outline exactly. Sandford said some people use an outline like a frame, and merely embroider within it. Outlining is fine, but sticking too closely to it can stifle your story. “If you do outline, you have to be aware of the problems that that kind of thing can cause.”

4. Denying jealousy 
(M.J. Rose, author of The Hypnotist)
“I try to not allow myself to be jealous of other writers and the books they’ve written,” Rose said—but in fact, she believes it’s a good thing to let some of that jealousy seep through. So don’t bottle it up. “I think it’s really healthy to let yourself have the full range of emotions.”

5. Focusing too heavily on the business
(Sandford)
One of Sandford’s friends obsesses over the business end of writing—his friend writes a book, and then gets lost in all of the trappings of business and promotion … “to the exclusion of actually writing novels.”

6. Not reading books 
(Rose)
Reading is essential for writers. Rose cited a study that said that 23 percent of people in the United States want to be writers. If all of them read 10 books a year, Rose said, “We’d all be doing a lot better.”

7. Imitation
(Hewson)
There is a difference between imitating a book, and being influenced by a book. Hewson added that it’s valuable to figure out why you think certain things work in the books you read, and why others don’t.

sumbr :http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-7-deadly-sins-of-writing

PLOTTING

1. Plot adalah alur atau struktur dari sebuah rangkaian cerita yang tersusun secara berkesinambungan

2. Plot sangat penting untuk menjaga agar cerita kalian tetap pada tempatnya

3. Ada 3 macam plot, yaitu plot flash-back, plot flash-forward dan plot campuran

3a. Plot flash-back (alur balik) digunakan untuk menampilkan kisah pada masa yang lalu
3b. Lalu pada plot flash-forward (alur maju) digunakan untuk menampilkan kisah saat ini hingga beberapa waktu yang akan datang
3c. Ada juga yang menggunakan plot campuran dimana menceritakan masa lalu tokoh dan kisahnya saat ini

4. Secara sederhana, plot dibagi menjadi 3 bagian: awal, tengah dan akhir cerita

5. Secara lebih rinci, plot dibagi menjadi 5 bagian: Pengenalan, Konflik, Klimaks, Post-Konflik dan Penyelesaian Konflik (Ending)

5a. Pada pengenalan, tokoh-tokoh dalam novel diperkenalkan, terutama peran tokoh utama harus ditonjolkan

5b. Bagian pengenalan ini penting sebagai pengantar pembaca agar memahami konflik yang akan terjadi

5c. Misalnya menjelaskan tentang siapa Rama, bagaimana kehidupannya serta apa goal yang ingin dicapainya 

6. Konflik ~> Pada bagian ini dikisahkan kendala-kendala yang menghalangi tokoh dalam mencapai tujuannya.

6a. Biasanya, pada bagian ini mulai dihadirkan tokoh antagonis

6b. Oh ya, ada 3 macam konflik yaitu konflik antar-tokoh, konflik internal dan konflik impersonal

7. Klimaks ~> Inilah bagian terpenting dari sebuah cerita yang menentukan seberapa berhasilnya karyamu!

7a. Karena pada klimaks inilah puncak permasalahan dijabarkan
7b. Pada klimaks, kita membangun partisipasi pembaca, untuk mampu berimajinasi bahkan berkeinginan untuk menjadi sang tokoh utama
7c. Oleh karena itu pada penjabaran klimaks, pengembangan karakter, setting serta suasana sangat dibutuhkan 

8. Post-Konflik (Antiklimaks) ~> Merupakan suatu tahapan dimana puncak masalah (klimaks) mulai menemukan jalan keluar

9. Penyelesaian Masalah (Ending) ~> Bagian yang manjabarkan akhir dari konflik dan klimaks yang terjadi

10.Bagaimana cara membuat plot? Mudah. Kamu bisa menggunakan mindmap (peta pikiran)