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    Writing Emergency - 99 Tricks for Busting Through Writer's Block
    Writing Emergency - 99 Tricks for Busting Through Writer's Block
    Writing Emergency - 99 Tricks for Busting Through Writer's Block
    Ebook137 pages1 hour

    Writing Emergency - 99 Tricks for Busting Through Writer's Block

    By Kate Danley

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    About this ebook

    Writer's block.

    It's not just in your head.

    Bust through the blank with ninety-nine tips and tricks from USA Today bestselling author Kate Danley.

    Kate Danley is the winner of the Garcia Award, the Panowski Playwriting award, and has sold over half-a-million books globally.  She wrote thirty books and twenty plays over the course of eight years. 

    She now opens up about her secrets to productivity in quick, easy, actionable exercises to get you and your muse on speaking terms.

    You may have ninety-nine writer's problems, but Kate Danley will give you solutions for battling every one.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKatherine Danley
    Release dateDec 16, 2018
    ISBN9781386700005
    Writing Emergency - 99 Tricks for Busting Through Writer's Block
    Author

    Kate Danley

    Kate Danley, an award-winning actress, playwright, and author, is a member of the Acme Comedy Improv and sketch troupes in Los Angeles. Her plays have been produced in New York, Los Angeles, and the Washington, DC/Baltimore area. Danley’s screenplay Fairy Blood won first place in the Breckenridge Festival of Film screenwriting competition in the action/adventure category. Her debut novel, The Woodcutter, was honored with the Garcia Award for the best fiction book of the year, was the first place fantasy book in the Reader Views Literary Awards, and the winner of the sci-fi/fantasy category of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Kate currently lives in Burbank, California, and works by day as office manager for education and exhibits at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

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      Book preview

      Writing Emergency - 99 Tricks for Busting Through Writer's Block - Kate Danley

      Dedication

      To the Acme

      Introduction

      It feels like staring into a hole.  You search for inspiration and there is...

      Nothing. 

      You're a writer, you tell yourself.  You can do this!

      You put your hand on your keyboard.  You stare at the blank page before you.

      And are greeted by the darkness. 

      All your hopes and dreams crash down around you as you find yourself...

      Stuck.

      Listen, nothing annoys me more than authors who say there is no such thing as writer's block.  It's akin to Mozart wondering why everyone can't hear a full symphony in their head. 

      How very special for them that they have never experienced this hell.

      I'm here to say that writer's block is real.

      And if you've bought this book because you're stuck?  That's awesome!  You're normal.  You're in the right place!  This is the part of the writing gig that keeps people from ever finishing their Great American Novel.  Writing is hard.  So congrats on joining the ranks of almost every author in the world, and congrats on being brave enough to look for a solution. 

      My name is Kate Danley and I'm an author.  I write full-time.  I've sold over 750k books globally, a book of mine hit the USA Today bestseller list, I'm both traditionally published and self-published (they call it hybrid in the biz), won a bunch of awards, I have a film and television option for one of my series, I've written over thirty books and a metric crapton of plays.

      And I get writer's block.

      Listen, I'm a hack.  I am not a literary darling.  I do not have an MFA.  I do not have the luxury of ruminating over thoughtful thoughts as a fat advance keeps the creditors at bay.  I write or I don't eat.  My ability to keep a roof over my head is solely reliant on my ability to churn out words as quickly as possible and get them into the market before the electric bill is due.  I have to do four books a year minimum, and I gotta say that when you're facing those sorts of realities, you cannot afford to get writer's block. 

      But I do get writer's block.

      And you know what that makes me?  An expert on how to get those creative wheels rolling again lickety-split!  I can get the party started when my soul feels like a grumpy 13-year-old being urged by a dowdy chaperone to dance.

      This book is not meant to be read in order.  This is an All Hands on Deck emergency toolbox.  It is Things-To-Try-When-It-Appears-All-Your-Talent-Has-Left-You-and-You'll-Never-Write-Again. I've kept things quick-n-easy so you don't have to wade through a lot of words to get to the tools you need.  This is a Writer Emergency and no one has time for that!  You've got ninety-nine tips and tricks to get you through this rough patch and, I promise, one of them will haul you out of your rut.

      Flip open to a page. 

      Try the exercise. 

      If it doesn't work?  Flip to another page and try that one.

      I use language related to novels and plays, but trust the rules are all the same when it comes to getting yourself out of the suck.  We are all one in this pit of despair. 

      * fist bump of solidarity * 

      Now let's get cracking!  Into the fray!  Yeehaw!

      #1 - Believe You Can Do This

      Everything you have accomplished in your life has started with a decision.

      Decide you are going to write this thing.

      Decide you are capable.

      Decide that it may get rough, but you will tackle the challenges and not back down.

      I know so many people who want to write but never choose to make it a priority.

      Decide.

      Right now.

      #2 – Recognize This is Gonna Suck

      I'm going to let you in on a little secret.

      Writing is terrible.

      There is not a single professional writer alive who has not, at some point, questioned their life choices.

      But I'm going to ask you to trust in delayed gratification.

      Because just as much as this writing sucks, oh... the feeling of having written.

      It comes with a sense of profound satisfaction.  There is a joy that makes you feel like you could leap over hills and dales.  Putting down that final period in that final scene?  Your heart will soar!

      But you cannot experience that level of happiness and wholeness unless you finish your project.  So buckle in.  Lean into the harness.  Accept the fact that this is gonna suck.

      But hope is on the horizon.  It will get better.  It will be worth it.

      I promise.

      #3 – Romancing the Book

      Make your writing time a celebration.  Give yourself a hit of happiness.  Your brain likes dopamine. 

      Light some candles.  Put on cozy socks.  Turn on music that relates to your story.  Take yourself out on a cool adventure for research.  What do you imagine big, fancy writers doing when they write?  Do that.

      Yes, writing is ultimately just the words you put down on the page. 

      But your whole life fuels those words. 

      If writing is a drudgery, your brain will rebel.  It will sit like an angry two-year-old being told to put on their coat, even if there is a blizzard raging outside.

      Writing is about play.

      Writing is the ultimate game of pretend and you are inviting people to

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