calling my woot! part one

July 6th 2014. What's so important about that date you ask? Well, only that it's the last day I've written anything, unless you count this blog. And why haven't I written anything since July 6th you ask? Well, it's not because I've been lazy or unmotivated. It's because I been blocked. I've had writer's block! To be perfectly honest I've never really had writer's block in all the years I've been writing, only motivation problems. But now, for the first time, I'll sit down to write and nothing is coming out! I don't know where to take my story. I don't have any ideas! This has been going on since July 6th.
    Rather than wallow in my writing problems by stuffing my face and watching DVDs I decided I must find creative ways to get myself out of this rut. So, I've been reading articles about writing in effort to get my writing juices flowing again. A member of my writer's support group gave me an interesting article called The  Four Characteristics of Author Attitude and Why you Need them by Nina Amir. It talks about the importance of willingness, optimism, objectivity and tenacity, which make the acronym woot! Anyhow, willingness means to be able to sit back and reflect upon where one is as an author/writer and what it will take to get one where he/she wants to go. Am I willing to look at my self objectively and change some of my old habits and/or beliefs in order to get myself where I want to be? I would add to ''willingness'' by saying am I ready to take risk!
    Objectivity means can one look at their work/idea from a business standpoint. This means to craft ones work to meet industry standards and needs, which are always focused on marketability and sales in the end. You have to be willing and able to take criticism and make changes that you, as the author, may not be able to see or understand. Authors are very close to their work, I know this for a fact, but learning to see/write it in a way that would appeal to masses of people is a skill in and of itself. It's like a comedian telling a joke that's funny to him/her but not considering whether their audience will get it.
    I just realized that I skipped optimism and went straight to objectivity, which tells me that I'm not focused on what I'm doing. Luckily there both O words in the acronym. Anyhow, I'm going to split this post into two parts and go focus on stuffing my face and watching some DVDs. Hay, I didn't say I never wallowed in my writing problems!