Productive Pastimes - 3 Morale-Boosting Exercises

By Alina Chase

Glowing Embers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If your fiction is fizzling, your blog is “blah” or you just can’t stop surfing long enough to finish (or start) your latest project, maybe all you need is an ego boost. Try these creative exercises to broaden your perspective, renew your enthusiasm—and give yourself some well-earned kudos.

1-Write Rave Reviews

No rules! You’re making stuff up and nobody will see it. You have fresh ideas, a brilliant approach and phenomenal style, so… What will fans say? What will the editors and bloggers competing for personal interviews write? Will your favorite author write a rave review or trash you on Facebook (obviously jealous)?

2-Thank Your Supporters

Remember how many people believe in you. Then write acknowledgments. Thank family and friends for contributions and moral support. (Can you imagine how delighted they’ll be to see their names in print?) Thank living and long-dead authors for inspiration. And remember to thank your future agent/publicist/producer for helping you launch a remarkable new blockbuster.

3-Write a Dedication

Tear-jerking or comical, public acknowledgement or private joke, a dedication will refuel ambition. Dedicate your book to an individual, a small circle of friends or to a group of professionals or volunteers you admire. Or think five years forward, dedicating it to the college professor who said you would –never- succeed as a writer. (But you did…so there!)

Dig deep to get to the heart of why you’re writing and who you’re writing for. Get arrogant, sappy, spiteful, funny. Nobody's grading these exercises, so have fun with them! One belly laugh, one tingling of renewed spirit or one new insight into this inexplicable craving we have to write may be all it takes to get your writing back on track.