Audacious Creativity Technique #1: 7-Day Mental Cleanse for Writers

Among the 12 most powerful keys for dissolving creative blocks and soaring as a creator is also perhaps the simplest: the mental flush. Use this technique first thing in the morning on a daily basis, and you'll soon notice you have a new degree of lucidity. Think of this flush as a process of dumping, a chance for the mind to let go.

Have you ever noticed how the first thought of the day often is the most vulnerable? That's because you release conscious control over your mental processes while you're asleep, and as you rise back into consciousness--in the moment just before you re-exert control--one last unconscious thought is picked up in the open: "I'm so angry with so-and-so!" "I feel terrible, GUILTY, about what I did last week!" "How am I ever going to get everything done on time? I'm in over my head." "Couldn't I just stay here in bed and rest some more?"

Your brain is readying you for the day and doing its best to make its priorities known; especially by revealing your innermost feelings--including those that are normally concealed. It feels dangerous and sticky to dwell on certain images, so your mind may immediately respond by shutting them down. Vulnerability is not normally a revered condition, although the longer I am a writer the more I appreciate it. When I compiled Audacious Creativity (2010), I became fascinated by what it took for contributors to deliver me a simple article. Some hemmed and hawed and resisted; others flowed their pieces out, seemingly effortlessly. I saw that the ones who wrote most freely did not avoid negativity, but had a way of responding to it that was healthy and simple.

Remember, all of this resistance of our thoughts and feelings happens in a flash. It's not something we necessarily do on purpose. It just is. The brain is tasked with keeping us alive, so it acts defensively. But when it comes time to create a life we love and really live forward toward our best intentions, ideally we want to be friendly with our subconscious thought streams--and this means letting them have their say. Good ideas are to be found in the recesses of the mind.

This is where the Mental Flush comes in. So, here are a few basic instructions.

Get out a clean piece of paper and a pen. For four minutes, write down every thought that comes into your head, without rushing, but also without pausing in the middle. You're going to throw away the output at the end, rather than save it. So you don't need to concern yourself with punctuation, grammar, or readability. Beyond giving your mind a chance to speak up, be heard and accepted, in this process you are enabling the rational mind to integrate the input of the feeling mind. Metaphysically you are recycling energy that otherwise will remain trapped inside your biofield.

At the end of four minutes, stop writing. Then throw away, shred, burn, or otherwise dispose of your handwritten pages. Resist the temptation to use this process for the generation of content. If you want to create good content, do the mental flush first, and then do your content-creation process second once your mind is clear.

Do mental flushing for a minimum of seven days in a row, and notice whether there is a shift in your consciousness. This prepares open space in your inner landscape where your inner creator can flourish and flow, functioning in peace and harmony.

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6 Interesting Blogs for Writers

There is a wealth of wonderful resources for writers in the blogosphere, all right at your fingertips to enjoy. Here are some of my favorites.

How I Met 10 Amazing Woman Bloggers: On Carol Tice's helpful "Make a Living Writing" blog, an excellent post on how to find good bloggers, plus a collection of 10 great women bloggers.

15 Blogging Tips I Wish I Knew When I Started: Also at "Make a Living Writing," this post covers a number of points that will help you skip over a lot of stumbling blocks as a blogger.

First Chapter Plus: This is a fantastic service that distributes an e-catalog of first chapters of new books to libraries, bookstores, readers, media, etc. A great way to get exposure and readers for your book.

The Author's Dilemma: To Blog or Not to Blog: This post outlines the various options for blogging: daily, weekly, issue-focused, or blogging with a group of people. Then it gives a great overview of what makes a good author blog, and the pros and cons of blogging for authors.

15 Must-Read Blogs for Blog Writers: A great collection of blogs that are worthy reading for those aiming to write a sucessful blog. Topics include writing, finance, and Internet business.

White Hot Truth: Danielle LaPorte is a writer, entrepreneur, and visionary whose blog consistently offers gems of inspiration, practical advice, and spiritual wisdom. Case in point: The "Open up Anyway" poem in her latest post.

Let me know if you find any others that I can share with the Get a Book Deal community.

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5 Fun Things to Do with Twitter

Anyone who knows me well enough has probably already heard me rave enthusiastically about the fun I'm having on Twitter. This social network is relevant to us as writers since it's a no-cost chance to promote our work, do research, and connect with people who share our interests.

In an article from Saurage Marketing Research's Key Findings, I learned that:

• Six % of American adults use Twitter.
• Young adults (18-29) use it most (14%), followed by those aged 30-49 (7%), 50-64 (6%), and 65+ (4%).
• Hispanics (18%) use it more than African Americans (13%) and Caucasians (5%).
• Urbanites (11%) use it more than suburbanites (8%) and rural dwellers (5%).

Depending on whom your writing serves, that demographic may be more or less likely to use Twitter. But once you're on, every demographic that's represented there is easy to target.

Once you're set up with a Twitter account (which involves choosing a moniker that defines you at essence--mine is @audaciouseditor--and crafting a tiny biographical statement that links people to your blog or website), here are five ways you can have some fun.

1. "Tweet This" Buttons. On the top right of the screen, next to your name, there is a down arrow. From the drop down menu, choose "Settings." At the bottom of the page, choose "Resources." Click through next to "Tweet Button." Here, you can generate the html code for a button saying, "Tweet this," which you can dump into a newsletter article or blog post. The beauty of customizing such buttons is that you can craft a tempting tweet, which will attract other Twitter users to want to explore the link they see on the Twitter wall. When a reader likes an article you wrote, he or she will hit this button and in seconds it will be posted.

2. Widgets. Still in the "Resources" area, you can click "Widgets." This solution creates a small box with moving parts, which can be displayed on your website or blog (stick it to one side) or even on your Facebook page. A widget scrolls recent posts on Twitter. These posts either come from you exclusively, a list of your favorite tweeters, or any search phrase/key word you think is relevant to your readers. You control the appearance and dimensions. If you're following a group of experts on behalf of your community, this enhances your role as a resource and insider.

3. Hash Marks. Attaching the hash mark (aka the "pound" key, which looks like this #), to any word or phrase enables you to search that word/phrase in all posted tweets. This introduces you to tweeters you wouldn't necessarily have met otherwise, who share your interests. For instance, you might try searching #MEDITATION or #TRAVEL or #QUOTE. You can then follow anyone whose posts you like, or retweet them to your own followers. This is terrific for research. And if you want new people to follow your activity, include a hash mark phrase at the end of your own posts. You can even set up a special event where a group of people can have a real-time conversation using an agreed-upon hash tag.

4. Automated Scheduling. There are a number of services--both free and for pay--through which you can schedule tweets ahead of time. This is good for product launches or just to make the most economical use of your time. It keeps you engaged with the Twitter community on a regular basis even at times you are disconnected from your computer or mobile devices. SocialOomph.com or HootSuite.com are two such services. Remember that posts have to be 140 characters or less. Prep your posts with live links, and shorten those links using tinyurl.com or bitly.com. Spend an hour developing a list of reusable tweets and inputting them once a week.

5. Mentions. On your home page, you may notice a button below the tweet box that reads "@mentions." This enables you to see which other users are mentioning you and circulating your posts or posting about you. Be sure to send them a thank you. Twitter is a conversation held in real-time and in public. A rule of thumb is to post your stuff 20% and other people's stuff 80%. Thanking keeps it alive. Mention other people offering information and opportunities that your own followers may enjoy. And understand that this act of altruism also will help you to build your list of followers. Every time you use the "at" sign--@--before a twitter name, your posts appear on that person's wall, exposing you to a whole new group of potential readers.

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Stephanie Gunning is a publishing consultant based in New York, N.Y. Her book Audacious Creativity is available both in paperback and Kindle editions.