Welcome, Brave Writers.
O Writers! Do you Suffer from Writer's-Block? The Fiction-Writing Directorate can Help!
Our Exhortations will Inspire you; our Exercises will Strengthen you; and the Ancient Art of Shiva Nata will Enlighten you.
Read! Write! Flourish!
Or Else.
Subsiste statim sermonem et scribe.
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By Ethelie, on January 28th, 2011%
Ethelie
O my little Mangolias! Welcome to another Edition of Clear the Decks Friday, in which we complete our most Troublesome Tasks together. For Clearing ones Decks has a Salubrious and Invigorating affect; and many Agents find themselves Turning to their Writing with renewed Vigour.
Let us Begin!
Today I wish to expound on the numberless Benefits of a time-Honored productivity Tool: the humble Timer. The Fiction-Writing Directorate employs Timers in a variety of Manners. My Favorite is to place the Recalcitrant Writer on a platform suspended over a Pit of Ravenous Wolverines, and set a Timer. If the Writer completes his or . . . → Read More: Clear the Decks Friday: on Timers
By Lida, on January 21st, 2011%
Darlings! Is it Friday again? How delicious.
I feel I should apologize for not getting this post up sooner so that all you early-birds might benefit from it; but I’m afraid I was busy with some terribly important sleeping-in. Scrumptious! But alas, the delightful parts of my day have finished, and I have no choice but to turn my attention to my dreary List of Loathsome Labours.
Of course they’re loathsome; I’ve been putting them off all week, and for very good reason. All are difficult or dull or dastardly or annoyingly alliterative; the very thought of them causes me to turn . . . → Read More: Clear the Decks Friday: Less Loathsome Lists
By Gustav, on January 15th, 2011%
The Lovely and Brave Miss Cornelius
[When the Fiction-Writing Directorate stepped out from years of shadowy silence to embrace the brave new world of the internet and its values of authenticity and transparency, I set myself the task of telling the tragic and illuminating tale of Miss Callista Cornelius. Before I told much of the tale, however, I was viciously attacked by an unknown assailant. To my shame, I let my cowardice get the better of me, and fell silent.
Miss Cornelius, however, deserves better; and thus I shall resume her tale.
You may wish to re-read the first installment of this series. . . . → Read More: Miss Cornelius Meets the Director
By Lida, on January 14th, 2011%
Lida
Darlings! Last week’s Clearing of the Decks was so deliciously invigorating that I volunteered to lead this week’s. I’m thrilled!
I have a huge mountain of work that I’ve been avoiding recently. It began as the kind of perfectly ordinary avoidance where I didn’t even remember the job until it was far too late in the evening and I was already ensconced in my cozy zeppelin with a burly admirer (or two) and a bottle (or two) of champagne, conditions under which performing my Directorate duties would clearly be implausible, if not impossible.
The Cycle of Shame
Then I remembered the work, and . . . → Read More: Clear The Decks Friday: One Tiny Step
By Lida, on January 13th, 2011%
Beth
Last week, I introduced you to Shiva Nata. Now it’s time to tell you the most important part: it’s all about doing it wrong.
It’s not just ok to make mistakes when doing Shiva Nata. It’s required.
What?
It’s a strange concept; generally, we’re taught to do well and to succeed. When failure is acceptable at all – and so often it is not – it’s only in the service of learning to do better. “Babies fall down all the time while they’re learning to walk,” we’re told, “so it’s ok if you screw up a lot while you’re learning a new skill. . . . → Read More: Shiva Nata: To Failure and Beyond
By Ethelie, on January 11th, 2011%
Some days, it seems the Halls of the Directorate are filled with Agents bemoaning their Lack of Inspiration.
Pah! What a feeble Excuse! Henceforth, any Agent who dares Proffer it will be Imprisoned in a dark Closet with the Plot Spider and her little Spiderlings. Perhaps the sensation of Thousands of tiny Feet clambering over your Helpless Body will prove sufficient Inspiration.
However, I fear that Agents who are not in the Environs of the Directorate may not Benefit from such gentle Inspiration. Hence, I offer alternate Sources. I encourage you to Peruse these Offerings. What exquisite Tales hide in each, waiting only . . . → Read More: An Exhortation: Concerning Inspiration
By Ethelie, on January 7th, 2011%
Ethelie
O my little Galapagos Tortoises! Welcome to the first Clear the Decks Friday. After experiencing the Salubrious Benefits of Clearing our Decks in December, we wanted to Ensure that our Decks remained Clear, and encourage you to do Likewise. Therefore, each Friday, we will Gather together to work on our unseemly Tasks, and benefit both from Companionship and the delights of Completion. Let us work on the Tasks which we have Avoided.
As I consider my Lingering Tasks for the week, I am appalled at how Quickly they accumulate. Why, our Decks were clear less than a Fortnight ago; yet already . . . → Read More: Clear the Decks Friday: Eliminate the Nebulous
By Ethelie, on January 6th, 2011%
The Fiction-Writing Directorate is Delighted to announce that Ms. Beth Wodzinski, renowned Shiva Nata instructor, is joining the Staff of the Directorate. She will instruct Agents in the ancient Dance of Shiva. — Ethelie.
Hi, I’m Beth. I am both surprised and pleased to find myself employed by the Fiction-Writing Directorate.
Beth
I’m a certified Dance of Shiva instructor, and am really looking forward to bringing this practice to the recalcitrant writers of the Directorate. I bet the Dance of Shiva can help you keep your limbs from being devoured by the Hounds: it can help dissolve blocks, give you energy, and help . . . → Read More: Introducing the Art of Shiva Nata
By Ethelie, on January 3rd, 2011%
Ethelie
O my little Cuttlefish!
This December past, the staff of the Fiction-Writing Directorate undertook a marvelous Experiment: Clear the Decks December. The results were so Salubrious, we knew we must Share them with you. We encourage you to undertake a similar Experiment of your own, that you may also Benefit.
Our Unspeakable Problem
Our list of Terribly Important Tasks was unending. Tasks, like Biscuit-Crumbs, have a devious Manner about them, and accumulate rapidly despite one’s best Efforts to brush them off one’s Bosom; and before long, one finds oneself veritably Buried. Attend to this Message, burn that Message . . . → Read More: On the Merits of Clearing the Decks
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