From the Editor: Spring is Here!


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Vision 71

 

From the Editor:

Spring is Here!

By

Lazette Gifford

Joyously Prolific Blog

Copyright © 2013, Lazette Gifford, All Rights Reserved

 


 

 

Spring is here! Time for a change in scenery!

Or not.

We had snow last night, though not much. However, it's barely over freezing today and I am huddled back at my desk with the heater blowing at me. I want spring and flowers; I want a change of scenery. Inspiration can die in the same dark corner where you have been staring all winter.

In the last few days I've seen several people move writing locations and had their writing suddenly pick up. Some have simply gone to another area of the house or even simply moved their desk to another wall. Others have gone out of the house to find spots at libraries and coffee houses. Change is good for writers. Those of us who do not work on laptops are a bit more limited than others, but that doesn't mean we can't change a bit.

Even those with the strongest imaginations can benefit from a 'change of scenery' now and then. I have my winter location and my summer office and this year I'm considering moving to another section of the house for a while just to see if having different walls and windows doesn't help improve my own focus. Another benefit is the 'cleaning of the desk' activity that precludes such a drastic change. (Oh. Notes to a story I completely forgot about. Hmmm. Maybe that's what I should be writing now!)

There are other ways to 'change your scenery' without doing more than a few clicks on your computer. Something that often helps people who write a great deal is to change the look of the manuscripts so they aren't all identical. Try a new font. Get daring and try a new font color. Fit both to the nature of the work. For instance, a fantasy book might flow better with a fancy script font in dark blue. In the age of computers, you can do anything you want with fonts and even backgrounds, as long as you remember to change it all before you do anything professional with it, whether that is submitting to a publisher or self-publishing. Never use anything outlandish in those cases.

Use change to help you. Move your computer. Change your fonts. Change your attitude. It's spring and time for new things to grow.