[ Writing ] :: Against a Brick Wall

Once again, another post with NaNo on my mind. The date is pressing ever closer, and I find myself thinking quite a bit about the novel, and how much I'm going to enjoy bashing my head in writing. Along with that thought, I've been messing around a lot with StumbleUpon, finding lots of fun little distracting websites, and browsing the NaNo forums.

Sounds busy, doesn't it?

Not really, considering I've been holding Aussie hours (so a friend teases) and staying up anywhere between four to nine-thirty Mountain time to chat with Aussies. [Hey, what can I say? There's a certain Aussie I love chatting with!]

I realized that every writer (blogger as well!) will sometimes come upon a brick wall and need something -- anything! -- relieve them of that awful block they may have. How does one counteract it?

I know, for myself, I take a break. I read something else, I play WoW to find more inspiration (which, as you can tell, doesn't seem to work too well, does it?), or I go find humorous articles... so, amidst my stumbling, I've come across lists, articles, and pictures that I find amusing/clever/creative, and sites meant to stimulate the writer, and I thought I'd share them.

Humorous/Clever/Creative/Overall-WOW!-ing... Meaning, distractions!:

• Store Names and Phrases: Just think about these for a few seconds...
  
• Analogies: Lookin' for an analogy? I don't suggest using these, made by high-school students, but they're good for a laugh!
  
• Teaching and Murphy's Law: Sure, we aren't all teachers... but this is Murphy's Law, and, therefore, will probably be true. If not, they're at least amusing!
  
• "Interactive Drawings": Where one's work may not just be that...
• 30 books before you're 30!: As if you didn't have enough to do between WoWing, looking at WotLK stuff, blogging, your own life... [And NaNo!] Here's a list of decent books that someone suggested for reading!
  
• Adorable Kitties: Just 'cause they're adorable.
  
• Make Your Own Snowflakes!: I spent the better part of a class period playing with this one. Create your own snowflake, then have them animate it, pause it, and add more to it. See what pretty designs you can come up with!

Music!


• Pandora: Looking for a certain style of songs based off of some of your favorites? Pandora is a good place for exploring new music.
  
• Project Playlist: Build a playlist of your favorite songs, or just browse for a single song!
  
• Musicovery: Don't really have a song you really want to listen to, or even a certain style? Choose by moods instead!

Now, for the stuff that pertain more to writing!

• Japanese Blood Types: Once again, I'm showing my strangeness for character development. This site intrigues me, and helps me put a personality to character-less names that I have sitting around!
  
• Gems! One and Two and Three: I have to admit: I like gems. And jewelry. And giving them a particular meaning -- many of my characters wear jewelry, and they are important to the character, or to the story... so I like to make sure the gems themselves mean something, thus these two sites.
  
• Colors!: Colors, too, hold importance, and, sometimes, it may be good to put a certain color in and not just be picking a random color and going with it. Have it mean something... and find the meanings here.
  
• Mythology: Now, if you don't happen to have a copy of Edith Hamilton's Mythology on hand [or are looking up mythology not pertaining to Greek, Roman, and Norse myths], this website may come in handy!
  
• Writerisms: Overused/misused phrases/words?: Some things to keep in mind while writing! [I would also suggest Woe is I by Patricia T. O'Connor for a quick reference to grammar in a fun way. She also encompasses overused phrases and misused words.]
• Writer's Block? Dial a number!: One of my newest discoveries. Push a number, and they'll give you a situation, a character, a verb... something that might just help you get past that tricky wall!
  
• Rhetoric Terms: All right, I'll admit, this doesn't quite have much to do with anything, except, perhaps, your writing style, and if you wanted to put a name on a particular way you've writing something as an example. If someone told you that the part you wrote was strange, you can tell them that, no, it wasn't really. It was meant to be that way, and the style of that block of writing is called an anaphora, and it's used to emphasize an idea. And, it's fun!

There we go. Hopefully, these links will not only provide a guidance and serve as a muse-prodder [purposefully not a word!], but also be at least entertaining and distracting to give that hardworking muse a break!

Good luck in the writing!