When your work-in-progress refuses to, well, progress, give yourself permission to call a TIME OUT. Sure, for some, a physical activity (e.g., taking a quick walk) can do the trick. I guess I’m a little different. I find much-needed mental refreshment from letting my brain go out to play (so long as its well supervised!). For example, engaging in a simple writing exercise can (re)invigorate my imagination and remind me how fun writing can be.

Recently, I challenged myself to play with the lyrics of a famous song, syllable by syllable. It felt like real exercise for my gooey gray matter dipped in a sweet sugar coating of zero-pressure pleasure. Why not give it a try, my little pumpkin spice biscuit. If you dare, please share the results.

Sound of Silence Night

(Apologies to Mr. Simon)

Hello Feedback, my old friend–

You’ve come to toy with me again

Words of derision swiftly heaping

Grow like weeds while I am sleeping

And the revisions that are ranting in my brain

Still complain–

With this next round, try silence.

***

In ripped up jeans I walk alone

To buy a bar of Toblerone

‘Neath the beam of a gooseneck lamp

I scroll the pages till my fingers cramp

When my eyes are stabbed by a plot so flat and trite

A wasted night

Even my muse is silent.

***

And in my lava lamp I saw

Ten thousand people I may bore

People banning without reading

Critics speaking without thinking

Authors writing books that agents never share

No one dares

Curb the sound of silence.

***

“Dudes,” say I, “You do not know

Silence like my word count grows

Hear my words through this blue kazoo

Read my texts that I might reach you!”

But my work like sweaty high tops smells

Say geckoes in the wells of silence.

***

And the writers bow and pray

Over critiques for which they pay

Spellcheck flashes out its warning

After words they are misforming.

***

And agents say, “The words of this novel

Should be written on subway walls

And bathroom stalls

And whispered—no, drowned!—in silence.”

Stepping out of a normal routine, finding novelty, being open to serendipity, enjoying the unexpected, embracing a little risk, and finding pleasure in the heightened vividness of life. These are all qualities of a state of play. ~ Stuart Brown, Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul

And now, for a short and sweet cinnamon sugar, pumpkin spice announcement!

Congratulations to the winner of the So Long to Summer Open House prize drawing–Meline Scheidel. Thank you to Meline and everyone who stopped by to leave a kind comment (or 2 or 3!) It’s always delightful to hear from you! Really. Really.

Meline, a special prize package will be winding your way soon. I hope it helps to make your autumn awesome!

I look forward to baking up fresh blog posts to fill everyone with encouragement. But first, I need to gather more chestnuts, share a snack with the squirrels (will they ever say thank you?) and sip another cup of tea.

More soon!

I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion. ~ Henry David Thoreau

My little polka dot bumper shoots, it’s finally spring! There’s no better time of year to remind you of the payoff for your perseverance.

What a joy to see shy green leaves, long stemmed tulips and curlicued ferns burst into life like nature’s popcorn–seemingly overnight. But we know that fresh explosion is only possible after months of rest, coupled with preparation and determination. The same is true for you and me.

You may be reflecting on your progress (or lack thereof) as a creative person and feel frustrated or discouraged today. It’s possible you let yourself be victimized by the “Comparison Game” (again). Everyone else is so far ahead of me. (You know that’s a lie, right?) Phooey on those energy drainers. Don’t let those thoughts or feelings drag you down for too long. Keep working, experimenting, growing . . . all that behind the scenes struggle may be preparing you for an opportunity or a break through beyond your imaging. YOU will be spring!

Please know this is the voice of experience talking, not a hollow motivational speech. Your magnificent, obsessive perseverance will prove its worth. Watch for signs of green, my little peepers!

The trumpet of a prophesy! O Wind, if Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

Welcome! Welcome!

Come on in!

To taggle along with “What a Doodle Can Do for You,” I invite you to visit Frog on a Dime and enjoy taking a look around. Snoop all you like. (Yes, you can even look under the lily pads!) Read posts, check out the quote collection, the inspiration page for young writers and much more. It’s all yours to explore.

While you’re here, please leave a comment on whatever post speaks most to you.

Your comment is your ticket to entry into Frog on a Dime’s Annual (Virtual) Summer Open House giveaway!

You can win:

A swirly whirly one-of-a-kind doodle created with care by yours truly. If you choose, your doodle can be personalized with your initials or the initials of someone you love incorporated into the design.

To enter the 2021 Frog on a Dime Summer Open House Giveaway:

Simply leave a comment on any post–past or present, whatever suits your fancy!

Deadline to enter:

High Noon (EST) on Wednesday, August 11.

(And ahem, leave a comment on more than one post, and you’ll get an EXTRA chance to win!)

In spite of everything, I shall rise again; I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

A strong visual imagination acts as a magnet to draw the visualised into reality. ~ Anupama Garg

The other day I stumbled on a fun fact about presidential doodles.

(Hmm. Something about that doesn’t sound quite right.)

Let me start again.

See, I was reading this article from Harvard Health Publishing about the thinking benefits of doodling. That makes more sense, right?

And according to the article’s author Srini Pillay, MD, “Even American presidents have found themselves sketching away: 26 of 44 American Presidents doodled, from Theodore Roosevelt, who doodled animals and children, to Ronald Reagan, who doodled cowboys and football players, and John F. Kennedy, who doodled dominoes.”

A writer’s job doesn’t exactly involve executing laws, appointing federal officials or negotiating with Slovakia. So, why do I need to doodle? For me, doodling is a way to get out of my own way. If I’m writing and get stuck (more like, “when” I get stuck), I pause and pick up a pen. Mindlessly making swirls and random, unpredictable designs is a practice that calms me. It provides a chance to hush my harsh inner critic because doodling has no right or wrong. It just do.

Doodling can helps me puzzle out a plot predicament or conjure a more fitting name for a character I’ve become better acquainted with. It keeps the gnarly wheels in my noggin’ cranking, but in a more productive way versus self-sabotage.

Doodling can also be a delightful way to douse stress. Allowing yourself to get lost in an in-the-moment design can relieve tension by putting a distance between you and fret. Worries about your writing and whether you can move ahead are nudged to the margin while you push that pen. You can return to your project mentally replenished.

My Little Strawberry Rhubarb Tart, if you’ve never tried doodling as a companion to your creative process, I encourage you to give it a try. The only way you can go wrong is to think about what you are doodling whilst you do it. Pretend you’re giving the paper a side glance. It’s just there to catch the ink. And you don’t have to use fancy paper or snazzy pens. (If you take a look at the doodle below, you’ll notice I did it on nothing-fancy notebook paper.) You don’t have to worry about composition, what color to use or creating “art.” Just free your pen and the mental rest will follow.

Want to delve deeper into doodling?

Learn more about the benefits of doodling from Monica Harris, The Doodling Duchess.

She drew the things that stuck to her mind, the things that caught her attention and, specially, the things she wasn’t capable of understanding fully. But she hadn’t even realized it. Art had become her way of processing reality. ~ Zoe Haslie

Everybody has inner creativity that has been lost amongst the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The small part of us that provides balance and calm, and releases our creative side, is smothered and in risk of dying completely. ~ Lana Karr