Friday Speak Out!: WRITER’S BLOCK? TRY USING A WRITING PROP

By Laura Yeager

Writer’s block is a common problem. It can last an hour, a day, a year or two or, God forbid, even longer. People try many things to get over it – brainstorming, writing to music, using writing prompts – to name a few. Whole books have been written on the subject.  Now, here’s an idea -- if writer’s block happens to you, the issue might be solved through the use of a writing prop.

I had never purchased a writing prop until recently. What I mean by “writing prop” is an object that I use to generate ideas for an article I want to write. Take, for example, a miniature Zen Garden retailing at $24.99. I invested money in this because I believed I’d get a story out of it, and I knew I’d probably be able to market the piece and make a profit from it.

With the Zen Garden, I began experimenting to see how using it daily would make me feel. Zen Gardens are meditation/relaxation devices. And guess what? The tray of white sand and little rakes actually promote calmness. I ended up writing about Zen Gardens and their benefits for cancer patients for Curetoday.com, a cancer website. The article was published on April 4, 2025.

Writing props can be anything that helps you generate ideas for an article or a story. A writer might invest in a deck of tarot cards to see if they assist in day-to-day living. After the writer experiments with the cards, she can write about the experience.

Another example of a writing prop might be a plant that you purchase, or raise from a seedling, with the sole purpose of discussing its growth progress in an article.

What about buying a white noise machine. Does this prop make your life better? The point is if you’re stuck for ideas, invest in a seminal object, a writing prop.

Try essential oils and candles in the boudoir. Do these make your bedroom activities better? Worse? If so, write about this.

There could be an article in the purchase of diet drinks. Do they really help you lose weight? Does eating more fruit and vegetables make you feel better? Invest a little money on them, or grow your own, and find out, and then discuss your findings in an article.

Using writing props is ultimately a form of research. For a minimal investment, you might come up with one or more stories.

Or if you’re short on money, get creative and look for (free) props around your house. For example, if you’ve never recycled before, start saving empty cans and bottles and see where it takes you. Who knows? This earth-friendly experience may generate a whole novel.

In conclusion, objects can be inspirational and can help banish writer’s block.

Dig up the family jewels. Put them in a creative work. See how they sparkle…in prose.

* * *

Laura Yeager is a frequent contributor to Curetoday.com, a cancer website. She teaches writing at Kent State University at Stark and at Gotham Writers. Laura is happy and proud because her son, Thomas, has started writing and illustrating children’s books.
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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
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2 comments Friday Speak Out!, Laura Yeager, overcoming writers block, writing tip

Give Me Just a Minute

Have you ever come across those industrious writers—usually the ones who’re juggling upteen plates in the air—who recommend grabbing every little bit of time to write? 

You know who I mean…you’re waiting in the car line? Write! It’s intermission at the theater? Write! Sitting in the doc’s office, half-naked and shivering? WRITE! 

Yep, some writers just need a minute to get creative writing done. But not me. I need an hour of time I can commit to if I’m going to write anything more than a grocery list. Not that I haven’t tried but it’s just an exercise in futility. I need to know I’ve got a whole hour to relax into the process. Anything less and I’m in panic mode, rushing about and basically writing up a hot mess. 

But that doesn’t mean I can’t get other sort-of-writing tasks done in smaller increments of time. The same tasks that, once out of the way, free up my schedule to get that whole hour of writing in. For instance, give me thirty minutes and I can get a raft of research done! 

Say I need to check out author websites in my genre to see the standard; I can search three or four and take notes in thirty minutes. Maybe I’ve got an article on a subject that’s fuzzy on a detail or two. Give me a half hour and I’ll find specifics to support. Or maybe—which happens more often than I like to admit—I have a technology problem. In twenty minutes, I can hunt down and watch a video that’ll fix the glitch in a magical moment. 

What about fifteen minutes? There’s plenty I can accomplish in a quarter hour! I can read a newsletter (there are always a handful in my Inbox). And speaking of the Inbox, I can zip through my emails, tossing the ads that sneak through and maybe even quickly respond to a personal email. And beyond the Inbox, I can make a quick correction, whether it’s a blog post or a website error. I might even do a quick sweep in social media, given fifteen minutes. 

But maybe I have only five minutes to spare. If I’m watching a program, I’ll clean out my junk mail during a commercial. (Yep, I still watch regular TV with commercials.) And often, especially if I’ve been sitting for much of the day, I’ll walk around during commercial breaks, especially if I’m watching news. By the end of the newscast, I’ve done close to 20 minutes of brisk walking and I’m surprisingly rejuvenated for evening work that’s waiting. 

And sometimes, even if I just have a few seconds, I can get a task done. Today, I glanced at my To Do list on the kitchen table and realized I had an upcoming blog post here. That thought was floating around in my head until suddenly, in the seconds before I sprayed the cleaner on the floor and started to mop, I had this very idea about grabbing minutes for other tasks! So I grabbed a notepad and made a couple notes. I knew later in the afternoon, I’d have an hour to write. 

It’s all about time management, y’all. Give me a minute—or sixty—and I can get a whole lot of work done. (Except when I’m sitting in the doc’s office. Who can think when they’re half-naked?)

~Cathy C. Hall

Photo by Jordan Benton:

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Video: What If My Nonfiction Flash Has Some Imaginative Truth?

What if your nonfiction flash has some imaginative truth?  Does that change the piece from nonfiction to fiction? WOW instructor Gila Green answers these questions in the video below.

[Email subscribers: If you can't see the video, you can view it on YouTube.]

Gila Green is the author of Passport Control (S&H Publishing), and a novel-in-stories, White Zion (Cervena Barva Press, April 2019). Her first novel is King of the Class. She is working on an eco-young adult series for release September 2019 with an independent eco press in Australia. Gila has published dozens of short stories in literary magazines, and teaches writing workshops for WOW! Women On Writing. Visit her website at www.gilagreenwrites.com.

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Join one of Gila's upcoming WOW! Women on Writing classes: Writing Fiction: Setting and Description or Flash Fiction Workshop.  Both start on Monday, January 7, 2019 and run for four weeks.  Early registration is recommended!

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Leave a Comment fiction vs. nonfiction, flash fiction, flash nonfiction, Gila Green, WOW class, WOW instructor, writing tip

Just Say No: When It’s Time to Give Up A Writing Gig

I just opened one of those two-in-the-morning rant emails from a writer friend. It was a legitimate rant against a demanding editor, and yet she sent another email the next morning.

Was she overreacting? Being unprofessional? Had she turned into some kind of writing diva? Basically, she wondered if the editor’s demands were unreasonable or was she the unreasonable one? She’d come to the old “Is it worth it?” fork in the road to publication.

It’s never easy, the “Is it Worth it?” impasse. In the beginning of a writing career, the idea of turning down a project because it’s not worth the time or money is…well, it’s unthinkable. Plenty of writers would give anything to snag a paying gig, and so, more often than not, the newbie writer puts up with the headaches and hassles.

But then comes experience. And with experience, a writer can afford to say no to those projects that aren’t worth it. And yet, it’s still stinkin’ hard to say no, isn’t it? Maybe it’s because we remember all too well the dry periods when we had no work. Or maybe it’s because we have friends still struggling to get gigs and we feel bad, turning down a job when they’re chomping at the bit for work. Or maybe it’s just all those writer insecurities we love to embrace.

I’m not sure why saying no is so difficult for us. But I have a couple of strategies that I use when I’m having a hard time, trying to decide whether a gig’s worth it (or walking away from a gig that’s become way too demanding). No matter where you are in your career, these strategies can help you, too:

1. Talk it out with a writer friend. Sometimes, we’re over-stressed and overworked and we really are overreacting. But we’re caught in the middle of the firestorm. Grab a friend and have a lunch, or a nice long phone call, or even a couple of ranting emails. Get a fresh perspective (and a second opinion).

2. Give yourself a day to thoughtfully consider options. Take a deep breath for twenty-four hours and do something else. When you come back to the situation, you’ll see things more clearly.

3. Ask “Is it worth it?” Yes, I know that sounds a bit simplistic, but there’s really a lot that goes into that question. Is the gig moving your career forward? Or is it just for the money? Is the money worth the work involved? Do you enjoy that kind of writing? Or is the project sucking the soul out of you? Can you see any positives with the gig or just a whole bunch of negatives?

4. Once the decision is made, do you feel good about it? Again, I know it sounds obvious, but if you feel relieved and you can finally sleep, you’ve made a good decision. If you’re still stressed and want to throw darts at somebody’s picture, then you do not feel good about the decision you made. Try again.


Yes, writing is a great job, and the idea that someone will pay you to do what you love is awesome! But sometimes, the job is simply not worth the payout. And it’s okay to just say no.

(And just for the record, my friend walked away from that gig. And she’s a much happier writer now!)

~Cathy C. Hall

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8 comments a writing career, Cathy C. Hall, publication pitfalls, worth as a writer, writing tip

Patterns, Woh-oh-oh, Patterns

I’m sorry if you have the song “Feelings” stuck in your head now. I’ve had it stuck in my head since the idea about writing patterns came to me and that was…ugh. Three, four days ago? It’s hard to say because I have this song stuck in my head—

Anyway, writing patterns. We all have ‘em. Maybe they’re really destructive patterns, like the one that starts in the summer when you take off a day or two from your usual writing ritual because the kids are home or you went on vacation or some calamity has befallen you. Whatever the situation, your routine has been disrupted. And before you know it, you haven’t written a lick in two months.

Or maybe it’s just a small, annoying writing pattern, like a word or a phrase that comes up continually in your stories or articles. It’s so small, in fact, that you don’t even see it. But you know who does see it?

Yep. Your readers.

Here’s the thing about writing patterns—or for that matter, any behavioral pattern. Our brain likes to take the road well traveled because frankly, it’s easier. Why claw your way through brambles and thickets when you can take the worn path? You’re used to it.

Now maybe your writing patterns are practically perfect in every way. Good for you! But what if your writing patterns have taken a bad turn of late?

You need to get unstuck from the not-so-perfect patterns. You need to make changes and that starts with mindfulness, the quality that makes you aware of something. (Namely, your not-so-perfect writing patterns.)

Right now—yes, right this second—I want you to think for three whole minutes and then I want you to write down the bad pattern that’s crept up in your writing life. I’ll even give you a few of mine to sort of get you started:

· the it’s-summer-and-so-I-don’t-need-to-write pattern
· using the word “just” all the time
· starting sentences with “and” just a little too often (D’oh. I CAN’T STOP USING JUST!)

Next, I want you to write down the new pattern you will work on, now that you know your target areas. For example, I will refuse to use the word “just.” Even though it’s a perfectly good word and many times, it’s the perfect word for a particular sentence. But I will not use the word “just.”

It will not be easy, forging that new writing pattern. My brain is literally screaming at me to use the word “just.” But I shall not succumb. I shall find a better word, a stronger word. I shall overcome my bad writing pattern!

You can, too. It just…er, only takes a little practice to step off that worn writing path and develop a bright and shiny new writing pattern.

How about it? Want to share your bad writing pattern and how you’re going to fix it? Or perhaps we can help you come up with a solution. And then—please, friends! —you can tell me how to get that stupid song out of my head!

~Cathy C. Hall

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2 comments Cathy C. Hall, writing patterns, writing practice, writing tip

Making the Most of 25 Words

Last week, I had to turn in a 25-word bio for a conference I was attending, so I sent my standard, no-frills bio. It was a little...

Okay, it was a lot boring. The volunteer organizing the insert for the program took me to task.

“Cathy,” she said. “This is the same bio you sent last year. You’re one of the funniest people I know. Don’t you want to do something different? Something humorous?”

Um…well. I did after that comment!

She knew I would rewrite it. And she was right to set me straight. There I was, sitting on a golden opportunity to get my name and brand out there among conference attendees, agents, editors, and publishers, and I was settling for blah.

And I began to ponder as I started to revise my words. How often have I squandered golden opportunities like a 25-word bio? How many times have I dropped the promotional ball, so to speak, and wasted a chance to put a little personality out there?

Know what I realized? Those opportunities come along pretty much every day. Sometimes, every hour. Because whenever I write anything—ANYTHING—I’m putting Cathy C. Hall out there.

It doesn’t have to be an essay I’ve spent hours refining. I’m making an impression even if I’m just leaving a comment on a blog. And with the internet, my words have global reach! I never know who might read my words or where they might lead.

It was a sobering thought, let me tell you. I mean, it was darn near a miracle that I managed to write my bio. (Have you ever tried to be funny in 25 words or less? It is NOT easy. And after thirty minutes—yes, thirty minutes—I knew why I’d sent that standard bio.) But eventually, I managed to come up with something...

I'm not going to lie. It’s a challenge to make every word count, even or maybe especially, if there are so few words available. But I—and you, too—are worth the effort. So mind those words—and take advantage of any opportunity to let the world know who you really are!

~Cathy C. Hall

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7 comments author promotion, Cathy C. Hall, writing tip

Cleaning + Bad Back = Better Writing System

When Youngest Junior Hall was not quite two, we moved into a bigger house. With a big basement.

Now, I refused to clean the basement since only the kids hung out down there. But even so, cleaning the whole house could take four or five hours, up and down the stairs, hosing down bathrooms, vacuuming all the bedrooms. I’d pump up the music and get ‘er done.

Today, Youngest Junior Hall is 24. Which makes me…well, ever so much older. And just thinking about cleaning this house is daunting. (Honestly, I spend a lot of time daydreaming about one of those Tiny Houses. I could do it, too, if it weren’t for Mister Man’s giant TV.) But I’ve developed a system, one that works and saves my aching back: I break down the cleaning. One day, I’ll clean a bathroom and change all the sheets. The next day, I’ll clean another bathroom and do all the floors. And maybe the third day, I’ll tackle dusting and dog licks on the windows. When I go at the house cleaning little by little, I can still get ‘er done.

So I was scrubbing a toilet today and I thought about writing and how I use a similar system to get ‘er done.

When I sit at my desk to work on a revision, for example, I tackle a couple chapters, working solidly for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Then my back rebels, just like it does when I’m cleaning. So I get up and stretch, do something else for a while. But oh, how I fought this method.

If I didn’t have four or five hours to work on a story, then why bother? What could I accomplish in one lousy hour? Turns out, I can accomplish a lot. In fact, I focus better when I have short bursts of time rather than all the time in the world.

And I found out something more: breaks are good for my writing. I step back from the project, moving on to something else, and suddenly when my mind is free, a solution to a sticking point will come to me.

With my new method, though, came a new mindset. I had to change my thinking, from “An hour is not enough to get anything done,” to “A whole hour! That’s plenty of time to (fill-in-the-blank)!”

By day’s end, I might still work for five or six hours, writing. But I’m way more productive when I break up my tasks. And I’m not sure that I would’ve become proficient with this system if not for my aging back. Not that I’m wishing a bad back on you, but you might find this system helpful, too. Maybe you have a full-time job and can only squeeze in an hour for writing. Or maybe you have folks, young or old, who need your attention and you’re lucky to get any writing done at all. Think positively and look for any little window of opportunity to go at a project. It just takes practice, and before you know it, you’ll be getting ‘er done, too!

~Cathy C. Hall

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4 comments Cathy C. Hall, writing process, writing tip

The Importance of Comps

The first time I heard the expression “comps” at a writer’s conference, I had no idea how important that word was. Or even what “comps” meant.

That’s the way it is, when you hear a new term. Your brain doesn’t have time to stop and figure it out, especially when you’re listening intently to a speaker. But eventually, your brain skids to a halt and goes, “Wait. What?” And if you’re lucky, there’s a knowledgeable person sitting next to you and you lean over, and ever so politely, whisper, “What’s a comp?”

Think of me as that person sitting next to you at the writer’s conference. Because now, I’ve got this.

Comps, General

So when you hear an agent or an editor discuss comps, they are referring to comparable titles, books or stories that are similar in some way to the book you’ve written.

Sometimes, it’s just an easy and quick way to get everyone on the same page.

Let’s say, for example, that a speaker tells you that she’s just come across the most amazing Romeo and Juliet manuscript. In a succinct manner, she’s relayed a couple key points about a manuscript you’ve never read:

a. It’s a romance (with at least two protagonists, the lovers, and at least one antagonist)
b. It involves some sort of forbidden love (the conflict)

It’s often very helpful to use well-known stories, fairy tales, novels or plays as comps, particularly if you’re pitching a novel and word count is limited. Saying that your manuscript is a Cinderella story gets to the heart of your pitch in a snap. And then you have all those additional words to explain the twist that makes your well-known story unique!

But sometimes, using a well-known story as a comp is not such a good idea.


Comps, Specific

Many agents like to see comps in a query. But there’s a good way to use a comp and a not-so-good way to use a comp. It’s really swell to know the difference.

Let’s say that you have written a middle grade book about a child who is on a journey to fulfill his or her destiny. You might think it’s a good idea to say that your book is the next Harry Potter! But what you have done, instead, is projected an image of a writer who’s over-confident and amateurish because there is no way that your book can compare to J.K. Rowling’s tour de force.

But you can use comp titles to let an agent know where your book fits in the market, thus giving a forecast of how your book might perform with the same target audience. Look for similar books, in subject, reading level, and word count, but stay away from comparing your book to best sellers. And do explain how your book fills a need in the market that the comps do not meet.

Do your homework well and the agent can pass on your comps to an editor, who can use those comps as a selling tool when your manuscript arrives at an acquisitions meeting.

And that’s the really important part of knowing comps!

~Cathy C. Hall

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7 comments agent queries, Agents, Cathy C. Hall, Comps, Editors, marketing, writing tip

The Places You'll Go, If You Really Want To

My oldest son is hanging out in New Zealand, and when I mentioned this to a friend who’d recently returned from that same country, the first thing she said to me was, “You’re going there, right?”

Um…I hemmed and hawed.

I love grand adventures, and I’ve always wanted to see New Zealand. Plus, I’d have my own personal tour guide, one I could even boss around.

But it’s…well, it’s New Zealand. Three thousand miles away. Over all that water.

And I hate the idea of flying over all that water. To be honest, I’m not very keen on flying over land, either.

My friend shrugged. “Take a sleeping pill for the flight and go,” she said, “if you really want to.”

If you really want to…a simple enough phrase. But it was packed with far more application than a trip to New Zealand.

I’d been reading Nina Amir’s, The Author Training Manual, and thinking about my writing career. Specifically, I’d been pondering what I’m willing to do, if I really want to succeed.

Would I hop on a plane and head to a venue to sell books because my publisher thought I needed to go? Is my writing career worth facing my extreme fear of flying?

Maybe I wouldn’t have to fly all over creation. Maybe I could just go by car all over the Southeast, scheduling classroom visits and attending book fairs. But I have a terrible sense of direction. Left to my own driving instincts, I could end up in Mexico instead of Mississippi. Is my writing career really worth hours on the road, driving around in circles?

Maybe I could just go to my kitchen (in my pj’s!) and do Skype visits. That’s the kind of marketing that would be squarely in my comfort zone.

It might be putting the cart before the horse, considering the marketing pros and cons of a book that hasn’t sold yet. But I think it’s worth a little bit of pondering, to consider my writing willingness factor. If I really want to make a go with traditional publishing, how far am I willing to go?

For me, that means thinking about how I’d market a book. Your willingness factor might be completely different. It might be whether you can go and speak in front of crowds of people, or if you’ll go from sitting in front of a TV to sitting in front of a laptop to write, or whether you’ll go and spend the necessary money on editing or other means to improve your craft.

It all comes down to the same concept, whether you’re pondering a trip to New Zealand or your wished-for success as a writer: how far you will go depends on how much you really want to.

~Cathy C. Hall
Photo courtesy of Joey Hall

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5 comments a writing career, Cathy C. Hall, New Zealand, Nina Amir, The Author Training Manual, writing tip

Surviving a Bad Manuscript Critique

Cathy-on-a-Stick  with sister survivor, Scarlett

I attended a conference recently and it was a pretty swell event, if you don’t count the last fifteen minutes.

I signed on for a professional manuscript critique, and when it was over, I staggered from my seat feeling like Georgia after Sherman marched through it. In fact, I wondered if the critiquer had used Sherman’s slash-and-burn methods (metaphorically) in the hopes that I would use Sherman’s methods (literally) so that no one would ever have to read what I had wrought.

That’s the way it goes with manuscript critiques. Sometimes, they’re very good; other times, they’re just plain rotten. And that can be for the very same manuscript. But I’ve learned how to survive the bad evaluation and go on my merry writing way. And you can, too.

Give Yourself Time

You will want to scream and yell and rip your pages to shreds. Or you will want to bury every shameful word you’ve ever written in a deep, dark hole. Perhaps you will want to bury the critiquer in a deep, dark hole. But what you must do instead is give yourself some time so that the raw emotion swirling in your soul can recede.

I know it’s tempting to wallow in misery, or worse, rant and rave, especially to friends and fellow writers. But resist the urge to vent loudly (particularly if you are within shouting distance of other professionals) and save the tears for the bathroom stall. Find a quiet spot and collect yourself so that you can move on.

Good, Old Perspective

It’s tough when you receive tough criticism. It’s tougher, really, than a curt “not for me” rejection. Because with a critique (which you paid for!), you are forced to sit through the excruciating exercise of someone telling you exactly why your work stinks. What you need is a little perspective.

Here’s what I do. I give myself a pep talk. I think of a time I’ve been challenged and how I survived, and I start to feel a bit empowered. And then I count all the wonderful blessings of my life, and I start to feel grateful. It’s not long before good, old perspective kicks in. The world will keep spinning, friends and family will still love me, and I’ve still got a pretty nice roof over my head—even if my manuscript is the pits. I’m ready to move on to the truth.

Facing the Truth

In the midst of curling into a fetal ball, you may not be ready for the truth of your evaluation. But after time, and a healthy dose of perspective, you can take a look at the notes thoughtfully provided by your critiquer. You can relive that less-than-delightful one-on-one experience and maybe even recall some of what was said.

First, look for the positives. I guarantee you that there will be a note or two of praise in your critique. Second, cling to those words as you peruse the pages and perhaps you’ll have the courage to accept the flaws of your work. You can fix flaws.

Or you can chuck that manuscript and start on something new. Or you can even ignore the entire evaluation. But don’t let one bad critique defeat you. Get back to work and write. After all, tomorrow is another day.

~Cathy C. Hall

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9 comments Cathy C. Hall, critique, manuscript critique, perspective, writing evaluation, writing tip