Look for Creative Solutions

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

 

This week I was working on a writing project. I have reference books related to it in various places near my desk to reach them and work on this project. One of the books I put precariously on the bookshelf above my desk. It fell and smashed into my keyboard. I checked out the book—which was perfect and went on without a thought.

 

This morning I got to my desk and realized the smashed book has broken one of the two supporting arms for my keyboard. I tried to get it fixed with some super glue, then tape and nothing was working. Normally at this point, I would get in my car and drive to my office supply place and get a new keyboard—but these are unusual times with social distancing and staying indoors. It forced me to look for a more creative solution.

 

Suddenly I remembered this keyboard was recently replaced. I am a hard typist and had worn out several of the the keys of that old keyboard but had not thrown it away (yet). I temporarily kept it propped in a corner of my office closet. I pulled out my old keyboard and checked out the little supporting arms. It matched the same one whch was broken. In a few minutes, I replaced the broken arm and my keyboard is working fine again. The solution didn't involve going anywhere and yet repaired my keyboard. I could have probably used cardboard or other materials to repair my keyboard but the replaced arm from my previous keyboard was a quick fix and something no one will notice when they see my office.

 

These days call for creative solutions to different situations. As another example, we have been staying outside of the grocery stores—even though we have some shops very near where we live. Instead I have learned to order groceries online from stores like Target. Also a local restaurant has changed into a online grocery store. We've ordered meat, vegetables and fruit from them. The cost is about the same as going to the grocery and the quality of the food has been excellent. It is another creative solution to this situation where we staying away from going inside stores.

 

Several things came out of these experiences:

 

1. You have creative ideas and need to tap into these ideas.

 

2. Use your writing research skills that you've developed to look for a creative solution.

 

3. The persistence that you pour into your writing can help you find a creative solution.

 

These days are different and yet you can find the way if you persist and look for it.In addition, I hope you are using this time to diversity your streams of income. There are many different ways to earn money as a writer, I encourage you to look at this article I wrote for Writers on the Move last week. Follow the various links in it to learn even more.

 

Let me know in the comments below what sort of creative solutions you are using these days.

 

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Writers On the Move

I have a new article on Writers On the Move. A couple of months ago I learned about this group and got the opportunity to contribute once a month.

My article today about How To Grow A Large Twitter Following is not new information to readers of The Writing Life. Yet I want you to know about it for several reasons:

First, support Writers On the Move by reading their content. Notice in the right-hand column there is a simple place to subscribe to the blog. I encourage you to do this and get their different posts via email (so you will not miss anything). I'm a subscriber and have been learning a great deal from my fellow contributors.

Second, understand the value of guest blogging on other people's site. In my article, I include several links to some of my other online resources. It's what you can also do when you guest blog. From my experience sometimes they restrict the use of these links to your brief bio but even this case is exposure to a new audience of people. It will help you generate traffic and other things to your own content.

In Mastering the New Media Landscape, Barbara Cave Hendricks and Rusty Shelton call this type of content “rented media.” It is not my blog or content yet I get to contribute here once a month. In this particular instance, one of my friends recommended me as a contributor. There are numerous opportunities where you can also ask to become a guest blogger or a regular contributor. I want to encourage you to go after this type of exposure for your own writing life.

As writers, we are surrounded with many opportunities. Will you seize the day and take advantage of this opportunity for your own writing?

Tweetable:

How can you become a "writer on the move?" Get several ideas here. (ClickToTweet)