The Writer’s Life: Inspiration from K.M. Weiland

Novelist K.M. Weiland blogs essays about the writing life, tips for improving fiction, and encouragement for experienced and newbie writers alike.

I know many of my writer friends and followers are also loyal followers of K.M. Weiland on Twitter (@KMWeiland) and on her blogs, WORDplay: Helping Writers Become Authors and at Author Culture.

I have personally appreciated her information, interviews and inspiration packed blogs. She is a generous soul who shares high quality advice to writers about creativity, the writer’s life and improving our craft. She is one of the superstars of the online writer’s blogs.

I am honored to feature K.M. Weiland in an interview today about her new CD project and other resources she offers to inspire writers to become authors.

What inspired you to create a CD about inspiration?

Over the last several years, I’ve been sharing tips and essays about the writing life on my blog Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors. Posts on inspiration and fighting writer’s block have always been some of my most popular posts. I wanted to put together a presentation that shared some of my own tricks for encouraging inspiration. Thanks to the Wordplay podcast, I already had some experience with audio productions and thought it would be an interesting adventure to create a CD that would be accessible and helpful to others.

Why do you think writer’s block is something we all have to struggle with?

It’s ironic, really: Here we are, a bunch of people who discovered this whole writing business because one day we woke up inspired with an idea for a story—and yet consistent inspiration is something most of us struggle with on almost a daily basis. Ultimately, I think fear and uncertainty are the major things that trip us up. Learning to be open to inspiration is largely a matter of realizing that inspiration is something we can’t control. We can’t force inspiration, but we can create habits that encourage it to visit.

Can you share one of the important tips from the CD?

Don’t give up too soon on an idea. Sooner or later, every story hits a patch so rough that it feels like we’ll never pull out of it—and the urge to just give up and start on something newer (and hopefully easier) can become very tempting. But I consider perseverance one of a writer’s greatest gifts. If we’re willing to grit it out and keep writing, even when it seems hopeless, we can inevitably write out way out of the hole and reach a place of new inspiration. The tough parts are where we grow as writers. If we give up every time we reach them, we’ll never finish a story.

Did producing this CD teach you any unexpected lessons about inspiration and writer’s block?

Everyone always says the best way to learn something is to teach it, and it’s true! I can know something, I can believe it, I can even practice it, but not until I start sharing these bits of knowledge and experience with others am I really forced to analyze what I’m doing and figure out the reasons behind it all. I wouldn’t say I learned any unexpected lessons, so much as I refined some lessons. It was a rewarding experience no matter how you slice it!

Other than your CD, where else can writers go to find more inspiration and writing tips?

Along with the CD (which is available, this month only, in a great special offer), I’m excited to announce the launch of my newly redesigned website at K.M. Weiland: Helping Writers Become Authors.  Other than the spiffy new look, it also features lots of goodies for helping writers along the road to publication and fulfillment in their writing. Probably the most exciting additions are the Helping Writers Become Authors Network, which offers an excellent package deal on some of my best writing programs and products, and the First Chapter Story Consultation service. You can also find links to my blogs, podcast, monthly e-letter, and my free e-book Crafting Unforgettable Characters.

K.M. Weiland writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in the sandhills of western Nebraska. She enjoys mentoring other authors through her writing tips, editing services, workshops, and her recently released instructional CD Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration.