View this email online if it doesn't display correctly Play + Fun + Time Off: Essential Tools for Every Creative August 21, 2015 Hi Friend,  Welcome to Creativity Sparks newsletter, tips, resources, and coaching for novelists to build successful and sustainable careers.  Welcome to our community of writers, genre novelists who write because we have something to say and want to say in a rip-roaring good story. Today I want to ruminate on play + fun + time off, the essential tools for every creative. But first, a summary of what's in this newsletter: Short Personal Note from Beth Play + Fun + Time Off: Essential Tools for Every Creative (short article) Finish "Plan Your Novel mini-course" + Win Prizes: Ends today! Registration open for October Plan Your Novel class Sneak Peek: Save the Date for a special September webinar Personal Note from Beth Yesterday was our 15th wedding anniversary, so Ezra and I saw Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and ate Vietnamese food. We really enjoyed both! I loved too that we could walk to the theatre and to dinner and walk home. Ah, the urban life! I told a fellow writer friend today during our walk around Lake Merritt that the movie did the Mission Impossible thing well. You know, it used "this message will self-destruct..." and "your mission, should you choose to accept it..." but they used these in fun surprising ways. Inspiring and Fun, which brings me to today's reflection... But first, some pics! Play + Fun + Time Off: Essential Tools for Every Creative (short article) Many authors I've been talking to lately are tense, stressed, feeling like whatever they do, it's never enough. They didn't write enough words that day. Or if they didn't edit enough. Or market enough. Ah, the "never enough" syndrome. I know this one well. I've felt like I was always on the hamster wheel of my writing life, always running, never arriving.  Have you had this feeling? Well, sometimes we just need a break. We need to actually step off the hamster wheel of "never enough" and go do something fun, different, wacky, something that feeds your soul and is far, far away from a computer, or sitting.  What is that for you? For me, to name a few activities -- it's capoeira, or gardening, or lying in the sun, or watching favorite TV shows (maybe I'll catch up on my Buffy fix this weekend), and reading fiction.  We get so wound up in a tight ball that we can't see a way out. So take a break. Shake things up. Get outside of yourself and your problem and go see the world through different eyes.  Underpinning this suggestion is the belief that we are infinitely creative. We can figure out a way through our thorny story, marketing, or editing issues. We can. And we are enough. Feel the earth beneath your feet and the wheel of the stars overhead. Feel the weight of gravity, that miracle that keeps us on the planet. Imagine the spinning wheel of our solar system, the sun at the center. Our solar system rushes through space, part of a much larger galaxy, which is part of a much larger thing... Now breathe. It will be okay. It will work out.  Touch joy. Smell the fragrant day. Taste your favorite drink. Hug your loved ones. Listen to the beat of your heart. Let's go out and live. Tomorrow you can write about it. For today, go live it. Hugs, Beth ♥ Reminder: Finish the "Plan Your Novel" Mini-Course + Enter to Win Prizes Ends Tonight 9pm Pacific ** I'll be announcing winners next week. ** If you're thinking about joining us at the free Plan Your Novel mini-course or have already enrolled, check out our new special giveaway. Since I know that having a deadline kicks writers into high gear like almost nothing else (i.e., gets you writing!), I’ve created this contest. Here’s how to enter: 1. Finish the mini-course by Friday, August 21, 9pm Pacific. 2. Show me you’ve finished by posting answers, replies, ahas or discoveries in the course. That’s all! I’ll be able to verify that you’ve completed the course. PRIZES We’ll pick to two (2) winners at random by using Random.org. Two of you will win: A seat in the October "Plan Your Novel" live and extended course at the “Dive In” Level, a $59 value More about the “Dive In” Level. At this level you’ll get: “10 Questions to Ask Your Characters” tip sheet (PDF), plus audio goodie. Weekly emails prompts to get you writing. You’ll be guided each week on a new focus following the 4-week course structure. Peer-run Fellowship of the Pen community (Facebook group) 2 live video teaching webinars with the instructors 2 live group coaching teleseminars with the instructors Step-by-Step instructions and examples in the form of Handouts, Templates, Checklists, Videos, Audios, and Quizzes (Lifetime access!) A private Facebook group with the writers and the instructors so that you can be in community for support, accountability, and guidance. All the details about our October Plan Your Novel full course are here: http://bit.ly/30daywritingchallenge. ♥ To get started and enter this special giveaway, join us in the Plan Your Novel mini-course today. See you there! PS. More details on the course and tweets to share here. {Thanks!} Registration is now open for the October Plan Your Novel class! For those of you who want support, tools, lessons, and community, join us in the October live and extended course, "Plan Your Novel" 30-Day Writing Challenge. Check it out here: http://30daywritingchallengefornovelists.bethbarany.com/ In our 30-day class (with the 31st to celebrate!), we cover: Week 1: Elevator Pitch & Short Synopsis Week 2: Get to Know Your Main Characters Week 3: Story Plot & World Building Week 4: Scene-by-Scene Outline & Plotting In our October course, we gently challenge writers to plan their entire novels in 30 days, so that they can sit down with confidence and clarity on November 1st and write their novel during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, a free international movement and nonprofit). You're invited to join us! Early Bird Bonuses (2 cool marketing courses for novelists) in effect, valued at over $350, so sign up now! I look forward to having you in the course! Coming soon! Save the date! Tuesday, Sept. 15, 3pm Pacific Free LIVE WEBINAR with Beth Barany and Penny Sansevieri How to Step Into a Marketing Mindset & How to Sell Books by the Truckload on Amazon Sign up here: http://bit.ly/Barany-SansevieriFREEWebinar Have a Happy and Creative Week! And thanks for playing! All our best, Beth & Ezra beth@bethbarany.com http://bethbarany.com/ PS. If you found this newsletter useful, please forward it to your friends, writing buddies, and people who you know want to write a novel, but gosh darn it, haven't, yet. ♥ ABOUT US Beth and Ezra Barany are award-winning, best-selling novelists, and teachers who have worked with over 100 authors to help them get their books written and published and into the hands of their readers. ♥ Happily married for over 15 years, we’re passionate about writing, storytelling, and guiding authors to achieve their dreams. ♥ We offer coaching, change work sessions, book marketing coaching (Beth) and cover design (Ezra), all for genre novelists. More at bethbarany.com.  ♥ To explore how Beth can support you, schedule a 1-hour complimentary Discovery Call here: http://bit.ly/AppmtWithBeth. ABOUT BETH BARANY An award-winning novelist, certified creativity coach and Master NLP Practitioner, Beth runs Writer's Fun Zone, a blog for and by writers, and her recently launched school for novelists, the Barany School of Fiction. Beth writes YA fantasy and magical contemporary romance. She also writes how-to books and courses for novelists, including her home study coaching guide, The Writer's Adventure Guide: 12 Stages to Writing Your Book, a Hero's Journey adaption with you the author as the hero in your own adventure of writing your book. Her latest book for writers is Twitter for Authors: Social Media Marketing for Shy Writers. In her downtime, Beth takes walks, paints, watches movies with her sweetie, travels, and has coffee with friends and family. And plays with her two cats, gardens, and does capoeira. And sleeps. She loves sleep. 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