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What does this rant have to do with curing writer's block?
It's
direct result of using a quotation to stimulate creative writing. I first learned this technique from reading Sarah Ban Breathnach's _Simple Abundance Companion_.
The idea is to take a random quote and write whatever thoughts come to mind as you contemplate it. The quote I chose to create above piece was Henry Ford, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."
It's more apt to say that quote chose me, rather than other way around. I never know what I'm going to get when I reach into box to pick a card. That way I'm not predisposed to sort through them until I find one I *want* to write about. The whole thing with writer's block is that ideas aren't flowing way you want them to. By picking a random quote and writing whatever comes to mind with what you get, you allow words and creative energy to flow in direction it chooses.
It's also surprising how often random quote ends up being a message that is needed right at that moment. In this instance, I was feeling trepidation that always comes after finishing a book and putting it out there. What if no one likes it? What if no one buys it? By time I finished first draft of this article, it didn't matter any more. My writer's block was cured, and my self-confidence got a boost in process thanks to Henry Ford's eleven words from long ago.
Ruth Ritchie-Farmer is the managing editor of Ritchie Media, and the author of Perceptions of Success: A Collection of Quotations. Visit her on the web at http://www.whytedove.net/perceptions.shtml to pick up your copy today.
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