A Writer’s Change-Up

 

By Tammy Karasek

 

It’s close to being sweater weather in parts of the country, also known as fall. But no matter where you are, we writers need to change with the seasons for various reasons.

 

I have a few suggestions of change for you to take advantage of the fall season. If you normally sit at a desk in your office, move to the dining room table or a comfy chair in your den or living room. Maybe even grab a quilt and sit out on your porch if the air is getting cooler, to take in the sun and changing colors of the trees as you write. Or you may even venture out and find a new-to-you local coffee shop to take in the smells of the annual fall drinks. Pumpkin spice latte, anyone?

 

When we write, we tend to create the same way each time we sit down to pour words onto our screens. Let’s change that too. If you are a die-hard computer writer, grab a notebook and write by hand. What? Yes, write by hand this week. I know it sounds like I’m telling you to go backward in technology and speed, but the benefit of writing by hand allows you to think slower to keep up with your hand, and you gain a rhythm that you’ll find you have great productivity. Give it a chance, it’s actually rather fun.

 

Since we’re going old school with writing by hand, grab a colored pen or Paper Mate Flair in a fall color. How about an orange or a brown. Currently in my Esterbrook Honeycomb Fountain Pen is a pretty Monteverde Copper Noir Ink. It reminds me of the deep colored leaves of late October and into November.

 

If you’re already turning up your nose at the thought of writing by hand, then stay at your laptop, but at least change the font color on your laptop. While you’re doing that, change what you’re writing for an hour or two and have some fun with your orange or rust colored font. How about writing a fun story in less than 2,000 words. Use the change of seasons and have your characters walk through a park describing the colored leaves for a romance story. For a romantic suspense, give them the challenge of running through the dried, crunchy leaves without getting caught by the sound. Historical writers, how about a carriage ride to see the changing colors of the leaves and a picnic by the creek.

 

Now, you nonfiction writers aren’t off the hook with this change up. Find a verse regarding seasons or changing of seasons and write how the verse impacted you regarding the changes in our lives and those seasons that bring them. Whether you use your laptop or handwrite the devotion, don’t forget to use the fun fall colored ink or font colors.

 

I don’t know about you, but I’m very partial to fall. I’m from Ohio, and I love fall here. The colors are vibrant and varied no matter where you go. When I changed my fountain pen ink, I thought it would be fun to change my font to work on some other projects as well. Then all you writers came to mind, and I wanted to challenge you to do the same.

 

You never know, you may start a new trend by changing your ink by the season. Next up—red ink in my fountain pen for Christmas. Yes, I’ll change to a red fountain pen too. And I’m sure I’ll write in red and green fonts as well.

 

Let me know if you’ll take up my triple change-up challenge this fall. I’d love to hear if you changed your setting, changed from computer to paper, and changed the ink color of your pen or font color on your computer. Share below—we want to know!

Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

Tammy Karasek uses humor and wit to bring joy and hope to every aspect in life. Her past, filled with bullying and criticism from family, drives her passion to encourage and inspire others and show them The Reason to smile. She’s gone from down and defeated to living a “Tickled Pink” life as she believes there’s always a giggle wanting to come out!

A writer of romantic suspense—with a splash of sass—her debut book, Launch That Book, released in 2023. She’s published in a Divine Moments Compilation Book—Cool-inary Moments. She’s also a writing team member for The Write Conversation Blog, Novel Academy, Blue Ridge Conference Blog, The Write Editing, and more.

Known as The Launch Team Geek, Tammy helps authors launch their books. You’ll also find her as a Virtual Assistant for several best-selling authors, the Social Media Manager for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Founding President and current Vice-President of ACFW Upstate SC, and Founding President of Word Weavers Upstate SC. Connect with Tammy at https://www.tammykarasek.com.