J. Scott Milford's Page

Problem: You need enthusiasm but you so rarely use it that you don’t remember how to turn it on.

Solution: Try these strategies (partial list*) to get your enthusiasm machine up and running smoothly once again while producing massive quantities of enthusiasm.

* All about you: Enthusiasm comes from you, no matter what external event you think has triggered it. It’s your thoughts, ultimately, that turn on your enthusiasm-generating power.

* In the Zone: Avoid… Continue

A lot of writers talk about having trouble coming up with character names. Since I never have this problem, I thought I'd share a few of my own tips for generating character names.

1) Be Observant
Start paying attention to all the words that are around you. Notice brand names in stores, company names on shipping trucks, business names on signage. Look for names in newspapers, magazines, web sites, and on TV. I especially like watching for street names. Notice what real-life name c… Continue

Every writer needs inspiration, from time to time. Likewise, every writer needs a little motivation when they get distracted or bogged down. I am interested in hearing your story. Please answer the following questions:

1) From where do you draw inspiration?
2) How do you get yourself motivated when you need a little push?

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Here are my answers.

1) I am so fascinated with the world around me that I need only to observe people, pla… Continue

Can you write a fictional story in 140 characters or less? Maybe not a complete story, but how about a teaser sentence? By now, many of you have probably already heard of Twitter. There are many options today when trying to decide how to get involved in social networking. In fact, when you joined The Marshall Planet, you joined into a social network of writers who use or are interested in The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing, et. al. In addition, there’s Faceboo… Continue

As writers, we're all faced with moments where logic tells us we need to sit down and get writing if we ever want to have a career as a writer. We tell ourselves that we have yet to write some of our best ideas--of which there are plenty. We tell ourselves that we love writing; we NEED to write. Why, then, is it so difficult at times to get ourselves motivated to write?

Motivation (cultivating an energetic desire to accomplish or participate in a specific task) has a lot of complicated moving p… Continue