I love to color. I have done since I was a little girl. But I learned, as an adult, that coloring and drawing could make a difference to my writing. You can find lots of information online about the benefits of coloring pictures. Google "benefits of coloring books for adults" and you get 285,000 results; "benefits of coloring", 9,140,000 results. Wow. But what does it have to do with you as a writer? Here are a few ways that you can apply this new/old activity to your writing life. REFRESH Try coloring for about 10 minutes as part of your pre-writing routine. It can be challenging to let go of the daily baggage, worries and to-do lists that we carry around, and we need to let go of all of that when we want to be creative. Coloring will help separate your busy life from your writing time-a signal that you're going to visit another world for a while. You can go even further and make these few minutes of separation a ritual: light a candle, put on some music, and let thoughts about your work-in-progress just drift around in your brain while you fill in the spaces with color. INSPIRE Use coloring for inspiration. Look at a small shape. Where else/what else could it be? A line drawn through sand in a distant desert? A ruby in a crown or a ring? The tail of a dragon? The scar on a woman's hand? You get the idea. The next shape that you color can add to your first inspiration or start a new train of thought. Maybe the color you are using itself is a source of inspiration: yellow-sun, buttercups, submarine, the Beatles, a smoky dorm room, the smell of sweet aftershave, the feel of a worn school sweatshirt .... You have to be pretty old to follow that particular track of thinking (and yes, it made me smile), but you can see where you might go with this. DISTRACT Sometimes it's enough to just feel that you made something beautiful for a few minutes that day. Writing is work, so a little "me" time while you color can make for a much-needed stress-free break in your day. It's also the reason why the images in this book vary in complexity. Sometimes it's even too stressful to deal with little tiny spaces, and larger ones are more inviting. Treat yourself to some calming, inspiring "me" time and enjoy reading the words of fellow writers and coloring the images in this book. I wish you every success with your writing projects!
About the Author: Heather Wright is a busy freelance writer and former business communications instructor, whose work has been published by local and national publications and on the web. Heather writes for several audiences: business people looking for tips to help them become better communicators in print and in person, writers of all ages, teachers of English and Language Arts, and teen and pre-teen readers. Heather worked for many years in companies, both local and global in scope, and now runs her own freelance writing business. Combining her teaching and her work experience, she developed her own communications skill set that she now shares in her Better Business Communications books. Heather's stories for children and teens have been published in Kayak: Canada's History Magazine for Teens and by Caramel Tree Publishing. Heather enjoys presenting writing workshops for writers of all ages, and has done many over the years through her links with the Canadian Authors' Association and the Professional Writers' Association of Canada. She is the author of 201 Writing Prompts, Writing Fiction: A Hands-On Guide for Teens, Writing Fiction: A Guide for Pre-Teens, as well as fiction for teen and pre-teen readers. http: //wrightingwords.com Heather has received three Writer's Reserve grants from the Ontario Arts Council for ongoing work on books for young readers.