Asking the correct questions

Red Emma

Correct questions

Saturday morning,

Astra said:
There weren't any answers, because there wasn't any block. I thought there was, she assumed there was, and the readings sat there thumbing their noses at both of us. [/B]

As a writer who seems to have been blocked for a very long time, I'm dying of curiosity...what was it instead of the block?

Of course, mouthy old Red Emma could be barging in where wiser humans would never tread. If you don't feel like talking about it, please forgive my nosiness.
 

HudsonGray

Ahh, I can see where you can't get an answer if you didn't have the blockage you thought was there in the first place. At that point it's best to retreat one step and just ask 'what is the problem' instead of 'what's the problem with the blockage'.

It's hard phrasing the question right, there's no many ways it can be done that won't get you the info you need. Keep reducing it down to simplify it & then work from there if you can. Asking 'where am I being held up in this' is better than 'how can I get around Jim's behavior'. Or 'tell me something I don't know or am not aware of' instead of 'why is this not working for me'. Both can seem pretty valid, but one will get a lot better answers than the other.
 

Astra

firemaiden - I'm sorry. I did in fact have a couple of emails on the specific cards within the readings, and the specific points that ended up being relevant, but I dumped them a month or so later when I was cleaning up my emails. Otherwise, I could have posted the whole correspondence (maybe with the serial numbers filed) rather than having to go for generalities.

Red Emma,

(I have this feeling I should put this in multiple posts to get more points out of it, but hey... )

In the specific case I was mentioning, I think the upshot of the reading was that I'd actually cleared out the problems, but that I needed to give things (and my mind) some time to get used to the changes those clearances had caused. I have this silly expectation, you see (still have it!) that once I've cleared out the problems, I should be able to see clearly, immediately. That's fine when it comes to seeing things that are already there, but when you're actually talking about creating a pattern for the next steps you want to take, rather than taking somebody else's predefined path, it can take a few days, or weeks, once you've finished cleaning out the creative mechanism and changing the basis its working on, before you get anything you're comfortable with.

For writer's block, all I can give you is the advice I've heard from a number of science fiction and fantasy writers - have more than one piece of work going at the same time, and if you're blocked on one, pick up another one. If you're blocked on all of them, one suggestion that has worked for me is to start writing (right after the point you got stuck, or on a separate document) about what doesn't seem to make sense in what you've already got, how you feel about the characters or the situation, what problems you're having finding the next thing to say, etc. It's amazing how often that will lead to going on with the story, since while you're doing it you're not waiting impatiently for the next brilliant idea to come up.

For what it's worth, that's my free advice. Cheers.
 

Red Emma

Best questions

Astra, I'm printing out your reply and posting it above my altar, my bed and my computer!

I've been immersed lately in clearing out my past, and trying to find where to go, spiritually. creatively, and the kind of life I want to live. It's something I think about a whole lot, and have thought, now and again, of starting a thread on it.

And yes, I expect that immediately I solve some of the overwhelming problems, the ones which negatively impact my writing, "So, okay, guys. That's gone so let's get started!" I wish it did work that way.

Thanks for your insights.

Goddess Bless
 

redfairy

Has this happened to you

when you are reading for someone else, has it happened that although you have framed the question correctly, the cards all seem to be pertaining to you and your life??? However accurately the question may be framed, chances are that sometimes, the cards WANT to speak to you at that time and that's when you have to know HOW TO LISTEN to the cards, too!!!