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Posts tagged ‘writing tips’

Dec 27

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Start the new year by journaling

With the new year almost here, it’s a prime time to get into the practice of keeping a journal. By creating a journaling discipline, you’ll find you establish routines in other areas of your writing life. Below are three previous posts about how journaling can further your writing and storytelling mojo: 

“Three ways to unleash your inner journaler:” if you’re trying to decide what kind of journal you want to keep, check out these tips.

“Record significant daily events in the 5-Minute Journal:” discover this app for recording significant daily events, ideas for writing projects, or character traits that you notice while out in public. 

“My favorite writing journals“ is a fun post on some of my favorite types of journals. 

Enjoy! 

Dec 13

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What to do on days when your writing takes a back seat to the rest of your life

Some days are just rougher than others. Yesterday was one of them. I woke up at 6:30 and knew I should have gotten out of bed to write for an hour or two before my hubby and the cats were up. But I didn’t. I fell back asleep, waking at 8:30 to a ringing phone and the beginning of my workday.

It was a long day of dealing with the little stuff—answering customer questions, paying bills, compiling marketing lists, shipping, creating content for a product brochure, etc. But despite giving my all to every task (and doing a damn good job, by the way), I was left feeling underappreciated and devalued. It was a sucky kind of day.

So, at the end of my workday, instead of killing somebody, I made a list of alternatives: Read more

Dec 3

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Translating Nanowrimo success into your daily writing life

Congratulations to everyone who completed NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month– where writers around the world commit to writing a 50,000-word novel during the month of November)!  This was the first year I completed NaNoWriMo. I started it last year, but gave up after falling behind in my first week.

The best part of the entire process was learning more about who I am as a writer.

Before NaNoWriMo, I suffered constant interruptions (both business and personal) that left me with many days, often leading into weeks, where no writing got done.  With NaNoWriMo on my calendar for the month of November, I cleared the decks and made announcements among my family and friends of my intentions. I pictured clear skies and smooth sailing for my journey. Nobody would interrupt me and nothing would get in my way. Read more

Nov 21

Develop your inner story god by asking questions

Someone once told me that in our questions lie the answers. As writers, we know the importance of asking questions. We ask ourselves questions about our story, characters, plot, and even point of view.

Yesterday, I was trying to figure out how to integrate 1st and 3rd person points of view in my current manuscript without it feeling forced or artificial. As I sat in the sauna reading Chris Baty’s NaNoWriMo book “No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days,” I asked myself, “What would it take for this combination of different points of view to work and flow organically from my story?”

I played around with a couple scenarios and then an idea came to me. Instead of giving my protagonist the ability I was going to give her, I thought of another ability that would suit the story better and solve my problem—allowing the 1st and 3rd person points of view to grow naturally from the story. This new ability came from my protagonist’s backstory, was nurtured by her profession and was unusual and unexpected enough to pervert my readers’ expectations. Viola! Story problem solved. Read more

Nov 5

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Five tips for increasing your NaNoWriMo word count

If you’re participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), here’s a good short YouTube video with tips for increasing your word count and that will also help you discover more of your story:

Nov 1

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Day one of your NaNoWriMo success

Congratulations! If you’re participating in this year’s Nanowrimo, today is day one of your writing success.

To help you along the way, below are two inspirational treats:

Bestselling author and writing mentor Bob Mayer has a great blog that he’ll update during the month with more posts for us Nanos. This post is about what to write. 

For a quick 3-minute break to lift your spirits listen to Nanowrimo A Capella here:

Oct 30

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Seven tips for NaNoWriMo success

I’ve just signed up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) to help me write my next novel. One of my personal weaknesses as a writer is that I think too much in my first drafts when I should just be writing. So I’m using this NaNoWriMo to help me make a breakthrough.

Even if you’re not participating in NaNoWriMo, the seven tips below can help you finish any project:

Tip # 1: Write from the heart. There will be times when you’ll get stuck. Some days, your prose will sound like garbled hamster hash. When this happens, stop and take a few deep breaths. Remind yourself what you love about your project. I have an index card on my desk with my original idea for the story—it’s the tag line that got my juices going in the first place. Then go back to your page and write from that space of passion. Read more

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