Strike Back Against Procrastination With A Mental Mongoose By Andrew Toynbee Procrastination comes in many forms. At its heart, fear coils like a striking snake: It can be the Fear of the Beginning.It can be the Fear of that Main Task.It can be the Fear of Completion. Fear of the Beginning has struck when you stare in panic at that blank piece of paper, pen slouching limply in your writing hand. The blank screen, complete with taunting cursor, dares you to mark its pristine whiteness with text that will surely be just nonsense, right? Fear of that Main Task will affect you after the writing is underway. But there’s so far to go, so much to do! Fear of Completion can strike as you hit the home straight, just when you thought you were home free. Once you’ve written it, you’ll have to go right back to the beginning, like a Ludo counter down a snake to start the thankless task of editing. There are numerous suggested remedies for these afflictions, many of which Procrastinating Writers has covered in other posts. Afraid of Beginning? Don’t be.
Top 10 Tips : Starting and Finishing the 1st Draft - Rasmus Rasmussen dot com With this year’s Nanowrimo, I will be finishing the first draft of a novel for the fifth time. It’s a great feeling, to reach that last page and set down that last period. Whenever I’ve done that, I always sit and stare blankly at the screen for a while. In slight disbelief that I did it. That it’s over. However, getting there is no picnic. But like the artist starts with a sketch, so does the writer. 01 : Hatch the plot First thing you’ll need is a story to tell. 02 : Understand your characters Take your main characters and write up profiles for them. 03 : It begins with the end J. 04 : Write out scene-cards Try to identify what the main turning points in your story will be and write them down on index cards. 05 : Don’t forget that this is a draft Throughout the writing process, you have to remember that a first draft is just that. 06 : Find your writing space Some prefer to write in the comfort of their home, some like to stay after hours at the office. 07 : Get rid of distractions
Consistent, Small Word Counts Will Get Your Novel Finished courtesy of Bombardier By Jennifer Blanchard This post was inspired by fiction author Holly Lisle. Holly has been a full-time fiction writer for 17 years now and she’s been able to do this because she actually sits down and gets her writing done. A couple days ago, she invited the readers of her blog to join her in writing a novel. Currently, she’s penning her most recent novel, DTD (this is the abbreviation she uses. Since writing 300,000 words using a consistent, but small word count will take her a while, she has invited her readers who are interested in writing a novel to join her in one of three ways: Beginners: Write your minimum of 250 words, five days a week.Intermediate: Pace Holly. For more details about Holly’s “rules” for writing your book alongside her, check out her blog, Pocket Full of Words. I was supposed to start writing my second novel on June 15. A small word count ranges from writing 250 to 500 words on five days of the week. That’s it. And writing 250 words is a breeze.
Short Stories: 10 Tips for Creative Writers (Kennedy and Jerz) ( The “Write A Book With Me” Rules Here is the tiny list of “official” rules for playing “Write A Book With Me.” You can work on any project you have going at any stage of completion.You shoot for a minimum of 250 words a day, five days a week.You do NOT flog yourself to catch up on missed words for days you did not write. You NEVER owe more than 250 words in a day, no matter if you missed a full week or a full month of writing.You acknowledge that all this has to be is fun—it isn’t work, a competition, or a form of self-flagellation—and if knocking out your words at this pace stops being fun, you walk away with no guilt.Your aim is to finish your book. What you do with it after that is up to you. NOTE: You can join in at any time, and you can start anywhere in any project you have going or want to begin. I’ll work on whatever book (or course) I’m writing at the time. BEGINNER: You can do the minimum words for as many days a week as I work (generally five). You can do this. Keeping In Touch Where To Post Your Progress
4: Write A Book With Me I ran out of time. I had other projects that I needed to hit deadlines on (you’ll see them listed and linked in the sidebar on your left). So right now, TALYSMANA is in that “percolating” stage before I move to the revision. Meanwhile, Write A Book With Me is alive again, and available for both folks who are HTTS community members, and those who are not. WABWM Boot Camps WABWM Blog My two-month old computer suffered a catastrophic screen failure about two weeks ago. The current version of TalysMana was in the other computer’s backups, which I cannot mix with the laptop backups. Hoping things will be less eventful from here on out, and I’ll be able to get more on the story soon. Doing an interlude with the villain. But he is what he is. How about you and your words? Only got 240 words today, but I’m back at the story again, and I finished the chapter “Laying Bait.” I’ll post it tomorrow. How about you? I was rolling along beautifully. Hell of a week. Hope your words are coming better.
Zen and the art of not writing | Write for Your Life Guest post by Beth Morey Does this situation sound familiar? You wake at an indefinably early hour to sneak in some quality time with your manuscript. You brew the coffee, clear the inbox and gag that pesky inner editor. You apply the seat of your pajama pants to the seat of your desk chair. After 30, 60, or more dedicated minutes which feel less like writing and more like the medieval art of dentistry, you save your progress with a sigh and trudge to the bathroom for a shower. An inconvenient truth You’re halfway through your daily lather when it hits – the plot twist which, you realise, your entire novel is hinging on, or the exquisite article lead that you just spent the last hour trying to suss out. You throw back the shower curtain and, snatching a towel to retain some shred of modesty, rocket toward the nearest scrap of paper and pencil. Breathless and shivering, you feel victorious. It’s good to plan, but… This type of scene plays out in my life more than I care to admit.