Month: November 2022

5 Ways to Deal with Distractions During the Holidays

~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment
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There’s a giant mug on my kitchen shelf that reads, “Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle.” It’s good advice for this time of year when life is full of distractions. Just when I need to concentrate on feature articles for clients, the pleasures of the season call to me. Add to that the pressures of shopping for gifts, decorating my living space, visiting family and friends, and watching Christmas movies. Distractions are everywhere. With so many activities demanding my time and attention, who has time to write?

While those pesky holiday distractions won’t go away any time soon, you can still work around them to accomplish your writing goals. Even a little bit each day is better than not writing at all. You may be surprised at how much you can accomplish in shorter writing sessions.

Here are my suggestions to avoid distractions and keep writing during the holidays.
 
Set smaller goals. You might be used to writing for an hour a day, or writing until you finish 1,000 words. Time may work against you during the holidays, so you might consider setting smaller goals. Instead of writing 1,000 words, aim for writing one page a day (or approximately 250 words). Or instead of writing for an hour, consider a 15-minute session.

Use index cards. One 3×5 or 4×6 card can hold several sentences, maybe one to two paragraphs. If you’re really pressed for time, grab one index card and jot down notes about plots or characters. By the end of the month, you will have collected enough ideas to start writing your next story in earnest.

Set office hours – and stick to them. If all you have in your schedule is 30 minutes when you first get up in the morning, set that time aside. More important, ask your family to respect our personal time.  

Set a timer. Use the timer on your phone or computer. Set it for 10 minutes or 20 minutes, or however much time you have. When the timer starts, write to your heart’s content, whatever comes to your mind. You never know where your freewriting will take you. When the timer rings, stop. Don’t worry about perfection. Focus on getting your ideas down on paper first; you can always edit later.

Write first thing in the morning. When you first arise, grab your cup of coffee or tea and begin writing. You’ll get it out of the way so you can enjoy the rest of the day. Or conversely, write before bedtime. Make a deal with yourself not to go to bed until you’ve written one page.

Of course, another option is to forget all about writing altogether and indulge in the holidays instead. Enjoy the celebrations, and use the holidays to gather inspiration. But as you do sip your egg nog and go caroling, take note of your surroundings. Spend time people watching, which could inspire characters for your next novel. Try activities you haven’t done before, like creating your own Christmas ornaments or cutting down a fresh tree. With every experience, note the sights and sounds around you. Remember to carry a notebook to jot down your impressions of the people, places and events you’ve seen. You never know if you might use them later.

There’s a preconceived idea that writing takes up huge chunks of time, which I think is why many of us avoid writing. And with the holidays comes too many distractions to ignore. By planning ahead and keeping a consistent practice with smaller goals and shorter writing sessions, you can accomplish your writing goals — and still enjoy the holidays.

Don’t let the holidays overwhelm you and derail your writing practice. Use it to your advantage to inspire fresh stories. When it comes time to start writing in earnest again, you’ll have plenty of ideas to keep you writing all through the New Year.

Do You Have a Holiday Writing Plan?

~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment
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I’m in the midst of several deadlines and haven’t had time to write anything new. The following post is repeated from several years ago (with a few tweaks), but it’s as timely and pertinent today as it was then. Enjoy, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

The holiday season is fast approaching. There is much to do – shopping, baking, decorating, attending parties, socializing with friends – you name it. On top of that are your usual obligations – work, school, housekeeping, family time, volunteer work, and self-care. There isn’t much time left for your writing practice.

Or is there?

It all depends on how you allocate your time.

If your writing is important or if you’re currently working on a deadline, eaching your writing goals is critical. To reach those goals, you need to have a plan. If faced with this dilemma, you have several options:

1. Put your writing practice on hiatus.

Going on hiatus will obviously clear the way for you to enjoy your holiday more without worrying about what your next essay will be about. Then when you begin working again, you come with a fresh eye. On the other hand, a hiatus can take you out of your writing rhythm. You could lose momentum on the current work-in-progress. Come January when you sit back down and review your story, you might lose sight of where your story is going. Then you may have to start all over again.

2. Decrease the time you spend on your writing practice.

This approach might make the most sense for most writers. You can still make progress on your current work while still making time for your holiday activities. Here’s how it works. If you currently write for one hour a day, you might decide to write for only half an hour. Or instead of writing six days a week, perhaps you only write three days a week. The scheduling is up to you.

3. Maintain the status quo in your writing practice.

To maintain your current writing schedule will mean reassessing your holiday activities. Are there any that have lost their meaning for you? Do you really need to go to every party you’ve been invited to? Can you skip sending out holiday cards or the holiday bar crawl? The choices are yours.

If you’re struggling to figure out how to maintain your writing practice during the holidays, here are a few suggestions:

1. Set priorities. How important is your writing? Make a list of all the activities that are important to you. Where does writing fall on that list? If it’s high on your list of priorities, you’ll likely make more time for it.

2. Make an appointment with yourself. Treat your writing as you would a doctor visit or a trip to the hair salon. Make an appointment with yourself to write, and put it in your calendar. When you see that you have three one-hour writing sessions in your calendar, chances are you’ll be more likely to stick to that schedule.

3. Set realistic goals. Be clear about what you want to accomplish. Make sure that goal is reasonable and achievable. Writing a 1000-word essay or a 3000-word chapter of a novel is probably more achievable than writing 50,000 words.

If you want to learn more about making a writing plan for the holidays, check out this post from the Books & Such Literary Management blog.

When you maintain a consistent writing practice throughout the holidays with all its assorted pleasurable distractions, you may actually feel more joyous throughout the season. Why? Because you know you’ve made a workable writing plan and are sticking with it. There is no other greater joy than to do what you love during the holidays.

 Is Your Story Idea Worth Publishing?

~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment
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Ever have an idea for a story that you thought for sure would become the next Great American Novel only to flame out when you couldn’t write past the third chapter? The truth is, not every story idea that crosses your mind is worth writing about. So how do you know which ones are viable as a novel or short story while others are better left as a stand-alone scene, or worse, dumped in the trash?

In a recent Reedsy webinar, author S. J. Watson spoke about the idea generation process and how writers can determine which ideas are worth developing. .

Watson said the idea generation process can be divided into four segments:
* Finding story ideas and recognizing them when they show up organically
* How to retain those story ideas
* How to determine if an idea has the potential to become a novel
* How to keep the original idea from going off the rails, and what to do if it does.

An idea is “a sense that something is possible,” he said, and they can come from anywhere around you. But he cautions writers to keep them close to the vest.

“Ideas are like hose pipes,” Watson said. “If you overshare an idea too soon with your family and friends, it might poke holes in it.” Once the holes are poked through, the story tends to lose its novelty and impact.

To generate meaningful and relevant story ideas, there are several things writers can do to prime the pump.

  1. Show up at your desk every day, even when you don’t feel like it. Ideas don’t show up automatically. You still have to put in the time and effort before ideas begin to flow.
  2. Observe your surroundings. Look out the window or take a walk. Notice something on the street that you don’t normally see, such as a mobility scooter or a three-legged dog. Then brainstorm different scenarios about what you see. You may surprise yourself by coming up with a viable story idea.
     
  3. Write when you’re half-asleep. The brain isn’t quite awake then and it can amplify the connection between seemingly different ideas. In this half-sleep mode, you’re less likely to censor yourself.

To retain your ideas, keep a notebook. Either carry one in your pocket or purse or use the Notes app on your phone. Any time you notice something in your environment, overhear a conversation, or get sudden inspiration, jot them down. Watson admits he rarely looks at his notes, but the act of writing ideas down helps him to retain those ideas for easy reference later.

Connecting the Dots
Which ideas are worth turning into a full-fledged novel? Watson said ideas begin with the sense that something big could happen, such as winning the lottery or getting into a car accident. They open doors to broader concepts, and they invite random scenes and characters to show up. You may have two seemingly unrelated scene concepts, yet there may be a thread that connects them within a single story.

Also ask yourself several questions about the story’s viability:

  1. Does the story idea stay with you, and do you feel a desperation to work on it? Some ideas come and grab you by the throat, demanding your attention.
  2. Can you visualize the protagonist or antagonist?
  3. Do you see the conflict? Do you know the characters’ goals?
  4. Most important, can the problem in the story be made to feel relatable, such as learning that a family member is terminally ill?

Another possible approach is to take other people’s ideas and remix the elements to make them your own, Watson says. Whatever approach you take, make sure you don’t second guess yourself.

Drifting Story Lines
If the story drifts from the original concept that you envisioned, you may need to make adjustments. If, at the 20,000 word mark, the story seems to be heading in a different direction than what you intended, take a step back and review the work you’ve done so far. If the changes in the story scare you or excite you, then keep going. You may be on the right track even if you don’t have a clear idea where the story is headed.

However, if the new direction of the story isn’t exciting, it may be a sign that the story is too safe. Watson suggests backtracking to the original spine of the story and starting over from there to regain the excitement. “Occasional drifting is okay, especially if it takes you to scary or exciting places,” Watson says. “If you drift too far away from the original intent of the story, it may need to be scrapped. Occasionally returning to the story spine can help you make sure you’re in the right place.”

Story ideas come in all shapes and sizes. Knowing which ones are viable as potential novels, and which ones aren’t can save you a lot of time and needless effort.

You can view the Reedsy webinar here.

Tips for Developing Suspense in Your Novel

~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment
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When you read a book, what is the one element that keeps you turning the page? Most likely, it is suspense.

Everyone has their own definition of suspense. Some dictionaries describe it as a state of excitement, anxiety or mental uncertainty. For works of fiction, book coach Samantha Skal defines suspense as “the question asked.”

It’s an odd definition, to be sure. But think about the myriad of questions you ask yourself, however subtly or subconsciously, as you read a story.

* Will the hero stop the bomb in time or will it explode?
* Will the couple get together at the end, or won’t they?
* Will she keep her baby or give it up for adoption?
* What will they do next?

“Suspense is the engine that keeps the story going,” says Skal who spoke at a recent Pro Writing Aid Romance Week event. “It increases reader engagement, reader satisfaction and improves pacing of the story.”

There are different types of suspense. There’s the big, scary kind where the serial killer terrorizes the town. Romantic suspense teases readers with the promise of two people getting together. There’s emotional tension, too, when the main character is battling internal demons, such as guilt or resentment. Finally there’s goal tension when readers wonder whether the character will finally earn that promotion or new job.

The simplest way to achieve suspense is to put obstacles in the way of the characters. Whether you’re writing a thriller, science fiction or a romance, several techniques can be used to add suspense to your story.

  1. Reveal inner thoughts and reactions of the main character. This is especially true if you’re writing in first person or third person close. By revealing the main character’s thoughts and perspective. In this way, readers are able to see the action in the same way and at the same time as the main character. So when the character feels tension makes an assumption about another character or misinterprets what they see or hear, readers witness that experience too. That moment when the character experiences a crisis creates tension that the readers feel.   

  2. Use hanging questions. Ending chapters with a hanging question often leaves audiences wondering what will happen next. For example, the character may ask themselves how they got themselves into such a mess, which may make readers wonder how they will get out of it. Hanging question keeps the action going, and keeps readers turning the page to find out what really does happen next. Make sure you answer the hanging questions right away, preferably in the next chapter. A word of caution though. If you have too many hanging questions in consecutive chapters, it can appear redundant. In other words, boring.

  3. Ramp up tension gradually. Skal suggests establishing tension as close to the action as possible. Then gradually ramp up the intensity with each chapter. At the halfway point of the story, something in the story changes, moving it in a new direction. At the resolution, wrap up all loose ends. But just to be sure you haven’t lost readers’ interest, add another twist or surprise revelation at the 95% mark.

  4. Emotionally manipulate your readers. Skal says it’s okay to do that since most readers expect certain things to happen at certain times in the story. In mysteries, for example, readers look for the mystery to be solved. In thrillers and suspense stories, they want to feel a low-grade fear the whole time, and they want to feel their heart racing.

  5. Be intentional about what you reveal – and when. Details about a character’s backstory, family history, and personality should be sprinkled throughout the story, when it makes sense to a particular scene. If you reveal everything at one time, it can be overwhelming for the readers. Also remember that if you mention a detail early in the story, it should have a purpose later on. For example, if your character notices a clock that has stopped early in the story, that detail should come into play later on.

Without suspense, your story won’t keep readers interested until the very end. By paying attention to these techniques, you can create stories that will keep readers turning the page.