I’m a notorious list maker. I create lists for all sorts of things from basic to-do lists for work and grocery lists to the books I plan to read from my TBR shelf and events I want to attend. I’ve also kept lists for not-so-obvious things, like foods I want to try (every try dragonfruit?) and music I want to eventually download. Anyone who saw my lists would either think I’m incredibly organized or hopelessly scatterbrained!
But I’ve found over the years that lists can be a useful tool not just in your personal life but in your professional life. As writers, it’s important to keep track of all sorts of details for our work and list making is one way to keep it all organized so the information is accessible.
For writing purposes, lists can help you perform the following tasks:
Brainstorm story or plot points
Create characters with roughly drawn traits and possible names
Draft scenes for a story before you begin writing
Jot down blog post ideas
Track ideas for website content
Jot down article ideas to pitch to an editor
Track potential clients to contact for assignments
Track subject matter experts to interview for a story you plan to write
Prioritize errands and chores you want to finish in a week
Keep track of small tasks needed to complete a larger project.
Lists have made my life easier in many ways. Jotting down story ideas as soon as I think of them helps to get them out of my head so they don’t become a distraction and get in the way of what I need to do. Keeping lists also helps me stay focused on the most essential tasks I need to work on, and it helps me prioritize the tasks that are most important. This process works whether the list is a home to-do list or a work task list.
But there are downsides too. Looking at a lengthy list can make you feel overwhelmed. Even looking at my list of books that I want to read can feel overwhelming. I often think there’s no way I will ever finish them all, especially when I keep adding to the TBR shelf.
Fortunately, there are strategies for dealing with feelings of overwhelm.
Tackle one task at a time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so neither should you feel you have to tackle the entire list in one afternoon. One step at a time will get you where you need to go.
Review your list often, if not every day. Prioritize and highlight the three most important items on the list. Then focus on completing the most important items first. If you get to the fourth or fifth task, that’s a bonus.
Remember that you shouldn’t be at the mercy of your lists. The most effective list is one that serves you, not put obstacles in your path.
Find a tool that works best for you, whether that’s an old school notebook or an app on your phone. PC Magazine has a nifty list of apps for creating and tracking your tasks.
Keep lists separate for work and home, so your shopping list doesn’t end up with your work tasks. Review your lists and revise every day.
Write down ideas and tasks as soon as you think of them so you don’t forget them.
Remember that lists are meant as a guide for your work life, not a set of rules etched in stone. Be flexible and shift priorities as deadlines and needs change. When you get to the bottom of your list, congratulations. Imagine how good it will feel when you cross that last item off your list.
Not everyone is a big fan of lists, but give them a try. In time, you may find that they can be one of the most helpful tools you’ll ever need.
Do you use lists? What kind of lists do you use? Does it make you feel more organized or more stressed?
I had planned to write a post about what makes a great opening chapter or first 10 pages, then I realized I had already written a post about it several years ago.. I couldn’t think of any way to improve it, so I am repeating it here. The information is especially helpful for those participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).
If you’ve ever read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, you probably remember this opening line:
“If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: In love, we find out who we want to be; in war, we find out who we are.”
I’d be hard pressed to find any opening more poignant than this one. From the very start, readers are taken on an emotional journey that doesn’t end until the final sentence.
Writers are tasked with the challenge to create a similar experience with their readers. The start of any novel should accomplish several things: create the tone of the story, provide the point of view, reveal character, and show tension and conflict, among other things. Certainly, the opening line from The Nightingale accomplishes most of these objectives. Does your story do the same?
Why is the opening so critical? Because if it doesn’t grab the reader’s interest and keep it for the first few pages, the reader will likely close the book and set it aside, never getting to the end of it. Ask any published author, editor or agent what makes a strong opening, and you’ll hear a number of answers, which are summarized below. And these suggestions don’t just pertain to fiction, but to short stories, memoir and non-fiction works too. Without a compelling start, readers will dismiss your effort.
If you are participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), keep the following suggestions in mind as you write the opening of your novel.
1. Skip the prologue. There is ongoing debate about the merits of a prologue. Many editors and agents feel they aren’t necessary. I tend to agree with them. I’ve rarely read a prologue that made a difference in my understanding of the plot. The one exception is Caught by Harlan Coben, which provided sufficient background on one of the main characters to make you second guess the outcome. But if you plan your story well and write the opening pages right, there shouldn’t be a need for a prologue.
2. Create a protagonist that readers will care about. The opening is your opportunity to reveal your protagonist’s character. Is he/she rebellious, angry, ambitious or curious? In the above opening from The Nightingale, the character speaking is introspective and perhaps has gained wisdom from life experience. It makes me care about who she is and what else she (and it is a she, btw) might have to say.
3. Ground your reader in the story’s setting. According to the Write Practice blog, let readers see where the story takes place. Establish early on what the setting is for the story – the time period, the location, the season of the year, etc. When the reader feels grounded in the setting, they feel mentally prepared to experience the events as the characters do.
4. Create conflict and tension. Identify what the inciting incident is – that starting point to your story that changes the status quo. Where is the conflict? Is that conflict with another character, with a situation or within themselves? That conflict is needed to create tension, which helps draw readers in and keep them reading to see how the conflict is resolved.
5. Don’t frontload with dialogue or action. According to Fuse Literary, too much action or dialogue can confuse readers. Sure, you want to start with some sort of action, but an opening chapter heavy on action and dialogue and not enough narrative or backstory can be confusing to readers who may need a point of reference to understand what is happening on the page. You need some action, of course, but balance it with some narrative so you don’t lose readers’ interest.
6. Don’t overload the opening with backstory either. According to recent Reedsy webinar, Crafting a Novel Opening, writers should focus on what the reader needs to know at that moment. There’s plenty of time to reveal backstory and world building as the story progresses, says Shaelin Bishop who led the discussion. Weave in backstory throughout the length of the manuscript, and allow details to breathe between scenes. This approach will help with the pacing too. If readers are overloaded with details up front, they may feel overwhelmed.
7. Hook the reader with an interesting twist. Start where the story gets interesting, which is usually at the point where there’s a change in the status quo. For example, the protagonist gets a letter with good news or bad news, a new person enters the protagonist’s life, or they get into an accident that alters the course of their life. “Show what is interesting rather than focusing on the mundane. It’s okay to show less of the status quo than you think you need to,” says Shaelin Bishop with Reedsy. This approach avoids overloading your opening chapter with too many details that can bore your reader.
8. Every scene should serve several purposes. For example, one scene can establish the tone of the story, reveal something about the character and hint at future conflict. This sounds complex, but it’s necessary to keep the story moving forward and keep readers interested. Don’t waste your first sentence, or any sentence for that matter. Write every scene with a purpose in mind. If it doesn’t serve purpose, and if a character doesn’t serve a purpose, cut them out.
To get into the habit of writing stronger openings, try these two exercises.
Exercise 1: Take 10 minutes and create as many opening sentences as you can think of. It could be for a current work in progress or any other story. Experiment with different perspectives. Here are a couple of examples of intriguing openings that made me keep reading:
“You would think it would be impossible to find anything new in the world, creatures no man has ever seen before, one-of-a-kind oddities in which nature has taken a backseat to the coursing pulse of the fantastical and the marvelous. I can tell you with certainty that such things exists ….” The Museum of Extraordinary Things, Alice Hoffman
“My name is Serena Frome (rhymes with plume) and almost forty years ago I was sent on a secret mission for the British Security Service. I didn’t return safely. Within eighteen months of joining, I was sacked, having disgraced myself and ruined my lover, though he certainly had a hand in his own undoing.” Sweet Tooth, Ian McEwan
Exercise 2: Select five novels from your collection that you enjoyed reading. Go back and read the first page from each one. What made you turn the page? Why did it grab your interest? Did it reveal anything about the setting, tone or character? Did it create tension and conflict? What can you learn from these first pages that you can adapt to your own work?
Follow these tips to make your opening chapter compelling enough to keep readers engaged to the very end.
This is a repost from several years ago. The information is just as helpful and pertinent today as it was then. As always, thanks for reading, and keep writing.
If you’re like most people, you’ve probably made a myriad of excuses for not getting any writing done – lack of time, fear of failure, too busy, no privacy, nothing to write about, etc.
Below are the seven most common excuses I’ve heard people use to explain why they aren’t writing. I call them the Seven Deadly Excuses because I believe they can kill a person’s writing practice before it has a chance to flourish. Many of these excuses are influenced by negative messages and assumptions you might have heard since childhood. By reframing these messages and taking positive action, those fears can diminish over time.
Excuse 1: “I don’t have time to write.” A lack of time is the most common excuse people make about not writing. If this is your biggest fear, chances are your writing practice has never gotten off the ground, or you write in fits and starts. You always talk about wanting to write, but you never do anything about it.
The problem isn’t that you don’t have time to write, but the expectation of how much time is needed for writing. If you expect a writing practice to take up two, three or four hours every day, that is unrealistic. No one has that kind of time. With full-time jobs, clients to take care of, families to raise and other important responsibilities, there’s little time left over for writing.
The truth is, you don’t need hours at a time to begin writing. When you’re just starting out, only 10 or 15 minutes a day will suffice. For example, while working as an attorney, A Time to Kill author John Grisham set a goal of writing one page per day, roughly 200 words, and he got up a half hour early each day to achieve that. Grisham shows it is possible to fit writing into your schedule.
Excuse #2: “I’m too busy.” When you say that you’re too busy to write, what you may actually be saying is that writing is a low priority compared to other responsibilities, such as a work, school, taking care of kids or aging parents, etc. Who has time to begin a writing practice when all these other priorities compete for your attention?
Perhaps you learned in childhood that school work and household chores came first before you could do anything else, whether that was watching TV or playing with your friends. Writing became a low priority.
But maybe it’s time to rethink those priorities. Maybe it’s time to make writing a higher priority than before. When you make writing a priority, you’ll find it’s easier to begin a regular writing practice. If all you need is 15 minutes a day, that’s time well spent, no matter how busy you are.
Excuse 3: “My writing isn’t good enough.” From the moment you put pen to paper, your writing probably won’t be very good. First drafts never are good. That’s true for most writers, including successfully published ones. Kristin Hannah, author of The Nightingale, writes as many as 10 drafts of each novel, according to her website. Experienced writers understand that the first draft is simply the starting point that you can build on.
If you continually tell yourself that your writing isn’t good enough, ask yourself why you feel that way. Is it not good enough for publication? For other people to see? Once you understand why you feel you’re writing isn’t good enough, you can take steps to rethink your approach to writing.
Instead of berating yourself for not writing well, make a plan to keep improving. Read authors whose work you admire, so you can learn from them. When you write something, ask for feedback. Avoid squirming when you receive their feedback. Constructive criticism can help you spot recurring errors. Most important, write, write, write. Excuse 4: “I don’t know what to write about!” Do you suffer from blank page syndrome – the act of staring at a blank page or computer screen with no idea what to write about? Or when you do come up with a story ideas, do you dismiss it as uninteresting?
When faced with a blank page, you may be overlooking the best source of story ideas: personal experience. You have plenty of life experience to draw from, so explore those events from your past to adapt to your stories. One way to access this reservoir of life experience is with writing prompts. You can find hundreds of prompts on sites such as Writer’s Digest and DIYMFA.com.
Excuse 5: “I don’t have a private space to write.” If you share a home with a spouse, three children, a dog and two cats, it may be difficult to find a quiet, private space to write. Others believe that without ideal circumstances, such as a desk and comfortable chair, their favorite coffee mug and favorite pen, they’re just not able to write.
You need to ask yourself if the problem is an actual lack of space, or the expectation that you need a lot of space to write. I’ve drafted blog posts on breaks at work, on buses and trains or while waiting for appointments. If you wish you had ideal surroundings and your current environment is far from ideal, you may be waiting forever to start writing. The truth is, your environment does not need to be perfect to begin writing.
Excuse 6: “I’m afraid to fail.” Another common excuse writers make is “What if I fail?“ The answer depends on how you define failure. What does failure look like to you? Not getting published? Not finishing your current work-in-progress? Not having anyone read your work? Not having anyone take your writing as seriously as you do? Everybody has their own definition of failure, but in reality, there is only one true failure: not writing at all.
To remove that fear of failure, it might be helpful to start small and work your way toward bigger projects. Start with stories of 100 words, then increase it to 200 words, and so on. Every week or so, add to your daily word count. When you reach these smaller goals, you gain confidence in yourself and you achieve small successes that you can build on.
Excuse 7: “What if I’m successful?” While fear of failure is common among writers, others suffer from a different malaise: fear of success. “How can anyone be afraid to succeed?” you ask. You’d be surprised at how many people fear success, myself included.
Fear of success might manifest as an unfinished project – or two, or three or ten. You have several projects in various stages of completion but never seem to finish any of them. In your mind, finishing one of them means you’ve achieved success. Then you worry about what happens when you finish that project. Perhaps you edit your piece over and over again, never fully satisfied with what you’ve written – a useful delay tactic preventing you from finishing your work.
If you fear success, then you may need to rethink what success means to you. What does it look like? It may look and feel differently to you than to your spouse or your best friend. Are you defining success on your terms or someone else’s?
When you define success on your terms, there should be no reason to fear it because you’ve defined it based on real, concrete and meaningful terms. It’s when you follow the path of success that others have defined for you that can strike fear in you. Write according to your definition of success, not anyone else’s.
When you take steps to conquer your fears, the writing life won’t seem so scary.
We all enjoy a little self-indulgence now and then—a long soaking bath, a couple of glasses of wine, dinner at an expensive restaurant, lots of chocolate, etc..
But when it comes to writing, self-indulgence can confuse your readers and, worse, kill your story.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines self-indulgence as “excessive or unrestrained gratification of one’s own appetites, desires or whims.” As it pertains to writing, self-indulgent writing is writing that fulfills an author’s desires rather than the audience.
“It’s writing that doesn’t serve the story,” writes author K.M. Weiland. “It’s made up of ‘darlings’ you’re always being told you’re supposed to kill. It’s stuff you might love as a writer, but if you were an objective reader of your own stuff, you probably would not.”
In a recent post on her blog Helping Writers Become Authors, Weiland describes the different ways that you might see self-indulgent writing in the books you read. For example:
A story that seems to never end as if the author is reluctant to finish it. The story itself might be over by page 325, but it continues to page 389. Or the writing comes across as rushed and needs editing. This is particularly true for books that are the last in a series.
The author spends too much time world-building as if they’ve gotten lost in a world of their own creation.
Scenes or dialogue that stretch out too long because the author seemed reluctant to end it. Or scenes or details that seemed to repeat as if the author forgot their place in the story while writing it.
Characters that have no purpose in the story because the author seemed to love the character’s personality
Giving a character a platform and voice to spout your own opinions about a current issue. Often called grandstanding, and it can come across as preachy.
So how can you recognize self-indulgence in your own writing? Here are a few questions to ask yourself.
Who is your audience? Are you writing for yourself or for readers? Weiland says you write the first draft for yourself; the second draft is for the reader. It’s in that second draft that you weed out the little self-indulgences that detract from your story.
Why are you writing this story? Is it to slay your personal demons? Or is it to entertain readers and take them on a journey to a world you’ve created? Always keep the reader in mind as you write. Ask: what do readers need to know to help them understand this story?
Have you fallen in love with certain characters? Do those characters have a purpose in your story? If you love them but they don’t have a meaningful purpose, it’s time to “kill your darlings” or at least, save them for another story.
How much of yourself is in the story? Did you inadvertently portray yourself as the protagonist or the victim? Naturally, there will always be aspects of ourselves in our characters, but when you have become that character, it’s time to rethink who you want that character to be.
Is there a character who is grandstanding—spouting opinions that you hold dear? Unfocused and personal musings or pontificating about current issues can turn off readers.
Have you fallen in love with a setting or have you provided too much backstory and detail about the world you’ve created? Too many setting details can slow down your story.
Are there any poorly-devised plot twists? They can create unnecessary scenes and push the story into dead ends. I’ve seen this happen when a plot twist added 50 pages that didn’t need to be there, pushing the total page count to more than 500 for a women’s fiction.
How much time do you spend inside a character’s head and provide self-talk. Especially if you’re writing in first person, it can be easy to get inside your protagonist’s head—and stay there. It’s important to provide just enough inside thoughts to provide important details and back story without grounding the story to a halt.
Self-editing is a crucial skill to learn so you can assess your own work as objectively as possible. If you haven’t mastered the art of self-editing, recruit a friend or fellow writer to review your work. They may notice areas of self-indulgent writing.
Just as in real life, a little self-indulgence is fine. But when self-indulgent writing interferes with the story’s progress or confuses the reader, it’s time to make adjustments. You don’t want too much self-indulgence to kill your story.
For more insights about self-indulgent writing, check out this article at Flocksy.
Working as an independent writer has its perks—setting your own schedule, control over workload and the type of assignments you do, etc.
There are downsides too, such as inconsistent cash flow and long stretches of time without work.
There’s another downside that few writers acknowledge or talk about—losing clients. Many times, it’s through no fault of your own. The client simply decides to pull back on their use of freelancers.
But when you depend on multiple and semi-regular assignments from that client, the result can be devastating for your freelance business. You’re back to square one looking for new clients and assignments to fill the void. That means having to prove your worth to potential clients all over again. I confess that this is my least favorite aspect of freelancing. I’m much better at writing than I am at networking.
Author Colleen Story at the Writing and Wellness blog believes there’s one good thing about having to prove yourself: It’s being able to re-assess your business. The loss of a client isn’t necessarily a hardship but an opportunity to grow her business in a new and different direction. Other experienced writers like Story have come to accept the proving process because it exposes them to potential new business, and they find that potential exciting
As difficult as it is to update the resume and website and compile new clips, that downtime is also an opportunity to work on personal writing projects you’ve put on the backburner, learn new skills, focus on a different industry, or develop a different style of writing.
If you find yourself in the position where you have to prove yourself as a writer, here are a few tips for navigating this difficult phase of freelancing with greater confidence.
Study the freelancing business. This is especially important if you are new to freelancing and aren’t sure where to begin. Read up on the freelancing business. Understand what it takes to get started and become successful. Freelancing is a form of self-employment, and self-employment isn’t for everyone. Follow freelancers on social media and browse their websites. Freelancer Kat Boogaard offers great insights and information toolkits for budding freelancers on her website. Consider joining a freelancers group like Freelancers Union or American Society of Business Publication Editors, which hosts monthly online networking sessions for freelancers. Moxie is another site that offers plenty of resources available to learn about freelancing before jumping in.
Work your network. Seek assistance and advice from people you know, whether they’re previous clients, former colleagues, friends, fellow freelancers. They can provide moral support too if you get discouraged.
Figure out a specialty. Is there a type of writing that you want to focus on, say blog writing or magazine feature writing? If you want to write for blogs and websites, learn about blog writing then draft several posts that you can use as samples. Ditto with magazine writing. Learn all you can about how to write magazine articles, then draft a few to show potential clients. It may be easier to market yourself if you specialize than if you are a generalist who can do a lot of things.
Maintain a positive mindset. Stay positive no matter how difficult the process gets. Be realistic with your expectations. Don’t expect results overnight. Keep your eyes and ears open because writing opportunities abound; you just have to be aware of them.
Learn about artificial intelligence. In some circles, AI is a dirty word, but it’s here to stay whether you like it or not. It will continue to play a bigger role in our creative lives, so be prepared to understand it more fully. Take time to learn what AI can do—and what it can’t do. You don’t have to use AI for your writing (only if you think it will help you and if it’s okay with the client). Just be aware of how it works.
Armed with new knowledge and experiences, you can prove your worth as a freelance writer to any new client you meet.
On your writing journey, you’ll develop a full range of editorial skills from writing dialogue to creating an imaginary world for your characters. Conversely, those newly-developed skills may be more on the administrative side, such as managing tasks and making the best use of your time.
Some skills must be learned, while others seem to be born within us. I call those natural abilities superpowers. A writer’s superpower is that one aspect of writing that they are better at than any other skill.
If you’ve been writing consistently for a while, you may notice that you have a knack for doing certain things, almost by instinct. Those skills emerge organically from within. That superpower comes about with consistent practice.
And if you don’t think you have a writing superpower? Don’t worry. It’s there somewhere. You just haven’t discovered it yet.
Allison Tait, who writes children’s’ books, has this advice for developing writing superpowers in kids, but I think her advice works just as well for adults. She writes: “I encourage kids to identify one superpower and use it to give them confidence to keep writing. Because when you’re confident that you’ve got at least one thing going really well, then it’s much easier to take risks with writing and to try different things.”
Writing is a risk, but to be successful at writing, you have to experiment to see what works for you. Writing forces you to dig deep within yourself and release all the old, stagnant feelings you have buried there. It’s about exposing yourself to others, who may not like the person you reveal yourself to be. It takes courage to write, especially when you know how high the stakes may be and that readers may not like what you create. But still you continue to write—because you love to write.
How do you find your own superpower? By being consistent with your writing practice. Write as often as you can. That’s how you discover your special skills, your superpowers.
There are other ways to find your superpower, such as:
Being curious about the world and the people you encounter every day.
Reading widely in all genres, even non-fiction.
Experimenting with different writing styles.
Immersing yourself in creative environments and in nature.
Learning about your craft by taking classes and attending webinars.
There are numerous possible superpowers you could discover. Here are a few that I’ve recognized in myself and in other writers. You may discover different superpowers of your own.
Idea Generator. Some writers can come up with plot lines almost at will, while others knock their heads against a brick wall looking for inspiration. For these idea generators, writer’s block is a foreign concept. They have notebooks with story ideas and notes for the next work-in-progress. No sooner have they completed one story that they’re ready to write the next one.
Task Master. Most writers have numerous unfinished manuscripts sitting in a desk drawer collecting dust. Not the Task Finisher, who manages to finish every project they begin. They seem to have a clear idea how their story will end, and even if they don’t, they keep working at it until they do. This is one superpower I wish I had.
Time Manager. Some people love routine and schedules; others don’t. The Time Manager can set a schedule and follow it to a T. They just know how to make the best use of their time to meet deadlines and get the most work done within a certain time frame.
Writing Warrior. It takes courage to write. A writing warrior isn’t afraid to get words down on the page and doesn’t second-guess themselves about how the story will unfold. The warrior trusts that whatever comes out on the page is the story they are meant to tell.
World-building Visionary. With a vivid imagination, world-building visionaries can see an entire new world in their mind and then describe it in rich detail. This is what makes science fiction and fantasy writers so unique. If J.K. Rowling wasn’t a world-building visionary herself, would any of us be able to experience Hogwarts the way Harry Potter did?
Conversation Analyst. An ear for dialogue and the audacity to listen in on other people’s conversations without guilt can turn an average writer into a conversation analyst. They can detect the emotional undertones, the wording choices, vocal accents and mannerisms that make the conversation real, and then emulate those details in a carefully crafted dialogue.
Technical Translator. Some people have a knack for understanding technical lingo. They can read a technical manual then “translate” the instructions into plain English that others can understand. This superpower is especially helpful when writing non-fiction, but you might use it for describing scenes involving a scientific or technological method.
Sensory wizard. Though we are all born with five senses—taste, touch, smell, hearing, and seeing, only a blessed few have the ability to write descriptive prose involving those senses so that readers feel and see and taste it too.
Emotional Caretaker. Few writers have ever been able to touch my heart and soul with their words. I’m not talking about descriptive writing, but emotional writing. The simplest words can be filled with so much emotion and drama that they make readers feel something within themselves, make them cry, or send chills down their spine.
Self-editing Guru. Writing the first rough draft is the easy part. Editing is where the hard work begins. The self-editing guru can edit their initial draft and rewrite scenes without second guessing themselves. By the end of the second or third draft, they have a publishable book, while other writers are still slaving away on a fourth or fifth round of edits because they question whether the story is good enough.
So which superpower do you have? Which one do you wish you could develop further? Or do you have a superpower that’s not on this list? Share with me in the comments.
How many unfinished manuscripts do you have lying around the house? I have so many, I’ve lost count. That’s because I always get excited about a fresh, new story idea, and I take time to sketch out the plot and characters. Next thing I know, I’ve drafted the first four chapters – and left my current work in progress collecting dust.
But there are certain consequences to leaving a story unfinished, writes author Colleen Story at her blog Writing and Wellness (although the article appeared in her newsletter). Unfinished stories can be detrimental to your physical and mental well-being.
She cites research by a Lithuanian psychologist in the 1920s that found that people are more likely to remember the tasks that they had left undone than the tasks they had finished. The feeling of unfinished business stays with you—until you decide to do something about it. It can feel like a weight around your shoulders, dragging you down.
Unfinished stories can also affect your mood too, Story says. It can cause stress and anxiety, fatigue and creative exhaustion, and sleep issues. They take up valuable mental and creative space in your brain, so that you can’t think or work on anything else.
Conversely, when you do finish a task, whether it’s a writing assignment for a client or a novel you’d been slaving away over for the past two years, you feel lighter and freer. That burden of unfinished business has been lifted off your shoulders. You can live and breathe again. It energizes you, boosts your self-confidence, and gives you pride of accomplishment. That feeling of euphoria can be addictive too, carrying you into your next creative project.
If you have a mini-library worth of unfinished stories, it’s time to make an important decision. You have several options:
Continue to keep the story hidden in your desk drawer and make yourself sick over the unfinished story.
Pull it out, look it over with a fresh eye and decide if it’s worth working on again. If it is, then get back to work.
Look at it again, decide it isn’t worth your time and let it go—literally and figuratively. Letting go of it is a release too. Some stories are meant to be finished, let alone published. Call them practice stories.
If you still need more evidence to finish that unfinished story, consider the example of author Laura Dave, whose book The Last Thing He Told Me became a national bestseller and was turned into a mini-series (and a whale of a book too!). In a recent panel discussion, she admitted that it took her 12 years to finally finish the manuscript that had been sitting in her desk. She tried working on it several times because she was sure it held some worthwhile nugget there. Only after an astute agent looked at it and provided suggestions was Dave able to finish the book.
Moral of the story: don’t give up. If the story is worth telling, if there’s a nugget of truth you want to share, then keep working on it. If your heart is no longer in it though, don’t waste your time on it. If time is the problem that you can’t get back to writing it, then you need to figure out how to make the time in your schedule. Writing should be a joy, not a burden. If an unfinished story is still a burden for you, then it’s time to ether let it go or get back to work on it. Not finishing what you started can be detrimental to your health and peace of mind, while finishing your story will be a cause for celebration—and give you another reason to keep writing.
For this week’s post, I had planned to write about how to use rejection to fuel your next writing project. In an uncanny coincidence, when I checked my email, I found I had received feedback on an article I wrote for a client. Imagine my disappointment when I learned they wanted a rewrite including an interview with a new source.
Talk about rejection!
I felt more frustrated than angry. After all, this is part of the editorial review process. Fortunately, rewrites don’t happen very often for me.
That said, I realize that not everything I submit will be accepted on the first go-around. I felt frustrated this time because the client had provided new information that I did not have previously. If I had been provided this additional information up front, it would have saved me the time and trouble of a doing rewrite later.
I should note that this story was assigned to me; it was not a story I pitched to the client. The assignment came with a writing sheet outlining the details and sources I needed to interview.
So how do I move past the initial disappointment and tackle a rewrite? Here are my tips for dealing with rewrite pressure:
Take time to cool down. If you are upset by the feedback, take time to calm yourself. Go for a walk, meditate, take a nap—anything to help you relax. You don’t want to rework the story when you’re upset because you may not put forth your best work. Nor do you want to respond to the editor in anger. Simply thank them for the feedback and tell them you’ll get back to them if you have any questions. That buys you time for your emotions to settle down.
Review the manuscript carefully. After you’ve settled down, take a long look at your manuscript to figure out what went wrong. What does the client want revised, and why? If they don’t offer an explanation, or the explanation is vague, ask the editor to clarify. Ask: what do readers need to know about this subject?
Fix the problems. Do the best you can to fix the story and make it as strong as possible. If you need to interview another source, interview them. If you need to do more research, do more research. If you have to rewrite entire paragraphs, rewrite them so they are crystal clear. By sending back a better, stronger story, you show that you have the maturity to deal with adversity and not let negative feedback bother you.
Learn from the experience. There’s always something to learn from every writing experience, no matter how positive or negative the experience might be. In my example above, the instructions for the writing assignment were vague. I decided to push my way through it the assignment rather than stop and ask for clarification. What this experience has taught me—and what you can learn from it too—is to ask pointed questions of my editor about the assignment so I understand exactly what her client wants. And I need to do this before I begin doing research or setting up interviews. Getting the most important details up front will prevent rewrites later on.
Don’t take the feedback personally. Rejection happens all the time. Requests for rewrites happen too. That’s part of working as a freelancer. Remember that the editor or client has the readers’ interests in mind, and they want to produce a high-quality magazine that their readers will enjoy. It’s your job to help them achieve that. You may not like getting negative feedback from them, and you may not like having to rework an assignment, but without it, you won’t have a chance to prove yourself to the client.
Most important, keep a positive attitude. Feeling depressed or angry or frustrated won’t help your cause, and it won’t impress the client/editor. Don’t hold a grudge either. As soon as you submit the revised article, let go of any negative feelings you have and move on. I know that’s not always easy to do, but it’s necessary for the sake of your sanity and your freelancing career.
There are numerous ways to improve yourself as a writer—attending conferences and workshops, pursuing an advanced degree, writing every day, reading books about writing, among other things. But there’s one more way to become a better writer that is often overlooked.
Meditation.
Yes, meditation offers numerous benefits for writers. For example:
* Meditation can help calm the mind and slow down your thoughts, which can help you think more clearly. You might see solutions to your plotting problems that you didn’t notice before.
* Meditation can help you get in touch with your inner self, to access thoughts, ideas and emotions you might have buried.
* Meditation can help you feel less stressed when faced with writing deadlines, blank pages and a daunting writing process. It can help you deal with writing anxiety.
* Meditation can boost your confidence so you feel more comfortable tackling difficult tasks or working out of your comfort zone.
Granted, meditation take practice. But with a little time—no more than 10 minutes a day—your daily mediation practice can help you stay focused and calm, and help you access the most creative part of yourself. That can result in better writing and better stories.
What is the connection between meditation and writing?
With meditation, your mind calms. A calmer mind opens a gateway to creativity. It’s like unlocking a door and gaining access to a room who have always wanted to enter but was never available to you. Meditation also reveals aspects of yourself that you might have unintentionally kept hidden, aspects that come forth with your writing.
What writing won’t do….
Unfortunately, meditation can’t help you do a lot of things, like clear up a messy desk so you can write. It can’t improve your technical writing skills, such as grammar and punctuation. It can’t give you more space in your schedule so you have more time to write. These tasks are still up to you to do.
Meditation also can’t cut out the negative feedback you might receive about your creative talents, BUT it can help you deal with negative feedback with greater equanimity. You can still accept the comments but with a calmer mind, negative feedback won’t throw you off your game. It’s like having an invisible coat of armor around yourself; any negative comments will simply roll off your shoulders.
How to begin a meditation practice
As I mentioned, all you need is 10 minutes a day to quiet your mind. The easiest place to begin is in your own home. If it’s possible, find a place that is quiet and free of noise and distractions, such as your bedroom. Sit in a chair with your feet planted on the floor, or sit cross legged on the floor. Try not to sit on the bed as you might be tempted to lay down and nap!
Shut off your phone or leave it somewhere where you can’t get to it. Remember, with only 10 minutes for your practice, you don’t want to waste it worrying about your phone.
Once you are settled in place, close your eyes. Begin by breathing deeply. Focus on your breath. Each inhale and exhale will feel like a pendulum swinging back and forth. Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat.
Your breath becomes a mantra that your mind follows. Your thoughts might still race, but when you notice it, let them go. Don’t dwell on them. Let them roll past like an insect flying past a window. When you feel ready, open your eyes. Note how you feel. You may feel nothing the first day, or the first week. You may feel it didn’t make a difference at all. But your efforts will pay off eventually. If anything, because you slowed your breathing, you might feel calmer and clearer.
As you gain more experience, you can try more advanced meditation exercises or lengthen your sessions. You can also try some apps, but I usually find them more of a distraction. Still, you can find one that works for you.
Here are a few things to keep in mind about meditation: * Be patient. Don’t expect results overnight. In fact, you may not notice any significant changes in several days or weeks. But stick with the program. Quieting the mind has a cumulative effect. It will build over time.
*Be consistent. Practice your meditation a little bit every day. Because of its cumulative effect, it’s important to be consistent with your practice.
* Don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone is different. Each person will experience meditation in their own way. Find what works best for you.
With a little bit of effort, you can make meditation a part of your daily routine and it can be a valuable part of your writing practice.
Writing doesn’t come easy for a lot of people. The prospect of writing even one word paralyzes them. They’re so anxious about writing something that others will eventually read that that freeze, unable to write a single word. Even the most prolific published authors claim to feel anxious about the writing process some of the time.
Writing anxiety is a very real thing, affecting hundreds of thousands of people each day. It’s far more common that you think.
I’m not talking about writer’s block, which is the inability to come up with the topic or story you want to write. You draw a blank when you stare at the page. You are literally blocked from writing anything.
Writing anxiety is different. It’s defined as the tension, worry, nervousness or other negative feelings about a writing task. Think of it as stage fright for the written word. Just like a novice actor might freeze up under the spotlight, so do writers freeze up when they have to write about something.
It doesn’t matter if what you’re writing is a 300-page novel, a 1000-word essay, or a letter to someone you know and care about. Writing anxiety can strike at any time.
Whereas writer’s block occurs when you can’t think of anything to write about, writing anxiety is more about the feelings associated with your message and audience. You may know exactly what you want and need to say, but fear how it will be received.
Causes of writing anxiety
Experts say there are numerous causes of writing anxiety—from the pressure to perform to trying to please a specific audience. Fortunately, there are several strategies that can help you work through your writing anxiety.
Cause #1: Pressure to perform.
Writing anxiety may occur when you perceive the stakes to be high. For example, a grad student who is required to write a dissertation to complete their academic studies may feel anxious because the stakes are so high. The pressure to perform a writing task at a high level to receive the promised rewards can increase a person’s anxiety.
Cause #2: Lack of understanding of the writing task.
When a writing assignment for work or school seems complex or vague, that can cause some anxious moments too. No matter how many times you look over the assignment, nothing makes sense. It’s difficult to know where or how to start a writing project when you’re not sure what the finished product is supposed to look like. Lack of understanding of the writing task can result writers to feel anxious to the point that they produce a poor quality product.
Cause #3: Desire to please someone or a specific audience
Sometimes writing for a specific audience can cause some anxiety. For example, if you’re submitting an essay for a writing contest, you might feel anxious about being judged by a group of strangers. Or perhaps you’re trying to impress a new client after they’ve given you the first assignment. You want to do your best work, but with the stakes so high, you agonize over how they will view your work.
Cause #4: You’re attempting to learn a new writing style
As writers, we’re often faced with learning a different style of writing. Perhaps as a novel writer, you’ve never written poetry before. Or as a longtime business writer, you’re trying your hand at writing grant proposals, which is not part of your portfolio. There can be some anxiety when you’re learning something new.
Cause #5: Desire to please someone close to you.
If you’ve ever had someone in your life who has had high or perfectionist expectations of you, you know how anxious you can feel to try to meet those expectations. Or conversely, they belittled your desire to be a writer. Even if that person is deceased now, their words of encouragement (or discouragement, as the case may be) can still ring in your ears many years later. This, too, can create feelings of anxiety whenever you sit down to write.
Any one (or two) of those causes can paralyze you into inaction, resulting in writer’s block.
Fortunately, there are ways you can deal with writing anxiety. The nervous feelings may never go away completely, but these strategies can help you work through the issues preventing you from writing.
Strategy 1: Do some soul searching.
Pinpoint why you’re feeling anxious about writing. Is it the process that scares you? Is the assignment too complex or vague? Or are you trying to please someone with your writing?
Journaling can help you sort through your feelings and thoughts. Or talk to a close friend or relative who can lend an empathetic ear and perhaps provide valuable insights.
Strategy 2: Be clear about the writing task.
If the reason for the anxiety is a writing assignment that is vague or complex, talk to the person who assigned the task to get their perspective. The last thing you want to do it tough your way through the assignment, then turn in something that doesn’t meet their requirements. Get clear about what is expected before you begin.
Strategy 3: Break down the writing project into smaller pieces.
By tackling smaller chunks of the assignment, you won’t feel so overwhelmed. If you’re writing a dissertation, for example, tackle a section at a time, even one page at a time. With a little bit of effort each day, you’ll soon see steady progress as the number of completed pages grows.
Strategy 4: Don’t worry about first drafts.
First drafts are never perfect. Get your ideas down on paper first. You can always refine them later. Alternately, you can use an idea board for working out the overall project. I like to use the bullet point method where I jot down each individual idea that I want to include in my manuscript as bullet points. This approach helps me organize my thoughts and makes sure I’m including every detail.
Strategy 5: Do all your research up front.
If your writing project involves research, doing much of your research before writing can help you understand your subject well. You become a mini-expert and gain confidence in your ability to speak and write about the topic. The writing process goes much more smoothly when you feel confident about the subject matter.
Strategy 6: Read your finished work out loud.
It’s never easy to hear criticism about your written work. It might help to read your piece aloud to someone and get their feedback. This will help you get used to the feedback/critiquing process. Reading it aloud can also help you pinpoint problem areas in your writing so you can correct it before you submit it.
Have you ever suffered writing anxiety? What strategies did you use to get past those feelings so you could write with greater confidence?
The Regal Writer 