Measuring Your Progress as a Writer

February 13, 2024July 24, 2024 ~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment

A writer-friend recently asked “How do you know you’re making progress as a writer?”

I’m somewhat baffled by this question because I’ve never stopped to ask myself that same question. I’ve never thought about my own “progress.” I simply assumed that writing is about continuous improvement, that the more you write the better you’ll get.

But I don’t think there’s a clear cut answer to my friend’s question. It’s difficult to answer. After all, what does progress really mean?

Progress can mean different things to different people. For some, progress means how their writing is improving. Writing progress is subjective, which makes it harder to measure. What is good writing for one person may not be that way for someone else.

For others, progress means how close they are to reaching some end goal, like finishing a manuscript. That’s easier to measure because it’s an actual, tangible result.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself regarding your writing progress:

* Am I writing every day, or at least on a regular basis?
* Do I have a clear idea of my end goal for my work-in-progress? Can I visualize what it will look like?
* How does your current writing compare to earlier efforts?
* Are you satisfied with the results so far? What would you like to do differently?

With these responses in mind, If you’re as baffled as I am by this question, here are a few suggestions for gauging your progress as a writer.

Define what you mean by progress. What does it look like to you? Are you trying to reach a certain goal with your writing, such as a work count per day or complete an essay within a week? Or are you trying to measure the improved quality of your writing?
Visualize the end result. What does your end goal look like? Visualize what you want to achieve. If you want, create a visual to inspire you. Sketch a picture or make a collage. Then put those pictures on a bulletin board or somewhere where you can see it every day. Let the picture inspire you to keep working toward your goal.
Create a timeline. On that timeline, mark the starting date of your writing, whether that’s for a particular project or your overall practice. Also mark the ending date of that project. In between, mark periodic points which can designate review point. For example, you might have a timeline from January to December with each month marked off in between. Each month, you can compare where you are currently on your project with where you were the previous month.
Mark the milestones. Celebrate every small victory. Whether that’s completing a chapter in your latest work-in-progress, finishing a writing course, or meeting your daily writing goals for an entire month, do something to commemorate the occasion.

For example, if you’re trying to monitor how often you write, use a calendar and put a star on each day that you complete a writing session. By the end of one month, see how many stars you’ve earned. If there are stars on only half of those days, then you know you have work to do.

When you take the time to assess where you are now and how far you’ve come, you’ll know what steps to take next.

Measuring the quality of your writing is a different animal. Quality is more subjective. What reads well for one person may not work for another. Likewise, writers are a notorious difficult bunch, often judging their work too harshly. However, if you’re truly concerned about the quality of your work and whether you’re getting better at expressing your ideas, there are several things you can do to gauge your progress.

1. Compare current and previous drafts. If you’re working on a piece with several drafts, you can read the current version and compare it to the first and rough draft of it. That will tell you if the story is developing the way you envisioned. Or read a recent work and compare it to something you wrote when you first began writing, say five or eight years ago. See how it has changed over time. Is it more descriptive? Does it have the right amount of narrative and dialogue? Is there too much emotion, or not enough?

2. Read your work out loud. By reading it out loud, you’ll notice words or phrases that don’t seem to fit or you’ll stumble over long sentences and tricky phrases. The mistakes will become more obvious. Then go back and revise.

3. Get feedback from an objective party. Hire a professional editor, recruit beta readers or work with a writing coach who can provide insights about the quality of your writing and provide suggestions for improving it.

4. Take a writing class. With an instructor to guide you and classmates to read your work, you’ll get plenty of feedback that can help you refine your writing.

5. Read widely. That means reading a variety of genres and authors which will expose you to different writing styles. You learn to write by reading as much as you can.

If you’re focused on improving the quality of your writing, progress will be difficult to measure. Each project is different, and you may tackle it at different points of your life and bring to it different experiences. So you may write beautifully one day while you might lost your creative mojo the next.

Whether you want to improve the quality of your writing or you want to create a tangible product, one thing remains true: progress occurs when you write as often and as consistently as possible.

So to truly make progress as a writer, keep writing!

Find your writing superpower

September 20, 2023July 24, 2024 ~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment

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.

The Burden of the Unfinished Story

September 14, 2023July 24, 2024 ~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment

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.

Give Yourself Writing Credit

April 17, 2023July 24, 2024 ~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

It can be a real drag to be slaving away on a lengthy piece of writing for months or even years. It’s even harder when you’re doing it in relative invisibility. There’s no one around to cheer you on when you get stuck, no one to urge you toward the finish line (unless you have a spouse or best friend living with you). There’s no one to help you celebrate small successes you experience along the way, like hitting the 10,000-word mark on an 80,000-word novel or finishing a chapter. When you’re focused on the next goal, the next chapter, or the next deadline, you might forget to pat yourself on the back for the work you’ve put in.

Experts (both writing and psychology) say it’s important to give ourselves credit throughout a project, not just at the end. Delayed gratification is a no-no. It’s not just to keep you motivated, but to acknowledge the hard work and grief you’ve gone through during the writing process. Since most writers work in isolation, no one else sees how you toil behind the scenes. No one witnesses the blood, sweat and tears you pour into your work to get it published.

By setting up a credit system for reaching certain milestones, you can take time to appreciate the work you’ve done so far. You can feel good about what you’ve accomplished while you’re accomplishing it. No need to wait until the bitter end to pat yourself on the back. Who wants to wait that long before receiving any kind of acknowledgment of your hard work?

Giving yourself credit plays off the concept of “What’s rewarded gets repeated.” When you acknowledge that you wrote 5,000 words in one week, how likely are you to repeat that effort the following week? Of course, you’ll want to keep performing at that high level. As the words pile up on the page, so do your rewards.

The rewards should be small things, like giving yourself a day off from writing or taking a day trip somewhere. They don’t have to cost anything either, like playing with your favorite pet or re-watching a favorite movie. In fact, waiting until the end of the project for a larger, more indulgent reward, something that could be a splurge, like dinner at a hot new restaurant or a massage.

There are a few guidelines for giving yourself credit:

Refrain from food-related credits, which can sometimes be unhealthy and ruin your diet.
Keep credits small and budget-friendly. Save the bigger splurge for when you complete your project.
Consider hobbies and activities that you enjoy that you don’t get to do very often, like dancing or spending an afternoon at the library.
Don’t put off cashing in your credit. Take it the moment you reach your milestone.

So what types of credit should you give yourself?

Re-reading a favorite book
Re-watching a favorite movie
Going for a hike or walk in nature
Going for a bike ride
Going to a matinee movie
Visiting a museum
Buying fresh flowers for your work space
Dancing in your living room
Taking a day off from writing
Spending an afternoon at the library, bookstore or coffee shop
Spending time with your pet
Spending time with a friend you haven’t seen in a while

Here’s another fun thought, shared by book coach Jessica Conoley. Use fun, colorful stickers to decorate your calendar. Every time you meet a goal, say finishing a chapter, put a sticker in your calendar on the date of completion. Or your goal might be to write 1000 words a day. Every day you reach that goal, put another sticker on the calendar. Over time, you see how many stickers you’ve collected as “credit” for the work you’ve done. You may not see all the words you’ve written toward your finished manuscript, but the stickers in your calendar can show you how far you’ve come.

As writers, we all work hard, often in isolation. Few people see the hard work we put into our craft. Taking time to give ourselves credit isn’t frivolous. It’s a way to acknowledge that our work is worthy of recognition, even if we’re the only ones to see that progress.

So how do you acknowledge your hard work? What special rewards to you give yourself for reaching your milestones in a longer project?

Eight Strategies for Returning to Writing after a Hiatus

February 2, 2023 ~ The Regal Writer ~ 4 Comments

Imagine my surprise when I checked my calendar this morning and realized it was February. Where did the time go? It seemed like yesterday I was watching Hallmark Christmas movies and making plans for the New Year. I realize now how little progress I’ve made in my writing.

That’s because since November, I’ve had numerous distractions, from demanding job assignments and household responsibilities to holiday celebrations and catching up on sleep. With everything that was on my plate, creative writing wasn’t a priority. I’m barely making my weekly deadline for posting to my blog.

Contributing to this scheduling mess was the fact I had completed writing a sports romance, but was having second thoughts about its viability. I knew I had to re-read it and edit it further, but my eyes just weren’t seeing the solutions to my storytelling problems. I began to doubt the story – and by extension, my writing. Was I producing anything worthwhile, or was I wasting my time?

So I set aside the novel until I felt ready to edit it again. I was feeling so overwhelmed by the task that I took a break from it. I needed the time to regroup to figure out my next steps.

So now it’s February, and though I have dabbled writing a Christmas novella through the holidays, I have nothing concrete to show for my efforts. It’s time to get serious about writing again. But where do I begin?

I’m not alone. After reading this recent post by author K.M. Weiland, I realized I’m not alone in taking a sabbatical from writing. Weiland shared her own struggles with writing again after taking a lengthy break, and she shared the steps she’s taking to get back to writing again. Sometimes you have to step away from it to gain perspective about how far you’ve come and where to go next.

So how does one begin to get back on track? The experts at Masterclass suggest having a plan for building up your writing practice and getting those creative juices flowing again. Here are a few possible ways to get started writing again.

Start small. You can’t always just dive into the swimming pool. Sometimes you need to get your feet wet first. That might mean sitting at poolside with your feet dangling into the water. Or maybe you start further by wading in the shallow end for a few minutes before getting back out. The truth is you don’t have to spend hours on Day 1 playing catch up with your writing. Start writing shorter pieces, such as an essay, a poem or flash fiction. It might be easier to get your creative juices flowing this way, and you might feel more accomplished finishing that first short piece.

Limit your writing time. Using a timer or clock, set it for a specified time, say 30 minutes. When the timer rings, stop writing, no matter where you are on the page. OR…give yourself a word limit or page limit, such as 300 words or one page. In smaller chunks, you may not feel as overwhelmed by the writing process.
Don’t be hard on yourself. If you get too busy or feel overwhelmed, it’s okay to skip a day of writing. Some people feel pressure to write every day like the so-called writing experts suggest. Sometimes it’s not feasible. Although, I must admit, having a regular schedule helps me stick to my writing practice.
Schedule your writing time. If you’re the type of person who routinely plans your day and keeps doctor appointments, try scheduling your writing time. On your calendar or appointment book, block out a chunk of time for writing. As mentioned before, start small, say 15 minutes or a half hour.
Comb through old writing projects. You probably have a file or desk drawer filled with unfinished stories. Pull them out, read through them and see if they spark your imagination. By reviewing old material, you might get ideas for new projects or ways to rewrite what you’ve already written.
Try writing prompts. This might jumpstart those creative juices that you haven’t used in a while, and the exercises are short enough that they don’t require a huge time commitment.
Take a writing class or attend a workshop. Immersing yourself into the world of writing can inspire you to begin writing more. There might be in-session exercises to get those creative ideas going again. Reading a book about writing might also do the trick.
Remember that nothing is perfect. Whatever we put on the page is never pretty. Focus on getting ideas down, then go back and edit later. That’s when the real writing begins.

With these strategies in your pocket, you’ll be back to writing regularly in no time, and with greater motivation and inspiration. It’s never too late to start or (restart) a writing practice.

Eight Keys to Conducting Good Interviews

January 26, 2023 ~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment

Among the many skills writers and creatives must master, interviewing might be one of the toughest, especially if you’re an introvert. Most of us aren’t born interviewers; we have to develop those skills over time.

Most of us can learn a thing or two by watching the late Barbara Walters’ interviews, how she maintains focus on her subject at all times as if that person is the only one in the room. She speaks to them as if holding a simple conversation. Really when you think about it, that’s what an interview is – a simple conversation between people. What’s so scary about that?

Of course, the interviewer – you – holds the key to making the interview productive and successful. Success, however, is only as you define it. A successful interview might be snagging that elusive source you’ve been chasing for several weeks. It could be gleaning an important detail you didn’t expect to get, or it could be getting a normally reticent person to open up about themselves.

Interviewing is just one aspect of writing that most novice writers don’t think about. Interviews are often needed for getting background information on a topic for a work of fiction, non-fiction, magazine feature or other written work. For example, if your story takes place in a bank but you’ve never worked in a bank yourself, you might interview one or two people who do to get a sense of what their day is like, their process for handling money or for dealing with customers, or worse, how they would deal with a bank robbery.

Interviews can cover a variety of topics such workplace issues, health and wellness, auto mechanics and baking. In my magazine writing, I’ve interviewed experts about the housing market, how to create webinars, blockchain technology ADA compliance.

Don’t overlook interviews for memoir either. Sometimes you need to find historical information to build context into your memoir or a biography set in another time and place.

From my experience writing for trade association publications, I’ve learned how to be more comfortable about asking people for their perspective on certain topics. People LOVE to talk about themselves, especially the work they do or a hobby or side interest they enjoy. Tap into those topics, and you’re usually home free. Even the most reticent person will open up about what interest them.

To maximize your success, here are my keys to conducting good interviews:

Be prepared. Research the topic to develop a cursory knowledge and can ask semi-intelligent questions. Read published articles about the topic or contact subject matter experts. If possible, research the individual you’re interviewing too. Use LinkedIn to get their background and education. You may even find that you have something in common with them, such as graduating from the same university.
Set a goal for the interview. Think of one or two pieces of information that you need to know that only that person can provide.
Focus on the person you’re interviewing. Don’t use the time to talk about yourself. Be personable without getting too personal. Allow the person to speak without interrupting them with your own story.
Get the basics first, such as the spelling of their name, their company and occupation. Brief them on the interviewing process and what will happen once the interview is complete. Notify them when the article will be published. You might make comments about the weather or their local sports team to help them relax and build rapport.
Go slow. Start with easier questions. Softer, open-ended questions are more likely to put them at ease. Avoid closed questions with simple yes or no responses which might make them feel like they’re being interrogated.
Be polite and considerate, but don’t fawn over them. Remember they have other obligations and their time might be limited, so don’t waste time. Be sure to thank them at the end for their time.
Conclude the session by asking if they have any final thoughts. I like to ask the question, “Is there anything else readers should know about this topic that I have not asked about?” Most of the time, they may not have anything else to add. More often, they reiterate a point they made earlier. Occasionally, you will get a true nugget of information that adds depth to their commentary.
Follow up. Send a thank you for their time and perspective. Ask for additional questions if needed. Also ask for additional resources they might know of about the topic or other people you can interview. Explain the process moving forward and whether they’ll have a chance to review their sections of it before it gets published. That’s a detail you’ll have to work out with your editor. Depending on the publication and deadline, some editors require source reviews while others may not.

Interviews can be fun to do – if you’re prepared and you know what you want to accomplish. Once you’ve done a few, you’ll have one more skill in the writers’ arsenal.

Get Inspired to Write with These 12 Christmas-Themed Writing Prompts

December 22, 2022 ~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment

I struggled to come up with a suitable post for this week. Everything I came up with either seemed unexciting or not helpful for writers. Worse, I felt distracted by writing assignments, holiday preparations and a pending snowstorm.

Christmas time can inspire all sorts of stories. So it seemed fitting that I share with you one final gift for this holiday season – holiday-themed writing prompts. If you’re stuck writing and need some inspiration, maybe one of these ideas can drag you out of your writing slump.

Without further ado, here are my 12 Christmas-themed writing prompts. Enjoy!

Write a story about a young woman who invites a friend for Christmas dinner at her parents’ house. But there is something distinctly different about her friend (like exceptionally pointy ears, for example).
Write a story about something that happens during a performance of The Nutcracker, whether it happens backstage, onstage with the performers or in the audience. It could be two people having an argument, a mishap on stage, or a costume malfunction.
Write a story about a dysfunctional family traveling together out of town for the holidays.
Write a story about a couple enjoying the sights and sounds of Christmas or out shopping when they unwittingly witness a crime.
Write a story about someone receiving a gift from a loved one that that they either don’t like or don’t want or need. How do they respond to the gift giver?
Write a story about a group of people who participate in some sort of Christmas-themed contest – ugly sweater, scavenger hunt, window decorating, etc.
Write about a character who, amidst running Christmas errands, runs into an old friend, former classmate, or former flame that they have not seen in nearly a decade.
Write a story about a harried store clerk working during the Christmas rush.
Write a story about a good, old-fashioned office Christmas party in which the CEO or a colleague makes an unusual announcement.
Write about a New Years’ Eve celebration when festivities don’t go as planned.
Write a story about a group of strangers that get stranded together somewhere on Christmas Eve due to a snowstorm, a power outage, closed roads, etc.
Write a story about the filming of a Christmas movie – in the middle of the summer.

Merry Christmas and happy writing!

Is Your Story Idea Worth Publishing?

November 8, 2022 ~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment

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.

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.
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.
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:

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.
Can you visualize the protagonist or antagonist?
Do you see the conflict? Do you know the characters’ goals?
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.

12 Tips to Survive – and Thrive – National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

October 24, 2022 ~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment

Logo courtesy of NaNoWriMo

Hello readers: This is a repost from two years ago. In advance of NaNoWriMo, I wanted to share tips for getting through this challenge. The tips are just as helpful today as they were then. Enjoy, and good luck.

Have you always wanted to write a novel but weren’t sure how to get started? Maybe you’ve had a story idea swirling inside your brain for the past decade and just never made the time to write it. With November right around the corner, here’s your chance.

National Novel Writing Month is an annual creative writing challenge that takes place every November in which participants aim to write 50,000 words in 30 days toward a completed novel. The event is hosted NaNoWriMo, a nonprofit organization that encourages writing fluency and education for all ages. According to its website, the NaNoWriMo group believes in “the transformational power of creativity.”

Participation in this annual event has escalated from a mere 21 people in 1999 to 306,230 in 2017, according to the Novel Factory. You don’t have to sign up on their website to participate. You can do this in the comfort of your home, which is what I plan to do. While the goal is 50,000 words for the entire month, that is only the goal. If you can only achieve 30,000 words – or 1,000 words a day – that’s fine too. This is a personal challenge to motivate writers to write every day and work toward a larger goal.

Whether this is the first time you take part in the event or the tenth, here are some helpful tips for surviving this 30-day writing challenge. You can find other helpful tips here too.

Outline and research your story ahead of time. Since you’ll be spending your November days writing, you’ll need to know what you’ll be writing about. Plan ahead. Plot your outline in advance. The Novel Factory has some awesome free downloadable tools to help you plan your story.

The same goes for research. If you’re writing historical fiction, do your research ahead of time. If you get to a place in your story where you need to do more research, make a note of what you need to do and come back to that place during the revision phase. Don’t get distracted by the desire to look up something or you will never get back to your writing.

Plan your schedule. With a hefty 50,000 word goal, you’ll need to plan how you will achieve it. That’s roughly 1,667 words a day with no days off, or 2,000 words a day with one day off each week. Those daily word goals can be daunting. So it’s important to plan how much you’ll be able to write. It might mean getting up an hour early each day to write, or doing mini sessions throughout the day. Remember, you don’t have to write in one huge chunk of time.

Try something new. Many writers use NaNoWriMo to experiment with their writing. It might be re-writing a current work-in-progress from an alternate point of view, or trying their hand at writing a different genre – science fiction when they normally write psychological suspense. This approach can be applied to your writing schedule too. For example, try getting up an hour earlier in the morning to start writing rather than waiting until the evening when you may be too tired.

Participate in live write-ins. If you’re looking to stay motivated throughout the month, check out a live write-in in your area. If you sign up at the NaNoWriMo website, you’ll be given locations of write-ins near you. With the pandemic, I imagine there might be virtual write-ins too.

Work with a writing buddy. When you participate with a friend, you can motivate each other and help you through the rough spots. If you’re both competitive, set up your own contest to see who can write more words each day. Try putting a giant thermometer on your wall. As you complete your daily word count, fill in the thermometer with red to see your progress. Then compare your progress with that of your friend’s.

Be prepared to put some activities on the backburner. That may mean less time hanging out on social media, less time watching Netflix or Hulu or shutting off the TV. It could also mean spending less time socializing with your friends and fewer Zoom meetings. You’ll have to decide what you can live without for the short term while you work on your masterpiece.

Silence your inner critic/editor. As you write, turn off the internal critic who tells you that your work isn’t good. It’s easy to get sidetracked by negative thoughts. First drafts usually aren’t very good, so relax and just tell your story without judgment and self-criticism. The whole point of NaNoWriMo is to challenge yourself to write your story. There will always be time for editing later.

Avoid going back to the beginning. If you are ever tempted to read what you’ve already written or rewrite it, don’t. You may decide that your work is terrible and give up. Or you may want to start editing it, which only wastes time. If necessary, read the last page or two that you wrote to remember where you left off, but otherwise, keep a forward focus.

Find your writing rhythm. You may find one week into NaNoWriMo that you’ve hit your stride. That’s great news. If you get to the end of your 2,000 word goal and you still feel motivated to keep going, then by all means, keep writing. That’s one way to build up your word count early on in the challenge so if you feel a bit sluggish by the end of the month, you can slow down without harming your end goal.

Reward yourself when you reach milestones. When you get to the 5,000 word mark, for example, treat yourself to your favorite snack or watch a favorite movie. Set another reward at 10,000 words, 20,000 words and so on. Occasional rewards serve as great motivational tools to keep you writing.

Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t meet your writing goals. So you only wrote 30,000 words. Congratulate yourself for your accomplishment. That’s better than not writing at all. Remember the purpose of this event is to challenge yourself to make quick, steady progress.

Make time for exercise and fresh air. All work and no play can stifle your creativity. Make sure you get outside if the weather is nice, and go for a walk or a bike ride. It’ll help clear the cobwebs from your brain and you can return to your desk with a fresh perspective.

Most important, have fun with NaNoWriMo. Yes, there will be plenty of hard work involved, but stay positive. Look at how much you will learn and grow as a writer. No matter how many words you eventually put down on the page, you can be proud of your accomplishment as you see your story develop.

Tips for Pre-Planning Your Novel

April 6, 2022 ~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment

Writing the first draft of a novel is the easy part. Revising it is the hard part. The next hardest, I believe, is pre-planning your story.

Sure, you can begin drafting the story as you see it in your head (as I usually like to do). But most authors have to do some pre-planning to know what they will write about in the first place. Otherwise, you can get through six or seven scenes then draw a blank about where the story will go next.

Pre-planning is important for several reasons.

It helps you know how your story will begin – and end – and the major plot points in between.
It helps you understand who you protagonist is, what they most desire and what is getting in the way of getting what they want.
It helps you figure out who the other characters are and what their motivations are.
It helps you get a clear idea of the back story and setting.
It helps you understand how the story will progress, and how the tension will develop.
It helps you organize your notes so that you’re not stopping and starting your writing.

There are different approaches to pre-planning depending on the type of writer you are. If you’re a planner, then pre-planning will come naturally to you. The downside is you may get so caught up in the pre-planning, that you delay starting your novel.

If you’re a pantser like me, you prefer to write intuitively, letting the scenes and characters show up organically. However, even among pantsers, pre-planning can help you organize your ideas and give some structure to the story before you begin writing. The good news is the pre-planning process provides a skeleton layout of your story while giving it enough flexibility to allow new characters and scenes to develop.

There is no right or wrong way to plan your novel. It all depends on how much planning you like to do ahead of time. Some plans are more detailed than others. But there are a few common steps.

Know what kind of story you want to write, and who your audience will likely be. Do you want to write a mystery? Women’s fiction? Literary? Or historical fiction?
Write the story’s premise in 1-2 sentences. You might consider playing the game “what if” to come up with different scenarios for your story. For example, what if a rising figure skating star is kidnapped as a revenge against her father and the skater’s coach must work against the clock to find her? Be sure the premise hints at the conflict.
Write a bio of your protagonist. It might help to write it in their voice so you can easily get inside their head. What is their greatest desire? What or who is getting in their way of getting it? Who are their friends and family? Know your protagonist inside and out.
Brainstorm different scenes. Just jot down the ideas for each scene in 2-4 sentences. You’ll flesh them out more fully later.
Create a timeline for your story. Does it take place over several days in a thriller? Or several years as they might in historical fiction. Understanding the timeline ahead of time helps you figure out when each scene will occur in relation to one another. Otherwise you’ll have to address the timing of events in the revision phase. (I highly recommend this step. I wish I had done this with my current work in progress.)
Know your audience. This can be several sentences. Who are your potential readers? What else do they like to read?
Do your research. If you’re writing historical fiction, this is especially important to understand the setting and customs of that time. But even if you’re not writing this genre, some research is needed. Do any of your characters suffer from a rare medical condition? You’ll need to know the symptoms and treatment. What types of poison are least likely to be detected? You’ll need to know the answers before you begin writing.
Begin writing. You can start anywhere in the story. I find it helpful sometimes to write individual scenes that you can see in your imagination. You can always figure out where it will appear in the story later. Another option is to begin at the end. Writing your ending first can help you figure out how to start your novel. If you know your protagonist has to end up at Z, then you know you have to have her begin the story at V, and get through W, X and Y.

You’ll find numerous resources and articles about planning your novel on the internet. There are numerous approaches, and you may have to experiment with several of them before you find one that works for you.

Good luck and happy writing!

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