How Much Patience Do You Need to Be a Writer?

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The longer I work at this thing called writing, the more I realize how much patience it requires. When I’m forced to wait for something else to happen, I realize I’m not nearly as patient as I think I am.

While the physical act of putting the pen to paper can make you feel productive, there are times when you have to take a step back, whether of your own volition or because of circumstances. That’s when you feel at your most unproductive. Maybe you need to let a story idea simmer on the mental back burner. Or you need to let a story idea breathe a bit so it has time to sprout into something worth writing. On the business end, sometimes you need to wait for sources to return messages or that critical invoice to be paid.

So how does writing test your patience?

When the story idea is there, but you can’t work on it right away.
You have a brilliant idea and you’re eager to start writing, but you can’t because you have to finish up your current work-in-progress. Or you have work assignments or school projects that require your time and attention. As anxious as you might feel about starting a new project, you have to wait until you finish other obligations first.

When you get an idea for a story, but it needs time to develop.
You need time to figure out the conflict, character motivations, plot twists, and whether it ends happily or mysteriously. Your patience is needed to allow the idea to gestate into a more visible form before you begin writing.

When you finish your first draft.
Experts recommend that you allow several weeks to pass before you begin the editing or rewriting your draft. That time away from your work in progress allows the story to settle a bit. When you begin reading what you’ve written, you can see the story with a fresh eye and make the changes necessary to make it publishable. That in-between time, whether that’s one month or six months, is another test of your patience.

When your work is being read by beta readers.
There’s lag time while beta readers review your manuscript. So you play a waiting game, wondering if they will like your work.

Freelancers face other lessons in patience.

When there’s downtime between assignments.
Especially if you write for bi-monthly and quarterly publications, there’s often a longer lead time between assignments. You have to find a way to fill that time. It can be a test of patience, not knowing when the next assignment will come or if it will come at all.

When you must wait for people to respond to your messages.
You may have to wait for sources to return phone calls or emails so you can set up interviews or get answers to your questions. Sometimes you can wait several weeks if the person you’re trying to speak with is traveling out of the country. Zoom calls may be out of the question. It’s hard to be patient when you’ve got a deadline looming and your assignment isn’t finished because you’re still trying to reach a source.

When you need an editor’s review before you can proceed to the next step.
Once you submit the article to the editor, there’s more waiting. You have to wait for the editor’s review and approval. They may have to submit it to another person for review, so you have to wait for them as well. This phase can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. With more waiting, more patience is needed.

When you’re waiting to be paid.
The worst scenario requiring patience is waiting to be paid. Some clients can take an inordinate amount of time to pay you. I usually require 30 to 45 days for invoices, but because of the quarterly publishing dates, it has been known to take longer. Editors have their own internal protocol to follow, such as not submitting invoices from freelancers until the publication goes into production. When you’ve got bills piling up, though, that extra time to wait for payments from clients can be nerve-racking. An email or phone call to follow up may be necessary; but so is patience.

It does no good to sit at home twiddling your thumbs, however. There are things you can do to pass the time. In the meantime, you can:

* Work on individual scenes for your story idea that are clearer to you or that are more fully fledged out.
* Catch up on errands and chores that have piled up
* Catch up on reading and research in preparation for your work in progress
* Catch up on sleep, since sleep is so important to your creativity
* Make pitches to other editors to keep work assignments flowing toward you.
* Experiment with other types of writing. It’ll keep your writing fresh.

Who knew that having a writing career would require as much patience as it does?

Learning to Trust the Creative Process

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For the past two years, I’ve been plugging away at a novel that is nowhere near finished. I started with a bang, writing the first draft in four months. Then the editing phase began, where the real writing begins, so the experts say. I’m still muddling through the novel after starting over several times to make sure those first few chapters are “just right.” It’s much like starting to put together a giant jigsaw puzzle, but all you have are the pieces.

Some of that is, admittedly, my perfectionist tendencies. The rest is learning to trust my creative instinct. I have found that the deeper I go into writing my novel, the more I need to realize that there is a process to all this muddling through. The more often I get stuck in my current WIP, the more I realize I need to trust the process. The process, so it seems, knows more about my story’s natural progress than I do.

From my experience, I’ve found that there are several moments in one’s writing practice when it’s necessary to trust the creative process:

When you begin to doubt yourself
When you get stuck in a writing rut
When you’re not sure where to go with the story next
Whenever you face a blank page

There might be other moments too that I have not listed. You’ve probably noticed them yourself. It’s at those times when trusting the process is a necessity, not a luxury. When you forget about trusting the process and push on, that’s when things tend to go off the rails.

Everybody’s creative process is different, of course. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to writing. The hardest part for most newbie writers is figuring out the best process for your work-in-progress. That may require some experimentation. (Hence my multiple attempts at writing that oh-so-critical opening chapter). But once you figure it all out, getting to The End is much easier. (At least, I hope it is.)

So what does trusting the creative process look like? For me, it was:

1. Starting a writing project with only a vague idea of what it will look like in the end. Or conversely, …

2. Having a clear vision of how the story will end so you begin writing, trusting that your story will end where it’s supposed to.

3. Writing a little bit every day, knowing it might be crap but also understanding that something truly beautiful and valuable could emerge.

4. Knowing you have a gift for writing and knowing it’s what you love to do and want to do. People may tell you that writing is a waste of time, but you write anyway.

5. Writing for the sheer pleasure of it, knowing it may never achieve recognition or publication

6. Understanding that every story idea goes through a gestation period. It has to simmer on the back burner until you are ready to put pen to paper.

7. Not waiting for inspiration to begin writing. You write regardless if you have a clear idea what you want to write about. You gotta start somewhere.

8. Understanding that story ruts happen. See them as signs that you need to adjust the plot or introduce a new character. You know if the story isn’t going anywhere, it’s time to make something happen to move the story forward.

9. Knowing that a solution to your plot or character problem will show up if you are present enough to recognize it. The solution may come in the form of a webinar you attend, a conversation with a fellow writer, or a podcast.

10. Recognizing that writing can be a messy process. Sometimes there are no neat paths to completing your project. There are times you simply have to muddle through.

11. Recognizing that writing is scary – and doing it anyway. It’s a part of yourself that you are putting out into the world in the hopes that people will like it.

12. Taking time to appreciate your accomplishments, no matter how small they may be. From small accomplishments come larger ambitions to create something new.

So the next time you feel stuck in your writing, or you stare at a blank page or someone doubts the wisdom of your career choice, that’s when you may need to trust the creative process.

Eight Strategies for Returning to Writing after a Hiatus

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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.

Do You Have a Holiday Writing Plan?

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

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

Or is there?

It all depends on how you allocate your time.

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

1. Put your writing practice on hiatus.

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

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

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

3. Maintain the status quo in your writing practice.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Strategies for Getting Over the Mid-Summer Writing Slump

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Ever have those days when you simply don’t feel like writing? Funny that those days seem to occur most often during the summer. Blame it on the heat that makes everyone feel lazy. Or the distraction of summer activities – picnics, parties, the beach, outdoor movies in the park. When it’s summer, the last thing you want to do is work. And writing is work.

Conversely, maybe you’re too busy with work assignments and deadlines to squeeze in any pleasurable writing time. Despite my busy schedule, I feel like most days I’m waiting for email responses, interview confirmations and reviewed manuscripts, which make me feel like I’m not getting anything accomplished.

Welcome to summer, where everything and everyone seems to move at a slower pace. Even your writing practice can begin to slow to a crawl.

How do you get back into that creative flow? How do you keep your writing practice going when there are so many summer distractions and obligations to take care of? Here are a few strategies that have worked for me. They might work for you too.

*Shorten your schedule. It might be necessary to shorten the schedule. For example, instead of writing every day, cut back to three or four days a week. If all you can give to your writing is three days a week, then go with that shortened schedule. Then when summer ends and activities slow down, you can always go back to writing every day. The most important thing to remember is to keep to some kind of schedule so you don’t lose momentum or motivation.

* Write in the early morning. If you can’t find the time to write during the day, try writing before breakfast. Many writers swear by this practice. It’s quiet at that early hour before the rest of the world awakes, and you can actually hear yourself think. You might be able to do your best work then.

* Write in the evening. If the early morning does not fit your schedule or appeal to you, try writing after dinner or before bedtime. You might find it more relaxing and it might help you get to sleep.

* Write in short bursts. Sessions of 10 to 15 minutes can help you stay productive. You’d be surprised how much you can get done in that brief amount of time. Check out my earlier post about writing in 15-minute sessions.

* Skip a day or two. It’s okay if you have to cut back on writing time to make room for other activities. Just don’t extend it too long or you might have trouble getting motivated to start writing again. Engage with the outside world and exploring new people and activities. They can only help to enrich your writing.

* Focus on non-writing activities. With less time available, writing may not be practical. Use your time instead to read about the writing craft, do research for your work-in-progress, or study the works of a favorite author.

*Set small goals. Setting smaller goals will feel less daunting and may be easier to achieve. Set a goal for writing one page a day. Or 1000 words a week (or about 200 words a day). By writing one page a day, you can still make steady progress toward your larger writing goal.

If none of these suggestions work, then try this exercise. Close your eyes and imagine your life without any kind of writing at all. What if you never wrote another word again? How would that make you feel?

If you see that your world would be drab and empty without writing, then use that vision as a catalyst for your writing practice. Use it as motivation to keep writing. Even if its the middle of the summer. Even if it’s just a little bit every day. When summer ends, you can jump back into a regular writing practice.

Is Journaling Worth Your Time?

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I came across an intriguing blog post about journaling on Jane Friedman’s blog. Anne Carley, a writer, creativity coach and journaling advocate posed the following question: Is writing a waste of writing time? The question prompted me to recall my own experience with journaling.

Once upon a time I kept a journal. It was about eight years ago, and I was going through a rough time in my life. I’d made a bad business decision and lost a lot of money because of it. I was out of work and asking myself, “What’s next?” I also went through a health crisis and my mother had recently passed away. I was experiencing a full-blown mid-life identity crisis.

With my life in disarray, I started writing in a journal not to make sense of these sweeping changes that were happening but to vent my anger, frustration, guilt and sadness. I churned out pages and pages of angst-ridden prose – two whole notebooks worth. I vented about my poor decision-making skills and the person who had been involved in the business deal. I poured out my troubles to the journal as if it were a therapist, which I suppose it was. Journaling was critical for my mental health during that time, as was a regular yoga practice. And journaling was far cheaper than visiting a therapist’s office.

Funny thing was, once this series of crises ended, I no longer felt the need to write in my journal. I stuck in in my desk drawer and forgot about it. Every now and then, I’d pull it out, look over what I’d written, write a few more entries, then I put it away again. By this time, I had begun a blog, was writing regularly for freelance clients, had part-time jobs and was writing essays and fiction. I had no more room in my life for journaling.

I know many writers who swear by journaling. They couldn’t imagine starting their day without it. It’s as critical to their existence as breathing.

Admittedly, journaling brings numerous benefits to writers, such as using it as a warm-up exercise, to brainstorm story ideas, or a means to improve their writing. It can help them examine motivations and behavior of themselves and of people around them, and it can be a useful tool to manage your mental health, as it did for me.

While there are certain advantages, there are as many downsides to journaling, such as:

It can feel more like a diary or a reporting of events
There are only so many hours in the day and too many obligations to allow time for journaling
It can be used to avoid doing your regular writing practice, or performing chores you’d rather not do
It can serve as a distraction rather than a tool to help you
It can feel like a chore, one more thing to add to your to-do list.

Writer Thomas Plummer suggests that new writers often fail at journaling because they have no idea what they want to achieve with their journaling practice. Plummer writes: “Journaling becomes a mind-numbing exercise because without a plan or an expected outcome, you end up writing the chronological steps of your day without adding an interpretation or without deciphering any meaning of what is going on around you.”

To overcome this failing, he presents an example of how journaling can be done so you get the most out of the experience.

Before jumping into journaling, think about the following questions:
1. Where are you on your writing journey? If you are new to writing, journaling might be a practical entry point, especially if you want to write essays or memoir where deep meaningful reflection is needed.

2. Why do you want to start journaling? Know your why. If your answer is because you want to become a better writer or you want to tap into your creativity, then by all means, go for it. However, if your answer is because every writer you know tells you that you should, or because it helps you avoid other responsibilities, then you will likely set yourself up for failure.

3. What do you want to achieve with your journaling? Have a plan for what you want to achieve with your journaling. My goal when I did maintain a journal was to simply feel better about myself and deal with the emotional turmoil I was feeling. I didn’t have a plan other than to write every day until those intense emotions subsided. Your goal might be different. Without a goal, however, you likely won’t maintain a regular journaling practice.

4. What kind of writing do you want to do? I think journaling is more helpful for narrative non-fiction, essays and memoir writing. It probably isn’t going to help you with writing feature articles or non-fiction.

The choice whether to start journaling is up to you. If you do embark on that journey, you’ll find plenty of resources and coaches on the Internet to help you get started.

One final thought: While journaling can help you improve your writing skills, it isn’t the only way. No matter what medium you use — a journal, blog, or something else — as long as you are consistent with your writing, your writing will naturally improve.

Do you keep a journal? What has your experience been like? Can you tell if your writing has improved because of it?

Tips for Spring Cleaning Your Writing Practice

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The calendar may read April but the weather outside my window says winter. Nonetheless, at this time of year, my thoughts often turn to spring cleaning. I notice the layers of dust everywhere (my place is a dust magnet), the piles of papers, the books scattered about, the dust bunnies and cob webs, reminding me it’s time for a deep cleaning. Needless to say, housekeeping has never been my strong point. So while I recognize that spring cleaning is a common rite of spring, it’s also one I dread.

Beyond the housework though, there are other areas that may need spring cleaning, such as my writing practice. Like many writers, I can get lost in my own head to the point I forget about my writing environment. It’s easy to get so caught up in everyday work that I forget that my writing practice might need some sprucing up too.

There are numerous half-finished projects sitting in my file drawers and notes from completed freelance assignments. Not to mention the backlog of emails and texts that have piled up in my archives, and the miscellaneous notes and newspaper clippings I’ve collected over the years, believing that they might come in handy for an essay I hoped to write one day.

Spring cleaning is a tough task, but a necessary one if you want to feel more productive. The good news is you don’t have to do the spring cleaning all at one sitting. Take an hour a day over the course of a week or two, and you’ll get through each one. By the end, you’ll likely feel lighter and freer than before. By clearing away the deadwood and clutter of unfinished manuscripts and story ideas, you can make room for fresh, new ones.

Here’s my to-do list for spring cleaning a writing routine. You may have a few different tasks than what I’ve listed below.

1. Review and reassess story notes. This is a biggie, which is why I’ve listed it first. This can also take the longest time because it can be tempting to lose yourself in story lines from the past, just like going through old photos can bring up memories.

If you’re like me, you’ve created a notebook of miscellaneous notes for each story idea, which means I may have ten or twelve notebooks sitting on my shelf, taking up valuable space and collecting dust. There’s no guarantee that I will ever get around to writing these stories. It may be time to unload some of those stories, especially the ones that are too vague. If you’re reluctant to let go of the idea, but want to lose the notebook, I suggest making a spreadsheet for each story idea. A spreadsheet will help you organize your ideas and streamline your writing activities, while making room on your shelf.

If you use notebooks to handwrite drafts of your stories, and you’ve already typed the up, it’s time to lose the notebooks. Dump them since you likely won’t review them anymore.

2. Go through old emails and text messages. If you have long chains of emails and text messages unrelated to one another that go back several years, take time to delete them. They’re taking up valuable space on your computer and phone. But you might ask, “What if I need to go back to them later for some reason?” If you haven’t gone back to them by now, then you probably won’t need to in the future. Besides, it feels cleaner to get rid of them. Remember to clear out the messages you’ve sent too, not just the ones you’ve received. Those sent messages can pile up in a hurry.

3. Reassess your social media. When was the last time you assessed your social media needs? How often do you use them, and for what purpose? If you use Twitter to learn about freelance assignments, by all means, keep it. But if you’re never on that platform, or worse, you spend countless hours on it when you could be writing, then it might be time to let it go.

4. Reassess your writing tools and equipment. Do you still use a desktop computer from ten years ago? It might work fine for you now, but like anything that ages, it’s likely slower with time. Which doesn’t help your writing practice. It’s time to find another home for that desktop if it’s still in good, working condition and upgrade to a newer, faster version or transfer to a more portable laptop. Ditto with printers. Today’s versions can spew out more pages in a shorter period of time. If you do decide to upgrade, think about what your writing needs maybe in the future as well as today.

5. Reevaluate your book collection. Do you have books about writing or freelancing still sitting on the shelf that you read a long time ago, or worse, not at all? Then it’s time to go through them to decide if they should go or stay. If you haven’t read a book and it’s been sitting on your shelf for three years, it may be time to donate it to someone who might appreciate it.

6. Spruce up your writing environment. Does your designated writing space still inspire you? Or do you avoid working there because you’re not comfortable there? Think about the chair you use, the desk, the lighting. If any of these items aren’t helping you feel more productive, It might be time to replace them.

Try to keep your space clean at all times. There’s nothing more uninspiring to a writer than a cluttered work environment. Add an inspirational poster on the wall and a live plant to be close to nature. Little things can inspire you to write every day.

7. Review your calendar. Are you so busy with non-essential activities that you can’t find time to write? If you feel overcommitted, it’s time to reconsider your priorities. If writing is important to you, you need to make room for it in your life. Don’t be afraid to say no to invitations and obligations if they will interfere with your writing practice.

Conversely, is your calendar fairly empty? Not having many outside interests can be as damaging to your writing practice as having too many. Work-life balance means different things to different people. You’ll need to assess what balance means to you and how you will achieve it.

There’s a lot more to spring cleaning your writing practice than just dusting off your shelves. Imagine how good it will feel when you’ve cleared the clutter from your writing life.

What tips do you have for spring cleaning your writing practice?

What Baseball Taught Me about Developing a Writing Practice

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This article was originally written and posted in June 2016. As the 2022 baseball season begins, I thought I would dig this out of the archives. There are some minor edits, but the observations and sentiments are the same.

I might be a writer by day, but by night, I’m an avid baseball fan. I am often inspired and fascinated by the game–the strategizing by the coaches, the gravity-defying catches in the outfield, the clutch hitting in the late innings, the dramatic grand slam home run that makes fans go wild. While we may see the glamorous side of the game, it’s the hard work and training behind the scenes that can make the difference between a championship team and one that misses the playoffs. It all takes practice, and with more practice and training, the better a team can become.

Just like in writing.

It takes lots of practice to improve your story telling skills. Baseball has a lot to teach us about developing a writing routine. When a team tries to score runs, for example, it follows a general principle: Get them on, get them over, then get them in. In other words, get a runner on base, move him over to scoring position, and then bring him home. Any individual who struggles to maintain a writing practice can apply these basic principles. Here’s how.

Step 1. Get them on.
In baseball, you can’t score runs unless a player reaches base. It doesn’t matter how he gets there – a walk, base hit or hit by pitch. Without runners on base, the chances of scoring are slim.

The same holds true in writing. You’ll never complete a manuscript unless you start putting words down on the page. It doesn’t matter how you get the words down. They can be bullet points, writing prompts or freewriting. Use whatever technique works to get your imagination flowing. Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect; you can always edit it later. The point is to “get on base” with whatever technique works for you.

Step 2. Get them over.
In baseball, once a player gets on base, his teammates must try to move him over into scoring position, or if they’re lucky, all the way home. That means putting the ball into play, either with a base hit, a walk, a deep fly ball or a bunt. Any of these moves will push the runner over at least one more base and put him into scoring position.

In writing, once you have your initial story ideas jotted down, you need to fine tune your manuscript. This editing phase allows you to strategize your next move in the story. Maybe you need to remove a character, add scenes or cut dialogue in order to make your manuscript sing. Just as it may take several players and pitches to move the base runner over into scoring position, your manuscript may have to go through several editing passes to make it publishable.

Step 3. Get them in.
In this phase, a runner at second or third base needs to be driven home to score. Once a player is at third base, his teammates need to find a way to bring him home. There are different ways this can happen–a base hit, deep fly ball, or better yet, a home run.

Your final editing pass can help you bring your story to completion – and bring it home to victory. This is where you check for spelling, tighten the writing, and double check all the details. Perhaps one or two trustworthy friends can review your manuscript and provide feedback to help you improve your story, much like the third-base coach who directs runners on base.

Success comes when the runner crosses home plate, or when you finish your writing project. The more runs you score – the more stories you finish writing – the better your chances of winning the game by getting published.

Just like in baseball, hard work, patience and perseverance pays dividends, and you can savor your triumph in the same way a team enjoys its victories. But those celebrations are usually short lived. As any athlete can tell you, there’s another game the next day. That means there’s more work to do to prepare for it.

As you complete more stories, savor and appreciate your success for the moment. Remember, there’s still work to do. A little bit of practice every day will pay off for you in the end.

Tips for Pre-Planning Your Novel

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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!

On Being Thankful for Being a Writer

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affection appreciation decoration design — Photo by Carl Attard on Pexels.com

Hello readers,
The article below was originally posted in 2018, but I wanted to share it again. It never grows old. I am truly grateful for sharing my thoughts and insights with you, and I am grateful to have you as my loyal readers. I’m putting my blog on hiatus at least through January 2022. Between freelance writing assignments and a new part time job that requires a lot of my energy, I find I don’t have as much time for my blog. Plus it will give me a chance to refuel for new content in the coming year. You are always welcome to return and read what I’ve posted previously, and I will try to keep the weekly writing prompt going as well. Enjoy, and have a safe and wonderful holidays. Regina

As you gather with your families and friends this Thanksgiving holiday, think about what you are most grateful for, especially as it pertains to your writing. Perhaps you are grateful to have a mentor to guide you through difficult lessons, or maybe you are grateful for Daniel Webster for publishing a dictionary.

I was inspired by a post by Laura Stigler, President of the Independent Writers of Chicago, “On Being Thankful We Can Write,” to create my own list of things I’m thankful for.

* A mother who loved to read and instilled that love of reading in me. When you see a parent reading a book, I believe it encourages kids to become readers too.

* Former teachers who recognized my skill from as early as seventh grade and encouraged me to participate in writing contests. Each compliment and kind word of support made me want to keep writing. There’s nothing like a personal cheering section to keep you motivated.

* Former bosses who appreciated the fact that I could find the best words to explain a process or write a letter to an important client. Other times their tough love approach to critiquing my work only strengthened my resolve to improve.

* Friends who have shared a love of books and reading and who don’t mind talking about the latest book that they liked or didn’t like.

* The authors whose work I have enjoyed over the years, from Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” to Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew mysteries when I was young girl to the early works of romantic suspense authors Mary Higgins Clark and Joy Fielding that I enjoyed in my twenties and thirties to more recent favorites, such as Alice Hoffman and Sue Monk Kidd.

* Libraries and librarians, book stores and book discussion groups, who all keep the love of books and reading alive and makes sure there is always a potential audience for the stories writers write.

* For my blog followers, thank you for reading my posts, sharing comments and showing your support.

Most important, I am grateful that I have the talent (or gift, as some writers suggest) for writing and the desire to use it in personal and professional ways. In fact, I think I enjoy the world of books, reading and writing more now than I ever have.

As you spend Thanksgiving with family and friends, remember it’s a time for bonding over shared experiences and swapping stories. And as you share old family legends and tales for the umpteenth time, don’t forget to create new ones to share next year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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