The NaPoWriMo Hump

You are more than halfway there but you’re feeling the burn. This post is for you.

This weekend rather than gather the ever growing NaPo statistics, I thought I’d go for motivation.

Whether this is the first time you have attempted 30 poems in 30 days or if it’s old hat you reach a point where you want to down tools and run away. This is natural. Work through the burn and carry on. If that’s too much, distract yourself for a bit until you are ready to face another challenge. Skip a day or two if you have to. You may find time another day to tackle more than one prompt to catch up or decide to let them go. I have done all of the above since I started the challenge back in 2014.

Writing IS a challenging process and anyone who has attempted to write a novel (or even a novella) will tell you that motivation can be a challenge. As is complete loss of confidence. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Not everyone is a pianist – but walk up to a piano, hit a key and you made a note.

Whatever you do – know that it’s right for you and forgive yourself. If you want to forge ahead but you feel you’re flailing try these tips:

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com

• See the BIG picture

• Are you writing a collection and hoping to create some extra poems through NaPoWriMo?
• Are you just doing the challenge to have fun?
• What do you need/want/hope to get out of it?
• Perhaps you don’t have a big picture – create one now.

Photo by Cup of Couple on Pexels.com

• Divide and Conquer

If you following Maureen’s site the prompts always come with rich resources and poems. I always approach each day in chunks, I do it chronologically but sometimes mix it up.

• Divide into three sections (Featured poem(s)/ Featured Journal/ Prompt)
• Spend a chunk of time on each throughout the day.

Photo by Holafabiola on Pexels.com

• Think about your BEST TIME

As writers some of us are more creative in the morning, others late at night. There will be days you are time poor and busy, be flexible, adjust. If this means writing on your phone or a post-it note, or recording an audio note – then do it.

• Choose the best time of day for you to write.
• Change it up when you can – you will be surprised how different free writing becomes.

Photo by Jonathan Cooper on Pexels.com

• Situate

• Try writing in different environments. This could be inside your house or out in public.
• Find somewhere you would never write. Write.

Photo by Oladimeji Ajegbile on Pexels.com

• Read, Read, Read

• Visit the participant’s sites and have a read around.

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Remember NaPoWriMo is not about being perfect, it isn’t about editing. You will create a bundle of poems which would not otherwise exist, you will know of more poets and journals by the end of April and you will have some material ready to edit as we head towards June!

And most of all HAVE FUN!

INKSPILL – Top Tips On Writing

Do you recognise wonderful? Do you see it? Watch these Top Tips from Novelist Jill Dawson from The Guardian Masterclasses 2013. Some advice is timeless. 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/video/2013/oct/25/jill-dawson-top-tips-on-writing

© 2017 Guardian News and Media

© 2017 jilldawson.co.uk

What’s the Point? Keeping Motivation ALIVE

© Sarah Wilkinson 2014

This morning I decided to watch a TEDx talk whilst eating breakfast. I have spent a couple of weeks in a dip and am lacking motivation and belief. In under three years I am already uttering those vile, monstrous, self-destructive words, ‘what’s the point?’ Not only has the question entered my mind, it has been playing on a slow loop and worse still I have started to take it as fact that the answer is – ‘there isn’t any.’

All of this is completely ridiculous, however, in the short time I have been back in my writing life I have discovered not only do all writers feel this way from time to time but even really famous authors and successful writers fall prey to these self-sabotaging words.

The point is;

your unique voice, out there for people to read.

this is your chosen career.

you have to stay highly motivated as you have no boss to answer to and some days probably don’t even get dressed before lunchtime (if at all).

you write, but no-one writes 24/7.

this was a choice, still is, but don’t let one bad week/month/year dissuade you.

So here I am in the doldrums (despite several ongoing exciting projects), this lingering feeling has been unsettling me for over two weeks. Today, I thought this is ridiculous, I need to spur myself on.

Hence the breakfast with a side order of TEDx.

It was the 2012 Olympics which reignited my ambition to become a writer. I am basically taking 4 years at a time as an over-arching period as a writer and allowing myself four Olympics to get to GOLD. I am hoping in the light of my writing life after 3 years that it won’t take the whole 16 years to achieve my ambition.

The Universe Steps In

You know how the universe conspires in putting exactly what you need at that given moment in front of you – well the talk suggested something about the Olympians which I vaguely remembered hearing before, indeed a quick search gave me the data and a BBC report on the medal response.

The concept is that Bronze medal winners feel better than Silver medal holders.

Gold is great – you won – on top of the world.

Bronze is – yippee I was placed, I have a medal, so close. 

Silver is – shucks I haven’t won.

Research has shown that silver medallists feel worse, on average, than bronze medallists. (Gold medallists, obviously, feel best of all.) The effect is written all over their faces, as psychologists led by Thomas Gilovich of Cornell University found out when they collected footage of the medallists at the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona. Gilovich’s team looked at images of medal winners either at the end of events – that is, when they had just discovered their medal position – or as they collected their medals on the podium. They then asked volunteers who were ignorant of the athlete’s medal position to rate their facial expressions. Sure enough, the volunteers rated bronze medallists as consistently and significantly happier than silver medallists, both immediately after competing, and on the podium.

By Tom Stafford

Copyright © 2015 BBC

Read the full article here http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120810-olympic-lessons-in-regret

Just with this in mind (because I was obviously aiming for Gold and actually feeling bad that I hadn’t even made Silver and the people on the podium weren’t even in the race when I started), my mind shifted. I realised I need to appreciate what I do have – and I have pages of it in The Write Year to look back on.

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/the-write-year/

I am learning and I think that’s what it’s all about. The writing process takes an incredibly long and frustrating time is a new lesson. It is an important one. I have learnt how the polishing is important, how not to jump the gun (sending work out too early with ragged edges). I will train harder and seek support. Being a part of a team is much more comfortable than the solitude of your garret where you are out on a limb.

Of course, ‘I am Bronze’ – is in itself a winning mindset – my Olympic year falls next year and I will see how much ground I have covered and how 2016 pans out, I am hoping it ends with a medal around my neck. (Just maybe not silver!)

So my best advice for an attack of the writing doldrums – is claw yourself back out, make a list of all your highest achievements, stick it somewhere you will see it everyday and keep up the good fight. Today may not have been yours – but who’s to say what tomorrow holds? You get a new chance daily, send your darlings out and keep smiling!

One day victory will be yours! Cue manical laughter.

RELATED LINKS:

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/the-ups-and-downs-of-creatives/

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2015/02/03/make-your-tuesday-count-motivation/

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/the-emotional-spectrum-of-writing/

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/09/09/where-i-am-at-21-months-in/

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/writer-fatigue/

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/when-the-going-gets-tough/

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/03/23/an-article-in-the-stylist-rejection-letters-of-the-famous/

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/01/19/freelancers-dreamers-the-importance-of-glancing-back/

FLASH NANO – 1 week in

FLASH NANO has been going well, it makes a change for me to write prose and Nancy’s prompts have been inspiring, these tales would never exist without this challenge. I have started to think about how these prompts can be used, rather than just collecting stories that will just gather dust in my hard-drive.

 

So here’s what has been happening since Day 2.

Day 3 Monologue.

I created a character who was fighting the setting in of age (we had to write a monologue), this flash had feet and I think I can rework it and use it in the future. The central character not only bears witness to something but suspects she knows the culprit.

Day 4 Fire.

I read an Australian traditional tale about a crocodile and reshaped it into something a little different. The crocodile needed help with his drilling of sticks to make fire and the clever lizard invents fire sticks. It takes a while before the crocodile can make a fire that stays alight and the animal who helps him is one he has never eaten to this day.

It was fun writing this tale and may work well as a story for children.

Day 5 A childhood toy.

I knew instantly which toy I was going to write about and parts of this Flash were based on a real-life experience. The ending took me by surprise (I love it when writing does that) and it works well as a story for a variety of markets.

Day 6 A 100 word story.

This is still to be written (see my TOP TIPS) but I have researched where I may be able to place a short flash and have decided to make it 150 words so I can potentially submit it.

Day 7 Writing about the seventh day, the day of rest.

I still need to tackle this. I haven’t thought about it yet.

I do not panic about falling behind because these challenges are under 1000 words and the average recommended daily allowance is 1667 words a day for the 50K challenge, which is not something I am trying to achieve this year. I have extended some of the original flashes into short stories and so far have written 8242 words.

So how is Nanowrimo going for you? Do share your updates with us. Here are some tips to keep you in the write frame of mind now that you are a week in.

TOP TIPS

• Forgive yourself if you haven’t written daily, some days are busy. I haven’t managed to write daily, but I do check the prompts daily and scribble some rough outline notes. This means that when I get time to sit and catch up I am not trying to create the story from scratch.

• Check prompts daily (even if you don’t write)
• Make some notes of plot/ideas (for another time)
• Sit down and make up the word count as soon as you possibly can. Even if you haven’t time to finish the whole piece.

 

• Research – I use google to search keywords and generate ideas, or to make sure there is historical/ factual accuracy in my stories.

• Purpose – Rather than just writing try to give your NANO writing purpose, research possible markets for submission, mark the best ideas and don’t forget to make note of any ideas that come out of the writing.

Good luck and keep writing!

 

PS today is the day for Double donations and a double writing challenge. Double up your word count, a great idea if you are doing Nanowrimo because all extra words under your belt count.

It is also the first official Nano write in for my regional group, I attended back in 2013 when doing Nano for the first time. Check out your regional groups, a write in is fun and motivating, not to mention sociable.

 

RELATED LINKS

nanowrimo.org

http://nancystohlman.com/flashnano/

The Ups and Downs of Creatives: Motivation & Mindset

 The Ups and Downs of Creatives

YOU ARE NORMAL – IT IS NORMAL!

• Writing can be particularly isolating – get out and find Local Creative movements or find an online community.
• Keep your motivation up. If you’re not excited – then who will be?
•  Be brave – look in the mirror and see courage – and if not, repeat the words a few times.
• Find time to put in practise
• and practise what you learn

MOTIVATION

Look at some great examples (people/work) and aspire, see what achievements they had, do you see yourself having the same?

• Share your own learning experience
• Pass it forward

Then you get to a place you feel you should be and it is all waterfalls and rainbows after that? Wrong.

You keep growing – keep learning – keep failing and succeeding. Many creative areas are like small planetary systems and the orbit around us is called REJECTION – occasionally you see a small opening – shoot for it and make it through to success – and even success comes with a ton more lessons.

Don’t let that put you off wishing for it – in fact wishing for success is your first step towards it – pull it closer towards you.

Be prepared for your confidence to take a knock – and quite often you are the one responsible for throwing such punches.

Be prepared for a lack of self-belief to raise its ugly head from time to time.

GOAL SETTING

Set goals – be clear on what it is you want to achieve and when things go wrong make 1 of 2 decisions;

– kick it to the kerb and try again

OR

– decide that fate has other plans and move in a different direction  – fight or flight really – of course it is TRULY something you really want – keep fighting – don’t give up – but set a time limit on the punches (mine was 16 years*, now closer to 13, despite it taking 9 months to find my writing niche).

Right now, especially if I reflect on the past 4 months, there are things that haven’t gone as well as I would have liked. Things that have failed completely (note I say ‘things’ and not I – rejection is not personal) but also there has been success, achievement and a few opportunities I had not dreamt would be on offer this early on the path of my goals.

 SEEK HAPPINESS

Of course a certain amount of dream/ambition and perfect working world comes from a place where we seek happiness. If you are serious about making it part of your life/existence you will need to accept that it will be jolly hard work (often not jolly at all) … but if you love what you’re doing it won’t feel like work and when it does and you feel it dragging you down… do what I do and think about what WORK used to mean/be! I can guarantee you are doing better now -right?

Stress(ing) takes up abundant amounts of energy and you may find (if like me you still have paid employment to keep you alive) that this is becoming ever more stressful.

© 2014 Deborah Alma

This year for many reasons (not least that I am finally well enough to do so) I have taken on more career work. The result of this has meant losing writing days – for the first few months this made me angry. Mr G was working away and I wanted to spend my free time with him, not the laptop – and I am glad I did, because we got through it and are now reunited and the laptop can make an appearance at any time without neglect or imbalance occurring.

Looking back considering what a challenging (timewise) writing year it has been so far, I am not doing too badly. There is one major project that I wish I had spent more time on in the New Year, on the flip side although I have inevitably delayed something exciting and forward propelling from happening, I have created new material which wouldn’t have been written in time or possibly would never have existed.

 CREATE SPACE

Remember to create some space and time for you to address what’s happening, what you are thinking. What do you want your life to be like? Start with the ideal and work backwards.

What is important to you?

What creative direction would you like to take?

 TOP TIPS:

• step out of your comfort zone
• seek new opportunities
• plan and schedule – only say YES if you can do it
• Celebrate the good times and try to acknowledge the bad times, they will often teach valuable lessons. Many times over, usually.
• Remember all those famous people who failed, that we only see the success (which is why I like to blog the fails too). If you have been walking around without an eye on the internet for the past decade and happen to have missed the list and have no clue what I’m talking about…. here are just a few popular examples:

DURING THEIR LIFETIME…

Vincent Van Gogh: sold only one painting, and this was to a friend and only for a very small amount of money.

Emily Dickinson: had fewer than a dozen poems published out of her almost 1,800 completed works.

I have (and probably you have) already beaten this in today’s world of publishing.

Theodor Seuss Giesel: 27 different publishers rejected Dr. Seuss’s first book.

Steven Spielberg: was rejected from the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television three times.

Stephen King: The first book by this author, the iconic thriller Carrie, received 30 rejections, finally causing King to give up and throw it in the trash.

J. K. Rowling: was nearly penniless, severely depressed, divorced, trying to raise a child on her own while attending school and writing a novel.

ELVIS PRESLEY got fired after his first show;

“You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son. You ought to go back to drivin’ a truck.”

 LOOK BACK

Look back – YES

I look through my schedule, which I annotate as I go with highlighters/markers, I know my key: Performing, writing, submitting, publishing etc.

Then I have a system where at the end of the month I write on a small post-it all the MAJOR achievements, that way when I reflect I just look over the 1-12 post-it notes.

Other people keep their TO DO lists in a separate notebook and just look back through these.

It needn’t mean extra work for you, but this reflection will boost your creativity/ output and success in the future.

I have also learnt to let the dips happen, they are a natural (and necessary) part of any creative career. Plus many creative people are likely to suffer depression, anxiety… so let go, give in and feel the rip and pull of the tide until you enjoy it as much as the gentle white horses of the sea covering your feet on the sand.

The best way to deal with it or anything is to

JUST KEEP GOING!

Happy Writing x

* Brief information on my plan = 4 Olympics… all this is training for my first – 2016.

Why You Should NEVER Go OFFLINE for the Christmas Holidays

Mr G has started to work away from home, so when he came back for his fortnight booked holiday to spend Christmas at home, I decided to stay offline, vowing to give him my full attention.

Christmas is a time to spend with family and friends (if you can). After spending a year touring around poeting, many events and opportunities were tied up in December and I have logged back online to find a backlog of emails and some performance events I could have attended in the last few weeks of the month.

I only spent an hour online to catch up but found it particularly stressful. In hindsight I should have popped online daily for a limited time to check emails.

If you work online and decide to spend some time offline be sure that you plug some time to play catch up.

Having said that I hope you all had a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

On Writing & Feeling like a Hamster in a Wheel (NaPoWriMo/ Camp NaNoWriMo)

I will start with my list of excuses;

• I have been busy! (You can tell because there aren’t usually this many days between posts!)
• I lost 14 poems through a file saving error and haven’t had time or heart to rewrite yet.
• It is coming up to Easter and I still haven’t made plans for the weekend.
• The weather has been GLORIOUS and the flowers we planted are in full bloom and in need of watering.
• I have enjoyed getting a base tan* in the Garden.
• I spent the weekend partying.
• I am in recovery after a friend’s 40th and a weekend of poetry events (soon to be blogged about)!
• Time has flown.
• I have been working on submissions.
• I have two performances to create a set for.

I could go on….

* Not strictly true – I am so pale skinned, I just freckle and burn.

 

NaPoWriMo

Instead of filling me with excitement and revelling in words, both commitment to Camp NaNoWriMo and NaPoWriMo have left me cold. I know this happens to lots of participants, but I wasn’t expecting the experience myself.

I am WAY behind with poems for NaPoWriMo  as I have to re-write from Day 3 -7 (lost files!) and then play catch up – a poem a day is a challenge but 14 + poems seems like a mountain I am not able to climb! Hoping for one crampon at a time and as I have 2 sets this week, tomorrow lunch time and Friday night, I could use some new material.

I have the added pressure of no working printer, Mr G has taken half day holidays as the weather is so good and I will be performing before he finishes work tomorrow and Friday is Easter weekend/ Bank Holiday so any poems to be printed need to be emailed to him before 11:30 a.m. today!

 

Submissions & Competitions

My plan yesterday was to catch up with NaPo – I had submissions (2 of them – 11 poems and a competition) that I had to hit deadlines for, leaving it to last minute again (the hamster is really whizzing around its wheel at this point!) I didn’t manage a catch up and thus fell a further day behind!

I did manage to enter my 2nd Poetry Competition though and it was an old fashioned postal entry, which included a jaunt to the main Post Office and back!

The online submissions were not as successful, we spent the afternoon in the garden – I was catching up with reading writing articles – I am currently near the end of my March issue magazine with April and May waiting in the wings! By the time we went in, it was late and my brain was not playing ball.

After checking out the websites I found that none of my poems really fitted the bill. I have pencilled one in for next month, hoping I can write some suitable poetry over the next 4 weeks (perhaps some of my NaPo marathon!) and the other one I will leave until the next reading period in November and again try to write a suitable style entry.

 

TIP:

There is NO POINT submitting work to magazines when it doesn’t suit there style, if you find yourself in my position it is far better to pencil in the next opportunity, read the last few issues and see if you are able to write in the preferred style or be true to yourself and back away, find a publication to suit your work.

 

PLANS (The best laid plans of Hamsters and Men!)

My plan now, today – is to carry on running with the wheel – keep up as not to fly out! I have already got the business emails out of the way.

1. I will sort poetry for sets and email for printing
2. I will re-write NaPo poems – the LOST file days
3. I will catch up with NaPo as much as I am able

 

Camp NaNoWriMo

Cabin:

For the 1st time I have an active cabin and I am the one not conversing – they are probably giving me pinches to wake me up or complaining about me on the forum.

Writing:

The saving grace is that previously (2013) I completed 55K on Camp NaNo – April, 35K on Camp July, and 40K for the main NaNoWriMo in November – WIN! WIN! WIN! However, as yet I have done NOTHING with this writing. So this year I set about planning short story submissions to be completed as part of camp.

What I didn’t consider was the proximity of deadline to writing time, a short story should rest a few weeks before editing begins. Also (see list of excuses at the top of this post) I have missed some of the deadlines.

I am only hoping for 10K so I can still do it.  715 words a day is still a manageable target… if I start today…

I have re-jigged my plan, I know what I need to write – just need my muse to kick in with storylines.

 

TIPS:

Don’t be disheartened – if you haven’t started, there is always today. Just DO IT!

Work out the remaining word count – if, like me, you haven’t started more than a fortnight in, I suggest to re-adjust your target word count, make it manageable. The smallest you can have is 10K.

Make sure your writing is working towards something – don’t just write into a hole.

Believe in yourself and your ability to catch up! Think Fables – The Hare and the Tortoise!

 

BLOG:

I also want to catch up with Blog Posts:

Poetry and Place Event at The Hive – Ledbury Poetry Festival/ WLF. (Friday 11th)

Najma Hush’s Photogiraffe Exhibition Part 3 – Female Force – Event (Sat 12th)

Young Writer Group – WWM (Sat 12th)

Guest Blog

COMING SOON

 

 

TOP TIPS 2013 – A Year in My Writing Skin

Some of you will be aware of  The Write Year page on this blog, a place I leave a monthly review of all writing developments and sometimes pitfalls. I like to finish each monthly entry with some TOP TIPS that might help others too.

I have not yet reviewed December – I will be adding more top tips to this post in the next few days (be sure to check back)!

I hope you have also had a great year of writing. Let us know!

TOP TIPS

• Use a laptop/ PC not connected to the internet to complete your writing.
• No matter how tired you are feeling, do it anyway!

 Make a writing schedule and try to stick to it.

• Prioritise – you can’t do everything, so choose which projects fulfil yourself and your aims the best, concentrate and focus on these.
• If you miss a writing opportunity make a note of it and look out for it again next year.

• Enjoy your writing. When you reach the point that it is grating, switch to something else or leave your PC completely (even if you’re close to a deadline) you are likely to find that spending sometime away from your focus helps you find more energy and drive to complete your targets when you sit back down.

• If (like me) you have no writing desk and your bed is your office, over time, even with fabulous support pillows, you may find you suffer back pain and can’t walk straight for the first minute when you get up!
• I may have said this tip before – Invest in a Polar Cup, your Costa/Starbucks/ Local coffee house is just within reach and it hasn’t cost you much!

• Know when to take a breather and when to push on through. Learn to recognise the difference between laziness and exhaustion and take the appropriate positive action – a rest or a push!
• Get someone else to motivate you if you can’t manage to spur yourself on.

We all need a personal cheerleader from time to time, but the most important lesson I have learnt is just to

• KEEP ON GOING! Move yourself forward and celebrate.

• Get out there – out and about – away from your desk, meet people, talk to other writers.
• Collaborate and share – work together.
• Network.
• If you don’t ask you wont receive… so ASK!

 

• Surround yourself with creative, like minded, positive people.
• A positive attitude creates positive things.
• Most of all enjoy what you do and keep doing it!
• Spread your wings slowly to expand.
• Fifteen years is a long time, but it’s not the end of the world.

• Listen to your inner voice – it can guide you and often knows more than you do.
• Approach people, talk to them. Writers are people too and a source to point you in the right direction, I have discovered more avenues to explore by being brave.
• Get your books signed. Make it personal to you.
• Do a little research. The internet is an amazing tool beyond social media.
• When you are ready… JUMP – you will know when this time comes!

 

• Find calendars of events in your region, pen them ALL into your diary and choose week by week where you want to go and where you want to be seen.
• Contacts are useful and often appear out of nowhere!
• Keep an address book of all the people you meet with notes on areas where they can support you.
• Support other writers, buy their books, I have bought 3 this month.
• Find where you want to be and go there.
• Surround yourself with a supportive network. Lean when you need to.

Day 6 NaNoWriMo – An Interesting Mix (Including Tips on Planning)

So far tonight I have been on the computer for an hour. I have completed lots of background reading and research and have just popped into Blogland.

I will come back and edit this post later to include today’s word count – I am hoping for 1667 but I am EXTREMELY tired – and have spent 20 minutes constantly yawning. I could easily go to bed now but I would wake up at 4 and be too tired for work… so I am hoping to make it past cooking/eating dinner and a few hours of writing.

Day 6 NaNo – Starters

After a LONG, HARD day and a very late night I knew it was going to be a long night for this evening’s write. This became a dead cert when I logged on at 6:40pm and found it had taken me 10minutes to get the laptop to fire up correctly! Some glitch or other.

I then spent an hour researching through some note booked ideas – I struggled yesterday with the direction of my story (due to not planning thoroughly – which is a must for all writer’s) – especially those who participate in NaNoWriMo – I am an unwitting pantster because the end of October was so busy I pushed NaNo to the back of my mind and spent a day making the decision whether to do it or not!

So tonight I address the issue of planning.

For those of you also flying by  the seat of your pants or struggling to know how to frame your writing before attempting a draft there may be some useful golden nuggets in this post. READ ON!

I completed some background reading and got a mini plan of the next part of the novella drafted. Ready to start tonight’s writing. I have also compiled a list of things I need to do;

• writing down my characters goals, keep these in mind as I write the remaining 39000+ words.
• List characters key strengths and
• List characters vulnerabilities
• Know how my character(s) evolve?

(There is so much writing that will never appear in the final manuscript, but needs to be in place so you get a true sense of the story and the world it comes from. Like all the unseen rehearsals before a play.)

The positive outcome of tonight’s research was I have found I am not too far from producing something of along the right lines (no pun!) which is good because some doubt set in this evening and that’s never good for productivity!

My hour of research has been a worthwhile activity and I am glad I have spent the time doing it – now I have to write my NaNo for the day = 1667 words here I come!

It’s now 8:00 pm the tea is on – the washing up is soaking and I am ready to see how far I can get into the word count (hoping for 800 words in this first session!)

HOT NEWS JUST IN

Part 2 – Word Count

I only managed 500 words before dinner – and since that have spent the evening writing. At one point I did think to myself – It was spending all night working that made me change my career choice this year, then I thought about loving what you do and how that can be more special than just work and how this is what I wanted. A regular guaranteed income and time to write…

I managed 789 at next count (seemed like a lot more) then I broke 12oo and forced myself to carry on – I will be working tomorrow and Friday and do not want to lose the edge I have on myself being ahead (knowing my monthly schedule).

I managed 1544 at next count and thought COME ON!

(Inner cheerleader- ‘stop counting, keep writing!’)

So I did and when I totalled tonight’s write I managed 1963 …

of course my inner cheerleader started harping on about how close that was to 2000 – to which my mind replied;

‘yes, and look at the clock 22:20, that’s so close to my bed time!’

That’s it for tonight folks. I need to write my PAD poems and add a few bits in and then I am off to bed. (For an early night!)

Word Count = 1963

Total Words = 12,946

Words remaining  = 37,054

TOP TIPS

Just write – forget about the word count.

Stop whenever you need to for a break or until tomorrow.

Do your best.

 

Writing Short Stories – Tips on Narrative Structure & The Writing Process

Recently I posted tips on planning short stories, some of you have found this useful. Here is a link to that post if you missed it.

planning

Today’s focus is Narrative Structure and the Writing Process.

NARRATIVE VOICE

Who tells the story?

A writer needs to decide which narrative structure to use, first person and third person* are the most commonly used narratives. Certain publications may have a preference for one or the other. It is worth researching and reading stories from back issues if their preference is not revealed in the specific requirements.

*first-person (“I”), second-person (“you”), and third-person (“he” or “she”).

• In a first-person story, a character in the story tells the story;
• in the second-person the reader is made a character in the story; (rarely used)
• and in the third-person, an outside narrator tells the story.

To help you decide keep these things in mind;

• First-person narrators can only tell what they know (which will be limited to what they see firsthand or are told by others),
• while third-person narrators can either know everything and explore every character’s thoughts, or be limited to only that which can be observed.
• Some writers switch between narratives and change the narrative structure in each chapter. For short stories it is best to stick to one narrative structure.

ORGANISE

Plan

Use the story structure planning to plan out your characters and action, often the more detailed your planning – the easier the flow of writing will be.

START

Write

Remember there is no rule about writing chronologically – look at your plan. Where can you see yourself start? Dive in, start writing.

The writing process is different for every writer (we are as unique as snowflakes, well not quite!) I tend to free write from the plan and complete whole sections of the story. Then return and edit them as I go (before the story is complete.) The hardest part for me is stitching it back together so for short stories I tend to write chronologically, what is known as a linear fashion.

I also edit in a separate folder, that way the original stays intact. A writer who never deletes anything may gain a full USB, however you also have a wealth of treasure left behind in un-used manuscripts.

AND ALWAYS BACK UP! I still need to buy an external hard-drive to do this. So far my back up is hard drive + USB.

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE

Bumps in the Road

There are bound to be low points in the writing process, just as there will be highs. The trick here is to be flexible and hard of hearing when those inner gremlins taunt you about your ability to write and JUST KEEP GOING!

Many of us work on more than one project simultaneously and therefore create some sort of action plan or schedule. This helps you have a daily goal and know what you need to achieve by close of day. For example my action for today is to have the full idea of my short story ready for more detailed planning. So far today I have scribbled nearly 4 pages of notes, I am still in the brainstorming stage really having started yesterday and because freeing as it may seem I am writing cold with no brief bar a word count (6000).

I know this story will evolve and WILL be written because my goals are mapped out and I will stick to them. You need self-discipline as a writer because until you are at the stage of editors and agents there is no one to crack the whip and even then, you are really the only one who can MAKE IT HAPPEN!

BUMP

What if life gets in the way?

Well… it sometimes does that doesn’t it? No matter how much we might like the idea of writing in our little bubble many of us have responsibilities and things we need to do alongside creating the next best short story or bestseller!

I just make a note on the schedule and copy and paste today’s action into tomorrow… leaving the next day goal where it is, in the hope I can get twice as much done. This is rarely the outcome and until there is a weekend or free morning the action plan continues to be amended until I have caught up.

The point is I DO catch up and this enables me the breathing space for the editing and proofing stage – which I will talk about next time.

Until then… Happy Writing!