Habits are mental. They are choices you make every day—choices that require discipline. Yes, that D word that carries some negative connotations. But though discipline isn’t easy to develop, it is far from a dirty word. Rather it is a commitment. Dedication to a dream combined with the will to execute.
This blog will focus on ways to embrace discipline as a writer.
Writing is a creative pursuit. It isn’t like traditional, non-creative, jobs where you punch a clock and pick up a paycheck. There’s no boss to report to or inbox to tackle. It’s less structured than all that. And not. Not if you want to survive.
We’ve all been there—desperately searching for any task to be completed other than writing. There’s nothing like staring at a blank page to make laundry, cleaning the bathroom, mopping or taking out the trash look so good.
Meet procrastination—the habit that keeps writers from writing. It’s what forces us down the rabbit hole of YouTube and what has us launching Netflix instead of working on our pages. It’s why we flee from that insistent cursor that waits for words to pour from our fingers.
’Tis the season for resolutions. In Part I of this two-part series, we talked about ways to learn, stretch your skills, connect, be kind to yourself and commit to reading and writing in the new year. Below are more resolutions to take up in your pursuit of writing.
Every year, millions set resolutions for the coming year. Months, weeks, days, and sometimes even hours, later those resolutions fail. There is something in our minds that rebel against change, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try forming new habits. In fact, it is that resistance that demands we keep trying.
This month we’ve been focusing on what to do now that NaNoWriMo is over. This four-part series has covered the initial steps of revision, editing on a larger scale, and drilling down to the sentence level edits. Now it’s time for the last bit of advice before you can send your story out into the world.
General Advice:
NaNoWriMo is finished, but you aren’t. This four-part series covers what you need to do next. The first blog tackled the initial steps of revision. The second focused on editing on a larger scale. Now we’re going small, moving on to the sentence level.
Sentence Level:
There are a host of elements to check at the sentence level.
NaNoWriMo is over. So what now? This series lays out a game plan for revising your manuscript. The first blog covered the initial steps to take. Now we’re moving on to editing, starting large and moving toward the smaller details as we go. The final blog will cover the final steps of manuscript preparation.
You’ve made it. It’s finally December and NaNoWriMo is over. You did it. Or you did something. It doesn’t matter whether you reached your goal or fell a bit short. Just because NaNoWriMo is done doesn’t mean you are. There are still many things left to do if you want to turn your words into something finished.
The holiday season is a great time to give writing- and reading-related gifts. Here is a quick list of ideas.
There’s a writing axiom that states everyone should learn the rules before they break them. I happen to agree with this rule. But I also believe in breaking rules. It’s a tenuous position for a blogger who focuses on how to write. Today’s blog is about what I truly believe.
Trust your instincts.
The past few blogs we’ve focused on complications, tension and raising the stakes. Now we’re going to look at how that plays out by breaking down a fairy tale. We’ll begin with Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
The story typically starts out with the bears discovering their porridge is too hot and deciding to go for a walk, leaving their home unoccupied. I say typically starts out because there are many versions of this tale, each with its own quirks and variances. But let’s work with this opening as the hook. Talking bears who live in a house and eat porridge. Check. I want to read that.