This month I had the privilege of meeting with aspiring writers in my community for the second session of “Writing Tips” at our local Mall. I’d like to share a bit of what I shared with them.
If you’re finding yourself with more time on your hands during this “quarantine” season or feeling a bit anxious while social distancing, I’d like to encourage you to consider this as an opportunity to put down the device, remove the distractions, and use this time for good… to write the book you’ve always dreamed of.
If you’ve always longed to write but never *actually* done it… what are you waiting for? Let’s write a dang book this Spring!
A couple of things…
While you could worry and research and argue about writing basics and must-do steps all day, I think the biggest thing is just narrowing down the following and then getting your butt in the chair and ACTUALLY WRITING! *I have another post on the Writing Process here.
So, my advice… identify these criteria and then get to work!
- What is your story idea? (Do you have one? If not, get brainstorming. Here’s how Nav’Aria came about).
- What genre will your book be? (This will affect the content, intended audience age, and direction your writing will take so choose… click here and here for more info).
- Once you know your genre and intended audience age (at minimum), you can get a better idea of your target word count. (Writers talk more about word count than page count so get used to the lingo. You can visit here and here to learn more).
- Who is talking? Who is your Main Character? Whose POV are we reading from? First-Person? Third-Person? (Choose your “tense” before you write).
- THEN… Start writing… and don’t look back! This isn’t the time for stressing, researching, and revisions. This is the time for FUN, a release, an escape, a FIRST DRAFT. (Just write it…. It will not be perfect. Know that, and let it go in order to enjoy the ride. Think of this as the bare bones of your story… the second (and third!) draft is where you can shine)!
I think a lot of good stories can come out of this season if we allow ourselves to go for it.
Repeat after me: “PROGRESS OVER PERFECTION.”
Happy Writing!
A couple other great sources to check out (but don’t spend all your time researching and miss out on writing time) are: Jane Friedman’s blog AND Writer’s Digest articles.
*My Tip- Use whatever motivation you need! See my note to myself below!*
