When the calendar flipped over to a new month in the middle of the night few of us were awake and thinking about the dwindling number of days until National Novel Writing Month takes over our lives. But there are five things we can be doing now so we’re refreshed, organized, and ready to write at […]
NaNoWriMo
Racing Toward the NaNoWriMo Finish Line
You’re almost to the halfway mark of your NaNoWriMo challenge today. If you’re on target, you’ve written 21,671 words. Give yourself a pat on the back, and take ten minutes to inhale any chocolate left in your cupboard. Okay, what if you’re not on target with your word count? No need to despair. (And no […]
Take Your NaNo Skills for a Test Run
More than 170,000 writers are lining up in the starting gates at NaNoWriMo, blowing the dust from their computer keyboard, shaking their pens to get the ink flowing. In the less than 48 hours left until the starting bell, wouldn’t you like to check out the race-track? Here’s the challenge: Write a short story for […]
Working to Deadlines is a Winning Skill
If you’ve never worked to a deadline, you haven’t had the opportunity to build that skill into your writing life. If you think you’ll never be held to a deadline that probably means you don’t see yourself ever writing for a magazine, a newspaper, or for any publishing house. It means you’ll never find yourself […]
Where the Wild Ideas Play
Still struggling to find your story idea for NaNoWriMo? Don’t you know that somewhere story ideas run and play, wild and free, until some lucky writer manages to lasso one and corral it into his manuscript? Maybe that’s not so crazy. I believe there are an infinite number of ideas available to everyone at all […]
6 Ways to Plan 50,000 Words
November will be here before you know it, along with an opportunity to hunker down and write the first draft of something new and exciting. And there’s still time to plan for success in reaching a 50,000 word goal within thirty days. Yes, I’m talking about the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge. Does the […]
When Push Comes to Shove
Yes, there will be moments like these, my friend. When it becomes a struggle to rip thoughts from the maw of your seething brain and forge them in flame, shaping them into words with meaning. There will be days it becomes an insurmountable challenge to excavate ideas from the depths of your psyche and build […]
Writing in Your Perfect Time
There are innumerable opinions on the perfect time to write. Some say it’s best to rise early in the morning and crank out a few pages before the world and your family wakes. There are those who write in the middle of the day, sneaking moments during their lunch break, or the baby’s nap to add […]