Advice for writers – Page 6

5 year writing project: get a novel published

I started writing during NaNoWriMo in November 2011. The words just flew onto the page. 50,000 in a month. Easy! But come December, I had lost my steam.

Should you ever abandon a novel?

I have been writing a novel for 3 years. It is a great story. I know the characters well. The finished product is clear in my mind.

I started writing during NaNoWriMo in November 2011. The words just flew onto the page. 50,000 in a month. Easy!

But come December, I had lost my steam. I started going back and fiddling. Now some of the early chapters looked pretty good. But I lost my forward momentum. And I got finally bogged down about two-thirds of the way through. I guess I hit what is often known as the “soggy middle”.

Now, all the standard advice goes like this: just finish it. It doesn’t matter what sort of mess you have written, you can knock it into shape during the editing stage. Continue reading “5 year writing project: get a novel published”

A Five Year Writing Project

Being a writer without goals is a bit like setting off on a car journey without a clear destination in mind. You might have an interesting journey, but when you get to your final destination, was this really where you wanted to be?

Should you have long-term writing goal?

Yes. Of course. When writing, as in any other task, it seems blindingly obvious that a long-term goal is a jolly good idea. One reason to have a goal is this: if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re unlikely to ever get there.

It’s a bit like setting off on a car journey without a clear destination in mind. Which way would you turn at the crossroads? Which lane would you move into? You might have an interesting journey, but when you get to your final destination, was this really where you wanted to be?

So, the assumption is that if you have a clear goal – with a clear end in sight – you will know how to find the right path. And, once on the right path, Continue reading “A Five Year Writing Project”

Need a kick in the butt to write?

So many of us writers seem to find it hard to get down to the nitty-gritty business of writing. Myself included. We know we want to write. What stops us?

As writers we want to write. We know what we want to write and we know how to write it.
So, we simply sit down and write. Don’t we?

Finding it hard to write?

Well, actually, maybe it’s not quite as easy as that. So many of us writers seem to find it hard to get down to the nitty-gritty business of actually writing. Myself included. So I’m interested to know Continue reading “Need a kick in the butt to write?”

Clichés

Clichés are all around us. They may slip by unnoticed – but once you tune-in to clichés, you find them everywhere. And the more you notice them, the more irritating they become.

Do you speak in clichés and, worse still, do you use them in your writing?

A cliché is a well-worn phrase that has become meaningless through overuse. Clichés are all around us. They may slip by unnoticed – in our speech, in our reading or in our writing. But once you tune-in to clichés, you find them everywhere. And the more you notice them, the more irritating they become.

In my everyday language, here are the clichés I find myself using:

“I must say…” – Why? Why must I say it? Continue reading “Clichés”

How to structure a great blog post: 5 simple steps

Great blog posts grab your attention. Here are five simple steps you can follow.

What makes a great blog post?

A great blogger will grab your attention.

Yes, a good blogger will write good content, but a great blogger understands that it is not just the content of the post that matters – it’s how you present it.

We’ve all had the experience of reading the first few words of a blog Continue reading “How to structure a great blog post: 5 simple steps”