Tag: writing

Day 3 NaNoWriMo: tip

Writing tip number one: avoid the terror of staring at a blank page.

I have learnt a tremendous amount about writing since I started doing NaNo, back in 2010. Here is a tip – not my tip – but a tip mentioned by many others:

NaNo writing tip number one

Avoid the terror of staring at a blank page.
Before you finish for the day, write a few words to help kick-start your work tomorrow.

  1. Leave an unfinished sentence…
  2. or jot down a few bullet points, outlining the next scene,
  3. or write the final words of the next section and leave a gap so you can start the next day knowing where you are heading.

My 2013 NaNo novel is called Chasing Credit. Now I have to get back to chasing my word count.

1st Nov = 1st day NaNoWriMo

My 2013 NaNo novel is set in a dystopian future.
Working title: Chasing Credit.
Tone: A mash-up of 1984 and Brave New World with a contemporary twist.
Words written so far =0 (but it’s only 10 am on NaNo day 1 – so not panicking yet).
You’re doing NaNo too? I’m happy to be your NaNo Buddy.

Forgive me for not writing in complete sentences. Time is short. The future beckons…

5-year writing goal: first draft nearly done!

Five Year Writing Goal

do you have goalsI’m taking part in Misha and Beth’s Five Year Project and my five-year goal is to write a novel and get it published.

First step: write the first draft.

This is my monthly recap on how I’m doing. Continue reading “5-year writing goal: first draft nearly done!”

Writers: using the right and left sides of your brain

The Creative Zone is a magical place – but when we deliberately set out to get back into The Zone – guess what? We can’t find our way back. And the more we try, the harder it seems. If only we knew where it was… Does The Zone really exist as an anatomical entity in our brains? Where is it?

The Creative Zone

For writers, the Creative Zone is a wonderful place to be. The Zone is where everything seems possible, our thoughts fly free and words just flow onto the page without any struggle or effort.  Although the work we produce in The Zone will need to be shaped and edited at a later date, it is in The Zone – this magical place – that we weave and spin the raw material that forms the basis of our finished writing. Continue reading “Writers: using the right and left sides of your brain”