novel writing

Happy to Report… !!!

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I am happy to report that the first draft for that new novel I was working on is COMPLETE!!

I can’t believe it!

It took me a total of 10 days. 😲

It just goes to show what good planning and dedicated writing time can achieve. 🙂

So, Writing Tip PRO:

DO plan out your entire book, from beginning to end.

DO write out the synopsis first thing.

DO set aside dedicated writing time. (At least a good 4 to 5 hour chunk at the same time every day!)

DO decide on your goal finish date and word count total. Then, figure out what that daily word count total is – and work your darndest to achieve and or surpass that daily goal every day.

DO say ‘F*** it!’ to that little voice in your head that says ‘should we really write that?’ and just write whatever you want! (It’s the first draft after all, so the most important thing is just getting those words on the paper/screen.)

DO write The End when you FEEL that it’s the end, even if you haven’t reached the ‘complete book’ word count goal you’d set for yourself at the beginning. This first draft is the skeleton of your book, during edits you can go back through and add things like flesh, hair, and clothes. 🙂

Happy Writing everyone! 😀

Writing tip #4

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Go for a DRIVE!

Ok, so you’ve established a daily writing habit, you’ve kept you’re writing space special (but flexible) and you’ve curated a playlist that gets you into the write (see what I did there?) mood – but sometimes the plot just won’t work.

It goes on strike, it quits flat out, it slips into a coma and has to be fed on a feeding tube!

So, what then?

Well ladies and gents, this is the time to go and buckle yourself into your car (or hovercraft, whatever you fancy) and go for a drive! Go to the country, get yourself a drink, maybe some greasy food, go drive around in circles in an empty parking lot – whatever you want!

I’ve had many MANY breakthroughs while on my daily commute and many more on just doing some mind-numbing, endless, aimless driving.

It’s great, because it demands your attention (cause otherwise you could die) and offers you a ton of new colors and scents and sounds that will serve as a smelling salt of sorts for your passed-out plot.

So, if you’re reading this blog (thank you btw!!!) because you’re procrastinating on your novel – then this is your wakeup call to get out and go for a drive! 🙂

Happy driving – happy writing! 😀

*mwah*

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Writing tip #2

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Have a Special Place.

This is one that I read from a writing advice book several years ago (I forget the name), and it’s a good one (but it can go wrong too, and I’ll explain how).

A lot of writing is emotional and “vibe-al”, so if the mood isn’t right – well then, that character that we were planning on killing off might just marry the main love interest, or the whole thing might turn into an expose on the private lives of apples.

So, maintaining the right mood is crucial to maintaining the proper flow of the story.

This one messed me up a bit too though, because it made me very inflexible. I had developed the habit of writing out at cafe’s – well, when a global pandemic strikes that can really disrupt your flow.

Even without a pandemic though, if you’re writing in public maybe somebody took that window seat that you really like, or the barista’s are out of the syrup that you always take in your coffee, or that spicy food you ate earlier is just really not sitting right with you and you have to keep packing everything up to use the public restroom.

So, keep your writing space special – but be flexible too. 😀

Ta-ta! 🙂

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