Have you got a great book idea, but don’t know how to start? Have you started writing several manuscripts, but haven’t completed any? 

If you answered yes to either of these questions, then step into the light, my friend…

Let me share with you a few strategies that most published authors follow: 

1. Focus on ONE project. Decide which of the several manuscripts sitting in your drawer (or on your computer) you feel most passionate about, and forget about the rest for now. If ideas come up for the others as you work on this one, jot those ideas down, but do not spend your writing time fleshing them out. Dedicate any writing time you have to the one project you chose. 

2. Do some amount of planning before you jump in. For some, this will be a full outline. For others, it will simply be a set (or sets) of ideas regarding what the story is about and it’s general trajectory. If you’re writing fiction, determine your main plot points and spend time developing your characters. If you’re writing fantasy, spend some time world building. For non-fiction, sketch out the main points you will discuss, and any related subpoints. Putting in the time now, before you begin the project, will help you keep the details of your manuscript straight so you don’t get confused or distracted later on. 

3. Write down your intention for this specific project. Why are you writing it? Who will benefit from it? Keep this, your “why,” printed in front of you, so you can easily refer to it as you write. This will help you stay focussed when, as so often happens in writing, you find yourself veering off the path. 

4. Know that to be a writer, you must write EVEN when you are not inspired. Louis L’Amour is quoted to have said, “Start writing no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” This is one of my favorite writing quotes, because it captures the writer’s journey so perfectly. Who doesn’t want to feel inspired? We all do! But what distinguishes someone who will finish from someone will just continue to dream—what distinguishes a professional from an amateur—is that the first will remain committed to writing regularly, while the second will wait for inspiration... which may never strike. Commit to writing daily. This may be a minimum number of words, or a certain amount of “butt in chair” time. In either case, decide which, and stick with it! 

5. Don’t censor or edit as your write. If you do so, you run the risk of never finishing. Remember that this is just your first draft; it doesn’t have to be perfect right at the start. Actually, it doesn’t even have to be good; it just has to be written! You can work with a first draft. You can revise and rewrite it later on. You can’t, however, do anything with a blank page. So for now, focus on just getting this story written, getting it out of your mind and onto the page, even if you know it still needs work. 

Finishing your first draft is completely possible with some time and commitment. If it has always been your dream to write a book, follow the strategies above, and you WILL get there! 

If you’d like further guidance on your project, or you still feel overwhelmed by the process, contact me for a complimentary writing-coaching session so we can get you back on track.

Last week I eagerly worked through a Sudoku puzzle book. The ones towards the beginning of the book were easier, but as I got to the last few pages, they became much more challenging. Annoyingly challenging. The type of challenging where you just want to throw the book across the room, and smack the person who designed these things to begin with! But if you’re doing Sudoku, you aren’t the type of person to just give up. And neither am I.

But I realized that in order to move forward, I needed to pause. I needed a break so that I could return to the puzzle with fresh eyes.

So when I got to that point where I’d been staring at the page for over 15 minutes, unable to place any additional numbers, I stuck my pencil inside and closed the book. I got up and did some work, then some chores around the house, and since those are never ending, I remained busy until after dinner. As my kids sat to do their homework, I picked up that Sudoku book again. And within minutes, I was already filling in those squares that I had left empty. Before I knew it, I’d completely solved the puzzle.

That break helped my mind relax, so that when I came back to it, I was better able to focus and think. That ‘restart’ was enough to help me solve the remainder of the puzzle.

It’s the same with writing scenes that give us trouble. Often just a short break from your writing will give your subconscious mind the space to think while allowing your conscious mind to rest (from this subject, at lease).

Run errands, or finish some work. Do some chores, or read, or get some exercise. It doesn’t matter what activity you busy yourself with; the pause will likely be enough to help rejuvenate your thinking and creativity, so you can finish writing that scene.

During a recent coaching call, one of my clients shared that she was torn between sending her character to a setting she is familiar with as opposed to one which would be better for her character’s journey, but that she herself has never been to. I said, “You have to do what’s best for your character, not what’s best for you.”  

Now, by “what’s best” I didn’t mean what’s easy. I didn’t mean to give him a fun, happy, carefree ride. What I meant was: do what will show us—the reader—the character’s growth. Do what will raise the stakes, what will keep us invested in his journey, what will keep us rooting for him, on the edge of our seats, wondering how things will turn out.

Often we find ourselves wanting to write about places we have never been to. We feel anxious, wanting to give an accurate depiction but fearing that we may fall short. While it is always best to explore such real life settings first hand, research can take you very far. Put in the time; don’t just read about the location or look at images that your internet browser pulls up for you, but try to make contact with people who live(d) there. Online writers communities are wonderful places to meet people from all over the world willing to help you in any way they can, including helping you get a better feel for their hometowns. Connecting with other online groups from your desired location is another way to get varied and accurate accounts of life in the area. Some of the things you should ask about are: the weather at different times of the year and how the residents deal with it, vernacular, popular hangouts, little known facts, community quirks, architecture of the homes, majority and minority demographics, local industry, general level of education of residents, the presence of local universities or colleges, night life, popular shopping centers and restaurants. Listen to the stories residents of your desired town have to tell. Listen to how the story is being told, not just what it is about. You can learn so much by just engaging in conversation with people. Let them show you their pictures; pay as much attention to the background of those images as to the foreground.

Remember that the best stories are built deliberately. Don’t ever sink into the familiar at the expense of your story. If the scene that moves your story forward and develops your character means you must step outside of your own comfort zone, then that is exactly what you must do. Always, always, always, do what’s best for your story; there is a huge chance that when you do that, you will grow too.

I have been a lover of poetry all my life. I love reading it and writing it. I love feeling like other poets are writing about me and my experiences. I love feeling seen.

But I’m not going to lie, I don’t understand every poem that I read. Actually, I don’t understand many of the poems I read. And in my effort to expand my knowledge and appreciation for my craft, I took an online poetry course taught by the instructors and poets at the University of York. Here are some of the things I learned during that four week course:

1. There is more terminology in poetry than I ever knew. I now know what intertextuality is, as well as ekphrasis. I learned about a type of poem—called the ghazal—which comes from Arabic origins (YAY! and why wasn’t I exposed to this before??).

2. I can appreciate a poem even if I don’t know all the literal elements or terms. I don’t need to know the term ekphrasis to appreciate a poem which describes a piece of art. I don’t need to know what intertextuality is to recognize when a poem pays homage to the work of an earlier poet. I don’t need to know those terms. Will I have an edge if I do? Well that depends. If my work is directly interacting with poets, then knowing these terms will help me communicate more clearly and concisely with my colleagues. Similarly, if I’m surrounded by poets who discuss their work often. But if I’m not often in those settings, then while that knowledge will help me appreciate that poetry is a wide, extensive field, it will not really help me appreciate poems more.

3. Even poets break the rules, and that neither decreases the value of their work nor minimizes the audience’s reactions to it. For example, imperfect sonnets—where the number of lines is off or the rhyme scheme isn’t perfect—are more common than we learn about in school, even from famous poets. And while those poems may be “imperfect” they are no less treasured by the poetry community.

4. Translations of poems—or any literary work, really—are an important way we understand and connect with poems birthed through foreign tongues. I used to think that poets may be offended by translation, that they might feel like the essence of their piece disappeared through the language portal. I learned that not only is a poet right to translate a poem into their own other language for better understanding and connection with it, but it can help a whole people develop an appreciation for a poem they would have otherwise never learned about. It is an honor to be a poem translated—it means someone loved it enough to share it with a much wider audience.

I’m a bit wiser about poetry now compared to before I took this course. I loved listening to the poems being read and learning the new terms. Am I better off for having taken this course? Will I now be able to understand poems that seemed too abstract to me before? Not likely. But while I would have loved to gain a technique to connect with pieces that simply don’t speak to me, the truth is that not every piece of art will attract art connoisseurs. Similarly with poems: not every poem will speak to every poet.

And I’m totally fine with that.

Since the moment we are born, we are conditioned to hold certain beliefs. Some of those beliefs keep us safe, like believing in the dangers of heights, matches, and knives. But some of the beliefs that become ingrained in us throughout our lives turn out to be nothing more than real life Tropes that risk us maintaining a narrow view of a nuanced subject. Two that immediately come to mind are: moms are meant to sacrifice all that they are for their children; and pious people look, act, and behave in one very specific manner. Television, movies, and literature are finally calling these Tropes into question, opening our eyes to the diversity of experiences.

Movies like Bad Moms and platforms like those of Kristina Kuzmic bring up all the nuances of motherhood that have gone unaddressed for centuries. Until recently, western culture has held these common beliefs about motherhood: Moms should always be tolerant of their children's behavior; A badly behaving child reflects poor parenting; Moms should feel content sacrificing their careers for their families; All a mom wants to do is spend all her time with her children; Moms always love doting on their families; Moms don't need a social life; Moms should be able to care for their families 100% of the time without support or breaks.

Whether or not these beliefs were ever stated or written is irrelevant--society behaved as though these beliefs were undeniable.

But whereas mothers may have felt shame for expressing their contention with these beliefs before, today no such reservations exist. Moms are declaring everywhere that they need a break from their kids. They're showing society that they want to pursue their dreams and will not sacrifice them easily. They're declaring that parenthood is meant to be a shared responsibility where both parents invest in their children's upbringing and also in the management of the home. More and more movies are depicting these truths, more and more books are painting a more authentic picture of parenthood.

Likewise with religion. We are more apt to see fiction portraying the Christian protagonist hating his neighbor, or the Muslim protagonist getting drunk. In The Beauty of Your Face, by Sahar Mustafah, the young Muslim protagonist is promiscuous in her adolescence. In The Other Americans, by Laila Lalami, the Muslim protagonist drinks beer and goes on dates. Is this an affront Islam? Is it an invitation to behave similarly? Does portraying Muslims taking part in clearly unIslamic behaviors mean that we condone such conduct?
Not at all. The truth is fiction, in it's essence, is an art which lays bare the intricacies of human behavior and human emotions. It shows us all the angles of a character--his positive and his negative--because people are nuanced like that. We have our good and our bad. We do wrong even when we know it's wrong. Maybe we atone for it, maybe not. We do good even when there is no reward. Sometimes it makes us feel fulfilled, sometimes it leaves us feeling empty.

We do, regardless of whether or not it's what we should do. And that's what makes us human, makes us real, makes us relatable.

And if the movies we watch and the books we read are to have any standing with us, then they must portray us wholly, with all the many conflicting layers that compose us.

Are you ready to make your writing dreams come true?

Yes! I want to make my writing dreams a reality!