Bonus assignment: Choose a song that means something to you, and could maybe mean something to your characters. Listen to it, and then spend some time mentally interviewing your characters about it. Write 300 words using the song as inspiration.
Day 76
Finding Time to Write
“I don’t have time to write.”
Have you ever spoken those words? Are you sure they are true?
While we have other posts about finding time to write, today is all about avoiding pitfalls of procrastination: after all, why do today what you could do tomorrow?
Schedule your work time!
You can prove to yourself that you do have the time. Over the next three days, write down every mandatory task you perform on a daily basis and when. This includes your job, travel time, childcare, housework, cooking, etc. Then, take a look at any open spots. That is your writing time!
No open spots? Consider getting up earlier in the morning or staying up a little later at night. What about recording your favorite show instead of watching it live? Or, what about setting a timer and writing 15 minutes every time you complete another task. Those sessions can add up until you’ve completed your word count for the day.
Today’s sacrifice could lead to tomorrow’s blessing. Focus. Magnify. Accomplish. Triumph!
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 77
Reflect and Catch Up
The most important advice I can give to a new writer is this: Develop friends within the writing community. Writing is a lonely, solitary business. As a writer, you’ll spend long hours at the keyboard. You’ll struggle to find the right plot/turning point/phrase. There’ll be days when five or six rejections land in your inbox all at once. When you have to cancel a dinner date in order to meet a deadline.
People outside the writing community won’t understand. They’ll tell you, “Sitting so long is bad for your health. You should take a break every hour and walk around the block.” As if. Or your brother-in-law’s uncle will call you up one day to offer you his “perfect solution” to that thorny plot point you discussed with your sister in total confidence. Someone who hasn’t experienced it will never understand the despair that darkens your soul when an editor or an agent responds with a cavalier, “Not for me,” after you’ve entrusted them with a year’s worth of your work. Family members might suggest a time management class when you’re struggling to meet a deadline.
But another writer? They get it. They’ll tell you about the neck wrap that eases cramped muscles. Or better yet, they’ll lend you theirs. They’ll talk through that turning point with you, and they won’t stop until you say, “Aha!” They know rejections require more than sympathy and kind words; they understand that massive amounts of chocolate are necessary if you’re going to face the keyboard again, and they don’t judge. They’ll drop off a casserole or have Uber Eats deliver a meal the week before your book is due. And when you sign that agent, when you sell your book, when you hit a list, when you win an award, your writer friends will be the first to show up with a bottle of champagne, a box of chocolate or a bouquet of flowers and tell you they knew you could do it all along.
–Award-winning author Leigh Duncan
Day 78
Why Am I Stuck?
The next several days we’ll discuss writer’s block.
For every problem, there is a solution. Always. Without fail. You simply have to figure out what it is.
Every author gets stuck at some point. Maybe a change of scenery will help. Maybe you need to close your eyes and imagine the scene over and over again, playing “what if” until you find the solution. Or, maybe you need to start with word vomit.
Methods that have worked for us:
Going for a drive
Taking a shower
Watching a movie that evokes the same emotion you need for the scene
Reading a book that evokes the same emotion you need for the scene
Looking at artwork or stock photos online
Walking around the house, talking out loud
Tip: If you’re spending long periods of time staring off into space to think and struggling to finish the scene, write a note in the margin for Future You, explaining everything you have problems with, what you’re hoping to accomplish with the scene, and any possible solutions you’ve already brainstormed, even if those solutions won’t ultimately work. Then? Move on. Later, when you go back, you might discover your incredible mind was working out the solution from the shadows all along.
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Bonus assignment: Find the place where you’re stuck right now (you know the one) and read through it. Is there anything you can add? Anything that isn’t working, and is choking you up? Play doctor on this passage and see if you can get it running a little better.
Day 79
Still Stuck?
When you get stuck, it doesn’t mean you’ve gone in the wrong direction. It can mean that, yes, but not always. There are many different causes for that “stuck” feeling. Here are just a few.
The story setup is complicated and requires a complex solution you haven’t figured out yet.
You have too many choices laid out, and the direction has become illogical or muddied.
The situation is too simple, or relies on problems that are easily solved with a conversation or other obvious fixes, and you’re struggling to sustain conflict.
Think about your story, your characters and your plot. There might be a place where the wires are crossed, and figuring out where it happened will help you get back on track. Use the process of elimination until you hit on the block that’s preventing your words from flowing.
If your characters are stuck and you don’t know how to get them unstuck, chances are good your readers won’t know, either. This is an opportunity to blow their minds with a shocking twist. Think beyond the expected. Shock yourself with the solution and you just might shock the reader, too.
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Bonus assignment: Spend more time with your project. Is it working better? Do you need to use a hacksaw on parts of it? Take stock, and remember to use your character’s personality traits and flaws to your advantage.
Day 80
Writing a Series
Are you writing the first book in a series? We have tips!
Remember that you will be locked into any backstory you give your secondary characters, even if you later decide to give one or more a book of their own. What if the old backstory doesn’t work with your new idea?
Be certain about everyone’s backstory before you publish the novel, even the villain, antagonist or monster.
Be vague when and where you can, without compromising your main story or character development.
Consider keeping notes for each individual character, and write down any pertinent information. Be sure to note physical appearance, their backstory, major events that affected them in each story, and any personality changes that have occurred and why.
If you want to redeem your villain, antagonist or monster in a later book, it might be best not to let him do irredeemable things in other tales.
Do not solve all the overarching plot questions in book one. Save something for the next book!
Your assignment: Double your daily word count! Write roughly 500 words for your novel.
Day 81
To Prologue or Not To Prologue
A prologue is an introduction to your story that takes place at a different time than your main story or with different characters. It can show an event from the past that changed your main characters in some way, or even show a moment that occurs later in your book. A prologue has to matter and set up something major in your book.
Sometimes prologues work, sometimes they don’t. Everything depends on your story and your characters. Some editors, readers and authors have strong opinions on them, but we are firm believers in an auth
or doing what they think is right for their story.
Ask yourself: What is the goal of this prologue? What purpose does it serve? If it’s simply to give information, how can those details be parsed out later in the book without the prologue? Would the book be better served if the Prologue became Chapter One?
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 82
Temper
If you claim a character has a temper problem, you’ll need to show them losing their temper at least once during the course of the story. You can design scenes to highlight this particular type of temper, whatever it is. Violent? Eerie silence and stillness? Cursing? Cruel?
What sets them off? What calms them down?
Does their temper change throughout the story? Maybe it becomes necessary for them to learn how to control their fury, or they find a new outlet. This character’s calm moments can help magnify their rages in other parts of the book.
Be sure to use words, actions and thoughts that convey anger. Like shorter, punchier sentences. Jerky motions. Quicker breathing. Flushed skin. A visible, bulging vein. Clenched fists. There are many ways to convey anger.
As with any scene, the character’s emotion will cause a step-by-step evolution, affecting future thoughts and actions.
Example: The temper fuse is lit.
First physical reaction and tone of thoughts change.
Anger grows stronger the more they think about it. (Remember, what you focus on, you magnify.)
Stronger physical reaction propels them into action.
Punch a wall. Curse.
GENA: In my Lords of the Underworld series, the character Maddox is possessed by the demon of Violence. He has a dark, savage temper, and he gets physical. He fights dirty and thrills when he causes pain. Nothing calms him down...until he meets his heroine. Her gentle spirit calms his stormy one in ways he’s never before experienced. As the story progresses, he learns to focus on his memories of her to calm himself.
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Bonus assignment: Write a scene showing a conflict between characters. What are their arguing styles? Make sure it’s not simply yelling for yelling’s sake. Arguments are a wonderful place to layer in conflict and reinforce the theme.
Day 83
Suspension of Disbelief
Readers want to get lost in our stories. To do so, they willingly suspend their disbelief to accept the surreal events/creatures/situations we throw at them. But, to maintain the reader’s willingness to believe, your story cannot break its own rules. Readers will not accept impossible things unless you have a concrete reason why it’s possible within your story world.
For this reason, it is vital that your characters stay in character, one plot point leads to another, there are no unlikely coincidences, nothing is too convenient for your characters, your heroes and heroines aren’t all powerful, and your narrative is sound. That doesn’t mean they have to be fair or unsurprising. Logic makes the impossible possible!
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 84
Reflect and Catch Up
The thing about writing a series is that you have to 'hook' your reader. You want them to be invested in the characters. ALL of them, not just the hero and heroine in the book they're currently reading. They should feel a deep-seated need to read the next book. In book 1, you should tease about the couple coming out in book 2. In book 2, you should tease about the couple coming out in book 3, etc.
This doesn't have to be a long-drawn out obvious thing either. Maybe have the Hero talk about his greatest regret (example, not having kids), and in his book, he suddenly becomes an instant dad to a child he didn't know about, or to three orphans he came upon in the course of his job). You should foreshadow, make your readers curious about the characters they don't know a lot about yet.
And this is the most important part, at the end of the current book, you should always include a teaser to the next book. Maybe you show your hero being knocked out and dragged off by a womanly figure in black. Maybe he's reading a letter from his long lost love and vowing to go get her. Maybe you show the heroine in a blacked out cave wishing someone would come rescue her. This gives the reader a clear sense of what's coming next and hopefully will make them immediately go and one-click that book. Give your readers a reason to one-click.
—New York Times bestselling author Susan Stoker
Day 85
Reward Yourself
Everyone likes to be rewarded for a job well done. That’s human. Have you considered setting up a daily reward system for yourself? You have a daily word count goal to meet, after all, and a little extra incentive to finish it could give you the boost you need to power through.
What do you love? Naps? A favorite wine? Dinner with a friend? Pick something that motivates you. Once you hit your goal, celebrate! Growing your novel’s word count is a great accomplishment!
JILL: Once I took my children on a playdate with six total children under the age of five. Afterward, the play area was a DISASTER, and I groaned as I spotted the mess. The other (and much wiser) mom grabbed a package of marshmallows and gave a child one for every fifth toy they picked up and put away. You have never seen such action and so quickly. At first I worried that this may give children the wrong message—rewarding children with treats for doing something that they should be doing anyway, but she actually taught those children (and me) a life lesson:
Tasks still must be completed.
By making it every 5th toy, they learned not everything is rewarded.
Look forward to the treat when the job is done well.
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 86
People Watch!
Consider going to a public place, sitting and listening to other people’s conversations. This can be a great way to harvest ideas for your story.
Always wanted to be a secret agent? Now’s your chance to eavesdrop.
JILL: One time I was waiting in line at a fast-food restaurant when suddenly, the woman next to me looked at her partner and yelled, “Are you calling me a liar?” You better believe it drew my attention, and a half dozen plot bunnies.
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 87
Working With A Critique Partner
A critique partner is a fellow writer or bookworm who reads over your work to find the flaws, plot holes and inconsistencies you might have missed. This critique partner can also serve as your accountability partner, but be aware that the two jobs are quite different. An accountability partner is charged with helping you remain on track with your goals. Basically, the whip wielder.
Additionally, there are different types of software and websites that you can plug in your word totals to help you stay on track. One fun challenge is to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which always takes place in November. Often, local groups complete this challenge together, offering support and encouragement along the way.
Critique partners can be wonderful, and they can be terrible, so choose wisely. Not every opinion is right. Not every suggestion is helpful, and not everyone is trustworthy.
JILL: I found my first critique group on the internet, and even though we no longer work together, I am still friends with many of those ladies today. Gena and I met at a local writing chapter, so you can find a group anywhere, local or an ocean away.
A word or two of caution. Learn to identify when a suggested change improves the story or merely fits someone else’s personal preference. When in doubt, go with your gut. It will be YOUR name on the front of the cover; you are the one who must be happy with the end result.
Is it possible for critique relationships to grow toxic? Yes. Jealousy can come into play. Differences of opinions can cause rifts, and members can take sides. If you leave a critique session feeling unmotivated and like a hack, reconsider whether or not the g
roup is right for you. There is nothing wrong with walking away.
You can join our exclusive group here, secret word: Triumph
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Bonus assignment: Consider sharing your work with someone you trust.
Day 88
Rule of Three
The Rule of Three is a writing principle that suggests anything that comes in threes is more effective and believable than the things that do not.
The thought behind it is simple. If something happens once, it can be hailed as a mistake. If something happens twice, it can be called a coincidence. But three times? There’s the proof.
All Write Already: Year Of Your Book Page 10
