Start writing a book and stop making excuses: 7 steps

So many aspiring authors want to start writing a book and finish, yet only a percentage of people achieve this dream. For some, it's negative self-speak ('I'm not good enough' or 'my central idea sucks'). For others, it's a combination of struggling with focus, motivation, goal-setting or planni...

Top 10 writing contests: Prestige and prizes

One of the best ways to get recognised as a writer is to enter a writing competition.  Of course you are not guaranteed to win, but if you do you will be able to use that to add to your credibility once you are ready to publish – it is also great practice! The Writer’s Digest: This well-...

Silence your inner critic: 8 ways to write in peace

So often beginning writers (and even established authors) tell themselves 'My writing is bad'. If you tend to criticize yourself to a creative standstill too, you're in good company: Even the great authors have suffered from self-doubt. The good news is that there are ways to silence your inner c...

Why write a novel? Twitter tells us

Why is writing a book a dream for so many people, and so satisfying for others? There are a number of reasons... https://twitter.com/kseniaanske/status/385290609684008960 Writing a novel can be therapeutic: You get to talk about feelings that you might not ordinarily and get everything off your c...

5 ways to ensure you will write every week

A consistent dedication to writing regularly is often what separates the successful writers from the unsuccessful ones. Even so, it can be all too easy to get caught up in the other distractions of life and let writing fall by the wayside. An optimistic New Year's writing resolution or written pl...

How To: Make a promise to write (and keep it)

It's a mystery why we so often resist doing the very things that we most want to be doing whether it's exercise, writing or some other project we long to tackle. Once we get started, we usually are glad we did and have little trouble continuing, but how can we make sure we write consistently in ...

What are morning pages? Easy warmup for creators

Writing motivation - the drive to create - varies naturally at different stages of the writing process. Learn about Morning Pages, Julia Cameron's simple technique for getting back into a state of writing flow: What are morning pages? 'Morning Pages' is a writing exercise and concept devis...

NaNoWriMo Challenge: why writers should do it

Cari Bennette of Jet Writers shares tips for overcoming NaNoWriMo hurdles. Well, here it is November again and once more the National Novel Writing Month has started. Is this the year you'll get that novel written? We’re about to give you nine good reasons why you should go through with it...

A letter to beginning writers

Beginning writers are at the start of an exciting journey, and it may be one that lasts a lifetime. With that in mind, here is some advice for writers at the start of it all that they can return to throughout their writing lives. Perseverance and making time Writing requires a number of skills. M...

How to keep motivated after the first draft

How do you keep motivated after the first draft of a book? Read tips to stay focused for the longer haul of revision and the path to publication: Common emotions on finishing a first draft Many writers experience one of two emotions on finishing a preliminary draft. They may feel exhilarat...

Rediscovering the joy of writing

Writing is almost always a labor of love, but sometimes that love falters. When you begin to forget what you ever enjoyed about writing in the first place, it's still possible to restore a sense of joy to your work: Write about writing Try a freewriting exercise. Write about your feelings ...

Writing inspiration: 11 authors on how to get inspired to write

This week we have a bumper guest post: we asked several writers and lit bloggers whose work collectively spans nearly every genre from historical fiction to sci-fi to tell us about their top sources of inspiration. When you're inspired to start writing a book of your own, try the Now Novel proce...

Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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