How to Succeed at Writing: Working through Frustration

Hello everyone and happy Presidents’ Day!

While working towards my 2018 goal of editing my novel The Four Crystals from beginning to end, I hit a snag in completing my weekly goal.  Apparently chapters 3-5 heard me say I was going to edit one chapter a week and conspired to detain me longer than that.  If they weren’t essential to the plot, I’d show them who was boss and cut them.

Needless to say, feeling stuck is very frustrating.  It’s made me question why I torture myself with writing when there are other things I enjoy that require less effort.  When I get depressed with my own writing journey, I find inspiration from reading about what established writers do.

Below are a few articles which recently helped me.  I hope they also inspire you to keep writing.

In case you don’t have time to read them, here’s a quick summary: 1. Find a writing space, 2. create a writing routine, and 3. make yourself do it.  (They say it much more elegantly than I just did.)

“Mark Ellis – A Writer’s Life” by Mark Ellis

“10 Habits of Highly Effective Writers” by Robert Blake Whitehill

“Ten Ways To Succeed at Writing Without Really Trying” by Ruthy Logan Herne

Happy writing!

Katie

Speedy Ideas

Hello everyone!

“Do you know what my favorite part of the game is?  The opportunity to play.” – Mike Singletary

When I get in a writing slump, I find writing prompts to be helpful in getting the creative juices flowing.  I also use writing prompts to challenge myself or as a fun activity to do with friends who also enjoy creative writing.

Your writing challenge for the next two weeks is to write a short story that contains all of the words in the featured image.

An alternate version of the writing challenge is to play your own game of Speed Scrabble and use the words you created to write a short story.

You can add to the fun by getting a group of people together, all using the featured image or playing a round of Speed Scrabble together, and then taking 30 minutes to write a short story. 

Happy writing and go Eagles!

Katie