How could you write 500 words a day?

Following on from last week’s post (you can check it out here if you missed it), I was contacted by writer-for-a-reason Heather, who told me she did a challenge of writing 500 words a day, and did so for 18 months!

Heather says, “It was a challenge by Jeff Goins; I did it for 18 months. I picked the best each week and put it on a weekly blog. I wrote short stories, testimonies, biographical pieces  and the odd poem.

Wow! I feel congratulations are due to Heather!

What about you – how could you fit in 500 words a day, or if that honestly isn’t achievable, 300, or even 100?

Could you get the kids to make a start on the dinner (OK, that might make more work than give you time lol!)… um, write on the train, in your lunch break, lock yourself in the bathroom with your ipad, don’t turn on the TV/facebook/emails until you’ve done your word count, make notes in a quiet moment/in a queue/on the bus to type up later…

writing in a café

All writing is excellent practice, whatever you write. Nothing is ever wasted – every 500 words (or 300, or 100) is leading you closer to your writing goal!

Any other ideas? What do you do to make sure you keep writing – or what could you do? Send in your ideas, put them in the comments on the website, or come over to our facebook page and comment there – love to hear from you!

Janet WilsonPeace and joy to you all,

Janet

 

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Keeping Going Despite the Distractions

What keeps you going with your writing when times get tough?

I find that having a plan, being disciplined, and getting back to the plan as soon as possible helps.

I try to write an hour a day, but of course that’s not always possible. Friends visit, family pop in, there are church meetings to go to, shopping to do… it’s just life!

However, if events conspire to distract me from writing for several days in a row, I find it much harder to get back to my story. But I know by experience that the longer I leave it, the harder it gets… eeek!

distracting image

So getting straight back to my desk with a coffee as soon as I can is the best way for me to get back on track. It’s not always easy! There are so many other fun and easy things to do. But regret is the worst pain! As soon as I’m back on track, I’m happy again, however hard it was to be disciplined.

What about you? What do you find helpful?

Let’s encourage each other!

Love to you all in Jesus,

Janet

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Is My Story Good Enough?

Dear Writer Friends,

Today’s creative writing tip has come up over and over again in our Write for a Reason writing groups… is my writing good enough? Is my story good enough?

Is my story good enough?

In my opinion we fret way too much over this question.

Suppose we decide to learn to play the piano – it’s going to take time. Our first piece may be stilted and heavy-handed – but what an achievement! As we progress, we might look back and laugh at our first attempts. However much talent we have been given by God, there is absolutely no short cut to getting better… we have to practice.

So if we want our writing to improve, the key is to keep writing. Write a story for a child you love. Write a simple story with a clear beginning, middle and end. Plan it carefully. Do your very best! Give it to your child to read, then get on with the next story.

This is the only way you can improve – there are no short cuts. Learning about writing is useful, reading other books is important, going to writing groups is inspirational, but the best way to improve is to just keep writing.

Janet Wilson
Janet Wilson

Let me know how it goes!

Bless you all,

Janet

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Metaphors and Similes

Metaphors and similes – what fun! We all get these two mixed up – but it doesn’t matter what we call them – as long as we use them!

But just for the record, metaphors are things that are something else, and similes are things that are like something else! Perhaps an example would be helpful?

A gift is love in a box – metaphor

A gift is like love in a box – simile.

Here’s another one:

The gift was the icing on the cake – metaphor

The gift was like the icing on the cake – simile.

cake with icing

Can you think of some more? Here’s a metaphor from the Bible – “We all like sheep have gone astray.” We’re not sheep, but we sure do act like them sometimes!

When describing something in your novels, could you add a metaphor or simile? Pictorial language is engaging. Could a rose be like a jewel, or a body be the gift wrap for the jewel inside? Plain descriptions can be transformed, with a bit of thought.

What do you think? Got any more ideas on this theme? Feel free to share!

Love to you all,

Janet

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Creative Writing Tip – Personification

Today’s creative writing tip is all about personification.

Personification is the attribution of human characteristics to something non-human. That could be an animal, or something non-living.

First, let’s take a look at personification of animals (also called anthropomorphism). We might like to include animals in our stories who think, talk, feel human emotions, have a conscience, unite for the common good, fight evil, or who have other human traits and temperaments.

Your world might be populated with creatures we recognise, such as bears or rabbits (e.g. Rupert Bear, Peter Rabbit), or fantastical creatures we create ourselves (e.g. the dragons in How to Train Your Dragon). Both are great! You can, of course, mix them up, as C.S. Lewis did in his Narnia stories – the children were human, but there were beasts aplenty. Some you would recognise: some you wouldn’t. Aslan was very much a lion, but fauns like Mr Tumnus do not exist in real life. And of course, the White Witch wasn’t quite human…

Your imagination is the limit, and stories including human-style animals can be great fun. Which is what fiction is all about, after all. Could you add some exciting animals to help the humans in your story? Or some humans to help your creatures? Kids love anything with loads of imagination!

dragon

Now let’s take a look at personification of non-living things. Here’s an example from London’s Gone:

Being busy had prevented Maria from considering the enormity of what they were about to do, but as she sat alone on her bike in the drive, waiting for Emily to get some last forgotten item, it hit her hard. Shadows were already beginning to lengthen across the driveway and a deep foreboding filled her. The tall trees and the wind seemed to be whispering together, plotting their malicious intentions high above, where she couldn’t hear what they were saying. The evening chill seemed to be joining in the evil game, too; it was still only afternoon, but it was already stretching out its cold tentacles. Maria shivered and looked round in rising alarm at the creeping shadows, feeling small, alone and afraid. “Come on Emily,” she muttered under her breath. It was the first time she could ever remember wanting to see her sister! Then she caught hold of herself and sat up straight. “You can’t touch us!” Maria announced boldly to the sinister silence. “Granny and Grandpa are praying for us.” At once she felt a peace that was almost tangible. It was like nothing she had ever felt before – like everything was going to be OK, like there was something, someone even, who was out there, taking care of them. Maria looked round, so strong was the feeling, but there was nothing to be seen. She laughed at herself for talking to nothing and checked that Emily had not seen her.

We all know that trees aren’t really whispering and plotting, and the chill of evening isn’t playing an evil game, but if you get this right, you can make a big difference to your novel by using this technique.

I think I may have said something like this in a previous post, but, hey, repetition is sometimed a good thing! 🙂 Could you use this technique in your story?

Janet Wilson
Janet Wilson

Trust this has been helpful – if it has, would you share it with a friend? Thank you!

Janet

P.S. If you don’t already subscribe to receive creative writing tips direct to your inbox, you can do so here.

 

 

 

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Onomatopoeia

Today’s creative writing tip comes from our Monthly Programme – we have been talking about various literary devices to embellish our stories and give them a bit of added interest and engagement.

One of the devices we have been looking at is onomatopoeia. This is any word that sounds like it means. Here are some common examples:

tiger roaring

tap

baa

growl

sizzle

boom

honk

ting-a-ling

roar

There are lots more!

With just a word, you can take your readers to the sounds and smells of your story, as well as the action! Cool, huh? Why not give it a try? 🙂

Janet Wilson, founder of Dernier Publishing and Write for a Reason
Janet Wilson, founder of Dernier Publishing and Write for a Reason

 

Love to you all,

Janet

 

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Rambling

Do you remember when a walk or a hike in the countryside was called rambling? Maybe you’re not old enough to remember that term! My sister and I and a group of friends would sometimes go off on a ramble on the South Downs, where we lived, back in the 70s. Cissbury Ring was one of our favourite places. By the way, did you know that the dips in the land on the downs are called bottoms?

There is another definition of rambling: “to talk or write at length in a confused or inconsequential way”… which is exactly what I’ve been doing. You didn’t come here to hear about rambling, or even to hear me rambling…south downs

Hope you’ve learnt something about rambling, though, and how to avoid it in your own writing! 🙂

Janet Wilson
Janet Wilson

Love to you all,

Janet

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We All Need A Hero

We’ve been talking about goodies and baddies over the last few weeks… and here’s another quick tip in the same vein:

Make your protagonist the good guy, not the one who regularly does the bad deeds. You don’t want your readers feeling sorry for the other characters, who have to put up with your protagonist’s bad behaviour. You need your main character to be someone inspirational (not perfect, but we’ve covered that previously). They can be a ‘lovable rogue’, but they do have to be lovable.

kittens play fighting

Then you can have your baddies, and they can behave deliciously and shockingly badly, because we expect them to.

Does that make sense? In a nutshell, make your hero the hero!

What do you think? Always love to hear your comments!

Happy writing,

Janet

P.S. Do you follow us on facebook? If not, come on over!

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Terrible Baddies!

Last week we looked at not making our ‘heroes’ too angelic. I didn’t think to say, that we also, of course, shouldn’t make our ‘baddies’ too terrible either!

Even the most evil of people will have a soft spot for something or someone – they would perhaps do anything for their granny, or guard their little sisters with their life. Nobody is all bad, in just the same way that nobody is all good!

moon against a branch

Janet Wilson, founder of Dernier PublishingSo make sure you get the balance right with your baddies as well as your goodies. 🙂

Grace and peace to you, and hope you are enjoying the holidays,

Janet

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Flawed Goodies?

Just a quick writing tip this week, but nonetheless it makes an important point.

How good are your main characters? You need to make them good enough for us to be rooting for them, but not so angelic that we start to hate them! People are flawed, so if you have a character who is ‘too good to be true’, readers will no longer believe in your story. 🙂

angelic little girl

If you’re not sure about yours, why not get someone to read your novel and check, before you get too far in? (Pick someone you can be sure will be honest with you!)

Hope that helps!

Every blessing to you all,

Janet

 

P.S. The Write for a Reason online course starts today: please pray for the new students! If you’re quick we still might have a place for you, if you’re keen. Any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me – I’ll be busy, but will get back to you as soon as possible. 🙂

 

 

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