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Perfection is the killer of creativity. When we aim for perfection, we fail to take risks and try to meet other’s standards instead of trying to achieve our own.
Perfection shouldn’t be our intention; instead, let’s concentrate on progress and making strides in our own time, no one else’s. Don’t be afraid to fail, and don’t be scared to try, you learn the most from your shortcomings.
I’ve expressed a lot lately about taking breaks, and I grasp how fundamental it is to take one every so often. Inspiration is all around us, and we need to look up periodically to observe it! Here are a few things you can do to stimulate that inspiration:
What are ways you keep inspired while taking a break? Leave me a comment below and let me know!
I am excited to introduce you all to my new writing friend Samantha Proctor; she created a fantastic writing course called ‘Write Every Day‘ that encourages you to write more consistently. As writers sometimes, it’s hard for us to find the time to sit down and write, but when we do, the results are noticeable. Every day she will give you a daily quote, encouragement, daily action, writing challenge, and a comment conversation starter. Samantha was very involved and a great motivator, she sends you a personal weekly email and is there to answer any questions you may have, course-related or writing in general. That was probably my favorite part, having a writing buddy to keep me accountable, give advice, encouragement, and a swift kick when needed 😉
Included in the course are printables to help you achieve your goals and a private Facebook group. Honestly, this course came at the right time for me I had started so many novels and never finished them, my writing was sporadic and I could never accomplish my goals. Since finishing this I have a renewed hope and passion for writing, I have actually started writing short stories instead and have taken a break from my Novella. Not because I cannot write a Novella, but sometimes you need to step away from something to gain a new perspective. The daily actions and writing challenges were exactly what I needed to give me that push and get my mind and creative juices working.
Here is what you’ll learn from this course:
There are five parts to this course.
Part one is about getting started. It’s about writing instead of just thinking about writing.
Part two is about setting realistic goals that don’t overwhelm you. It’s also about learning to accomplish those goals once you’ve set them.
Part three is where you learn to stick with your goals even when it’s not exciting anymore. In this part, you’ll learn to be disciplined even when you aren’t motivated.
Part four is all about rediscovering your love for writing. This is the fun part where you get to enjoy the process of spinning words together and creating stories.
Part five is the shortest part. It’s all about celebrating your success and ensuring that you continue to write long after this course is over.
Most importantly, you’re going to learn how to write consistently. If you would like some more info on the course, you can go here, but if you’re ready to jump in and start writing my sweet friend has given my readers a discount code for 20% off the course use, WRITEMORE in the add coupon section to take advantage of this offer.
Scrivener, Scrivener, Scrivener I keep talking about this amazing program, but people, it’s fantastic! I use this app on a daily basis for my novels and sometimes even blog posts. I am going to give you ten reasons why this app is something you need in your life if you do any sort of writing.
1. I am able to keep everything stored in one place! You’re able to put your research, pictures, websites, PDF’s anything pertaining to your novel you can store in the same document your novel is. How cool is that? It’s wonderful to have everything in one place that I can access at any time.
2. Color-Coded. I love to color-code things and this app lets me do just that! It helps when you’re plotting and want to see the different parts of the novel, and you can create your own labels and assign colors to them. I’ve seen people use the labels for protagonist/antagonist chapters, and some will use them to label notes, first draft, revised draft, and final. You can use them however you want to that’s the beauty of this program.
3. Word count: Now this may NOT seem like a big deal, but it is. In Scrivener I am able to put the number of words I’d like to achieve in a certain amount of time and it will calculate how many words a day I need to write to make it to that goal
4. Storyboard: While I do most of my Storyboarding on Pinterest I will import the photos to my moodboards for each of the characters and add things I think they’d wear, what their homes look like, the town they live in, etc. Also, this is where I add all the data about the character and his/her backstory, quirks, motives, and so forth.
5. Folders: When writing normally I have a folder for each chapter of my novel and then subfolders for each scene in that folder. Scrivener also has specific folders for Characters and locations that you can use.
6. Templates: So many creative people have designed templates that you’re able to download for free and use. The one page novel plot formula is my absolute favorite.
7. Compose it to a kindle, Epub ebooks, or ibooks formats: this makes it incredibly easy to write and self-publish your own book to sell on Amazon, Apple, or Nook.
8. Ability to split the screen: This little feature comes in handy when I need to look at the plot points while I am writing a scene, or have a characters outline up to remember a certain quirk or specific quality they possess.
9. Distraction free writing: Wonderful tool when you really need to buckle down and focus on your writing without the distractions of everything else. The things you really need to know will pop up on the bottom of the screen when you move your cursor.
10. Sync: I am able to start writing on my computer, save it, and then work on it more from my phone or iPad. Now, this one may cost you a little bit more money but, for me, it was totally worth it. I love to pull my phone out and type up a scene when I have a spare moment of time; no writing time is wasted!
**BONUS**
11. Revision Mode: I actually just discovered this one not too long ago! Revision mode let’s you go back and revise your novel with different colored text so you can easily see what you’ve changed and when. Such a handy little tool for editing 🙂
Try a FREE 30 day trial of Scrivener and see how you like it! If you’re ready to buy it you can do so here: BUY NOW!
Do you feel like your plot has been way overdone and people are sick and tired of reading the same storyline over and over again? That’s exactly how I was feeling the first time around. But, if you take any TV show, movie or book and look at the bare bones of the plot you will realize that most of them are the same they just executed the scheme differently. Think of TV shows that take place in New York with 20-30 something-year-olds, movies where the nerdy girl gets a makeover or the one that I absolutely cannot stand… when they make the father an incompetent moron.
The difference between the story lines in these various plots is a simple question, What if? Let’s look at The Princess Diaries. What if an average girl finds out she’s a princess? Or in My Fair Lady, what if a pompous phonetics professor transforms a Cockney working-class girl into someone who can pass for an experienced member of high society. See how they both are the same, but very different?
What if a husband vanishes and leaves his wife and children behind. This is one example that I have been mulling over the last few days. What if he didn’t leave on purpose? What if he was forced to leave but couldn’t tell his family? What if she gave up hope for ever finding him? What if he did leave on purpose?
Asking myself those what if questions got me thinking, and pondering what would happen if this happened? How would I react in this situation? I even threw questions by Ruben to see how he would respond in a similar situation. I so appreciate my husband’s willingness to listen to my ideas and help me out. He’s given me some great ideas for plots, told me when something seemed not realistic, and helped me out with different conversations between characters.
I have a much clearer picture this time around of how I want this to end up and I am excited to start working on it again. Just need to get over the hurdles of criticism and self-doubt that I face and I am certain many others face. It’s scary to put yourself out there because you are going to get judged once you do. Everyone has an opinion, some good, others not so good.