#WriterWednesday - November 27th 2019

I've got a lot of links for you this week. However, it's lucky I didn't sign up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year, because I definitely wouldn't have even been close to hitting any kind of writing goal, unless that goal was either to write very little, or was related to the writing of blog posts. But never mind. If you've been doing NaNoWriMo, I hope you've either already reached your goal, or are on track to do so before
November is out. You still have a couple of days if you need them. But, however many words you ended up writing this month, remember that it all adds up in the end, so don't worry if you don't make it to the 50K, or whatever your personal goal is.

Write a page a day. It will add up.
~Herman Wouk

Whether you've been participating in NaNoWriMo or not, if you're a writer, you'll know how easy it is to get distracted when you're meant to be writing. So, take a look at this quick guide for how to banish distractions and get more writing done.

Of course, you need to find a balance between getting your writing time in, and pushing yourself too hard. I mean, all writers must learn to 'balance' work and play. So, if you've been pushing yourself hard lately, and managing to avoid distractions and everything, but you still aren't meeting your goals, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate those goals. Are your writing goals too ambitious? Because they just might be.

No matter your writing goals, I have 12 mid-week reminders to get you through the rest of your writing. I hope they help, because sometimes you have to keep writing when your finish line seems too far away, and sometimes there are things we give up.

Also, here are some things to tell yourself when you need to write on a bad mental health day, and reminders for anyone writing over the holidays - just in case you need either of those.

In case you didn't know: your ideas are not trash, and neither are you. So don't forget it! Thinking that way is one of the bad writing habits to break.

No matter what bad writing habits you may need to break, don't quit when you're falling behind. Writing any words towards your goal is always better than quitting. If you need to take some time off - either for the holidays, for your own health's sake, or for any other reason - that's fine. But don't give up; don't walk away completely.

Remember: There is someone out there that wants to fall in love with your story and writing, but they can't if you don't write it.
~Avis

Now we've established that, here's a post you may like to read that gives you some tips on how to ground (and hook) readers in your opening scene. Plus, equally important are these dos and don'ts for a satisfying conclusion.

Next, here are some tips for the infamous retelling of an old story - in case you happen to be planning to write one of those, and need them.

By the way, it's up to you whether you write long and edit short, or write short and edit long, but you do need to edit.

Remember though: if you're feeling under pressure from editing software, or when editing in general, only basic grammar rules must be obeyed, and sometimes your own voice matters most.

Often, I get the feeling that the story is really happening somewhere and all I'm doing is trying to work out the best way to tell it.
~Garth Nix

You might want to check out these tips on writing action scenes,, especially if it's something you need to work on, like it is for me.

Regardless of the kinds of scenes that move your story forward, depending on your story's cast of characters, you might also want to take a look at this post about stock characters, and think about how they may or may not fit in to your story.

This series on Jung's archetypes is worth checking out too. Not sure what those are? Here's a brief overview. Now, here's more on the ego quartet, the soul quartet, and the self quartet.

Speaking of your character, does your character suffer from depression? Are you worried it will stop readers from liking or relating to them? Then get some advice on writing that character by checking out this post on how to make an unhappy character "likable".

Finally, don't forget about the responsibility of writing. Oh, and, for the record: I'm always happy to answer questions for anyone wishing to write about a blind character - or anyone wanting to understand blindness more in general - so don't hesitate to get in touch.