#WriterWednesday - December 18th 2019

I was honoured to be featured by fellow author, Sally Cronin, again during the past week. Sally featured my book, "Witchlet" (the first of my Magical Chapters trilogy) in this post on the weekend. Check out the post to see who else she featured that day. The post is part of her Sally's Cafe And Bookstore Christmas book fair series of posts, which you can check out by clicking on the link I just posted. After all, there's still time to grab some last minut holiday gifts, and there are plenty of fantastic authors to choose from, in a wide variety of genres, so you might just find the perfect book for someone on your Christmas list. Or maybe even yourself. After all, books make great gifts, so you should definitely consider them, especially if you have avid readers on your list. I have to admit, I especially hope you consider my books.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about my books this week, since I've not really done much in the way of writing this week. It's not writer's block or anything like that. I don't suffer from writers' block. I suffer from procrastination and time management issues, but not writers' block. At least, I don't suffer from it in the traditional sense, though I suppose since 'writers' block' is more than just staring at a blank page, my procrastination and time management issues might be considered a form of writers' block. Either way, if you're suffering from writers' block of any kind, here's a post about writers' block you might find useful.

This suggestion of using idea generation where some of the work is done for you is something else you might find useful, and is an idea worth considering for sure.

Or, if it's just that you're in the middle of your story, and feeling a bit stuck, try these things to do when you're stuck in the middle of your novel, which can work for writing projects of any length.

Whatever you do, I'm sure your own voice will shine through, as it always does. Speaking of which, here's a great post on finding your author voice, in case the reason you're stuck is because you're worried about doing that.

You can only tell a story in your own voice. You find what isn't you, and you get closer and closer to what is.
~Anne Lamott

Next, here are some things to keep in mind while writing, this is why you can't wait until you're 'feeling inspired' to write, and why you sometimes just need to sit down and write, no matter what. After all, this might be what you're actually looking for when you 'hunt' for inspiration.

As long as you can start, you are all right. The juice will come.
~Ernest Hemingway

Of course, that's not always the answer, and it might just be possible that what you need is a break. In fact, here are some midweek reminders for writers who haven't taken a break in a while, which you may want to take note of, and which can apply to non-writers too. Reminders like this are especially important during the holiday season, where Christmas and the like usually already cause stress. Take a break. Enjoy your holiday celebrations. Then remember to factor in regular breaks when you're figuring out any writing goals you might be planning for 2020. Yeah. I know. I need to remember that too. With that in mind, this is why some writers are afraid to take breaks, but we should take regular breaks anyway.

Or maybe you just need to take a nap. After all, better sleep can boost your writing, so if you're like me and can't stick to a proper sleeping routine - despite several attempts to do so - naps might be a good idea for you, just so you can get enough sleep in. A regular sleeping schedule is best, if you can do it. But getting enough sleep is what matters most, regardless of how you get it. After all, it's better to have enough sleep with the use of naps, than not get enough sleep because you tried to avoid having a nap and still can't sleep (something that's happened to me so often I just take naps when I need to now, unless there's a very good reason why I can't go for a nap). Look after yourself... Get some sleep. Naps aren't just for toddlers.

On a similar note, whether you're a writer or not, don't forget to cultivate healthy writing habits, because there actually are risks of injury when writing, or doing other things that mean you spend a lot of time on the computer, such as scrolling through blogs or social media feeds, playing games on the computer, etc. So be careful. Take breaks, take procautions, and don't push yourself too hard for any reason, especially not to please others.

Also, sometimes it's OK to escape from communications slavery. In fact, it's highly recommended that you do so at least some of the time. I know people expect us to always be available these days. But it's OK not to be, especially if it makes it difficult for you to get your writing done because you're too busy being available when the world expects you to be.

I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations. They generally produce their worst work when they do that.
~David Bowie

Anyway, here's an interesting post that talks about hero motivation vs villain motivation, which is worth a read.

Regardless of the motivation of your characters, here's a simple breakdown of 7 point plotting, which might help you if you think there's something missing in your story.

Writing a book is like growing a forest one leaf at a time.
~Victoria Schwab

By the way, you may be interested to know that Smashwords has a new presales feature, which they unveiled earlier this month, which I actually think sounds kind of cool. It allows you to give your fans early access to your books via Smashwords before they officially go on sale. You can even make customized coupon codes that allow you to do so using a lower price too. Read the post I just linked to for full details on the feature. Not convinced? Here are some reasons to run a presale.

Speaking of marketing: here are some top tips for marketing your book for the holiday season. A bit late for this year, perhaps. But something to bear in mind for next year. Or you could tailor the tips for other holidays, like Valentine's Day, Easter, etc, and start planning now for 2020. Or, check out these last-minute holiday book sales strategies, which it's not too late for.

Write from the soul. The market is fickle; the soul is eternal.
~J Carver

No matter what your marketing strategy might be, always remember to keep your dreams big, and your enthusiasm bigger.

Perhaps do some writing betwixt, when the magic of bbeing in the time between times can act as its own form of inspiration, and maybe bring you and your muse closer.

Finally, here are some ways writers can overcome holiday anxiety, in case you need some tips for that.