#WriterWednesday: WriterlyLinks And #WritersLife 29-01-20 - #AmWriting

All you can do is try to write as well as you can.
~Harold Pinter

It wasn't a very productive writing week, since I lost a day to people who don't consider people who work from home to be doing anything important, so either show up late, or don't show up at all (see yesterday's post if you want to know more about that) and Lilie has decided nap time is over-rated. On top of that, I spent some time messing about with adding mention of Artemis the Hermann's Tortoise to my profiles, and rebranding my "Friends Of Furkid Friday" feature, now that not all my kids are the furry kind.

The rebranding doesn't officially happen until February. However, as you may have noticed if you check out the page tabs above, "Friends Of Furkid Friday" is changing to "PetKid Pals" in the very near future. I'm leaving the mention of "Furkid Friday" in the posts until the middle of February, because I had posts already scheduled until then that I'd sent the links out for, and it changes the url if I change the title before the post is published, which can cause problems with people trying to find the post via the links I gave out (there's a way to make it not do that, but I couldn't be bothered to mess with it). But I changed all the labels so they'll all fall under the "PetKid Pals" label, and any guests we have after February 14th will be refered to with the new label. Glad I decided to do this when we only had about two dozen posts for me to fix the labels on, and before I got the interviews I'm expecting in the near future for some pets who will be featured over the next couple of months. Took long enough as it was!

So, like I said, it wasn't a very productive writing week. But I'm not complaining, since I'd have wanted those things done sooner or later anyhow. Besides, it was probably good for my story to sit for this week before I start the rewrites on it. Rewrites it needs very badly, since it's a very rough first draft, like I said in last week's post. That's often the way though. So, assuming I can get Lilie to remember why naps are a good thing, this week I can start working on making a mess less complicated.

Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts.
~Anne Lamott

In other news: I was a guest over on the blog of fellow author, Mae Clair, last Thursday (January 23rd 2020) talking about why I write for children. You can read the post here, if you're interested.

You don’t choose a story, it chooses you.
~Robert Penn Warren

Anyway, if you're stuck for story ideas, there are plenty of great posts to help inspire you in among the posts for StoryStorm 2020. So, if you haven't done so, you should check those out. Also, here are some novel tips for writers to beat a creative crisis.

There are significant moments in everyone's day that can make literature. That's what you ought to write about
~Raymond Carter

OK. Now let's talk about your characters, starting with these things to consider when naming characters.

Next, here are some keys to writing great dialogue, so you can keep yours interesting.

No matter who says what in your story, check out this post with some things to think about when it comes to the hero archetype.

Also, if your characters are seeming a bit flat, here are some ways to spice up your characters. Just remember to consider cause and effect, and ensure your characters behaviour makes sense, regardless of whether they're the hero, part of the supporting cast, or the villain.

I want to write about characters who are earnest in what they’re trying to accomplish. Villains don’t see themselves as villains — that’s what interests me. No one wakes up and says, "What kind of monster am I going to be today?"
~Patrick Ryan

Regardless of who might be in your story, or the kind of character they are, if they're involved in a fight, you might want to have a look at this advice on how to construct gripping fight scenes.

Additionally, if your story involves a gathering quest, take a look at these ways to keep a gathering quest interesting, so you can make sure yours doesn't get too boring and repetitive for your readers.

Writing is not different from life—you want variety, you want refreshment, and you want balance.
~Alice Walker

Someone on one of the sites I get these links from shared some lesson's she'd learned from doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). So, check out her lessons on planning ahead, illiminating distractions, and perserverance, especially if you're thinking of doing Camp NaNo in April, or NaNoWriMo in November, this year.

Whether you plan to participate in Camp NaNo, NaNoWriMo - or any other writing challenge - this year, or not, if you're a beginning writer, or someone who's coming back to writing after a long break, this is why writing every day (at first) could make starting a little easier. If you can't write every day - which, let's face it, is the reality for a lot of people - at least make it regular enough that a habit can form. After all, practice is the 1 tool you need to become a better writer this year. Like I said, you don't have to be writing every single day. I mean, it's quite likely writing every day won't make you more successful - but this daily habit might. Also, writing regularly is the kind of planning you should be doing more of as a writer, because no one starts out a good writer, so you have to write regularly if you want to become one.

Anyone who says he wants to be a writer and isn’t writing, doesn’t.
~Ernest Hemingway

Speaking of progressing with your writing this year: if you don't have any writing goals for 2020, there's still time to make some. So, if you need to do that - or if you already did, but want to assess your goals now we're a month in to 2020 - remember the S.M.A.R.T. guide to goal setting for 2020.

Whatever your goals may be, good luck with them! When you reach each stage of completion, you can enjoy the cookie at the corner of your desk - or whatever your personal reward is.

Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
~Neil Gaiman

By the way, if you're in the editing phase of your work, don't forget to watch for homophones.

Finally, whether you're a writer, or prefer to just enjoy the books of others, here's a 2020 literary calender, so you can check out book related dates you might want to do something for this year, like J K Rowling's birthday, Hobbit Day, read an eBook week, etc.