Today I’m the featured author on Susan Meissner’s Edgewise Blog http://susanmeissner.blogspot.com/ . I hope you’ll stop by her site and leave a comment, even if you only say, “Happy Thanksgiving.”
Speaking of Thanksgiving, how do you write during the holidays? It’s a challenge to get your writing done when you have gifts to buy/wrap/make, food to cook, events to attend and packages to mail. Yet if your publishing dreams come true, at some point you’ll likely face deadlines that don’t care how many cards you still have to get into the mail. What to do? For all my writing students and fellow writers, try the Great Holiday Word Count Challenge. Part NanoWriMo, part stubborness, part attention to craft, GreHoWorCoCha could help you meet your writing goals and have still have some holiday fun. The prize? Winner wins a free one hour consultation with yours truly (a $75 value!). And I’ll send you chocolate!
All you have to do is write, in 150 words or less, how you will stay focused and write during the holiday season. Post it as a comment here. I’ll announce the winner on January 4, 2010.
Writing Tip For Today: Keeping your words flowing can be difficult during the holidays. Try making a schedule or appointment to write the same way you’d pencil in a doctor appointment. Be serious–don’t make writing so low a priority that you allow your writing to go completely cold. Even if you set a goal of 100 words a day, (about a paragraph) you’ll be less apt to feel stuck or out of practice come New Year’s Day. If you have a creative way of making sure you write, please consider entering the GreHoWorCoCha. Don’t you just love a challenge? Especially one with Chocolate involved? Get busy. I want to hear from you!
To stay committed to writing my first novel, I intend to write at least 250 words per day. I also made a music playlist on imeem.com to keep myself inspired, because I know that music has a very positive writing affect on me- I even titled “Novel Music”. I love the rainy weather, it actually helps me write! A new method I am going to try is to purchase index cards to write out every scene and further develop my characters. Sometimes I have to write on-the-go, so I plan to store the index cards in a pouch. That way, no matter where I am, I can scribble more notes as I find inspiration or get a random (fabulous) thought!
You’re such an inspiration, Linda!! 🙂
Mary Post writes…Taking advantage of the early mornings is absolutely key to my writing goals this holiday season. Once the boys are home for vacation, I will have a window of 3-4 hours between my early morning wake-up and theirs. Tucked away in our cozy family room with cup of coffee in hand and a full night’s sleep under my belt, I am at my most productive. Household chores can wait. I will continue to hone my people watching skills. What better time than while standing in line or fighting the holiday crowds, right? I have begun writing down interesting, quirky, and memorable characteristics that will help create-a-character or enrich a scene. Who would have known that the bony old lady carrying a plastic bag filled with exactly 12 Brussels sprouts could be so interesting? (Do you think she eats them all at once? Dipped in butter, perhaps?) I will make this my writing-on-the-run strategy over the holidays. Finally, I am going to read about, experiment, and play with different writing techniques to help unleash my writer’s log jam. What better way to begin 2010 than with a few writing tricks up my sleeve?
A Month-full
In the coming weeks I’ll have more days off and fewer commitments. Will I write or will I laze, wasting that precious extra time?
Luckily, I’m compulsive; when I challenge myself with things that seem oppressive (like daily swimming or twice a day meditation), I usually rise to the occasion. Routine soothes me; the trick is choosing healthy habits.
From November 26 through December 31, 2009, I’ll write two pages a day, for a total of seventy-two pages over thirty-six days. I’ll write five days a week. Content is unimportant; I’ll approach each day’s writing as an adventure with words.
There’ll be plenty of time for snoozing and schmoozing, too.
On this Thanksgiving day, delight colors my cheeks; joy is flying through the air. I’m grateful for the freedom to create.