Categories
Productivity

Reasons Not To Write Every Day

Do you worry about writing every day? Should you write every day? Stephen King thinks so, and it works for many other people…but I’m afraid that I’m not one of them.

Here’s the issue – I’ve tried it. I have sat down every single day to hammer out some words. Did it go well? Sure, for a while. But, after a month or so, I found that I couldn’t keep up, and eventually, I was left feeling discouraged, guilty, and actually spending time worrying about it. So, overall, it did not work for me. It does work for some people – I have a friend who writes 1000 words a day. That’s so great, and I celebrate their routine! But for me, it just isn’t suitable. If it doesn’t work for you either, that’s okay. You don’t have to write every day to be a terrific writer. Here’s why:

A Writing Routine Should Fit Your Specific Life

I don’t have a life routine that fits with writing every day. Heck, I’m a small business owner, I have family and friends that need my attention, and I like to do various other things that take up time. That’s okay! Writing is a huge priority of mine, and that’s why I created a writing routine that actually does work for me and fits in with my life. It’s flexible, allows for movement, and means that I write around 4,000 words a week. If you want to create a writing routine that works for you, check out this blog post on doing just that! A writing routine that includes writing every day is absolutely fine if it works for you, but the key is making sure it fits in with your life. We all write best when we have the time. Forcing ourselves to write every day when it doesn’t fit will create feelings that I’ve already outlined – ultimately, it can make us feel dejected. I don’t know about you, but writing while dejected does not make me feel awesome, and it doesn’t equal my best work either.

Breaks are Important Too

A work-life balance is vital, and I think breaks in the week are essential. Breaks can also mean we allow ourselves to get excited about our writing projects, look forward to that moment of creation, and refill the well of creativity.

Writing Is About More Than The Act of Writing

Writing is about so much more than sitting down to write. Writing is about research; it’s about thinking, dreaming, planning. It can involve reading, watching movies, taking action. If you spend time in your week working on your novel, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are spending the time writing. Here’s a little picture of me enjoying my character’s favourite meal, a chuckwagon inspired stew with cornbread.

Writing every day

Giving yourself the time in your week to work on your project without writing isn’t just fun; it can deepen your world and create a richer experience for yourself and the reader.

Flexibility Aids Motivation

Writing every day is a rigid and strict rule that must be broken at some stage. Life happens, and if we restrict ourselves to fixed structures, it is far more likely that these structures will be broken. Instead, a writing routine that allows flexibility can motivate us to work and ultimately means that the idea of ‘breaking the routine’ is not such a demoralising one.

So there you have it – you do not need to write every day to be a fantastic writer. Creating a routine that works for you will make you feel more motivated, better rested, and can generate more words!

If you are ready to chat about creating a writing routine that works with your personal life, get in touch.

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Categories
Craft

Online Writing Tools That Can Help You Write Your Novel

When Dickens sat down to create and write, he was faced with far fewer distractions than we are. But, he also had less to help him.

Sure, he could go hang out with Yates and Thackeray, but he didn’t have access to the wealth of online writing tools we have today.

So, we may count ourselves as lucky writers that we can find an answer to our queries in seconds today, and that there are online tools made just for us.

Are you ready to write your novel and would love a helping hand?
Here are some online writing tools that can help you reach your goal!

Here are some of my favourite online writing tools

Scrivener

An online tool for writers who just need to write! Scrivener can help you organise your work, and many say it is easier to use than Word. It also helps with formatting, a process that some authors find laborious.

Grammarly

Even the free version of Grammarly is quite helpful! It doesn’t just check spelling for you, but it offers clear grammar information that can be very helpful.

It’s not always right, so do bear in mind that carefully checking is sometimes needed, but overall it’s an app that can make your writing tighter.

Evernote

Evernote is your virtual novel scrapbook! This app is so great for those moments when an idea suddenly hits you, and you need somewhere to scribble it down.

The best thing about this is that you can add photos, videos, voice notes, tasks and keep them all in one handy place, so you don’t have to scramble around to find them again.

Cliche Finder

I love this tool because it’s not always easy to find those cliches in our work. After all, the way we speak is often through cliches, so it makes sense that those well-known phrases sneak into our text.

Cliches are not always bad, but this tool helps make you more aware of the content of your writing, and that’s a good thing.

And finally…The Novel Writing Masterclass

Yep, I’m going to include the online course that I have created! It’s Time to Write Your Novel: The Masterclass is a bite-size course designed to take you through the stages of writing your novel.

It includes 40 classes that have been created to fit into your busy life, with worksheets. The idea is that you watch one and then move onto the next one when you have completed the requested step.

This means that you are being held accountable for your creative actions and are stepping through the process of planning, creating, writing, and next steps.

As a Doctor of Creative Writing with years of experience lecturing and tutoring adults, I’ve created this course to be fun, easy to watch, and informative and help you write the novel you know you can write.

Here’s what we chat about:

  • Time blocking
  • Coming up with ideas
  • Getting in the creative zone
  • Creative Data
  • Characterisation
  • Plot
  • Setting
  • Character arcs
  • Secondary and tertiary characters
  • Grammatical person
  • Tense
  • Planning your novel
  • Word Count
  • Dialogue
  • Research
  • Incentives
  • Motivation
  • Accountability
  • Blurbs
  • Plot holes (and how to fix them)
  • Peer reviewing
  • Editing and Self Editing
  • Developing a thick skin
  • Self Publishing
  • Traditional Publishing
  • Formatting
  • Marketing
  • Agents
  • Synopsis
  • Cover Letters
  • Social Media for Authors

If you are ready to move forward with your writing, to go from ‘I don’t know how to write this‘ to ‘I’ve got this novel written‘, then get in touch.

I’ll be going live with my new website and this masterclass very soon, and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Alright, those are my suggestions for online writing tools!

Assistance is available, and you are not on this writing journey alone, writer. If you want to talk about 1:1 coaching, you need an editor, or you’ve just got questions in general about how I can help you – get in touch. I would love to talk to you about your writing!

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