Tomorrow (15th August), The Stealth of Caledon is released in paperback. I’m meeting this with mixed feelings – excitement and apprehension. I suppose there is nothing unusual about this, but it marks a very significant step for me, and I’m nervous about taking it. The step is that this is the first historical fiction book I’ve published since The Year We Lived … That was more than four years ago, and I’m not sure I can remember now how to do it all! The Caledon trailer watch it with sound and you won't be disappointed! But there is something else about my Caledon series which makes it particularly difficult: it’s historical fantasy. To me, historical fantasy is about the best genre there could be. I love the past and I love speculative fiction. But it’s so difficult to find readers who can connect with your own version of the past. In a moment of ambitious optimism, I agreed to publish one Caledon book every August (there are six in total), but the first book is the one of my bo...
It's Thursday! So get ready for some harsh truths about writing and publishing.
This week, we are talking about that divisive of all writing topics: writer's block!
Writer's Block is when, for no explicable reason, a writer loses their productivity. Some writers believe that it exists, others are certain it does not.
But, here's the harsh truth: writer's block does exist. There are times when a writer struggles to write a single page. When people say it doesn't exist, what they usually mean is "you can do something about it". To say writer's block isn't real takes away from of the skill of an author. It is the author's skill to work through writer's block.
So, here are a few ideas to help you work through this very real predicament:
- Just sit down and write. You might write a load of rubbish, but you're going to edit your book anyway, so don't worry! Get that chapter down and, by the time you've written a few hundred words, you'll have probably pushed past that seemingly impenetrable wall.
- Listen to music. Create a story playlist that you listen to every time you write that particular story. That way, if you're struggling to write, pop the playlist on and your brain will tell you it's story time!
- I don't go in for the whole journal-writing thing, or writing exercises. I like to have something a little more useful to show for my hard work. However, some authors find small writing exercises enough to get them in the writing zone.
- I might be shot down by other authors for saying this, but I find marketing to be a great way of getting myself in the writing frame of mind. Make promotional photos, research book covers in your genre, read writing advice blogs. All these things will help your author business. They are worth the time.
- Reward yourself. Rewards work really well during NaNoWriMo because it's all about word count, and a high word count that will be tricky to achieve. When you hit the 1667 word mark (this is the amount of words you should write a day in NaNoWriMo) treat yourself to a Youtube video, or some goodies.
So there's five pieces of advice for Writer's Block. Remember that writer's block is very real, but it's how you deal with it that's important!
Subscribe if you'd like harsh truths every Thursday, and a more positive look at writing and publishing on Saturday.
Photos
Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels
Comments
Post a Comment