Are you having trouble writing? Not sure how to get started? Looking for tips to help you write more?
I do a lot of writing. Every day. And I do a lot of reading about writing. Every so often I read a book with advice on writing. These books usually have really great tips in them, but it can be hard to find the gold nuggets. Sometimes the tips and suggestions can be buried in a lot of other content. Sometimes the tips are written in a nice way, when most people need a blunt piece of direct talk. And most people don’t know what suggestions or advice will really, really work for them.
Writing can be intimidating to people who don’t do it regularly. My older kids are heading in big years at high school and college, and I know they are going to do more writing. So I picked up a writing advice book, read it over, and distilled the main points into these helpful little guiding images.
Whether you’re a new writer or an experienced writer, every one of us hits an obstacle at some time in our creative process. I’ve found these specific tips have helped me stay productive in the long run. Maybe these tips will help you, too!
Here are the first two. They are of course, about time.
We all need more time in our day to do things. Or do we? Maybe it’s not about needing more time, but using our time the right way. If you don’t give yourself the time you need – or want – to write, it’s not going to happen.
This is another way that writing is like running. You can’t train for a marathon overnight. And you can’t write a novel in one day. So set a schedule and keep to it. Little by little, step by step, line by line, you can reach the finish line of your book.
Want more tips on how to be a better writer? Read part 2 “How to be a More Productive Writer!”