Adopt These Habits for Success
Writing success doesn’t happen by accident. It’s easy to look at bestsellers and wonder what magic pill they’re taking, but the truth is they are successful because they’ve put in the work to make their dreams reality. Now it’s your turn! Big accomplishments happen by taking small steps each day and forming habits that lead to increased productivity. Work hard and good things will happen. Here are a few small changes you can make to your daily routine to foster your productivity and creativity. ...
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Character Personality Types
Trying to understand our characters can be difficult. In order to know how they would react in different situations—and maintain the consistency of our narrative—we need to know their personalities inside and out.
Tools like the Myers-Briggs personality test are hugely helpful for gaining insight into our characters. For an even broader look at personality types and how traits can combine to create different characters, check out this infographic from Career Assessments Site. They've broken down the most prominent aspects of the sixteen Myers-Briggs personality types. ...
Pre-Editing Checklist
You wrote a book, but you need some help getting it ready for submission or publication. Whether you’re querying agents, submitting to small presses, or self-publishing a professional edit can be the difference between “almost there” and “amazing.” But rushing into a pro edit means wasting time and money and preventing your manuscript from reaching its full potential. To make sure you get the most out of your edit, and wind up with a polished manuscript you’re proud of, follow these steps before you begin a professional edit. ...
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4 Productivity Hacks
Writers who are short on time need to be as efficient, effective, and productive as possible.
Writing sessions should be spent writing. That's why they're called "writing sessions". But oftentimes, things feel out of place, making effective writing time during designated writing sessions difficult. It's easy to let procrastination interfere, or to let excuses keep you from meeting your writing goals.
We need to set aside some time, whether it is five minutes or 15 minutes, before our writing sessions so that we can be prepared when we actually sit down to write.
Have you ever sat down to write, but couldn't think of anything to write? Or have you ever sat there with no words coming out because you weren't sure which scene you were going to write? Or maybe you wanted to write a particular scene, but some other scene wanted attention first and you fought with it?
I highly recommend setting aside some time to figure out your plans for your next writing session. That way, when you sit down to write, you can work on that plan and knock out a writing goal.
To help you have a productive writing session, here are some things you should do before you begin to write. ...
5 Ways to Hear Your Imaginary Friends
It’s been said that writer’s block is when your imaginary friends won’t talk to you. Maybe you made them angry. Maybe they’re just too tired to deal with you. Whatever the case, here are a few tips to get your imaginary friends chatting so you can get back to writing.
1. Give them a present.
If your imaginary friends are giving you the cold shoulder, butter them up with a gift. Try a new pen and notebook or a nice laptop case. Bribery always works, and the new swag can make you feel more like writing, too.
World Building Tips [video]
Anyone who has ever tried building a fictional world from scratch has wished they had a road map, a compass, a starting point. This video is exactly that. TedEd videos pair experts with professional animators to create simple, entertaining videos to help you through difficult topics. In this installment, Kate Messner discusses what exactly makes worlds like JK Rowling’s so compelling and provides tips for how to create your own fictional world—one readers will fall into and never want to leave.
Kate Messner is an award-winning author whose books for kids have been New York Times Notable, Junior Library Guild, IndieBound, and Bank Street College of Education Best Books selections. The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. was the winner of the 2010 E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers. Kate also spent fifteen years teaching middle school and earned National Board Certification in 2006. This video was animated by Avi Ofer. ...
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