5 Tips to Being a More Productive Writer

Writing can be overwhelming sometimes which makes it all the more important to have a few tricks up your sleeve for being more productive. Below, I've listed the five tips I use daily to get me motivated and stay focused.

1. Unplug Your Wi-Fi

This is harsh, but necessary. Anytime I sit down to write, I put my phone on "Do Not Disturb" or will leave it in a separate room. The constant buzzing of texts and notifications is distracting and if it's sitting right next to me my train of through is broken more often.

Besides, unplugging for a while is good.

2. Keep A Journal

I like to keep a journal for each book I'm working on and keep it with me wherever I go. It's handy to have something specifically for your writing with you at all time because inspiration is unpredictable and will pop up when you least expect it.

Something else to write down in your journal is a timeline of events for your book. I do this with every story I work on. I find it easier for me to write the date the story begins and travel through the days like a calendar, marking which dates are important and what happens. This helps keep the story in order and makes gauging how much time has passed a lot easier.

3. Make A Routine

I'm all about schedules and routines so naturally this would bleed over into my writing. Find what type a person you are first; are you a night owl or an early bird? A lot of us have families which makes evening work harder for some, but if you're more productive at night and can squeeze time in to write, do it. Make a set hour or two (of more if you're feeling froggy) where you are promised no distractions and stick to the same hours every day. It's easier to stick to something when there's a routine involved.

4. Set Little Goals for Yourself

Its easy to get overwhelmed with writing a book. I felt that same way when writing Ashes, but I eventually found a way to trick myself into being more productive. By setting small goals for myself, I was able to track my progress and get finished sooner. I have a 1,000 word count goal for every time I sit down to write, and it's like a small victory when I reach that goal or go beyond it. Some people like setting a completion date for themselves and that can work to. Search for little ways you can set goals and stick to them.

5. Take The Occasional Break

Every once in a while there are days where I can reach my word goal in 30 minutes. Other days I write for two hours and barely reach it. On those slow days, I have to take occasional breaks. Every 30 to 45 minutes, get up from your computer and do something completely unrelated from writing for up to 15 minutes, but no longer (and don't get on your phone!). This ensures your brain gets a "rest" and you won't get burnt out. I'll grab a snack or check on the laundry during this time, or when it's nice out, I'll go outside for some fresh air.

What are some writing tips you use? Share your tricks, tips, and secrets in the comments!

God bless, lovelies!

A Rose By Any Other Name... Would Stink

Wrong! The importance of names is equally important as the development of the story. It's one of those key elements that sets the tone. Without a setting or a good name, the story will fall flat. When I say "a good name," I don't mean any nice sounding name. What I mean is the name not only has to fit the character, but it also has to fit the setting as well.

My third novel takes place in mid-18th century England. Classic and biblical names were used a lot at that time - John, Robert, Victor, Elizabeth, Mary, Anne - so you wouldn't meet someone named Harley, Dax, or Zander. For a historical piece, reading articles about nobility of that time or classic literature can help in naming a character. Of course if the story takes place in 2017, by all means name the character Cameron or Gigi, but make sure the name fits.

Every Name Has A Setting
In Hearts Against the Waves, my male protagonist* is named Victor. Victor is a twenty-something Irishman who has been living in England for most of his life. His father is a merchant who does quite a bit of traveling, hence Victor not baring a more "Irish" name. My female protagonist is still unnamed, but I do have a some ideas in mind. Evangelina, Rosamund, and Adeliese to name a few. She is the daughter of an English Earl, so naturally she should have a name that helps make her station in society clear - something classic but "fancy" at the same time. Both characters have backgrounds in England during a time where rank meant everything, thus their names should work accordingly. This is true for any story.

The names of the characters - namely the main ones - need to fit their setting, unless a character is a transplant from another place, or in some cases, another time.

Things to consider:

1. What country does the story take place?
2. In what time period?
3. What is the character's position in society, if a historical book?
4. What elements contribute to the character's name? (i.e. Victor's father travels to other countries and is exposed to various cultures, influencing his decision to name his son something of foreign origin.)

Wear The Name Like A Seal
We've all read a book where the protagonist has a wacky name that doesn't fit their personality in the slightest, and that can make it hard for some readers to get attached to the character. Names are an extension of who the character is as a person, and we as people make assumptions about others based on their name.

If I have a character that is a strong, independent, but pure hearted woman, I might name her Abby, meaning joy. It's sweet on the tongue but the spelling is less frilly than Abbie or Abbi. The same can be done for male roles. If I have a male lead that has a troubled past, and has trouble trusting others, I might consider Jasper, which means "master or keeper of the treasure."

The name should be sported proudly like a seal or crest of one's being. Our characters are as unique as the people who've created them, and their names should bare the same individuality.

Things to consider:

1. Try different spellings of names to make it unique for the character in question. For example, Abby, Abbie, Abbi, Abbey, and Abigail can impact a character's tone in many ways.
2. Remember the name is an extension of their personality, not just a way to identify them.
3. Think of some people you know and what qualities they possess. Do any of your characters have the same qualities?
4. When in doubt, baby naming books are the best. Most books and apps will have the various meanings and origins along with the name. My favorite app to use is BabyNames.

Remember to keep these two things in mind while writing: A) make the name fit the personality and setting, and B) make their name unique. By remembering these two rules, you'll be able to create characters that readers will remember long after they've finished your book.

God bless, lovelies!

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*(Usually a story only has one protagonist, but you can have two as long as you can make it work. Many books I've read lately have two protagonists, and the author will periodically switch point of views between those characters. Each protagonist needs their own arc - transformation or journey over the course of the book - and to do this successfully takes trial and error, but that's another topic completely.)

So You Have An Idea...

Congratulations! You have an idea for a book. Good job! Now, the hard part: developing the idea.

Any piece of work once began as a measly idea. An "I think this would be interesting" moment. Very rarely do writers have a "Eureka!" moment when a fully sketched idea comes to them with perfect detail and wonderful plot twists, with the right amount of drama and tragedy that it would make Shakespeare turn over in his grave. Nah. That doesn't happen.

Eureka!
What does happen is you get one ittsy-bitty, little, microscopic hitch that ruins your life until it is born into something bigger (and lets face it, even then it continues to wreak havoc). Sometimes it comes in the form of a character, sometimes a place, or a time period. Whatever it is, an idea is how any story begins, which means no idea is a bad one.

When I began writing Beauty from Ashes in 2014, all I had to go on were two nameless, faceless characters shrouded in mystery that I found myself being pestered by day-in and out. My idea for Ashes stemmed from two characters I knew nothing about, and I couldn't ignore them. If you have that same inescapable feeling taunting you, don't ignore it! My favorite rule of writing is that rules don't apply, so take whatever idea you have an run with it!

One Stone At a Time
I like to cultivate my idea over a period of time. For instance, I'm in the developing stages of Heart Against the Waves, my third novel. The male lead has been aging for several years, while I've only just begun to etch out his counterpart. With this novel and the others I've written, I'm building it slowly, patiently, but that doesn't mean I'm not working on it daily. Much like with my other two books, I dedicate a certain amount of time to the idea each day but don't allow myself to get too overwhelmed with the details (or lack there of).

Pace yourself. Make a list of things that need to be done. Find a setting (time, place, season), discover your cast of characters (who they are, what their interests are, their backstories, hopes, dreams, motives, goals, fears, education, what kind of childhood they had), work on the plot and make it interesting (ask yourself "How could I possibly make this more gripping?" or "How can I make this character real?"). Knowing these three things alone will begin to pave the way for your story.

Never Give Up
Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will your book fall into place in a day. Each stone - each piece of your story - will be laboriously chipped away at and placed, eventually creating the masterpiece it was destined to be. Working on it, even when you don't feel like it, is essential. For an idea to become something more, it takes work. Hard work, and lots of it. My advice to anyone who has an idea for a book, poem, screenplay, or other literary art is to chisel out a time frame you can have everyday to work on the idea. And then sit down and do it.

Developing an idea is just the beginning, and the beginning of anything is always hard. There's sticky parts and it's clumsy. Some days you'll get a lot accomplished and other days you'll be lucky if you do anything at all. But pull yourself up off the floor, take a walk, drink some tea, and start again tomorrow.

I hope this short introduction to idea development has helped those doe-eyed aspiring writers out there. Three years into my writing career and this is some things I wish I had known at the beginning. Next week I'll be talking about naming characters!

God bless, lovelies!

The Life of a Writer - Creating A World of My Own

I always wonder what God was thinking when He created the earth and the people living here. He spun some beautiful chaos out of nothingness and here we are today. It's pretty amazing isn't it?

As a writer, I do something similar.

Growing up, I drew a lot but as I reached middle school, words became my obsession. I never cared much for English until my eighth grade teacher, Mrs. Nowlin, told me I was a natural writer. That simple compliment threw me into a whole other world. High school brought along it's own set of gifts and challenges I drew inspiration from, and Mrs. Walls, one of my English teachers, helped me learn to harness my erratic thoughts and put them onto a page.

The first "story" I ever wrote was loosely based on the people I knew; my boyfriend at the time, his family, my friends and family, random people at school. I never finished it, but I did get pretty far along and still have the original, hand-written copies of it in my closet. I was so proud of the sloppy story telling and elementary wording, but it was a stepping stone for me.

It wasn't until fall of 2014 - two years after high school - that I started working on my first book. The idea didn't come to me in the form of a detailed re-telling or even tidbits of what the story would be about. The image of a boy and girl were all I had to go with. Try as I might, I couldn't ignore them. Every day I'd think about them, and I'd get lost in thought trying to figure out who they were and what they wanted. (If you've never met a writer before, you're really missing out. We're a pretty fun and somewhat crazy breed.)

In October, I messaged my husband that I figured out what their names were and what degree they were pursuing. It was one of the most exciting days of my life to be honest. November 9th of 2015, I finished writing Beauty from Ashes, and cried like a baby.

Creating a story, developing characters and people with real-life fears and problems is one of the toughest parts about being a writer. There's something raw and almost forbidden about picking away at the minds of someone to reveal their true intentions and secrets, but doing so is addicting. Creating a world is more than just the people though. It's the settings, the places scenes happen and how the environment manipulates the characters and story.

If I'm being completely honest, I can't explain how to create a world of its own in one post. There are so many components that it would take until the day after forever, so I'll be making this a mini-series of posts to lead you down the rabbit hole that is writing and peel back the layers one by one. Every Wednesday, you can read another post that breaks down each component of writing from outlining to cutting scenes to make the story flow. As always, any suggestions are welcomed and will be considered as the foundation of a new post.

God bless, lovelies!