Writing Saturday; 10 Helpful and Inspiring Ideas

7:08 AM

1.      Have a designated work space.  Writing at the same spot most of the time will help your brain more quickly transition into the writing mode.

2.       Have pictures and items that relate to the time period/theme you are writing on.  Are you writing in the Middle Ages?  Have pictures or books on castles.  Writing a Si-Fi?  Keep space books and star pictures around.

3.      When you want to get a lot of work done on your book, surround yourself with it.  Change the background on your computer to something that relates to the book, hang up some pictures, eat food they might eat, etc.  Whatever makes you feel close to the book and its characters, do it.

4.      Try to read and watch things that go along with your book.  Writing a book where an F. B. I. agent is the main character?  Trying reading books and watching movies that are set in the F. B. I.  You never know what kind of ideas they may spark.

5.      When writing the first draft, don’t worry about spelling and grammar errors or a scene that needs work, leave it for the editing process.  If you start to fix them before you finish the first draft, you’re more likely to get bogged down and not finish.

6.      Be careful what you eat and drink when you want to get writing done.  Avoid things that make you sleepy or things that make you so pumped you can’t sit still.

7.      Sometimes, when I am struggling to write I take some time off.  I might not write for an hour or longer.  When I’m really struggling to be motivated, I take a forced two week break were I don’t allow myself to do anything; it always seems to work.  By the end, I am dying to write again.

8.      Have good inspiring music around.  I have a playlist of a bunch of movie soundtracks and inspirational music to listen to whenever I write.  Believe me, it helps me keep going.

9.      Have a daily word count goal in mind; for me it is 1000 words.  I don’t always make it; if I did I could turn out a book every 60 to 65 days, but goals always help push me to do more.

10.   Don’t neglect the things that are really important.  Make sure you continue to spend lots of time with family, make bread, eat chocolate and laugh with a friend, or read a book.  What we do apart from writing has a huge effect on the quality and consistency of our writing.

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Sarah Holman lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Scott. When not working on her next novel, she can usually be found hanging out with her family, reading, or hiking at state parks with her husband. If there is anything adventuresome about her life, it’s because she serves a God with a destiny bigger than anything she could have imagined. To keep up to date on releases, join her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bitBIf

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3 comments

  1. Rohitash singhDecember 7, 2010 at 5:03 AM

    nice work ma'am i m new in this blogging stuff nd i realised implementing above 10points are very effective plzz have a look at mt blog entry..

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownDecember 16, 2010 at 11:35 AM

    I spent a while yesterday organizing a new playlist of "Musing Melodies" that I can play while I'm writing. I included the Narnia and LOTR movie themes. What are some of your favorite "writing songs," Sarah?

    I also have implemented a daily word count of 1000 words for each weekday I am on break from college! I am enjoying it a lot! Helps keep me focused!

    Thanks for the tips!

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  3. Sarah HolmanDecember 17, 2010 at 10:53 AM

    Rachelle, I love to write to good music! Some of the albums I listen to include, Freedom by Micheal W. Smith, Narnia, Pendragon; sword of his father (a great Christian film), and many more

    ReplyDelete