Don’t let the holidays stall your writing. Now is the time to test out new strategies to keep making progress on your manuscript. Try dictating into your phone when you’re away from your computer. Or, keep a notebook in your pocket while you’re shopping to capture brilliant lines before you lose them. Experiment with a few voice-to-text apps for your portable device. If you’re revising, print out a hard copy of one of the scenes you’re working on and keep it with you. Then, if you’re stuck somewhere waiting, you can use that time to edit it. By getting creative, you’ll be able to move your project forward despite your busy schedule.
Tag Archives: practical prompts
Practical Prompt 12-10-18
Practical Prompt 11-19-2018
This week, we celebrate Thanksgiving – a day when families gather together and carry on long-held traditions. As you work on your manuscript, decide how family traditions, or the lack of them, will shape each of your characters.
Posted in Administrator, Practical Prompts
Tagged character development, characters, practical prompts, writing tips
Practical Prompt 9-10-18
When you attend a writing conference, workshop or book fair pay attention to how the established authors talk about their books. Note how they engage the audience. Do they tell you the story, how they wrote the story or a combination of both? Does the tone of their presentations match the genres of their novels? How do they project their voices and use body language to draw the audience in? Then, apply what you learned and decide how to best connect to your audience.
Posted in Administrator, Practical Prompts
Tagged conferences, practical prompts, writing tips
Practical Prompt 4-16-18
Writing styles change over time. Books you loved that were written years ago might not be publishable in today’s market. This week, pick out three contemporary books in the same genre of your story and plan to read them in your down time.
Posted in Administrator, Practical Prompts
Tagged practical prompts, publishing trends, reading
Practical Prompt 4-4-18
In compelling drama, bad things happen to the characters; but ending scene after scene on a dark note can exhaust readers. Go back through your manuscript and make sure the negative doesn’t overshadow the positive. Strive for a healthy balanced mixture of both to keep your readers turning the pages.