Getting it Write: The Introduction
The inspiration for this series came from several people in my life who find my writing advice useful or my journey interesting. I agreed to create a section on my blog to help those looking for direction as they write: people who need a boost, inspiration, or validation as they work toward their creative goals.
But the truth is, once I agreed to write this series, I had no idea where to begin.
My mind swirled for weeks. For “Getting a Read,” the outline was clear. Each post has a structure, a point, a story, a purpose. I knew I needed all of those things for “Getting it Write” but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t land on an ideal roadmap for the series, much less decide on its beginning point. It was a classic case of writer’s block, and I, the advice giver, had no idea how to pull myself out of it.
It was Piper Sands, one of the people who requested the series, who showed me the way. “Just write about what you’re experiencing as you search for a topic,” she said.
She was right. How many of you, like me, have spent hours struggling to find the point of a writing project? It’s not easy! No matter how long you’ve been writing, whether you pitch for a living, journal in the evening, or just crank out emails all day to your office-mates, deciding on the framework for your messaging can be an agonizing and elusive task.
So, the goal of this blog is simply to illustrate this point: writing is hard. Saying the right thing is tough. But I’ll try to help you break this giant task down into smaller tasks. I’ll offer you encouragement and hopefully point the way to a successful direction for your creative work.
Each post will break concepts down into simple, easy to understand points designed to help you become a better writer. And, since I’m a multi-year participant and occasional winner of NaNoWriMo, I’ll do a more intense mini-series on how to plan your novel in October, and how to survive writing your novel in November. Look forward to those posts if you’re planning to join me in the excitement later this year!
Occasionally I’ll include suggestions on exercises you can try on your own. For this post, I’d like to invite you to join me in July for Camp NaNoWriMo. This is a mini, less intense version of National Novel Writing Month which occurs every year in November. You pick your own goal. It can be a time goal, a word count goal, or an editing goal. I’m working on a time goal for book one of my romance series—31 hours of revision by the end of the month. I encourage you to set up a profile, set your goal, and get ready to write. If you’d like to join my cabin and get the benefit of accountability and conversation with a small group, reach out to me with your Camp NaNoWriMo username either in the comments or on social media. I’ve got limited space in the WriteThinkDream cabin, but I’m looking forward to writing with a few of you!
If you’re tackling a big project and find yourself needing a brainstorming buddy, I’m available for that too. Just reach out via the contact page and we can talk about setting something up in person, if you’re local to Dallas, or via Skype if you’re not. I look forward to hearing from you throughout this series. My hope is that we’ll all become better writers just by paying a bit more attention to the basics. I look forward to joining you in your writing journey!
