#WriterWednesday - November 28th 2018

The work doesn't stop once you 'make it'. So, if you thought it would, you might want to rethink things a little.

On the other hand, your stories will outlive you, which is a nice thought. So give them all you've got, and give people something to take with them.

If, for whatever reason, you're struggling to get that writing time in, check out these secrets to jump start your writing. No. You don't have to write, but if you want to write that book you have inside of you, you should find a way to make sure you "want to" write.

If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.
~Toni Morrison

There are all sorts of writing "rules" out there. Some good ones, some stupid ones. But, beyond the basic rules of grammar and such, you shouldn't always listen to one size fits all writing advice. Use common sense to figure out if something is a stupid writing rule, or great writing advice.

By the way, why do you write? Is it for the write reason? Only you can answer that question.

Regardless of your answer to the above question, are you struggling to figure out what to write about? If so, try one of these out of the box writing exercises and story starters.

Hey, have you ever wondered what happens to the stories that never get told? Are you wondering now? I know I am...

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
~John Steinbeck

Do you outline? If you do - or if you just need a chuckle - check out these tips to writing outlines, which are both informative and entertaining.

Next, here's a great post that shows how the escalation of problems can increase the tension in your story, and help move it along. The tips are aimed at writing flash fiction, so will be especially useful if you do that. However, they can be applied to longer pieces of writing too.

However you approach your writing, and whether you write poetry or not, you should check out this fantastic post about how we can use tips from poetry to strengthen our prose, and then give it a go. You could use any kind of poetry, but I personally think form poetry would work best for this. Feel free to disagree though. What is form poetry? The post I just links to explains.

Poetry is like a bird, it ignores all frontiers.
~Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Here's an interesting post about attitude, and how you should try to be positive, pleasing, and optimistic.

Speaking of mental states: here are some thoughts on the challenge of putting mental illness in fiction, thoughts about the internal struggle of a hero, and tips to creating characters with mental illness, in case you were thinking of putting characters with those kinds of issues in your story.

Continuing with the theme of giving you advice about doing research properly, which you'll have noticed if you read the posts in the last paragraph, here are some tips on checking the facts in your fiction, which you may find useful.

I write only because There is a voice within me That will not be still.
~Sylvia Plath

Finally, here's why it's important to invest in yourself, in case you need that reminder.