Learning Lessons...
One week out from Dear Mr. Knightley’s release and I’ve been thinking about what I’ve learned in this process – what I keep learning in this process…
1. Accept help. Terribly hard sometimes for the Type A folks. I learned this one, following an injury in 2009, but it’s amazing how quickly one can forget. I have found my friends and family love to help me -- editing, cooking, relaxing, cleaning (okay, no one is really jumping at that one), and brainstorming… As a writer there are things you do alone – without doubt – but there are also things that benefit from the input of friends, family, critique partners and colleagues.
2. Run. I am little biased on this one. I get my best ideas when running. But I think this really comes down to getting some exercise. It helps release frustration and untangles stymied characters if nothing else.
3. Write. Write. Write. This is fairly new to me. While writing Dear Mr. Knightley, there were no expectations and no deadline. After all, I had no guarantee it would ever make it off my computer. Now there are both expectations and deadlines – and I love that. It’s inspiring, but also a little terrifying. So day in and day out, I write. Some days it feels the effort yields little in value and on other days – sheer brilliance. (Hehehehe… I’m trying to convince myself of that last one.)
4. Read. I write better when I stay close to good books and well-written ideas. Blogs, books, magazines, and newspapers … simply keep reading.
5. Study the Craft. I continually read articles about writing, characters, story construction, plot… and I always learn something new. I love The Breakout Novel by Donald Maass and the ideas I find here. Our ACFW community is so good about sharing. I love that!
6. Enjoy yourself. Writing is tremendous fun and actually having deadlines is thrilling for me. I don’t want to ever forget that or take this opportunity, this gift, for granted. So I will savor it!
Thanks for reading. I don’t know if any of this was helpful, but getting such reminders helps me. I forget the important stuff quite quickly when faced with the seemingly urgent. I’d love to hear fro you if you have any tips that help as well. Come find me at www.katherinereay.com, on Twitter @katherine_reay or on Facebook at /Katherinereaybooks or right here… Thanks… KBR
1. Accept help. Terribly hard sometimes for the Type A folks. I learned this one, following an injury in 2009, but it’s amazing how quickly one can forget. I have found my friends and family love to help me -- editing, cooking, relaxing, cleaning (okay, no one is really jumping at that one), and brainstorming… As a writer there are things you do alone – without doubt – but there are also things that benefit from the input of friends, family, critique partners and colleagues.
2. Run. I am little biased on this one. I get my best ideas when running. But I think this really comes down to getting some exercise. It helps release frustration and untangles stymied characters if nothing else.
3. Write. Write. Write. This is fairly new to me. While writing Dear Mr. Knightley, there were no expectations and no deadline. After all, I had no guarantee it would ever make it off my computer. Now there are both expectations and deadlines – and I love that. It’s inspiring, but also a little terrifying. So day in and day out, I write. Some days it feels the effort yields little in value and on other days – sheer brilliance. (Hehehehe… I’m trying to convince myself of that last one.)
4. Read. I write better when I stay close to good books and well-written ideas. Blogs, books, magazines, and newspapers … simply keep reading.
5. Study the Craft. I continually read articles about writing, characters, story construction, plot… and I always learn something new. I love The Breakout Novel by Donald Maass and the ideas I find here. Our ACFW community is so good about sharing. I love that!
6. Enjoy yourself. Writing is tremendous fun and actually having deadlines is thrilling for me. I don’t want to ever forget that or take this opportunity, this gift, for granted. So I will savor it!
Thanks for reading. I don’t know if any of this was helpful, but getting such reminders helps me. I forget the important stuff quite quickly when faced with the seemingly urgent. I’d love to hear fro you if you have any tips that help as well. Come find me at www.katherinereay.com, on Twitter @katherine_reay or on Facebook at /Katherinereaybooks or right here… Thanks… KBR
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message 1:
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Tiffany
(new)
Nov 03, 2013 09:36AM
Thanks for sharing your insight. As I've mentioned, I'm working on a novel myself and these are great tips. Especially #4 and #5. I can't say that I do those as much as I should.
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