Blog Tour: Their Time to Go

About the Book When sixteen-year-old Tiffany Winters strolls past Willowtree Care Home for the Elderly, she notices that something isn't right. There is just a certain 'feel' to the place. After she quizzes her Mum, she discovers that her great-grandfather lived and died there, and she wants to know more about him and the Home-- but things are never that simple. Willowtree has been taken over by a new management team that nobody ever knows anything about, there are no records or memories of her late grandfather, and-- as if that wasn't enough-- there is a mysterious boy on the loose. Together, Tiffany and her new best friend, Betty, must piece together what they know to 'build the full puzzle', and only then will they be able to solve the mystery behind the Care Home and her great-grandfather. But the only way to do so? Wander into a secret warehouse that leads into another world full of ghosts, secrets, and rows upon rows of suitcases...

Add on Goodreads | Buy on Amazon UK | Buy on Kindle Guest Post: How to Stay Motivated Hello, everybody! First of all, thank you very much to the wonderful and talented Zara for hosting me on her blog as part of the THEIR TIME TO GO Blog Tour. Released January 25th, this is the second stop on the tour, and it’s a lovely place to host it.For those of you who haven’t heard of my new book, or you have but aren’t quite sure exactly what the book is about, it’s a Young Adult paranormal book that is the first in a series of five books, making up the Tiffany Winters series (see above).

However, today I’m here to discuss motivation, and how to stay motivated. Whether you write books or not, or even if you just write a single book at some point in your life, you will know or discover that it is a long process— and not just the writing of it, either. You’ve got the idea, the plotting, the planning, the outlining, the writing of the first draft, the second draft, editing, revising, and so on… and then *takes a deep breath* you’ve got all the steps of publishing— agent, editor, publisher, or— if you’re going indie— editing even more so, cover design, promotion… the list seems endless.

So, during all of that, the question that is often raised is this: how do you stay motivated during it all?

Sure, loving to write and loving to share your stories your stories with the world is a good reason, but what about on the bad days? The days when writer’s block happens? The days when you realize that you have to re-write three chapters but that contradicts what you said in scene X?

The answer, I’m afraid, is different for everybody, but after writing six books for publication— THEIR TIME TO GO is my fourth, I have a contemporary crime fiction novel in April, and an unannounced Summer 2014 YA book— I’ve managed to come up with five tips that I find have helped me, and others, too.

1. Plan ahead. This is something that, I admit, I used to struggle with, and I know that many other writers do, too. Sometimes, when you first get that spark of a new idea in your mind, the urge to put pen to paper straight away can be a pretty strong one, but sometimes it’s best to wait and let it stew. Sure, jot the idea down somewhere so that you don’t forget about it, or bring in a few pictures of inspiration or pieces of dialog or so on, but that’s it. Over time, your mind will build on this idea, and then you can start plotting. Plotting does actually come in really useful— if you wish to change something as your plotting, you’ve got less material to have to go back on and change than if you were two-thirds of the way into your manuscript, after all! Not only that, by having a strong outline, no matter how long it takes you to plot it all out and put it all together,can often helping with writing a quicker draft, because you know where you’re going and the end result. However, I understand that not every writer wishes to do this— in the past I have myself written books with no outline made, although I’m not sure I would want to do that with a series! Still,you have to do what works best for you, and nobody else.

2. Manageable goals. The idea of writing a book that’s 60,000-80,000 words, sometimes even longer, can be a pretty daunting task, no matter much you love writing. If you don’t think you will do your story justice, or you think you’ll lose the drive to continue on with your novel in progress, breaking it down into smaller chunks can really help. Set yourself a monthly goal, or a weekly goal, or even a daily goal. After all, just writing 250 words a day— about one paperback page of a book on average— will result in a full manuscript at least after just one year. After doing this and making it part of your routine, then you can consider building this up to 500 words a day, or 1,000 words a day, and so on.

3. The sticker chart. This is something that I first saw Victoria Schwab— author of The Near Witch, The Archived, Vicious, The Unbound, and Everyday Angel 1,2, and 3— doing, and after she began tweeting about it and made a video about the method of which she uploaded on to YouTube, soon caught on! Basically, if you’re a visual person, get yourself a calendar and some stickers, and make each sticker represent something— for example, for every 1,000 words I write, I get a sticker: that way I can see how productive I’ve been during a day, a week, and a month. If you don’t wish to purchase a calendar and stickers, though, you can always download an app; Jackson Pearce— author of As You Wish, Sisters Red, Sweetly, Fathomless, Cold Spell, Purity, Tsarina, The Doublecross 1 and 2— is another example of an author who had done this via an app!

4. Doing something other than writing. Being motivated to write a book is a good thing, but don’t allow yourself to get burnt out. Even if you’re a published author and writing books is your job, it’s still important to doing something other than just writing. Being an author can be a quiet job when you’ve just got the voices in your head— I swear, it’s expected in this profession!— to talk to throughout the day, and spending hours upon hours everyday at the computer screen can really start to wear on your motivational levels. So, go out and write at a cafe if you really want to continue on writing, or try going longhand, but if you’re beginning to feel this way and losing motivation, simply going out to see friends, catch a move, or go for a fun, can be a nice way to take time out and then bounce back even more productive than you were before!

5. Reading. It’s important to read just as much as write. If you’re beginning to lose motivation, step back from your book and your words, and begin to read the words of somebody else. You’ll often find that reading a good book that really pulls you into the story is the perfect way to make you want you to write, as you’ll want to write a book just as good as the book you’re reading now!

So, that’s all. Thank you once again to the amazing Zara for having me on her blog, and if you do decide to take a chance on my book, THEIR TIME TO GO, then please, please, please know that I will be eternally grateful.

All the best,
Joshua!

*Zara's Addition: BookBaby just posted this awesome infographic about motivated writers, so I thought I'd share the link* About the Author Joshua J. Johnson is an author who lives on the East Coast of England. He began writing books after he learned that they don't just randomly appear on the shelf, but rather people actually sit down and write them. When he isn't writing his next novel, he enjoys reading, watching How To Train Your Dragon, and drinking milkshakes. He is also the author of Bones on the Surface , Soulless , and The Sweet Life , as well as Their Time to Go and the upcoming The Diamond Hotel.

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