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Get Inspired!

Online Newsletter – November 2017

Online Newsletter – November 2017

Get Inspired!
Photo by bstewart7 / via Pixabay


Feature Article – Get Inspired!

Do you struggle with feeling inspired? Are you frustrated because you can’t seem to think of anything interesting or creative to write about?

Finding inspiration depends on you. Before you get discouraged, let me explain. We can find inspiration just about anywhere. Ideas are right there waiting for us to acknowledge them. But if we look around and we don’t feel inspired, there’s a good chance our frustration is keeping us from seeing the ideas around us.

Maybe we have judgments about where we live or the jobs we have. Maybe we feel exhausted because we’ve spread ourselves too thin. Maybe we’re frustrated because we’re not able to spend the time we want on writing. Whatever it is, it’s causing a block if we fail to feel inspired despite our efforts.

The thing about inspiration is that it can come to us at different times. Maybe one day we watch a movie that we fall in love with and it renews our desire to write and even gives us ideas. Then the next, we’re walking in the park or sitting on the porch and a story idea pops into our head.

A big part of getting ideas is keeping an open and curious mind. They’re everywhere; we just need to get our minds right to see them.

 

Quick Writing/Editing Tip

With the new month under way, thousands of writers will be attempting to write 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It averages 1,667 words per day. It’s a great step, especially for writers who have struggled in the past to bring a novel to completion. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with writing a novel this way if you have a solid foundation when you start.

But for the writers who really dislike editing, my recommendation is quality over quantity.

Focusing on quality means you’ll strive to write the best words right now instead of during the editing phase. That doesn’t mean your first draft will be perfect (you’ll still have to go through edits), but you’ll have a better first draft than you would have had if you were just focused on meeting a word count goal.

Be sure to check out my article on studying the writing craft to make the “quality” process easier. You don’t want to skip this step. You’ll thank me later. 🙂

 

Writerly Resource

Need more writing ideas? If finding inspiration is difficult for you right now, start with these idea creation tips to help get the creative juices flowing. Start today!

More details here…

 

Recent Articles

 

Book Recommendations

One of the books I recommend for studying the writing craft is Writing With Emotion, Tension, & Conflict by Cheryl St.John. This is a great book to learn about the important elements of a story. Without these elements, our stories fall flat. Study this book and take notes. And if you can, check out the movies she uses as examples.

 

What I’m Reading This Month

Buried Secrets by Joseph Finder (carry-over from October)

H2O by Virginia Bergin

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

 

Random Fact for Your Writing Fodder

DID YOU KNOW:

Every 23 seconds, a fire department responds to a fire somewhere in the United States. (Source: The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2014)

 

To Writing!

Jody Calkins, Writer & Editor

 

P.S. Be sure to check in every Monday and Thursday for more tips on the writing life.

Jody Calkins
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