The two most engaging powers of a good author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new.

And I banged my head (for a few seconds at least) trying to figure out something uber-motivating and thought-provoking, something that would make that story burn inside you and the only way to put the fire out was to get the words out.

However my brain is bled dry from all the words I’ve pounded out, from edits, from too many late nights, so I’ll let somebody else do the inspiring. I found this quote over at Hearttouchers.com and damn, I’ve got to say, it did the trick for me.

“Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.”-by Melinda Haynes

So with time starting to wind down us, keep at it. Write for yourself. Write for the sake of the story. Just write.

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” ~Ray Bradbury

It’s crunch time. Real world has kept me from writing for too long. I need to shut out the entire world and write write write!

How do you stay “drunk” on your own work? How do you make sure it’s what fills your mind and heart both day and night?

We’re close to the finish line. Chart your progress here. How’s it going?

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
Mark Twain

Always surround yourself with the people who motivate you, who believe in you. And always believe in yourself. Pay no attention to those who think your dreams are unattainable. They are, if you work for them.

I actually just finished my novella - yay!!! Since I’m one of those people who loses momentum if I don’t write for a few days, I’ll soon need to start a new project. That involves sitting down and writing a first chapter. Once that’s done, I can figure out the plot and character then go back and revise. That’s pretty much how every project starts for me. I’ve tried to do it other ways, like sitting down and plotting out everything before writing a word. Didn’t work. My process is my process.

There’s a quote from E.L. Doctorow that captures that initial writing feeling and environment for me. All writing, actually:

“Writing is an exploration. Your start from nothing and learn as you go.” -E.L. Doctorow

Well, we’ve a little over 2 weeks to go now, sweat-people. How’s it going? Creeping along at an agonising pace? Or sailing on a wave of creative self-confidence?

Check in and let’s compare progress.

Write what you want to read. The person you know best in this world is you. Listen to yourself. If you are excited by what you are writing, you have a much better chance of putting that excitement over to a reader.

How are those words coming?

Happy New Year!

It’s a new year, a fresh start. Time for new resolutions, and new writing goals, or a new push to the old ones.

Do you make writing resolutions, vowing to do it differently this year?

I’ve made two resolutions for the new year:

1) I will never have an end of year deadline again (omg that so sucked. lol)

2) I need to stop procrastinating. Finish the book early! (Because I know I can, I just tend to use up every available day of my deadline. Which is stupid)

What about you? Any resolutions? Anything you want to do differently this year?