Today we have a guest post from Melissa Foster, who's book Megan's Way we will be reviewing later today, and whose new book, Chasing Amanda, will be out in a couple of weeks as well! This post is applicable to writers and bloggers as well!
Pushing Past Procrastination
Writing is a curious business. In my case, it takes hours of solitude and about a full year to write and perfect a novel. I was writing Chasing Amanda when the idea for Megan’s Way came to me. I put down Chasing Amanda for about 14 months while I crafted Megan’s story. At that point, revising Chasing Amanda presented its own challenges. After being away from the characters for so long, I had to reconnect with their voices, and I found myself in need of a little procrastination-busting exercises.
For me, most days are adventures, offering new and exciting events with characters that I’ve only just begun to get to know. Then, there are those other days—the ones where I stare at my keyboard and wonder why my fingers aren’t flying across the keys in perfect harmony.
Below are a few ideas from my bag of tricks to help pull you through the more difficult days.
Set Goals
You’ve heard it a million times: You must plan if you are going to succeed. I subscribe to this theory…sort of. I’m a pantzer, not a planner. However, we all have those days when we’re tired or not just on the top of our game. Those are the days when the process of setting goals is a motivational tool for me. My goals range from the number of words I want to write, to fleshing out a character, or even writing for two hours without walking into my kitchen to stare at things I shouldn’t eat.
Revisit Previous Works
I don’t often experience writer’s block, but when I do, I find that pulling out previous articles and items that I’ve written opens my mind to new directions and ideas.
Make it Personal
Many people believe their businesses are separate from themselves. I know many writers will not be happy to read this, but my advice is to forget that notion. Make your business, whatever it is, personal. The way I connect with my writing is to become the characters. I often act out scenes before writing them. This allows me to understand each of the emotions the character might feel in the scene, making it an easier transition from thought to paper.
These are just a few of the things that I’ve found are helpful to push past procrastination. The next time you encounter a stumbling block, reach into your bag of tricks. You’ll be back in the swing of things before you know it!
AND BONUS TIME: Melissa is so happy with her book being made into a movie that she is giving a KINDLE away on her website! All you have to do is buy one of her books-1 in EVERY 75 entrants will win a Kindle between now and August 30th! Talk about great odds- so think Christmas and birthday gifts and may be YOU can win yourself a Kindle
Melissa Foster
Chat w/me on The Women's Nest
Thanks for the nice review and for hosting my blog tour, Nicole. I'm really glad you enjoyed the book!
ReplyDeleteMelissa Foster is prolific and imaginative as her second book is a tremendous read that kept me guessing until the very end. Abduction is something that I feared as a child, Now that I'm a parent, the possibility of losing a child in that manner is haunting. I don't know how Foster manages to create these characters in this world of loss and worry without going nuts in her real life!!! She pulled me into the book with the characters, the details, their shifting viewpoints, the runaway plot. I'm so glad she's out there writing as I think she has a gift for creating worlds just subtly (sp?) different than most. I can not wait for the next one.
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