As a beginner, or even sometimes
as an experience author, you might be unsure on how to approach a new
project. At those times, it’s usually a good idea to get back to the basics. There
are several options to refresh and brush up your writing skills. You could go
to your favourite author’s blog and check out her advice for starting out, or
join the National Novel Writing Month – affectionately called NaNoWriMo in the
community – or you could sign up for a class.
I actually like to go with a
combination of possibilities: I’m signed up to Writer’s Digest (http://www.writersdigest.com/) and get their
newsletters which sometimes yields just the right amount of motivation to get me
back on my writing horse, especially if given writing prompts. After all,
practice makes perfect, so actually writing something is always a good start.
In November, I am usually in full
writing mode, because the NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) challenges me to put 50,000
words to paper in a month. The goal in NaNoWriMo is neither structure nor form,
but to build up discipline as a writer. After all, as a dedicated writer, you
should write at least one to two hours a day. If you are stuck on your novel,
then write in your journal, for your blog or start a short story. Anything goes
as long as you employ your writing skills in a productive way. Since it is not
November, or more specifically NaNoWriMo month, every month I usually set my
own word count goals for the rest of the year.
And finally to get my head back on
straight concerning process and basics without having to pay a lot of money, I
look for online courses on creative writing. One of my recent finds is the “Writing
Creatively: Fiction” course offered by the Open University via iTunes U. It is
free and features interviews with best-selling authors talking about their
experiences and motivation as writers. It’s a great opportunity for new writers
to get their feet wet and ideal for reflection for the experienced writer. I
really enjoyed the course.
On that note, I hope you are ready to jump into your next writing adventure ;)
-Vivienne
