WriteEachDay.com

Writing Is More Than Just Adding New Words

Marilyn Muñiz — Wed, 04 May 2011 11:00:42 +0000

Please welcome guest blogger Kathryn Scannell.

I’ve been reflecting on what “writing each day” means. I see a lot of writers, both published and aspiring, beating themselves up with the need to write something every single day, and feeling like failures at being a professional writer when they don’t.

Of course the concept of being a professional is another whole can of worms – does it mean that you make a living off your writing, that you aspire to make a living off your writing, that you behave in a professional manner regarding your writing, or maybe some other [...]

Reading Short Stories for Fun and Writing Profit

Marilyn Muñiz — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:00:16 +0000

Please welcome guest blogger Kat Duncan.

How can you profit by reading short stories? Let me count the ways. Short stories are the Reader’s Digest condensed version of a story. They have characters, conflict, mood, plot, and setting. All the basic items you need to learn the craft in a bite-sized nugget your can serve yourself anytime of day.

Haven’t got time to read and analyze lots of genre books? Read genre short stories instead. After a dozen or so, you’ll catch onto the basic ideas of what makes a story interesting and suspenseful. You’ll also have [...]

Finding Time to Read

Marilyn Muñiz — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:41:17 +0000

Finding the time to read is difficult in our busy life, yet it isn’t as hard as you may think. The most important step is to find the time you can read. Ask yourself these questions:

Can you read every day?

Only during the week?

Only on weekends?

Is it early in the morning?

While you eat a meal?

Before you sleep for the night?

Keep in mind when answering these questions to pinpoint the time you can read at least half an hour with no distraction. If you do this four times a week, two hours are devoted [...]

Another Way to Write Daily

Marilyn Muñiz — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:11:14 +0000

Over the last couple months, my mind has changed on how to approach writing every day. Focus is the key to finish your novel. Since I can’t keep a steady written count on my novel, I wanted another way to keep myself focus on the novel but it still needed to keep me writing every day.

Then I started journaling as part of my SavvyU course at Savvy Authors. After a few days, writing the journal entry on my novel did help to maintain the focus. Sometimes the entry is long and other times it is short but each [...]

Writing Each Day (Near Every Day) Learning Experience 2

Marilyn Muñiz — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:40:58 +0000

When I first started writing every day, the magic of it kept me writing for the first week. At the start of the second week, the fatigue set in and I didn’t know what to write anymore. The excuses started on why I couldn’t write for the day. I continued through the rough patch and my motivation returned back.

My daily word count doubled to make up for those lost days. Then the sluggish days returned and this time it infuriated me after those high productive days. Again, the good days appeared but the bad days still followed. [...]

Writing Each Day (Near Every Day) Learning Experience 1

Marilyn Muñiz — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:25:18 +0000

As I followed my goal to write every day (near every day), I learned many aspects of myself as a writer.

And the first thing I learned is I’m a pantser and not a plotter. My mind still cannot wrap itself around this knowledge. I plan my days, hate any changes to my plan and keep track of my daily word count. I have three calendars filled out, keep a small notebook to write down my to-do list, and print out a list of important days. Yet I cannot stick to an outline I write in advance.

My [...]

Freedom and Knowledge of Timed Writing Sessions

Marilyn Muñiz — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:38:18 +0000

To finish February’s Write Challenge, I set the timer on my cell phone to 20 minutes and made sure I focused on writing. Once I finished the sprint, I allowed myself a break for 5 to 10 minutes and I started another 20 minute sprint. I repeated the cycle for 4 or 5 times at least each day. (Did I mention I’m behind on the Write Challenge?)

Then I realized I found a great way to keep me on track. For every (n) number of minutes I write, I can have a break and relax before I start again. [...]

My Fear As a Writer

Marilyn Muñiz — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:57:49 +0000

Ever start a novel and thought to yourself, can I really do finish this novel? I started a new work-in-progress as part of the February’s Write Challenge and it happen to me. As I wrote on the first day, I didn’t think my idea would work. Then it turned into my writing isn’t good enough.

I told myself to stop and I continued to write my daily count. The next day my fear started again but it grew worse. I started in the wrong place. This sentence isn’t right. The whole paragraph is useless. I can never get this [...]

Writer Wall – Visualize Your Time

Marilyn Muñiz — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:10:04 +0000

We are all on limited time. You may not have time to read everything done in the past two weeks. As a visual person, my planner is written in different colored pens. I created a system with colored pens to help visualize how my day went. I decided to create a system for reading and writing on a larger scale.

The Writer Wall is a product of my imagination. The knowledge of how I spent my day. Was it productive or non-productive? Did I divide my time between the two? Is there any way I can spend more [...]

February’s Write Challenge

Marilyn Muñiz — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:29:02 +0000

Twitter Hashtag: #writechallenge

Word Count Total: 40,000 words

Topic: Your choice.

Total Days: 28

Who’s ready to join in? Leave a comment below with your Twitter name. UPDATE: Join the forum to post your daily updates or chat with one other. The forum can be found here.

Follow me on Twitter @marilynmuniz