The post Breaking through Writer’s Block appeared first on Book Writing Coach.
]]>Writer’s Block is a common problem for anyone writing a book. Whatever stage of the process, something will inevitably creep up to interfere. Many tips, tricks, and ideas are floating around to help self-motivated individuals fight their way through the blockade. But, sometimes a writer needs some individualized coaching, someone from an outside perspective, someone with experience that can bring scope and promise to your project. If you want to talk to a Writing Coach, schedule a consultation to see if it’s the right fit for you and your project.
Meanwhile, here are some ideas to help you move forward. Most people who attempt to write a book suffer from writer’s block at some point. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, trust me, it will. It happens even to the best of us, and when you get stuck in this phase, it makes for a miserable writing experience. The best thing about writer’s block is that there are ways you can overcome it and complete a book.
Generative Writing
Sit down (or stand) to write or type. Set a timer and just let the words pour out. Stream of consciousness writing is a very useful way to unlock the stuck parts of the mind and build on ideas and thoughts. By pouring out words without worrying about sound, sense, or order, writers will often find their way back to drafting the main project.
Engage the Senses
Take a break from writing and reading to do something that feels different. Cooking a snack, talking a walk, or lighting a candle are all activities that engage the sense of smell, of touch, sight, and sound in different ways than typing or writing. Writing involves so much more than simply forming words and creating readable content. In order to keep creative juices flowing, the writer has to intentionally engage in creative outlets and sensory inputs.
Rewards
Sometimes writers need a gold star. Writing a book is a long and arduous process. It is often isoltaing and lonely. You will spend long hours working alone. Find a way to build in rewards. Make a short list of things that make you happy or feel good. Maybe it’s a sticker or a small toy you can unwrap after every hour of writing. It could be a trip to your favorite coffee shop. Maybe it’s 15 minutes of video games or one episode of your favorite sitcom. A reward system is a great way to keep up the motivation to finish writing a book.
Breaking through writer’s block is about temporarily changing something so you can refocus the mind and start up the creative flow of writing. Try these methods on your own, but think about engaging a Writing Coach to help you through some of the more difficult times. Writing is fun and rewarding, but sometimes it is a chore. Contact a Writing Coach today to see if it fits your project well.
Erica Mongé-Greer, Ph. D. is a lifelong academic and published writer. Her areas of expertise are teaching, coaching, and helping people get their writing projects started, through the writing process, and to the finish line. Erica enjoys spending time with her family when she is not teaching, writing academic papers, or coaching.
The post Breaking through Writer’s Block appeared first on Book Writing Coach.
]]>The post First Draft of Your Book appeared first on Book Writing Coach.
]]>Writing the first draft is scary. It’s the most challenging part of any project, even when you’re just starting. However, knowing what to do and having the right tools can be easier than expected. This blog post will walk you through the steps of writing your first draft by helping you ask yourself some critical questions about your project. And providing resources that can help make this process easier for anyone who has ever felt stuck in the throes of writer’s block while staring at an empty page or screen, wondering how to start writing their book or screenplay.
Start with a question.
One of the most important things to do when writing a book is to start with a question. The question can be about anything important to you, but it should be something that can last for a long time. For example, if you’re writing about how you landed your first professional job, your question might be: “What was it like to look for employment in my field?” Phrasing prompts in the form of questions works well because it allows readers’ imaginations and mindsets to settle on the subject matter before it becomes more specific.
Your question could be: “How did my childhood experiences affect who I am today?” Or perhaps “What’s wrong with our country today?” If these questions don’t work for you or don’t resonate with what kind of book you want to write, find another one that does! Just make sure that whatever question(s) drive the narrative are ones that will last long enough. Hence, readers get into them before they stop reading altogether out of sheer boredom or lack of interest.
Get comfortable
Before you start writing, make sure you’re comfortable. Sit in a chair that allows you to rest your elbows on the desk and keep both wrists straight. If your knees are too high or too low, adjust them so they’re slightly lower than the level of your hips. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths as you relax into your chair—this will help prepare you mentally for what comes next.
Now focus on the question at the heart of this book: What is my book about? Open your eyes and write down whatever comes to mind first—no matter how silly it sounds! Opening your eyes gives you a fresh start; it can be a fantastic exercise to overcome writer’s block.
Write it as if in a conversation with yourself.
The best way to write a draft is in the first person. It’s a little bit of a weird thing to do, but it makes sense, and it works. If you think about how you usually speak with people, or even if you write emails and letters or postcards, we are not using the word “I” all the time. Instead, we talk in the third person: “He said this, she did that….”
You need to get out of your head and say what happened as if you were sitting there telling someone else about it in conversation. Instead of saying “I felt unfortunate when…” try saying something more like “I had never felt so downhearted before… I was miserable…. I was heartbroken…. My heart sank… I could hardly bear the sadness…. What could I do? Where could I turn? How would things ever get better again?
Use your resources.
The first draft of your book does not need to be perfect or complete. Instead, you should expect a jumble of ideas, notes, and thoughts that may not all fit together in one cohesive unit. That’s okay!
It’s important to remember that this is the time when you aren’t trying to impress anyone but yourself. Instead, use your resources as much as possible! Research other people’s experiences with the subject matter and consider their opinions on what needs further exploration within the topic and how you can improve it. Reading other books on the subject matter can also give an idea of what areas could use more work—or perhaps add something new!
Don’t get too attached at this stage.
Remember: your first draft is to write it down and ensure you know what happens. You don’t have to worry about spelling, grammar, or sentence structure at this stage. It’s important not to get too attached to your words or ideas in your first draft—you will change them later!
The most important thing is that you get the story down on paper so that it becomes natural for you (and anyone else who reads it).
Write your first draft as if it is only for you.
The first draft is for you. So keep in mind:
- Don’t worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation. You are writing for yourself and no one else right now!
- Don’t worry about what other people will think of it, especially people who don’t know how to write well themselves. They will want to change everything anyway, and they won’t understand that this is just the beginning stage of your book and not finished yet.
- Don’t worry about how long it takes or how much time goes into writing a book in general—there are no rules here! Some books take years to write, while others only take months (sometimes even days). The only thing that matters is when you sit down at the computer each day and begin typing your thoughts onto paper—or even better yet, if you use dictation software like Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which turns speech into text quickly. But, then, whatever comes out on screen is enough for now because no one will see those words except for us later when we publish them.
Conclusion
This is only the beginning. It’s a great place to start, but getting feedback from others before moving on can be helpful after your first draft. And there are so many options for how you want to structure your book after that—it’s up to you!
A Writing Coach can help you make the most of your time at any stage of the writing process. If you find it difficult to get past barriers to writing on your first draft, consider bringing in an Individual Writing Coach to help you move forward.
Erica Mongé-Greer, Ph. D. is a lifelong academic and published writer. Her areas of expertise are teaching, coaching, and helping people get their writing projects started, through the writing process, and to the finish line. Erica enjoys spending time with her family when she is not teaching, writing academic papers, or coaching.
The post First Draft of Your Book appeared first on Book Writing Coach.
]]>The post Why You Should Write a Book appeared first on Book Writing Coach.
]]>Have you ever thought about writing a book? If so, you’re not alone. Millions of people dream of writing books every year. Still, many people don’t realize that writing a book is more than just putting your thoughts to paper—and it’s certainly not as easy as buying an expensive laptop and pointing its cursor at the screen! Writing is hard work, especially if you want to do it right.
That said: There are many reasons why people choose to write books. I’ve been thinking about this question recently because my own book is coming out soon (yay!). And I’ve learned that there are some compelling reasons why someone would want to write a book and publish it … so much so that most people probably don’t know about them yet! So let’s explore some of those reasons together now!
Your unique story can help others.
You can help people. You have a unique perspective on the world that not everyone has; many people could benefit from that insight. Your story will probably differ from most other people’s in some way, shape, or form. Maybe you have overcome adversity in your life and learned from it, or maybe you have a talent for connecting with others and helping them out of their ruts. Whatever it is that makes you special, and there are probably still others out there who can benefit from hearing about your experience. Write a book about your journey through life and show others how they, too, can overcome obstacles or live their dreams!
Sharing our stories is one of the most powerful things we can do as humans (and writers). We don’t often realize just how much impact our words have on others until we look back at the impact they’ve had on us–but when it comes down to it, writing helps us understand ourselves better than anything else could ever hope to achieve. The more we write down what happened in our own lives and share those experiences with readers who might relate (or even better: don’t relate), the more connected we feel with humanity overall.
It’s a great way to process your emotions.
Writing is a great way to process your emotions. Writing can help you understand yourself better if you’re angry or upset. It can also help you understand other people better and the world around you, as well as your life—all of which could lead to more understanding and, therefore, less anger.
You can change the world.
You could help people in your community, country, or the world. You could help people struggling with the same issues you struggled with. You could help people who are looking for help with their problems. You could help people who are looking for inspiration.
Writing a book is an amazing way to change someone’s life; writing a book can be one of the greatest things you ever do with your time on this earth!
Dealing with overwhelm when You’re an Aspiring Writer
- Write down your goals.
- Write down your progress.
- Write down what you have achieved.
- Write down what you haven’t achieved yet, and why that’s okay.
- Sketch out a very basic plan for how to achieve each goal, as well as some smaller steps in between them (e.g., “write the first draft” might lead to “add character names,” which leads to “look up synonyms for ‘dread'”). In the journal format, this can help you create an actual record of where you are headed with your writing and why—a roadmap through the overwhelm that accompanies big projects like book-writing campaigns!
Despite challenges, many people choose to write a book
- Writing a book is a big commitment. It takes time and effort to write a book—even if you’re just writing for fun. You need to be self-motivated enough to sit down and do it without feeling like it’s too much work or taking up too much of your time.
- Writing requires learning new things. To become an effective writer, you have to keep learning about the craft of writing—what makes good stories great? How do I improve my grammar? What makes me different than other authors? These questions must be answered before they can help make your book stand out from all others on the market today!
- You will have critics! Everyone knows that criticism comes with success in any field, so don’t worry too much about this part (it will just come with success). Be prepared, though, because some people might not like what they see but don’t let them take away from your dream either – everyone has opinions, so don’t let them bring down yours!
Conclusion
Our society needs more books. We need more stories that will help us understand others and ourselves in new ways—stories that can shape our worldviews, open our minds, and give us strength to face the challenges we’re facing today. So if you have a story you want to tell, then go ahead and write it!
Find out how a Writing Coach can help you get started, pick up where you left off, or publish your book.
Erica Mongé-Greer, Ph. D. is a lifelong academic and published writer. Her areas of expertise are teaching, coaching, and helping people get their writing projects started, through the writing process, and to the finish line. Erica enjoys spending time with her family when she is not teaching, writing academic papers, or coaching.
The post Why You Should Write a Book appeared first on Book Writing Coach.
]]>