Feeling stuck and unmotivated? Instead of trying to force yourself, try getting a fresh perspective. Take a look at these inspirational and informational writing blogs and newsletters:
https://www.darcypattison.com
Darcy Pattison’s Fiction Notes is an amazing resource for writing tips. As a successful indie author herself, she is also very supportive of other indie authors. I especially appreciated her post on working to create a professional book that will stand out in the marketplace, if you decide to try indie publishing. I should note that Darcy is not blogging as regularly as before, so that she can focus more on her writing. But there is a still an archive you can peruse. I’m a big fan of her “shrunken manuscript” technique where you literally shrink your manuscript down to a smaller size and print it so that you can see the whole picture of the story and highlight ways to revise it.
https://gretchenrubin.com
Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, has a newsletter and recently started posting “5 Things Making Me Happy” each week. She talks about #Walk20in20 about the benefits of daily walks. She also shares a great resource for helping morning and night people (larks and owls) to interact. She shares aphorisms she is pondering each week, as well. I really like this one, which her mother shared with her: “The things that go wrong often make the best memories.”
Additionally, she offers her own 12 week course that allows you to come up with your own 12 commandments of happiness, invites participants to create a one-word theme for the year, and provides a “20 for 2020” template for you to list 20 things you’d like to accomplish this year.
http://www.kidlit411.com
KidLit411 offers a weekly digest of contests, giveaways, author and illustrator spotlights, writing advice, and motivation all in one convenient email. It’s a treasure trove! I liked the article “How to Write Multiple POVs the 'Game of Thrones' Way” by writer and editor Tracy Gold and “How 50 Famous Authors Find Writing Inspiration” by John Fox of Book Fox. Author Ransom Riggs, who wrote Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, suggests starting a collection. He noticed a pattern in his collection, which sparked a story idea. Author Daniel Handler says, “I’ll have some idea or see something or an event will strike me in a certain way. I’ll string it along immediately and think of where it could lead and where it could go. I think of a story.”
https://writenowcoach.com
Rochelle Melander’s Write Now! blog posts provide writing tips and encouragement, usually through interviews with other writers. I enjoyed her three tips to overcoming writing hurdles. She mentions writing a purpose statement to help motivate you toward your writing goals. “I will write this year so I can … (Add your reason here!)” Her examples such as “so I can teach my clients how to overcome symptoms of anxiety” are all about how we can help other people through our writing, which I think is a great motivator, since we all crave connection. Another hurdle she mentions is the “Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG)” which is so funny but true. Her advice for that is to break down your larger goal into smaller, more attainable goals that will keep you motivated.
http://www.saraharonson.com
I particularly love author Sarah Aronson’s Motivational Monday newsletter, especially during the quarantine. She usually starts by giving an inspirational quote. For week nine, it was some advice from legendary author Neil Gaiman. “I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.”
Then she gives you a writing assignment to try. Something that has worked for her. In week 9, she asks you to take a snapshot from one of your scenes, writing a sort of vignette or poem for a chapter that isn’t quite there yet. Play is always a big theme for her, which I like. In week 10, she highlights the need for hope, which is what my story, The Healing Star, is all about, so that really resonated with me. She encourages you to write about an experience you have lived through, something that might change a reader’s life. Because we all have stories to share, and our stories matter.
From the outside, the process of organizing a collection of work should seem the same no matter the project. While it’s true that the steps remain similar, each time a book comes to life, the experience is different.