What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever received?

What’s the worst thing someone could say to you when you’re suffering from writer’s block? | Writer’s Block 1 (Photo credit: NathanGunter)

As writers, we know how rare it is for our friends and relatives to really “get” what we do and why we do it. We know they love us and want to support us, but sometimes they make thoughtless comments that make us want to wring their necks. I recently asked my online writer’s group what was the worst “advice” they have received from well-meaning friends and family members. Here are some of the responses I received:

• That’s a nice hobby you’ve got. Thank God, you have a paying job.

Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 7 | Are we there yet?

How can I be expected to write anything when The Big Bang Theory is on? | Cast of characters in The Big Bang Theory. From left: Howard Wolowitz, Leonard Hofstadter, Penny, Sheldon Cooper and Rajesh Koothrappali. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been on a writing roll this past week. I continued with the experiment I started last week and have managed to write one full chapter every single day!

I almost didn’t make it yesterday. I had suffered a bout of insomnia the night before and hadn’t fallen asleep until after 2 a.m. When I woke at 8:00 yesterday morning, I was so exhausted, I just couldn’t seem to function. I spent the first half of the day crashed out on the couch beating myself up over the fact that I hadn’t written my day’s chapter yet. Then I spent the afternoon thinking about it while hanging out with my kids, looking through old photo albums.

10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge: Day 10

Day 10 Prompt: List 5 top blog posts from fellow participants in this challenge. Link to them, and say why you enjoyed them.

Okay, so let’s be 100% honest here. I have not had a chance to read many of the other participants’ posts due to the fact that I have been on a writing roll this past week. You know how it is when you’ve got that momentum, and you just can’t let it go?

Since I do not feel comfortable choosing a list of favorites at this point, I am just going to share a link to the list of all participants so you can go check them out.

10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge: Day 8

Day 8 Prompt: Post about your writing routines / rituals / habits or quirks.

One of the best ways I’ve found for me to be productive as a writer is to get up early in the morning, make a cup of coffee, and sit down at my kitchen table with a notebook first thing without allowing myself to go anywhere near my computer. As soon as I sit down at the computer, I can count on losing several hours of writing time.

If I really need to get something done in the afternoon, then a trip to the library or a coffee shop helps as well. Sometimes I just need to write in a different location.

10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge: Day 6

Day 6 Prompt: For today’s prompt, I decided to use the alternative prompt, as I have already profiled my most-read blogs. Here’s the alternative prompt: Share a personal interest or hobby that you have aside from writing – how has this inspired and impacted your writing? Required: at least one photo!

My personal interest/hobby is Nature, for sure! I liken the composting of old growth and kitchen waste in my garden to the composting of ideas that must take place in my mind in order for me to write a good story.

10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge: Day 4

Day 4 Prompt: Profile 3 to 5 top writing craft books

The following are three of my favorite writing craft books:

• Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Is it a memoir or a craft book? Well, it’s a little of both. Part I covers King’s early writing years, starting with the short stories he wrote in grade school and working his way through high school and college, and then on to his time as a struggling English teacher with a substance abuse problem. In the rest of the book, King discusses his own theories on the craft. It’s an easy read full of “ah-ha moments.” A must-read for every writer, from beginner to master.

10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge: Day 1

Welcome to the 10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge.

I’ve been reading Vikki Thompson’s responses to Hunting Down Writing’s 10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge over on her blog, The View Outside and decided to partake in the challenge myself. So, without further ado, here is my response to the Day 1 Writing Prompt:

For this first post, I chose to use the alternative prompt, as I believe I have already shared a pitch of my current novel project.

Here’s the first prompt: Discuss whether writers should blog about writing.

And my answer: YES! I think writers should blog about writing for a variety of reasons.

Sometimes it’s okay to tell a story rather than showing it

It’s true. So stop staring and write something!

Do you ever find yourself staring at an empty page, afraid to put down that first word because you do not know if it is exactly what you want to express in your story? Do you worry about each sentence, afraid you are going to write something that (heaven forbid) tells rather than shows your story?

I know you want to sit down and write a complete and perfect story. We all do. But most of the time it just doesn’t work that way. If you let yourself get bogged down in the details of perfection in the first draft, your first draft will never be complete.

Featured Writer Prompt: How do you prep for a new novel writing project?

Do you outline first, or just start writing? |writing blue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At Write Your Novel this Summer, we just launched our Featured Writer series where we will feature individual writers who are participating in our summer novel writing challenge. To become a Featured Writer, all you have to do is ‘like’ our Facebook page, look for Featured Writer Prompts, and submit a response to the prompt along with a link to your blog or online writing portfolio. If your submission is chosen, we will feature you and link to your page from our Facebook page (see the Notes section of our Facebook page for more details.)

Yesterday, I posted our first Featured Writers Prompt, but I have yet to receive any submissions. So I thought I would answer the prompt myself to try to get the ball rolling. I want to also encourage my readers to submit. This is a great opportunity to drive readers to your blogs and writing portfolios. It’s also a great way to find out about other writers and learn how they approach the novel writing process.

I do my best blogging at the coffee house

The view from my comfy chair at Cafe de Arts in Waukesha, WI proved to be inspiring last weekend.

I love blogging while sitting in a coffee shop. Whenever I meet my writer friend for a day of coffee and writing, I always end up putting my intended work aside to write at least one blog post. At our last session, I ended up writing three different blog posts before the afternoon was done.

Maybe I should just plan on going out to a coffee house once a week to write all of my blog posts. When I blog at home, my blog posts often come out concise, professional, and utterly boring. At the coffee shop, I get creative ideas and write posts I think people might actually want to read (I hope.)