Month: March 2023

Writing Sprints and the progress they bring.

· Leave a comment ·

Hello everyone,

I hope you’re having a good week so far.

I attempted NaNoWriMo 2022 with varying degrees of success. On the one hand, I didn’t reach the 50,000 word target but I did find my way to a method of writing which, at one point, made me think I could reach the glory of 50,000 in a month. That was:

The Writing Sprint.

This method involves setting a timer, which is usually between 15 and 60 minutes, and writing non-stop until the time is up.

I did sprints of either 15 or 20 minutes and set the timer on my phone. As the timer was on my phone this meant that I could NOT use my phone for all the procrastinating goodness/badness it brings. I had to wait until the alarm rang to say I was done. And I learned to love and hate the alarm sound in equal measure. It didn’t sound too lovely at first but I’m now conditioned..sorry..prepared for the relief the alarm gives me. I wonder why?

If I received an important call or message I would stop but other than that I would keep writing. I would also try to eliminate all other distractions so I could focus on the writing alone. As my phone was and is my main distraction the fact that it was now my method of telling the time meant I could write with not many interruptions. The point as well for a writing sprint is to not stop even though you may feel like you want to do some editing or you feel some dialogue or description or anything has fallen flat. The main thing is to get as many words down during the time frame you have given yourself.

I have also found that making a small plan before each sprint helps me a lot to make use of the time well. If I know what I’m going to write about or roughly know, the time gets used more effectively than if I go in blind or with a wisp of a idea.

Here are a few Pros and Cons that I’ve found while using Writing Sprints:

Pro’s

  • Knowing that I only need to put aside 15 minutes and I will make progress with my WIP.
  • WIP progresses at a steady pace.
  • Increased focus when writing outside of doing the Sprints.
  • Can be done multiple times a day and does not necessarily have to be all at once.
  • No time for editing as you go.

Con’s

  • No time for editing as you go.
  • Can feel like a bit of a chore.
  • If your writing is not flowing you can be tempted to clock watch.
  • Can feel like the time is hanging over you instead of helping you move your WIP along.

Overall, discovering Writing Sprints has been a game changer for me.

This all leads me to a question, if you already use Writing Sprints, how did you first find out about them?

Advertisement

Romance Webinar and What I took from it.

· Leave a comment ·

Hello everyone,

I hope you’ve had a good week so far.

On Wednesday, 22/02, I (virtually) attended a webinar entitled ‘How to write Romance that Stands Out’ via Reedsy and hosted by Michelle Hazen (https://michellehazenbooks.com/). This was a really useful and informative webinar about how to approach writing a romance story and some tips about how to make it all pop off the page.

I’ve been thinking about writing a romance story for a while now, and this webinar has put me on the right track.

The webinar discussed providing three things to clarify a story; Make it Specific. Make it Personal. Make it Visual.

Following these main tips as you write your story can help it become more unique. And in a genre that has regularly been a top many a best-selling list, this could be crucial. The webinar also detailed 7 principles to follow as you are writing. These are:

  1. Meet Cute – How your characters meet and make it unique.
  2. Demonstration of Value – Show, don’t tell something about the love interest that makes them more attractive to the other.
  3. What are your readers expecting? – Give them what they want. Which, amongst other things, is that the two love interests get together at the end of the story.
  4. Flipping Stereotypes and Genre shortcuts – How to do things that don’t conform to usual stereotypes of shortcuts for the Romance genre.
  5. Time for date night – Think outside the box for what the character’s first date will be and how it happens.
  6. Mid-Book Reversal – Big change mid-way through the story that keeps things interesting. For example, the couple breaks up when one decides to make the decision thinking it’s best for the other.
  7. Grand Gesture – Make it personal, show time and effort, and something symbolic of the relationship.

For the entire webinar, please visit the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D_DjKSLdFc&t=7s.

The main thing I took away from this was that to make your story stand out, it should be as unique and specific as possible. Say, instead of having the two main love interests meet on a date in a coffee shop or bar, how about they meet another way? By accident or on a rock-climbing holiday or when you, and they, least expect it?

These types of things happen all the time in real life. For example, you decide to do something slightly different on your lunch break from work and suddenly discover a new place to eat or a new route to walk. It’s a small example, but you get the point. Why not have your characters do something different to what you might do in their shoes and see what happens?  

Currently, my love interests meet in a coffee shop and bond over a common interest. Not until later do they realise they work in the same company and are not particularly fond of each other from a work perspective. I have already written a short story for this, and I’m excited to flesh out the details and see where it takes me. The webinar has helped me in that respect and will guide me until it’s done.

I’ll end with a question, how do you try and make your Romance Story unique?