Write A Story In 30 Minutes

This prompt is a great one for the first day because this is a day when you’re probably the most excited about the challenge and your ambitions are high and you’re quite likely to try and do too much.

The Prompt

Write a story in 30 minutes

I would rather you try to do too little and succeed and try to do too much and fai. Hence the limit on timing.

Tips

  • Set a timer. I know you probably have a phone clutched in your hand right now. Tell it to set a timer for 30 minutes. Don’t start it yet.
  • Every story starts with character. Think of your favorite type of character from somebody else’s fiction. Do you like Jack Reacher? He’s heroic he’s almost impossible to beat in a fight. And yet Lee Child manages to make him an interesting character. Is this the kind of character you like? If not what do you like? Write down qualities of characters that you love to read about, now.
  • Once you have a character, think about something that this character would never ever do.
  • Think of a way to back this character into a corner where they must do the thing they would never do.
  • For example all Harry Potter wants to do is find a place to belong, a place to call home. He finds it at Hogwarts. The last thing he would ever do is risk getting kicked out of Hogwarts. But what does he do in every book? He risks getting kicked out of Hogwarts. He does it to save his friends, to further the course of right, and ultimately to save his world.On a smaller scale in All The Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, the main character is a young blind girl who relies utterly on her doting father. The last thing she would want is to be separated from her father and have to cope with life on her own. But along comes World War II and the Nazis and guess what she has to do? It’s not a big adventure novel there are some explosions (not in a Bruce Willis kind of way), but the tension is very real because were worried about this poor vulnerable girl and what she’s going to do in her circumstances. Pick something for your character that will push them beyond their comfort zone.
  • Think about this for a little while. It might be best if you think about this while you go off and do whatever it is you have to do today, and then come back to writing later.
  • think about how late you can start the story. You don’t have to write background, telling us who the character is, what her daily life is all about. That’s for movies. This is a short story. We don’t have the space for that. Short story writers can start closer to the middle of the action — we can start in medias res, the middle of the action. Later, we show the reader the stakes, through conversation or actions. They don’t need to know everything in the opening paragraph.
  • OK, you have a few ideas? Great! Start your timer.
  • How to write a story in 30 minutes Write for no more than 10 minutes on the opening of the story. At the 10 minute mark make sure that you’re moving into the main action of the story: the complications, making things worse for your protagonist, making things funnier/more harrowing/more interesting. At the 25 minute mark, start wrapping up: even if the story isn’t completely finished, even if you have to write [something cool happens here], draw a line under the middle part of your story and get the resolution. Wrap it up by the time you hit the 30 minute mark. First draft: done!
  • This is difficult, and you’re not going to end up with a fabulous polished story. (You might, but you shouldn’t expect to.) However writing to the end of the story gives you a first draft that you can go back and clean up later. The experience of going from beginning to end in 30 minutes proves to you that you can do this. Congratulations! You have a complete story. Now start thinking about what you might write about tomorrow!

 

Continue reading “Write A Story In 30 Minutes”

Guest Writing Prompt from Jonathan Maberry

JONATHAN MABERRY is a NY Times bestselling novelist, five-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and comic book writer.

Today we’re kicking off StoryADay May 2016 with a prompt from the fabulous Jonathan Maberry.  (If you have a chance to hear him speak at a writer’s conference/group/signing, go! You’ll be inspired to run home and write!)

The Prompt

When Terry began scrolling through her phone, none of the photos she found were hers.

Jonathan Maberry, Author pictureJONATHAN MABERRY is a NY Times bestselling novelist, five-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and comic book writer. He writes the Joe Ledger thrillers, the Rot & Ruin series, the Nightsiders series, the Dead of Night series, as well as standalone novels in multiple genres. His new and upcoming novels include KILL SWITCH, the 8th in his best-selling Joe Ledger thriller series; VAULT OF SHADOWS, a middle-grade sf/fantasy mash-up; and MARS ONE, a standalone teen space travel novel. He is the editor of many anthologies including THE X-FILES, SCARY OUT THERE, OUT OF TUNE, and V-WARS. His comic book works include, among others, CAPTAIN AMERICA, the Bram Stoker Award-winning BAD BLOOD, ROT & RUIN, V-WARS, the NY Times bests-selling MARVEL ZOMBIES RETURN, and others. His books EXTINCTION MACHINE and V-WARS are in development for TV. A board game version of V-WARS was released in early 2016. He is the founder of the Writers Coffeehouse, and the co-founder of The Liars Club. Prior to becoming a full-time novelist, Jonathan spent twenty-five years as a magazine feature writer, martial arts instructor and playwright. He was a featured expert on the History Channel documentary, Zombies: A Living History and a regular expert on the TV series, True Monsters. He is one third of the very popular and mildly weird Three Guys With Beards pop-culture podcast. Jonathan lives in Del Mar, California with his wife, Sara Jo.

Welcome to StoryADay 2016

Welcome to Week One!

This weeks’s theme: Limits

I know you’re excited. I know you want to get started on your great masterpiece. But setting that kind of pressure on yourself is the fastest way I know to a crippling case of writers block.

This week I’m going to impose limits on your writing that will make it almost impossible for you to write something great. This is my gift to you.

Continue reading “Welcome to StoryADay 2016”

SWAGr Post for May 2016

Posting a little early for May, since tomorrow’s a big day at the site. Don’t forget to post your commitments here, even if you’re not doing the StoryADay May challenge this year. And we’d love to have you stop by and cheer people on every so often during the month!

Every month we gather here to discuss what we’ve achieved and commit to making more progress in our creative lives in the coming month. We call it our   Serious Writer’s Accountability Group or SWAGr, for short! (We’re serious, not sombre!)

What people are saying about StoryADayMay 2014

Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.

(It doesn’t have to be fiction. Feel free to use this group to push you in whatever creative direction you need.)

Did you live up to your commitment from last month? Don’t remember what you promised to do? Check out the comments from last month.

And don’t forget to celebrate with/encourage your fellow SWAGr-ers on their progress!

****

Examples of Goals Set By SWAGr-ers in previous months

  • Write a story a day in May – everyone!
  • Revise at least 10 short stories – Iraide
  • Write two short stories. – Jami
  • Attend one writers’ conference – Julie
  • Write fable for WordFactory competition – Sonya
  • Re-read the backstory pieces I wrote in May and see if I can use them within my novel – Monique
  • Research the market – Jami
  • Focus on my serial – Maureen

 So, what will you accomplish this month? Leave your comment below (use the drop-down option to subscribe to the comments and receive lovely, encouraging notifications from fellow StADa SWAGr-ers!)

(Next check-in, 1st of the month. Tell your friends. )

A Month Of Writing Prompts 2015
Don’t forget, if you need inspiration for a story you can still get ALL THE PROMPTS from StoryADay May 2015 and support the running of the StoryADay challenge at the same time. Give a little, get a little :) Click here. Now only $2.99

 

StoryADay May 2016 Is Almost Here!

 

Lots to talk about this month because StoryADay May 2016 is almost here!!!

And if you’re not taking part this year, you should still check out all the great writing resources I’ve added to the site since you last stopped by…and please drop in during the challenge to wish other writers well. We love hearing from alumni!

In This Issue

  • How To Sign Up for StoryADay May 2016
  • The Site Is Open For New Members
  • Celebrity Guests Are Coming!
  • A Month of Writing Prompts 2016 ebook is out
  • Read the StoryADay Essentials Series
  • See The redesigned Home Page

How To Sign Up For StoryADay May 2016

In past years the sign up has been very informal, but that has led to various problems (people not getting their prompts, people getting left out of the community, me not knowing how many folks I’m looking out for…)

This year, if you’re taking part you must sign up here:

STADA16Signup250w

This guarantees that you’ll get:

  • All the (optional) writing prompts mailed to your inbox
  • An invitation to join the online community (in case you’re not already a member)
  • Bonuses! Story Spark logs, A Writing Log, custom StoryADay Coloring Pages (!), the Creative Challenge Workbook and participant badges for your social media profiles.

I hope this will help things run even more smoothly this year. Tell your friends!

https://storyaday.org/signup2016

The StoryADay Online Community is Open

Because of the evil spambot, I only open the community to new registrations a couple of times a year. This is that time.

When you sign up to take part in StoryADay 2016 you’ll receive your invitation to join the community (in your welcome email. Watch your inbox!)

Celebrity Guests Are Coming

Jonathan Maberry, Author picture
Jonathan Maberry
Jerry Jenkins, author picture
Jerry Jenkins

Every year we get some amazing Best-selling and prize-winning authors to stop by and share a writing prompt or two with us.

This year we’re kicking things off with Bram Stoker prize winner and multi-best-seller Jonathan Maberry, and following him up with mega-best-seller Jerry Jenkins. Other guest prompts will be coming your way too, so make sure you’re signed up

A Month of Writing Prompts 2016

A Month of Writing Prompts 2016If you’re the type of person who likes to plan ahead, this is the book for you.

For the past three years I’ve been putting together an ebook of all my writing prompts for StoryADay May. You can browse through the whole thing today or sit down every Sunday night and plan ahead for that week.

This year I’ve taken a different theme every week and written a series of essays and lessons to go with the prompts.

This year’s themes are

  • Week 1: Limits
  • Week 2: Elements of Story
  • Week 3: Rescue Week
  • Week 4: Your Writing Strengths
  • Week 5: The Last Hurrah

    This year, I’ve been giving a series of workshops on Story Structure, Conflict and Dialogue. You’ll find a lot of that information in this book, woven into the prompts and essays. It’s well worth the $2.99 (USD), even if I do say so, myself!

    A Month of Writing Prompts 2016Get Your Copy Now

    (Every purchase helps to support StoryADay, and keep it free)

Read The StoryADay Essentials Series – Free

If you’re on the fence about StoryADay May, not sure if you can commit to it, check out the StoryADay Essentials: a series of six articles that shows you why and How you could and should plunge into the challenge this year.

Check it out.

Shaking Up The Site

I’ve redesigned the home page of the site, to help the increasing numbers of new folks who are coming along to find out more about the StoryADay challenge.

But don’t worry, all your favorites are still around, tucked into the Menu at the top of the page (bottom if you’re on a mobile device): the blog, the community, the Tuesday Reading Room series, the Write on Wednesday Prompts, the Serious Writers’ Accountability Group, and of course, the shop.

Phew! I know that’s a lot for one day. Don’t forget to:

[Write On Wednesday] Dreadful Dialogue Tags

Conventional writing wisdom (these days) says that the mark of an amateur writer is to use colorful dialogue tags instead of a simple ‘she said’. Nevertheless, teachers continue to foist alternatives to ‘said’ on our children. Today’s assignment is designed to show you just how ridiculous that can become.

 Have fun!

And, if you’re near King of Prussia, PA, tonight, come out to the StoryADay Live! “Un-Dreadful Dialogue” workshop  hosted by the fabulous Main Line Writers’ Group!

Thumbnail of 100 words poster - alternatives to saidThe Prompt

Write a story featuring lots of dialogue. Every time you attribute speech to a person you must use one of the ‘alternatives to said’ from the sheet.
(Click to enlarge)

Tips

  • Make sure you rely entirely on the tags to convey the emotion, leaving the dialogue itself bland and without character.
  • Bonus points for making all your characters sound the same.
  • Be as ridiculous as you like.
  • This exercise works particularly well when your subject matter is serious or shocking.
  • This whole exercise is designed to show you how ridiculous dialogue tags can wreck a serious story.
  • (Remember, “he said” and “she said” become invisible when you use them well. These tags never will.)
  • Make sure every single utterance has a tag, whether or not you need one. (e.g. in the case of two people speaking, you can often get away with no tags at all, especially if the conversation is short and the voices are distinct.)
  • Read it (and weep).

 

Go!

002 – Word Count Logging for Success

Last year I wrote 100,000 words of fiction (that’s on top of all the non-fiction writing, mothering, wife-ing and general living I got done).

In this episode I show you how to use word count logging to boost your writing output and to keep yourself accountable.

I also invite you to join us at the Serious Writers’ Accountability Group (SWAGr – we’re ‘serious’, not ‘sombre’!) at http://storyaday.org/category/swagr/ on the first of every month, to set your goals for the coming month and review how you got on last month.

[Write On Wednesday] Steal A Title

A Month of Writing Prompts 2016Big News! This prompts for this year’s StoryADay May challenge are now available for pre-order as a Kindle ebook! (More formats forthcoming)
If you’re the type of person who likes to plan ahead, go ahead and pre-order your copy today. It’ll land in your Amazon account on Saturday, April 23, (automatically downloading onto your Kindle or Kindle app on your phone) giving you a week to ponder the prompts before the challenge begins.

Stuffed with all-new prompts—including material from my StoryADay Live workshops on story structure and conflict—and headed up by a section that shares road-tested tips for surviving a month of short story writing!

And now, on to this week’s prompt.

The Prompt

Steal a title from a novel or song

Tips

  • You can tell the story of the song, in short story form
  • You can write a completely different story, taking the title and coming up with something fresh.
  • Don’t simply retell the story of someone else’s novel (that’s theft!)

 

Serious Writers’ Accountability Group Check-In April 2016

Breaking News
The StoryADay Warm Up Bootcamp is back, live!

  • Audio and PDF lessons to help you jumpstart your story writing
  • *New* A super-secret Facebook group, for easy community-building
  • Free access for anyone who’s taken the course before or bought the home-study version. (Just email me at julie at storyaday dot org to tell me you want in.)

The course runs, LIVE, from April 4-25, 2016. Find out more now.

Now, on with the SWAGr post!

Every month we gather here to discuss what we’ve achieved and commit to making more progress in our creative lives in the coming month. We call it our   Serious Writer’s Accountability Group or SWAGr, for short! (We’re serious, not sombre!)

What people are saying about StoryADayMay 2014

Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.

(It doesn’t have to be fiction. Feel free to use this group to push you in whatever creative direction you need.)

Did you live up to your commitment from last month? Don’t remember what you promised to do? Check out the comments from last month.

And don’t forget to celebrate with/encourage your fellow SWAGr-ers on their progress!

****

Examples of Goals Set By SWAGr-ers in previous months

  • Write a story a day in May – everyone!
  • Revise at least 10 short stories – Iraide
  • Write two short stories. – Jami
  • Attend one writers’ conference – Julie
  • Write fable for WordFactory competition – Sonya
  • Re-read the backstory pieces I wrote in May and see if I can use them within my novel – Monique
  • Research the market – Jami
  • Focus on my serial – Maureen

 So, what will you accomplish this month? Leave your comment below (use the drop-down option to subscribe to the comments and receive lovely, encouraging notifications from fellow StADa SWAGr-ers!)

(Next check-in, 1st of the month. Tell your friends. )

A Month Of Writing Prompts 2015
Don’t forget, if you need inspiration for a story you can still get ALL THE PROMPTS from StoryADay May 2015 and support the running of the StoryADay challenge at the same time. Give a little, get a little :) Click here. Now only $2.99

[Write On Wednesday] 100 Word Story With Grandparents

Today I’m challenging you to share your story on the new Anchor App (only available for iOS just now, sorry).

The Prompt

Write A 100 Word Story Containing A Reference To Grandparents

Tips

  • This can be a story about grandparents, or it can have the most tangential reference to grandparents (see my story on Anchor)
  • Even if you don’t remember your grandparents, the idea of grandparents saturates our culture. I’m sure you can find some way (syrupy or sarcastic) to write about this!
  • 100 word stories (also known as Drabbles) take some finessing, so I’m going to recommend writing something a little longer, then cutting it.
  • A good way to think about a 100 word story is to have 25 words to set it up, 50 words for the meat of the story and 25 words for the wrap up. It’s not that neat, of course, but the formula is just a ‘way in’.
  • Dribbles often come across almost like form-less poems. The descriptions and characterization certainly owe more to poetry than to novels.
  • If you’re new to Anchor, download it from the app store and go through the introductory ‘first wave’ instructions, then just mash the big red button to record your story. You have two minutes, so you might want to fire up a stopwatch. When you’re finished, you can listen to the finished ‘wave’ and then click the ‘next’ arrow to move to a screen where you can give your wave a caption and a hashtag (use #storytelling and #storyaday so that I can find it and listen). Then listen to other people’s stories and hit the ‘reply’ button (you’ll have one minute to reply. When you’re listening, the app will keep playing content until you
  • If you don’t have Anchor you could always record your story and upload it to your own blog or another audio hosting system.

Go!

[Write On Wednesday] Change A Headline

Did you ever, as a child, say a word so often that it lost its meaning? (“Basin”, anyone?)
Today I want you to stare at a news headline until it loses its original meaning and lets you play with it.

The Prompt

Take A News Headline And Change A Word Or Two, Sparking A Fictional Story.

Examples

For some reason, to me, this headline suggested some kind of epic fantasy with heroic quests, tasks the hero have been assigned. Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] Change A Headline”

[Write on Wednesday] Write what you know

We’re always being told to write what we know but doesn’t that sound the teensiest bit boring?

Still, unless you have a lot of time for research, mining your own experiences can be useful…if you go about it in the right way.

The Prompt

Write a list of things you know about. Pick one. Give that knowledge to a character.

Tips

  • Dig deep as you make your list. Consider all the arcana of your brain’s storehouses.  Don’t discount very, very specific things like “growing up one street across from an elite military academy’s live-fire training grounds, in the 1970s” or “spending vacations in an apartment over my uncle’s store”.
  • Pick something from the middle of your list. The first will be too obvious and everyday (therefore the story will not excite you) and the last one will be too weird, because you were clutching at straws. That one would require too much research and then your short story would never be written (or would demand to become a novel).
  • Consider what kind of character you can give this experience to. Will the wnjoy it? Hate it? Grow up to try to hide it only to have it become important (remember Clarice in “The Silence Of The Lambs” trading secrets about her backwoods upbringing to buy Hannibal Lector’s assistance?)
  • Consider giving your character a sidekick to impress/show off for/frighten/lie to.
  • What does your character want? How can this specialist knowledge help/hinder in their quest. What would they do/never do? What do they need? Where are they at the start and the end of your story (metaphorically and physically).

GO!

If you want to read more like this, let me send future articles straight to your inbox:

Stop Sabotaging Your Writing Dreams – March 2016 Newsletter

StoryADay News March 2016

In This Issue

  • News & Notes – The Warm Up Course Is Back + Podcast Intern
  • Featured Articles – Permission To Write
  • Coming This Month – Productivity
  • Inspiration – Reading Room and Writing Prompts
  • SWAGr – Commit to your writing
  • Podcast Engineer Intern

News & Notes

Welcome, all! (Including the 59 people who joined the list last month!)

It’s already March, which means we have something like eight weeks until StoryADay May! I’m shaking up a few things this year, so stayed tuned for next month’s newsletter that’ll tell you what’s new, and how to be first into ‘behind the velvet rope’ community when it opens up again in late April.

In the meantime, let’s spend three of those weeks together, warming up for StoryADay.

I’m running a LIVE version of the StoryADay Warm Up Course again this year, with (new this year) a private Facebook group.

(And yes, if you’ve ever taken the course before or bought the Home Study version, you can join in this time around, for free!)

It all kicks off on April 2, 2016, so watch your inboxes for more news about that.

Find Out About The upgraded version, the I, WRITER Course here

February’s Theme: Permission To Write

Sometimes the hardest thing about writing is getting started…and a lot of that is to do with allowing ourselves to get over our fears and doubts. In these three articles I talked about ways to stop sabotaging your writing dreams and instead, give yourself permission to write.

These articles all have audio embedded, so if you have things to do but can’t bear to stop ‘reading’ click on the “play” button. If you’d like more of these (or if you’d like hem in podcast form — downloaded automatically onto your device of choice) let me know by replying to this email.

How To Be A Successful Writer

In which I use the Pixar movie Wall-E to encourage you to succeed on your own terms…

Want To Write More?

In which I bust all your writing excuses (and give you a little pep talk, too…

Your Right To Write

In which I award you a printable certificate that guarantees you Permission to Write 😉 …

Coming This Month – Productivity

Having dealt with building good writing Habits in January, and given sourceless Permission To Write in February, this month at the blog, I turn my attention to Productivity.

You want to write, you believe you should be writing, maybe you are writing.

Now you need to ramp up that word count, or that story count, and get in some serious writing practice.

Watch the blog for weekly articles on the business of creative productivity.

Inspiration – The Tuesday Reading Room

If you want to write short stories you should be reading short stories. I’ve reviewed a selection of short stories this month, including stories by Richard Matheson and Adam Foulds.

SWAGr

Have you posted your goals for March in our Serious Writers’ Accountability Group yet? Check out this post, and add your pledge in the comments.

Remember, you don’t have to pledge to do anything particularly impressive. It can be “read three short stories this month” if that’s what works for you.

Just remember to come back next month and tell us how you got on.

Accountability, geddit?

Podcast Intern Opportunity

Would you like to get some practice editing, uploading and managing a podcast workflow?

I’ve been recording audio of the blog posts all year, and would love to put out a regular podcast, but the time required to edit and splice and upload and notate is defeating me.

If you’re interested in online business, audio production, or podcasting and would like to learn more about Libsyn, iTunes, metadata and social media marketing, we need to talk.

You will:

  • Take my audio and check it for flubs and mistakes
  • Edit intro and outro loops that I supply, onto each episode.
  • Check volume levels
  • Upload audio to Libsyn (including adding metadata for episodes)
  • Create episode listings (‘show notes’) post of the blog.
  • Have Skype training sessions and consultation with me.

Interested? Email me (julie at storyaday dot org) and let me know!

Phew! OK, that was a lot of news. Inspired? Check out these writing prompts before you go. And now,

Keep writing!

Julie

If you want to read more like this, let me send future articles straight to your inbox:

Happy 6th Birthday, StoryADay May!

Six years ago today, I posted this at StoryADay.org

 Screen Shot 2016-02-09 at 7.14.40 PM
(Of course, the site didn’t look like that, back then. And look, I haven’t even set up any categories for the posts yet. Bless.)

That first year about 100 writers joined me in my harebrained scheme, largely due to the fact that the very lovely Debbie Ohi is unable to resist a challenge (or the urge to blog about it), and spread the word.

Since then, thousands of writers have started writing again, written their first-to-be-published story, embarked on careers as novelists and generally had a ripping good time.

We’ve started hosting challenges in September too.

I’ve published books and run courses.

Neil Gaiman, Gretchen Rubin, Heidi Durrow, Joe R. Lansdale and more have posted guest writing prompts for us to enjoy.

And this year, in less than two months, the seventh annual StoryADay May starts up.

Are you in?

[Write On Wednesday] PostModern Pop Songs

The Prompt: Write A List Of Song Titles You’d Actually Be Interested In Listening To. Write The Story Behind The Song, for one of them.

After you reach a certain age — or stage — of life, it seems like no one writers songs for you any more. You’ve learned a lot of the lessons pop singers seem to be struggling with. Maybe you’re (gasp!) happily married. Maybe the things you struggle with are things other than love and boys and where to go on a Saturday night.

The Prompt

Write A List Of Song Titles You’d Actually Be Interested In Listening To.

Choose One.

Write The Story Of The Character In That Song.

Tips

  • Country music is probably a slightly better role model here than pop. I know there are lots of songs about a more mature kind of love, or about the kind of lifestyle people wish they were living. You could write a wishlist of how your life would look (similar to the country music odes to God, Guns, Mama, Girls and Trucks)

Continue reading “[Write On Wednesday] PostModern Pop Songs”

[Reading Room] The Rules Are The Rules by Adam Foulds

I like complex stories. But I want them to be just as satisfying on a FIRST read as they are on a second or third.

I liked the fact that this story was about a man who happened to be a vicar and who happened to be gay, rather than being About A Gay Vicar. It makes me feel like we’ve evolved as a species, when stories about marginalized or minority characters can be about more than the thing that marginalizes or defines them.

At the start, the main character, Peter, is struggling at the start with many things: his job, the kids on the soccer team and their parents (he doesn’t really like them), his faith, his urge to be a father himself…
Continue reading “[Reading Room] The Rules Are The Rules by Adam Foulds”

Serious Writers’ Accountability Group Check-In – March 2016

Every month we gather here to discuss what we’ve achieved and commit to making more progress in our creative lives in the coming month. We call it our   Serious Writer’s Accountability Group or SWAGr, for short! (We’re serious, not sombre!)

What people are saying about StoryADayMay 2014

Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.

(It doesn’t have to be fiction. Feel free to use this group to push you in whatever creative direction you need.)

Did you live up to your commitment from last month? Don’t remember what you promised to do? Check out the comments from last month.

And don’t forget to celebrate with/encourage your fellow SWAGr-ers on their progress!

****

Examples of Goals Set By SWAGr-ers in previous months

  • Write a story a day in May – everyone!
  • Revise at least 10 short stories – Iraide
  • Write two short stories. – Jami
  • Attend one writers’ conference – Julie
  • Write fable for WordFactory competition – Sonya
  • Re-read the backstory pieces I wrote in May and see if I can use them within my novel – Monique
  • Research the market – Jami
  • Focus on my serial – Maureen

 So, what will you accomplish this month? Leave your comment below (use the drop-down option to subscribe to the comments and receive lovely, encouraging notifications from fellow StADa SWAGr-ers!)

(Next check-in, 1st of the month. Tell your friends. )

A Month Of Writing Prompts 2015
Don’t forget, if you need inspiration for a story you can still get ALL THE PROMPTS from StoryADay May 2015 and support the running of the StoryADay challenge at the same time. Give a little, get a little :) Click here. Now only $2.99

I Hereby Grant You Permission To Write

In the middle of the 20th Century “Art” because professionalized, to the point where we felt we didn’t deserve to tell stories unless a New York publishing house was slapping it between hardcovers, or an overpriced university program anointed us “Writer, MFA”.

This was an aberration; a moment in history that did not exist before and does not exist now.

Humans have always sat around and told each other stories, without the benefit of editors or tutors or anyone giving us permission. We told stories to audiences, and we gauged their reaction in order to make our stories better next time.

The success of the “amateurs doing things on TV” genre (American Idol, The Voice, Dancing With The Stars) along with the boom in indie publishing, indie movie making, indie everything making, are signs that the artificial workshop of creative professionals is over. Humans are taking back control of our own creativity.

Are you?

Tell your stories. Show them to people. Make them better. Write new stories.
That’s all there is to it.

You have every right to write. In fact, print out this certificate and write your name on it.

Permission To Write Certificate Thumbnail

There. You have my permission to write.

Can you give yourself permission to write?

Want To Learn To Write More? Give Yourself Permission To Write

We all imagine a perfect time when the obstacles will fall away and Writing Will Happen. And We’re All Wrong…

Pencils

We all have reasons why we’re not writing.

  • We’re too busy.
  • We’re too tired.
  • We don’t have anything to say.
  • We’ve tried before and failed to finish.
  • We have to get these pencils lined up just right…

We all have reasons why we’re not writing right now:

  • We’ll do it after you’ve settled in to this new job.
  • We’ll do it at the weekend.
  • We’ll do it when the kids go to sleep.
  • We’ll do it when the sun comes out.
  • We’ll do it on a rainy day
  • We’ll do it when we retire.

We all imagine a perfect time when the obstacles will fall away and Writing Will Happen.

Except We’re All Wrong

In all of it.

Too Tired?

Maybe, but remember how invigorated you felt last time you got into that flow state while writing, and the time just flew away? Continue reading “Want To Learn To Write More? Give Yourself Permission To Write”

How To Become A Highly Successful Writer

 Dancing

There’s a scene towards the end of the movie WALL-E when the captain of the only remaining human ark-in-space realizes it’s time to go home to Earth. They’ve been away for generations. By any reasonable measure, he’s been successful. His ship is still flying. His people are still alive and procreating. Everything is running smoothly.

But, in his research, the captain falls down  a hyperlinked-rabbit-hole of cultural practices that humanity has simply forgotten.

“Computer,” he says, prompted by the previous entry. “Define: dancing.”

Imagine an existence where we’ve forgotten about dancing! Would you consider that kind of existence ‘successful’?

DEFINE: SUCCESS

Continue reading “How To Become A Highly Successful Writer”