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    Write Away; A Year of Musings and Motivations for Writers
    Write Away; A Year of Musings and Motivations for Writers
    Write Away; A Year of Musings and Motivations for Writers
    Ebook174 pages1 hour

    Write Away; A Year of Musings and Motivations for Writers

    By Kerrie Flanagan and Jenny Sundstedt

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    About this ebook

    Write Away: A Year of Musings and Motivations is an essential companion for writers on their year-long creative journey. Immerse yourself in an engaging blend of monthly stories, inspirational insights, practical guidance, and expert tips designed to ignite your writing passion and hone your craft.

    From witty stories to indispensable advice, this book invites writers to not only reflect on their writing aspirations but also to take actionable steps towards achieving them. With dedicated sections to set goals, access valuable resources, and stay motivated, "Write Away" empowers you to transform your writing dreams into reality, one month at a time. Unleash your inner author and let "Write Away" be your steadfast guide to becoming the writer you've always aspired to be.

     

    "'Write Away promises to be a quintessential writer's tool, proving to be useful, month after month, for years to come.It has something useful for every writer, from the novice in the coffee shop, to the published guru sporting his or her own section at Barnes and Noble."
     

    "Sage, supportive, and often very funny, the short essays step the reader through a year of reflection and inspiration, sweetening the goals and challenges of the writing profession with vignettes drawn from the fabric of daily life.The beauty of the book lies in this ability to inspire through the everyday."
     

    Add Write Away to your cart so you can begin creating the writing life you always dreamed of.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKerrie Flanagan
    Release dateMay 24, 2015
    ISBN9781386630470
    Write Away; A Year of Musings and Motivations for Writers

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      Book preview

      Write Away; A Year of Musings and Motivations for Writers - Kerrie Flanagan

      Write Away

      Write Away

      A Year of Musings & Motivations for Writers

      Kerrie Flanagan

      Jenny Sundstedt

      Hot Chocolate Press

      Copyright © 2014 by Hot Chocolate Press

      All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

      may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

      First Printing, 2014

      Hot Chocolate Press, Fort Collins, Colorado

      Cover design by: Ania Cywińska

      www.KerrieFlanagan.com

      Thanks for picking up a copy of our book. We’d love to hear your thoughts about it. Please consider leaving an honest review.

      This book is dedicated to all the writers in our lives: past, present, and future.

      Contents

      How To Use This Book

      January

      Word for the Year

      6 Impossible Things

      Moving Beyond Want

      Staying Out of A Ditch

      Get Out of Your Own Way

      February

      Writing Naked

      Characterization with Sole

      Love Your Writing

      Delegation, The Key to Happiness and Success

      Take a Leap

      A Good Book vs. A Great Book

      March

      Awards Season

      Impressing and Agent at a Writer’s Conference

      It Takes All Kinds

      Time to Get Rid of Excuses

      No More Rejections!

      April

      Listen to Your Characters

      Help Your Garden Grow

      Branching Out

      Know Your Markets

      Journey to Change

      Use the Write Word

      Not What I Envisioned

      May

      Thanks, Mom

      Writing an Effective Query Letter for Magazines

      Redistribution of Power

      Your Writing Voice

      Oh, Snag!

      June

      Organizing Your Queries and Submissions

      Summer Hats

      18 Verbs to Avoid

      Running the Race

      Capturing the Elusive

      July

      Declaring Independence

      Can Headlines Help Us?

      Stuck in the Middle

      You Know You Are a Writer When…

      Sunshine Shouldn’t Stop Us

      August

      in Media Res

      The A Circle

      Don’ts of Querying an Agent

      Be a Good Sport

      Rising Up Above the Masses

      September

      Meet My New Boss

      Creative Space

      The Voices in My Head

      Your Writing Knapsack

      October

      Game Plans

      A Little Help from My Friends

      The Random Name Game

      Reaching Your Full Potential

      November

      Follow Your Nose

      Thankfulness

      Monet’s Vision

      Thankful for What Didn’t Happen

      Write What You Know

      December

      Making Sense of It All

      All That Jazz

      Priorities

      A New Slant

      The Tortoise or the Hare

      Shepherding Our Writing

      The Greatest Gift

      Writer’s Block Cures

      Get Creative

      Spark Creativity

      Writing Tools

      Writing Books

      Handy Websites

      Jenny Sundstedt

      Acknowledgments

      How To Use This Book

      This book, created by and for writers, combines humorous and insightful stories with tips and tools to help writers reflect on where they are at the moment and plan where they want to be in the future.

      Each month begins with goal setting and creating the action steps to achieving those goals. Goals are like a GPS for our brain. They give our brain a direction, something to work toward. When we don’t set goals, we can feel lost and frustrated.

      To make goal setting easier and more effective:

      •   Write them down

      •   Be specific and positive

      •   Set deadlines for achieving your goals

      •   Be as detailed as possible

      •   Say what you will or intend to do

      Start with a few big goals for the year (e.g., I will find a literary agent for my middle-grade novel by December). Write the goals down and post them in a place you will see them every day.

      Each month, create a couple of smaller goals related to those (e.g., Find eight agents to query). Write the goals in the space provided. Then write down the action steps you will take to achieve those (e.g., I will spend one hour each week researching potential agents).

      The idea is that all your actions reflect your bigger goals, keeping you focused and on track.

      Visualize

      Picture yourself achieving your goals. Imagine getting the call from the agent or seeing your article in that national magazine or holding your newly published book.

      Share

      Find a writing buddy. Share your goals with each other and provide encouragement and support along the way. Having someone to hold you accountable helps you stay on track.

      Reward

      Be sure to reward yourself when you have accomplished your goal/s for the month.

      As additional motivation, questions and exercises are woven throughout the book. Take the time to reflect on the questions. Don’t be afraid to write in the book in the spaces we left blank or in a special journal. The exercises are there to help you focus on various aspects of your writing and will be helpful at different times on your writing journey.

      The section in the back of the book has cures for writers block, resources, and tools to help you along the way. There is even a section where you can track submissions you send out.

      The book is divided into twelve months. It begins in January, but it can be picked up at any time of year and can be used for years to come.

      Happy Writing!

      —Kerrie & Jenny

      January

      "A professional writer is an

      amateur who didn't quit."

      ―Richard Bach

      Writing Goals for the Month

      .

      .

      .

      .

      Action Steps to Achieve your Goals

      .

      .

      .

      Reward

      Word for the Year

      -Kerrie

      At my writers group last week we talked about our writing goals for the next year. One member boldly stated that she doesn’t have any. Instead, she creates a word (or theme) for the year.

      Her word for the New Year was Connect. She planned to grow her freelance and website business, so to do that, she intended to focus on connecting with other people and businesses.

      We all loved this idea of a word for the year, so we switched our focus from goals to thinking about our own words. One member chose the word Finish. She had many unfinished projects vying for her attention, and she wanted to complete them. Another member declared Try as his word. He planned to try to get an agent or publisher for his book and keep trying to get his short stories and essays published.

      I declared Dream as my word. I like to think big, and this year I have some big dreams for my own writing and building my consulting business.

      What is your word for the year?

      Post this word somewhere you will see it every day. Get creative with colors and designs. Make it something you enjoy looking at each day.

      6 Impossible Things

      -Jenny

      It’s the New Year, and social media is teeming with resolutions. Every year, so much—well, let’s call it debris—hits the fan that we’re all ready for a clean, fresh start. And I think the global January pastime of resolution making is particularly compelling for writers. Starting a new project, completing an old one, editing, querying, classes, conferences—we have no shortage of goal-worthy pursuits.

      I usually make resolutions. This year, however, I’m trying something different, inspired by Tim Burton’s reimagining of Alice in Wonderland. Early in the movie, when Alice remarks to her stick-in-the-mud potential fiancé that she wonders what it would be like to fly, he asks her why she would spend time thinking of such an impossible thing. She can’t imagine why she wouldn’t and tells him that her late father sometimes believed in six impossible things even before breakfast.

      Near the end of the movie, as Alice battles the ferocious Jabberwocky, she gathers her courage by reminding herself to believe in six impossible things. One: there’s a potion that can make you shrink. Two: and a cake that can make you grow. Three: animals can talk. Four: cats can disappear. Five: there’s a place called Wonderland. Six: I can slay the Jabberwocky.

      She does slay the beast. Then she returns to tell the dull Seamus that she won’t marry him. Instead, she embarks on an exciting new business adventure with her father’s friend.

      Inspired by Alice’s moxie, I’ve decided that instead of making resolutions this year, I will believe in six impossible things every day before breakfast. For example:

      1.     Chocolate cures procrastination;

      2.     The New York Times bestseller list is holding a spot for me;

      3.     My desk can stay clean for longer than five minutes;

      4.     With the help of the Internet, I can master time management;

      5.     Stephen King wants to be my mentor (he just doesn’t know it yet); and

      6.    

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