To heck with the calendar. I know January has come and practically gone. I don’t care. My 2010 is starting…NOW.
And it’s going to be The Year of Writing a Better Novel. I’ve spent over a month trying to figure out what would be most helpful to readers of this blog, and come up with a rough plan for delivering the posts I hope you want. Here it is:
• Continue posting the kinds of do-it-yourself information that’s not easy to come by.
• Plan more interviews with authors, agents, and editors.
• Publish more posts from guest bloggers.
That’s a start. But it’s just my thinking. To get a better view, I’ve created a poll–it’s over in the right sidebar–to get your take on it. If you are a visitor to this blog, frequent or infrequent, please take a few seconds to weigh in on what would make you want to come back.
In the meantime, in my next post, I’ll offer a few tips about what’s on everybody’s mind, How to Get Your Novel Published in 2010.
Guest posts will begin in February, with Eros-Alegra Clarke’s advice for new moms on how they can get those pages done while simultaneously mothering a small baby.
“Roadblocks and obstacles” is a subject that interests me no end, by the way, so I would love it if you left a comment below with an personal example of how you manage obstacles: situational and emotional, as well as biological. How do you write through difficulty? And how have you personally–or someone you know–managed to prevail?
Inspiration! 2010 is also going to be the year of getting inspired. I need it, you need it, we all need it. Let’s explore the ways we inspire ourselves and each other.
Starting next week: Watch for video tips and new sidebar features.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post Bill. It’s interesting that you’ve been pondering the same thing I think many newbie writers have on their minds at the moment: what makes my blog different from all the rest? I love the idea of asking your readers what you should post next. That certainly feels different to me.
As for obstacles, my biggest one is fear of my writing desk. I have developed a rather unhealthy phobia of sitting down at my designated “writing desk” and writing. The obstacle is 1) psychological – sitting at the desk each day is making a judgement call about what I’m about to write, and 2) practical – I have broadband on tap, hence there are far more interesting things to read whilst at my writing desk than my own deplorable first draft.
So instead, I have taken in the last few months to doing all first draft stuff hand written in a notebook as far away from my desk as possible. I get most of my stuff written at a cafe during work lunch breaks. The writing desk hence becomes more of a revision desk – which is much more enjoyable for me.
Thanks, Mark. You’re certainly right that taking a notebook and a pen to someplace out of the house can result in an unexpected burst of new creativity. I’ve done it, but I hate the “typing it up” phase. Lately, however, my voice-to-text software can help with that–all I have to do is read what I wrote aloud. Thus…no more excuses.
Technology, in fact, has made it ridulously easy to write anywhere, anytime. But that’s another subject. So much so that I’ve started a new blog, Fictionwriter’s Toolbox, just to post about it.