Thinking about New Year Resolutions?

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Top Ten Tips for Writing a Novel

Came across these tips at: www.be-a-better-writer.com/tips-for-writing-a-novel.html and thought I would share them as they got me thinking......

1. Read a lot-both novels and nonfiction. The novels will inspire you. They will create a need to write, and they will teach you about craft.
2. Know your premise. Every good novel is "about" something.
3. Stay focused on your premise.
4. Focus on the action the character must take to remedy the situation he or she has been thrown into. First and foremost, your characters must take action as they attempt to satisfy their most urgent needs.
5. Your character's actions must force them into problematic situations.
6. Develop your plot through cause and effect. Every action the character takes will have some effect.
7. Be clear about your characters' values, as it is their values that cause them to act as they do. Give characters opposing values so that nothing comes too easily for anyone.
8. Write every day, or five days a week, even if it is only for thirty minutes a day. Writing requires discipline, and having the discipline to write regularly keeps the story percolating in your mind.
9. Write original scenes. Surprise readers and make your story unpredictable, while still believable.
10. Focus on one scene at a time, one page at a time. Before you begin writing, know what the character's goal is for that scene, and know how he or she will achieve the goal or be prevented from achieving it.

De-Cluttering Only Causes Piles....

I didn't disappoint myself last Tuesday as I had a right good clear out of old writing and other stuff I had saved. Previous to Jamie's arrival the nursery had been used as my writing room and so all my books, notes and resources are currently in there, but I have now managed to streamline at least some of them....

After Tuesday, the week then went slightly manic as I started wrapping the Christmas presents as well as de-cluttering. Currently there is stuff everywhere but I keep telling myself it is all part of the plan….. The house is not exactly baby proof so this also focuses my mind, and the need to ‘get rid’ as Uncle Dean would say. However, none of these jobs have been helped by the fact that Jamie is still teething and has also been suffering with a cough and a runny nose; leading to a few broken nights.

Hoped to get on top of the 'stuff' on Thursday, while Jamie was at Nanna's, but Kate came to check out what has been happening on FaceBook (its not allowed at their house) and once she had gone I found it very difficult to get anything started as I knew Nanna would not be long bringing Jamie back. Its nice to have friends..... The weekend came and went in a kinda blur - shopping with Daddy, visiting cousins and other housework - but yesterday I managed to get back and finish off the piles of stuff in the nursery! Looking good.....only now Jamie has started Commando crawling and we are having a carpet fitted in there on Saturday morning!! Panic!!

Looking at the calendar I/we are very busy up until Christmas, so I doubt I am going to have much time for myself, my piles and my writing. But I do feel less compulsive about the need for a tidy house and more relaxed about the future....