Soon it will be 2014

This year I've accomplished more than I hoped to.  I've done a lot of art.  I have a total of 16 illustrations for The Dawnshield Legends on my website and about 3 I haven't uploaded yet.  Then there's the fact that I created a website in the first place and have so far maintained it, as well as a facebook page.  I've written a rough draft for a novel.  I have a cafepress page.  Surprisingly I've even made a few sales of my work.  This year has definitely been eventful.

I'm hoping that next year will be just as good, if not even better.  Here are some of my goals for 2014:

• To finish another novel rough draft
• To fully edit a novel
• To complete 12 works of art
• To have a page for both twitter and google+
• To have a zazzle page
• Maybe set up an etsy page

Sounds like a hectic year ahead doesn't it?  I hope you all have a great Christmas with your friends and family and successful new year for 2014! :)

My Writing Techniques - Novel Planning

For most of my novels I've done a lot of planning before I write.  I've found that planning helps the quality of writing and the speed of it.  I've heard that some people write without it, I'm definitely not one of them.  Recently I changed my technique with planning my novels and I thought I'd share it with you.

My old novel planning technique:

I used to write a few pages describing the novel and then I'd convert it to a list of scenes.  When I had a list of basic scenes I would write three sentences for each one.  Usually a chapter per scene.

My new novel planning technique:

I start off much the same with a few pages of writing notes of what the novel is going to be.  These days these few pages are more structured and I have a list of questions I ask myself before getting to the next step.  Then I create how many chapters I roughly expect to have and write the list of scenes.  Now this is where it's different.  Instead of just writing three sentences for each scene I write three to five paragraphs.  Then I print a chapter per page so it is more portable and I can write notes on it if I wish.

My new method is a lot more detailed and time consuming.  The time consuming part is the only downfall.  With this method I'm able to complete a decent rough draft in two months or less and it isn't rushed.  There just isn't any sitting around wondering what to write anymore because it's already thought of, so it pretty much eliminates writer's block.

Tools of the Writing Trade - The Diary or Daily Planner

A work diary or daily planner is something useful for time management for any writer.  It is possible to buy a cheap one, however I'm going to talk about one in particular that seems to have everything a writer needs.

It's the Daily Planner from The Organised Housewife: here

Some of the ways in which this planner is useful are:

Goal setting

Every writer needs to set goals.  Maybe this doesn't seem necessary when first starting out but goal setting is a necessary part of the writing business.  This particular planner lets you write down the goals for each month and it has a checklist so you can tick off each goal.  This is useful for if you want to complete a certain amount of words in a month or edit a certain amount of chapters in a month.

Keep track of appointments

For each month of this daily planner there is a month at a glance.  This is useful for keeping track of appointments that might be necessary for a writer.  For instance you could schedule your book launch party, a book signing, a visit to the accountant and other appointments.

To-do list and schedule

Busy writers have a daily to-do list.  For instance you might want to write down how many words you are going to write that day, update your facebook page, update twitter or write a blog entry.  There is also a schedule on the left for when you are going to do these things.  This planner has a to-do list and schedule for every day of the year.

Meal planning and water tracking

Knowing what and when you are going to eat can be useful when writing.  This planner has a page each month for planning dinners as well as a section each day for planning meals.  You can also track how much you've had to drink each day.    

10 Ideas for Writing Motivation

1.  Try writing in a different place.
Try writing in a different place around the house such as sitting on the couch, sitting or lying on the bed, at the kitchen table or change the place where your desk is.  You can also write outside in places such as at a cafe, at a park, at a mall, at a library and in your backyard.

2.  Try switching the method of your writing.
Methods of writing:

• Computer
• Pen on paper
• Typewriter
• iPad
• Phone

3.  Read blogs and articles about writing.
Search for sites on google about writing.  There are quite a lot of them.  When I read these articles I always feel inspired.

4.  A kitchen timer.
A kitchen timer is a useful tool for any writer and it's something I used quite a lot these days.  You can use it to put a time limit on your entire session of writing for the day or you can use it to write quickly in short spurts.  It's useful in the way that you don't have to sit there and keep an eye on the clock while writing.

5.  Rereading novels that inspire you as an author.
It's always good to do plenty of reading if you are an author.  Not only does it inspire you but also helps understand the craft.

6.  Tidying your writing space.
A messy writing space can be distracting and stressful.

7.  Set goals for writing and reward yourself.
Set a goal to write over a span of hours or days and reward yourself at the end of it.  Or think of a reward for yourself for when you've completed the novel.  Maybe put a dollar in a jar for every 1000 words that you write and spend it when you've completed the novel.

8.  Hanging up some interesting art or other types of decoration around your writing space.
Art can be inspiring and not only that it making your writing space a more inviting place to be.

9.  Changing text size if you are using a computer or an iPad.
Having larger text makes it easier to see therefore easier to think about.  Also another idea is having your text small enough so you can fit a large amount of text on one page, even a 1000 words so it's easy to know how much you're writing.

10.  Finding a fan.
Finding someone that likes your writing that you can read it to.  That way you feel as if you don't want to let them down.

There are many more ways to find motivation to write.  These are just a few of them.

Hotel Writing .1.

For a while I hadn't been traveling but recently the opportunity arose.  I live in Tasmania and traveled to Hobart in the south of the state.  During the trip I had a lot of family visits but I also got the opportunity to write.  I thought my experience of writing in a hotel would make a good blog entry.

I stayed at The Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel.  My room was a studio apartment.  There was everything I needed; a bed, a couch, kitchen table and chairs, a built-in wardrobe, a balcony and a bathroom that had a washing machine and dryer.  There was also a restaurant and room service.  The food was amazing, some of the best hotel food I've ever had.  Their menu included a variety of food with gluten free and vegetarian options (I tried some of the vegetarian food, it was lovely).  I must admit I enjoyed the room service! :)

I brought along my laptop and ipad for writing.  I created a little setup for my writing, which was similar to my writing space at home (see photos below).  In general I found writing in a hotel to be peaceful.

Some of the benefits of writing in a hotel were:

• Not many distractions from people (unless there were visitors).
• The option of room service.  You don't have to prepare food.
• You don't have chores or work to distract you.
• The new scenery may be inspiring.

Some of the disadvantages of hotel writing were:

• It can be tempting to not bother with writing and go sight seeing instead.
• It's expensive if you go just for writing.
• Worrying about your pets being okay etc.

Overall I found hotel writing to be interesting and would like to experience it again some day. :)

I'm back!!! :)

I've been neglecting this blog.  Not intentionally.  I've been busy and I've had things to sort out.

So, for an update...
I've got an ipad.  I bought a keyboard for it so I can use it for writing.  I've tried doing some writing on it and it works very well.  It's small and lightweight so it's easy to take with me if I want to go somewhere.  I've been using it for all my writing as it is so comfortable to use.  I would definitely recommend that other writers get one!

I've got a job doing filing for a local factory.  It's part time work and I don't mind it.  I'd much rather be making a living off writing but I can't complain really because the job helps pay the bills.

I've been doing a lot of reading of late.  I've finished reading book-in-a-month.  I'll be posting a review on it here at some point.  I'll also be occasionally posting book reviews here in general as I finish reading them so stay tuned.  At the moment I'm reading Selina Fenech's book 'Emotionally Charged' and it's a lovely book.  I'm also reading the book 'The Productive Writer' and have discovered a few interesting tips in it to help with motivation.  I really need that at the moment.  After I've finished with those two I intend to read 'Memory's Wake' and 'Nail Your Novel.'

I've mentioned the title for my series of novels on deviantart.  The title is 'The Dawnshield Legends.' Most of the novels will be 80,000 or 90,000 words but some will be only 40,000 or 50,000.

I've also been doing some art and illustrations for my series and I've already started to release them.  Check out my deviantart page here: http://violetdolphin.deviantart.com/ for illustrations.  Check out my facebook page for daily or almost daily updates on my progress, my illustrations and anything else.  Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Violetdolphinart/366583413436724

Anyway, that's all for now. :)