Jennifer is giving away a Kindle copy of The Convenient Bride to one lucky commenter here today! So over to Jennifer...
Staying Motivated – Tricks to Keeping Those Fingers on the Keyboard
Let’s face it, it can be hard work to hammer out a
novel, especially if you are yet to be published and there’s no deadline. I’ve
only been writing seriously for about four years but I realised very quickly
that I had to be disciplined for words to appear on a page. After all, there wasn’t an editor cracking
the whip waiting for the manuscript.
I’ve found three things really helped pump out the words.
Competitions
Create Deadlines
There were certainly times when I would be up at the
crack of dawn writing and wondering if this would ever be worthwhile. I can
distinctly remember doing so early one New Year’s Day, having had nothing to
drink the night before, because I had a deadline looming for the Romance
Writers of Australia 5DI program (the five-day intensive writing retreat).
So how do you keep motivated? I found writing competitions a great source of
stimulus. If you follow the Romance
Writers of Australia competition schedule it helps enormously. The High Five competition gets those first
pages polished. The Selling Synopsis competition
forces out that dreaded précis and you actually have to finish the book to
enter the Emerald Award. If RWA had a ‘cover
letter’ writing comp, you would have an entire submission package ready by the
time RWA competition season finished.
I used RWA (Aust), RWA (USA) and Romance Writers of NZ
competitions (especially the Clendon) to ensure I had solid deadlines through
the year. I also made a New Years
resolution in 2010 to enter every RWA competition with the maximum number
entries allowed – that adds up to thousands of words (you have to be in it to
win it!)
Daily
Word Goals
If I don’t fix a daily word goal, I’m definitely less
efficient. If I don’t have this written
in stone before I sit down for the day, it’s amazing what can distract me. I loathe ironing more than almost anything,
but it’s amazing how that overflowing basket can beckon when the words aren’t
flowing. But if I have that goal in my head, I don’t sleep until I reach it.
Make More
Time
My house is generally a mad house! Always lots going on. In the beginning, I
wondered how I would ever find the time and space to write a novel. So, I
created more time. I began getting up an hour and half earlier (and I’m am
soooo not a morning person). Now I nail most of my word count before anything
in the day ahead can distract me.
Visit Jennifer Around The Web:
Author Page
Blurb - The Convenient Bride:
Jennifer's debut book released by Destiny Romance.
In keeping with her
part of the bargain, Sienna travels to Venice to be with Antonio, who
introduces her to a life of great luxury and opulence. As befits the fiancée of
the famous Antonio Moretti, Sienna is given a new wardrobe of designer gowns
and outfits and instructed exactly how to behave when out in public. But after
thinking he can manipulate her at will, Antonio begins to realize he has
seriously underestimated Sienna, her intelligence, her skills, her courage –
and her beauty. Unexpectedly, Sienna gets too close and when she discovers his
dark secret, Antonio's perfectly planned life begins to unravel.
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