Category: Uncategorized

Some plan before they write, and others fly by the seat of their writing pants. Whatever you prefer, you will do yourself a huge favor if you outline during your draft.

How many times have you read a draft and couldn’t fully recall all the details? If you summarize each section or chapter as you write, you’ll have a representation of your novel that you can reference when you go to edit, add, or even rearrange moments.

If you already have an outline, consider this as building on that outline, adding notes like character names, places, etc.

I also find that recording what I wrote is almost like giving a prompt for the next writing session.

This is a bit motivational, so bear with me. But it was how I was finally able to complete my first novel draft.

There is a quote by John Wooden, and if you need more motivation, just search for his quotes. They’re the can-do attitude a writer needs. Even if we’re a bit cynical and chime in mentally (or out loud) with ‘well, that’s easy to say.’

The quote goes: Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

This is the biggest block for all writers to overcome. We want our words to come out perfect, don’t we?

Here’s the truth. They’re not going to. Some might. If we’re lucky most might. But the basic fact is you will be re-reading what you wrote. You will be rewriting it. You will be changing it and going over it so many times that there is no reason to worry about finding the right words or scene. Write something, anything. And then try again.

We can always try again.

As a person who loves drawing and painting, I’m not keen on the future for the arts with the use of AI. I do imagine art will evolve and become more personal to counteract the quick and easy tool of AI-generated works. But as far as writing goes, I’ve always liked having visuals. I’ll sometimes collect a view to keep around me when I write to set the mood or remind me of the tone I’m looking forward.

In the past, I’ve used photographs I’ve taken, sketches, screenshots from movies, video games, and comics. Anything to help me focus, but even with the help of Pinterest and Google Image Search, I hit a point where I’m not finding the details I want to visualize. With AI, I can quickly create the scene I want to visualize. I can alter the setting with the weather to see if I’m placing the scene at the right time of year or day. I believe the better we can visualize our location, the clearer it’ll be for the readers, especially if we hope they’ll imagine some fantastical realm.

As a proponent of using AI ethically, I would never want to use AI art in the finished product, but these visualizations can also be the prompts to hand artists to direct them toward a clearer understanding of what you are expecting, be it cover or interior illustrations.

As someone who briefly toiled in freelance graphic work, I found clients especially frustrating when they couldn’t pinpoint what they wanted. If someone handed me AI-generated art today, I’d be pretty excited to kick its algorithm square in the A, just to defend against this push towards AI art.

In interior design, color drenching refers to painting the walls, ceilings, trim, and even items like radiators the same dark color.

You can do with your writing. We’ve all seen it done with a dark room or the opposite, with the clinical bright white of an operating room. Choose colors that trigger a mood in readers by drenching the text with a single-color palette.

For reference, here is a list of colors and the examples of their psychological effects lifted from a quick online search:

• Red: Passion, excitement, love, danger.
• Orange: Happiness, energy, vitality, activity.
• Yellow: Cheerfulness, joy, intellect, mental clarity.
• Green: Abundance, nature, new beginnings, wealth.
• Blue: Loyalty, honesty, reliability, communication.
• Purple: Mysterious, noble, glamorous.
• Pink: Soft, reserved, earthy.
• White: Truth, indifference.

You likely have your own opinions on each. You can even create contrast by choosing a color like purple and making it the main color choice of a really tacky living room. Or setting the saddest scene of your story during an orange sunset.

Being mindful of how color choice effects most readers, will help you convey your scenes and set your mood.

While I work from an outline, especially on novels, there still comes a point where my heart isn’t in whatever even takes place next on my list. I find myself knowing what I need to write, but don’t really have interest in writing it, or can’t find the right words to jump start the session.

One of the only ways I’ve been able to break this particular writer’s block is to ask myself: “WHAT WOULD THE READER WANT TO READ NEXT?”

Suddenly, the outline doesn’t matter, it goes back to that last moment and what expectations I’ve set up in the story. Maybe the reader wants to know more about the mysterious character we just met, or maybe the cliffhanger from the previous chapter shouldn’t be delayed but resolved.

Either way, just remember your reader and you’ll likely help your pacing, no matter how perfectly planned your story is, being mindful of where the reader is experience wise can help you overcome any hurdles you are facing.