Emily Dill

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Three Changes I Make When My Novel Writing Is Stuck (We Won’t Say Writer’s Block)

September 20, 2015 by Emily Dill Leave a Comment

If I’ve learned anything in my 30 years of life (besides the fact that baking soda can clean anything), it’s that people believe that giving something a name gives it power. Why else don’t we say Voldemort? (By the way, did you read that JK Rowling said that the ‘t’ is actually silent in his name? Blasphemy!) So I won’t say *whispers* writer’s block.

What I will say is that sometimes, things just aren’t working. And this period of things not working can seem to go on for days. Or, um, weeks. Or longer? Maybe.

I don’t have an official scientific remedy for you – you can find plenty of advice other places on the Internet or at the library. But I do have three tricks I’ve started using when I’m stuck with my novel, and honestly? They work for me like gangbusters. (Can anyone explain to me exactly what that phrase means?)

1) The first things I do when I’m stuck in my novel writing or revisions? Start writing anything that’s not part of a novel. You don’t have to stop writing just because your novel isn’t flowing. I would actually advise against that. So open the notebook where you keep that wonderful poetry of yours. Or open a new Word document and start a short story. I know you’ve got some killer ideas for a little flash fiction. Compose a haiku, especially if you’ve never tried it before. Trying new things is great for your mind. Not only will you end up with new writing projects to build your platform, put in a portfolio, or just share with your friends, but something about moving to a different writing method (or even genre) helps to slowly and quietly unlock that closed door you keep beating against in your novel.

2) The second thing I do when I’m stuck? Switch to a different physical writing method. And by that, I mean write on paper if you normally use your laptop. Or jump over to the laptop if you’re a longhander. Or you could move to Word if you use Scrivener, and vice versa. You may not think this will help, and maybe it won’t for you, but ooh boy, I tried this on a whim a few weeks ago, and I was very pleased. When I was in my teens, I did all my writing in notebooks. At some point in the past few years, I moved over to my laptop for writing. I found myself majorly stuck over the summer, so I pulled out one of my notebooks for the heck of it, and the poetry started flowing. So did the dialogue for my novel, as well as a lot of short story ideas. Plus, it felt really nice to see my words in my own handwriting again. ๐Ÿ™‚

3) The last thing you can try? Move your writing location. And how far you move it is up to you. I wrote almost my entire novel in my kitchen at our bar, and lately that spot feels tired to me. So I’ve started writing in bed, in the tub, and outside, and it feels fresher and fun again. You could also move outside the home, if you don’t normally write on the run. Check out a coffee shop, write at a friend’s house, or jot down some ideas in the car before running in for groceries.

These are three ways I’ve tricked myself lately into upping my writing output, but by no means is this an exhaustive list of hacks. Do you have any ideas for getting out a writing rut? How do you deal with getting stuck? Let me know, and have a wonderful week!

Filed Under: Blog, Writing Tips Tagged With: blogging, novel, poetry, short stories, writing, writing tips

Shoutout Sunday: Showing Some Love (03/22/15)

March 23, 2015 by Emily Dill Leave a Comment

HAPPY SPRING! Ahhhh, I’ve been waiting a while to say that. I kind of want to say it again. HAPPY SPRING! Yessss.

Today’s Shoutout Sunday has absolutely no theme whatsoever, and some of these articles weren’t even written in the last week. This is just a hodge-podge of articles I’ve read at some point in the past week that I got something from and I think you will too. Enjoy! ๐Ÿ™‚

How Kimmy Schmidt Boosted My Productivity – This post from Briana (and, sort of, from Kimmy Schmidt) has such a good message: things seem so much easier when you have an end in sight. And then, when that end point comes, you may feel like going on for longer. This is so true of writing: when I sit down and tell myself to just START a short story, chances are that I won’t get up until it’s finished.

Soozโ€™s Guide to Revisions, Lesson 1: What the heck did you write? – Susan Dennard’s site is a goldmine for new writers. So is her newsletter…this lady has so much great advice to share with those of us hungry for such, and she does it for free. She’s delightful.

Self-publishing was way easier than I thought it would be – I’m sharing this mostly because the blog post title made me feel a little better about what lies ahead for me if I go the self-publishing route! I especially love how easy Nathan makes the uploading process sound.

Submission Tip Checklist: Double-Check These 16 Things Before Sending Your Book Out – Here’s a great article from Chuck Sambuchino (actually, an excerpt from one of his books) for those of you who are thinking about sending out your book or proposal. Super, super checklist.

10 Things To Do When You Feel Like Crap – This article from Angela isn’t about writing or blogging, but it’s still extremely important. Writing can be lonely, and writer’s block can be depressing. Bad days WILL happen, and this is a wonderful list of ways to distract yourself or cheer your sweet self up. Things will get better!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blogging, book proposal, revising, self publishing

Shoutout Sunday: Showing Some Love (03/15/15)

March 15, 2015 by Emily Dill 3 Comments

I really like the roundup of links in today’s Shoutout Sunday. These links pertain to building a solid blog, writer brand, and social media following, specifically Pinterest. These things aren’t thought about as much as, say, editing or drafting, but they’re extremely important, especially if you’re planning to self-publish and have to do almost everything by yourself. Enjoy the links! ๐Ÿ™‚

How to Polish Your Writer Brand – This is a guest post on Writerology by Nicole Lโ€™autore (how pretty is that name?). I really like the idea of focusing on your personal strengths – I can’t vouch for what it’s like to have a literary agent or a contract with a publishing company, but I can share about drafting, struggling through NaNoWriMo, and figuring out launching a writer’s blog from the ground up.

10 Tips for Starting Your Own Blog – This article was written by my mother, which means I’m not at all biased. However, it is a fantastic article – she’s been blogging since it first became a “thing”, and she has tons of great advice to share!

20 Actions You Can Take to Look Like a Pro Blogger – Yet another Regina article. Don’t hate me, just go read it. I think this was orginally a shorter, older article that she has revamped and updated. And it’s perfection.

How SEO Can Work Wonders for Book Authors – Very helpful article from Midnight Publishing about SEO and making your blog easier to find in search engines. I’ll admit that this isn’t my area of specialty, so I have a LOT of article like this saved under Bookmarks. Now just to study them. ๐Ÿ™‚

How I Gained 500 Pinterest Followers in One Weekend – I don’t have a very professional “Writer’s Pinterest”. I spend a lot of time tweeting, and I’m decent at Instagram, but I haven’t tapped the Pinterest market yet, at least not in this regard. But this article from Erin Harding is very encouraging and helpful!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blog, blogging, pinterest, seo, writer

Shoutout Sunday: Showing Some Love (03/08/15)

March 8, 2015 by Emily Dill 2 Comments

Annnnnd, we’ve reached the end of another week. Today marks the end of the first full week of March – I hope it treated you well! Here in Kentucky, Elsa wreaked more havoc on us, but the weather is finally warming up, and temps in the 50s and 60s are in store for us next week. Whoohoo! (Also, happy International Women’s Day! We should all love and support each other – no more gossiping and judging, okay? Okay.)

There was a wealth of relevant information this week in the blogosphere, and I had a lot of trouble narrowing down the links for today’s Shoutout Sunday. Just how I like it! ๐Ÿ™‚

How to Read More Often AND How to Get More Out of Reading – This post is a wonderful article about reading that also happens to a) be written by my mother, and b) quote me. So naturally we’re leading with this article. ๐Ÿ˜‰ I do stand by my tips in the article though – take notes and FOCUS.

Create a Call to Action for Your Blog – I feel like I linked to a blog post from Jenny last week…and I feel like I’ll be linking to her on a consistent basis. Her blog is pure gold for aspiring writers, so explore her site after finishing this specific article.

5 Ways to Help a New Author Out – I can’t describe to you how much I love this article. If anyone in your life is even considering writing in any way, read this. And then do everything you can to encourage them – ask them questions, retweet and like their social media statuses, tell your friends about your little fledgling writer. Everyone who is beginning a writing career should print out this article and then slap their friends and family in the face with it. Lovingly.

How to Write a Novel: A Simple Process for Beating Writerโ€™s Block – This, friends, is fantastic material. Monica Leonelle describes how to start with the simplest tasks, and work your way through an outline, to a draft, and then voila, you’re almost done with your novel! Obviously, it’s not quite that simple, but she does make it seem a lot less difficult than most writers. She also references Harry Potter throughout the article, so 100 points to Gryffindor for that.

Tips For Blogging Success: The Basics Of Running A Successful Blog – This post from Career Girl Daily is great reading material for anyone considering starting a blog, or wondering how to make the blog they already maintain even more successful. Side note, this is one sleek and stylish blog.

I’ll see you back here on Tuesday for this week’s off-topic post. I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and fun week!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blogging, editing, novel, reading, revising, writer's block, writing

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