a wip intro by @bailey-writes

so i know these powerpoint intros are kinda outdated but…i love them so yeah

this is my current wip life and death (not in that order)

Follow me on twitter for some absolute zingers and general shenanigans 🌟

i schedule my writing time through the week. treating my writing sessions kind of like booking a doctors appointment that you can't miss or a class you have to attend, this helps me actually get stuff done. it stops me thinking "oh it's only 10am? it's only monday? I've got a whole week I could use to write" and then just... not writing because it repeats

i built a writing habit. this can be different for many people but my habit is: making a coffee, having a comfy support pillow (i need the support for my janky limbs lol), grabbing earphones and turning on my writing playlist.

said writing playlist is a playlist I out on every time i write. like chewing gum while you study and then chewing it again before you take your test - i find it helps slip my brain into writing mode.

i shut every other thing on my laptop down. i will scroll endlessly through tumblr if I have it open, so i force myself to close all the tabs and apps i don't need for writing.

if i am not vibing with it, i will go and do a boring task that let's my mind wonder. this is good for coming up with ideas/solving issues but also?? the task will be so boring or dumb that my brain says "ewww i'd rather be writing" and boom! motivation to commence word typing

as for urging myself to finish, i think about what i want to happen when i am done. i think about how satisfying it will be to finally finish the piece, and how fun it will be getting people to read it or how cool it is that i made a whole thing from a blank page!! it's all about that positive affirmation babayyy

Me neither.

And that’s okay :)

Now, this applies to me, too! I’m fully aware that I do not as of yet have a completed novel available to read. This means that, while I enjoy discussing my long-term editing process, nobody is under any obligation to take that as advice. I would hope that everybody who reads my posts thinks to themself about how they feel about my work (Is it polished? Have I edited it enough times, and with enough eyes? What have I missed?) and what it is I have done (What do my edited short stories and collections say about my overall process?) before taking it wholeheartedly as The Way Things Ought To Be Done.

And always weigh highest the advice of those who are successful in the right way, because an indie werewolf romance author who makes six figures a year under a pseudonym will have a wildly differing opinion when compared to a traditionally published science fiction author with big name recognition. If you want to be an indie-published author, the latter may not have good advice for you. If you want to write in different genres, neither might be able to help your branding. Don’t be afraid to ask directly the people whose writing, publishing, brand, or base you’d most like to emulate.

It’s okay if things aren’t turning out as well as you hoped!

It’s okay if you need to take a break from writing!

It’s okay if you really don’t like your writing right now!

None of this means that you’re a bad writer. Do what you need to do to relax and help yourself feel better. Don’t force yourself to write if you don’t want to right now.