StoryADay

In your writing practice, what counts as 'writing'? Do you give yourself credit for reading time? Revisions? Taking classes? Or do you feel guilty about now being productive when you aren't adding new words to a story? RESOURCES Does Thinking Count As Writing: https://stada.me/think Learning To Make Choices: https://stada.me/choice Writing Prompts - Scenarios: https://stada.me/scenarios Writing Prompts - Word Lists: https://stada.me/wordlists Beyond Word Count: https://stada.me/track Stay Excited About Your Writing: https://stada.me/excited Write When You Don't Feel Like It: https://stada.me/dontwanna Leave a comment on this post: https://stada.me/126  

Setting writing goals is one thing. Living with them, quite another. This month's theme at StoryADay is Goals Vs. Reality. LINKS: Your invitation to the March Hangout: https://stada.me/319hang Breaking Writers' Block ebook: https://amzn.to/2Xq13My The YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/QNfeGG6hsPA

What kind of writer are you? What kind of culture do you want to create? What kind of writing life are you aiming for? In this episode I ponder these questions and talk a little about this month's theme of Flash Fiction. And I invite you to share what inspires you, right now: https://stada.me/124 :LINKS: Seth Godin's The Big Sort https://stada.me/g-bigsort Chuck Wending's blog post about writers and day jobs https://stada.me/w-dayjob Story Review: Joan of Arc Sits Naked In Her Dorm Room https://stada.me/rr-joan More short stories:  And You Thought Your Last Breakup Was Bad: Five love stories by Matt Leibel https://stada.me/leibel Seven Stories by Alex Epstein https://stada.me/epstein Sh*t Boyfriends, stories by Kathy Fish and Dorothy Bendel https://stada.me/valentine :CREDITS: Main title music by Alan McPike: https://www.standardstrax.com/ Incidental music by Rebecca Reads www.fiverr.com/rebecca_reads

What do you do when it's difficult to write? Here's what I did this week. You can find all the links and discussion I talked about, here: https://storyaday.org/when-writing-stalls And here's the Serious Writers' Accountability Group (SWAGr) for Feb 2019: https://storyaday.org/swagr-feb-2019/      

As a writer, what do you need? Do you need a desk? A room of your own? Scrivener? A pad and paper and something to lean on? The answer is probably 'it depends'. And it's important to figure out what you need, and when.  Other writers (often in the form of writers' groups) can help you find your groove as a writer.  In this episode I talk about finding your groove, and the value of writers' groups.  

In which I encourage you to celebrate the end/start of the year however makes you happiest! If you want planning docs find them here: https://stada.me/pace If you want to set some goals for January, check in at StoryADay.org on Jan 1 for our SWAGr group. And if your goals are simply to stand in front of the mirror every day and say “I am a writer” (see last podcast for identity), that’s OK too (I suspect if you do that, you’ll end up actually writing). Other resources at StoryADay to help jump start your writing after a break: Help! I’m Drowning In Story Ideas: https://stada.me/stadadrown Does Thinking Count As Writing?: https://stada.me/stadathink

Should you focus on your goals (the outcome you want) or your identity ("I am a writer") if you want to succeed? This week I talk about the idea that it is much easier to create a good habit if you see yourself as the type of person who DOES a thing, rather than as someone who wishes they had the ability/time/resources to do a thing.   LINKS: Atomic Habits by James Clear: https://stada.me/atomic (Amazon affiliate link) StoryADay Set & Meet Goals post: https://stada.me/pace  

Encouraging you to find the creative joy in your writing at this midpoint of NaNoWriMo (or what ever writing challenge has you down), through playfulness.    Rekindling Your Writing Excitement Mid-Project On this episode of the StoryADay podcast, Julie Duffy shares advice on how to regain excitement for writing projects that have become daunting or overwhelming, especially in the context of a month-long initiative like NaNoWriMo. She discusses the challenges that appear midway through such projects, such as feeling stuck or having exhausted initial ideas. She suggests looking past perfection and focusing on progress, writing with atypical methods like longhand, and revisiting early excitement and reasons behind taking on the project. Julie also encourages exploring ways to reignite excitement before every writing session and reminds listeners of the joy and curiosity inherent in writing, urging them not to be too weighed down by the overall structure. 00:00 Introduction to the Podcast 00:13 The Mid-November Writing Struggle 00:47 Regaining Excitement for Your Project 01:37 The Challenges of Character Development 02:09 The Weight of Story Progression 02:53 The Importance of Drafting 04:07 Reconnecting with Your Initial Motivation 06:10 The Power of Handwriting 07:12 Finding Inspiration in Other Writers 08:25 The Joy of Writing 09:53 Remembering the Playfulness in Writing 11:12 Conclusion and Encouragement 11:24 Invitation to Visit the Blog RESOURCES: Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer Check out the Keep Writing Workbook from the StoryADay Creativity Bundle: https://stada.me/play

Advice about how to get unstuck when you still have 30,000 words to write! RESOURCES: Unsticking Yourself thread on Twitter: https://stada.me/unstuck Tony Conaway's article on public readings: https://stada.me/tonytalk Further reading: What To Do When You're Stuck In The Middle of Your Novel, (https://stada.me/wdstuck) from Writer's Digest, with advice from the excellent DIYMFA book by Gabriela Pereira  James Scott Bell's book: Write Your Novel From The Middle

NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writers' Month, is well underway. By this point in week two your story might have become a little bit, well, stuck. In these next two episodes I share tips and advice from myself and others about how to get unstuck when you still have 30,000 words to write!   Unsticking Yourself thread on Twitter: https://stada.me/unstuck Tony Conaway's article on public readings: https://stada.me/tonytalk Further reading: What To Do When You're Stuck In The Middle of Your Novel, (https://stada.me/wdstuck) from Writer's Digest, with advice from the excellent DIYMFA book by Gabriela Pereira  James Scott Bell's book: Write Your Novel From The Middle