Five Tips When You Falter

A quick bike ride will perk you up!

Five tips to help you keep writing when self-doubt or fatigue starts to creep up on you and it’s all becoming a bit of a chore:

• Read a book similar to the one you’re working on. That should encourage you to keep going. This author did it – so can you!
• If you’re at your best early on in a project, than start another one. Leave the original to one side for a while, but come back to it once you’re re-energised from getting a new book going.
• Put some music on and maybe even have a little dance. Go for a quick walk. Tidy your desk. Do a short, physical activity like those that you enjoy. It’ll brighten you up and get you into a positive mood again.
• Write something. Anything. Keeping a blog is brilliant. Sitting down to write a short post for it is a good springboard for moving on to writing your book.
• Read other people’s blogs, and see if they can give you any advice. But not for too long! Make some comments, make some notes, then go back to your own writing.

Everyone works differently. It’s a matter of trial and error to find what’s best for you. At the moment, I’m flitting between four different books and my two blogs. I’d been trying to focus on just the one story to get it finished, but that wasn’t working for me. I’m much more productive now I’ve got several things going at once.

But make sure you do something. Your book won’t write itself!