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In: NaNoWriMo, Writing

For those of us who normally just slink off and write what we want, when we want, NaNoWriMo can cause a bit of stress. Good stress! But stress, nevertheless. I like the pressure of forcing myself to write a certain amount of words, although I’m not sure my family is so keen! (I might possibly get a little worked up or stroppy when I am behind, only mildly of course!?), but I spectacularly tanked at the beginning of NaNo this year, so I had to hide away and catch up for everyone’s sanity! I’m more or less on target now, but whether you have managedRead More →

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Having heard a few people are having problems with writing for NaNoWriMo, I thought I’d let you know a few things I have discovered this week. 1)  If you are writing on something that doesn’t count your words for you, you can use a free word counter that you can find at  http://wordcounter.net/ , or as an app on the Google Store, Amazon’s App Store if you are using a Kindle, or iTunes. You can either write in the app, or just copy and paste from wherever you are writing. 2)  If you don’t have a word processor, you could always write in the cloud. GoogleRead More →

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In: NaNoWriMo, Writing

It can be daunting to think of writing 50,000 words when you are faced with a completely blank page, and on the first day of NaNoWriMo that’s what we’ve all got. Last year, many of the sprints and challenges that are up on the NaNoWriMo site helped me a lot, so I’ve created a little challenge game for us all to see if it will make it a little less painless to start. We’re aiming for at least 1,667 words a day, so hopefully this will get us there quicker. All you need is a die (or just the ability to choose a number randomlyRead More →

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In: NaNoWriMo, Writing

I was reminded recently that it’s not just me that struggles to find time to write, we’re mostly all suffering from the same problem. Today’s world is busy, with so many things trying to compete for our time. It can be difficult to turn off notifications for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, children (OK, maybe we can’t turn off the last one, although occasionally a mute button would be nice!) But if you want to write that book you’ve been talking about for years, the time is coming when you are just going to have to. It is coming up to November – which means NaNoWriMo. IfRead More →

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Here in the UK we have had a horrendous few weeks with the terror attacks in Manchester and London and now the heart-breaking fire in the Grenfell Tower. If anything can be taken from this terrible waste of lives it is the stories of caring and hope we can take from the good Samaritans out there helping where they can. Obviously our thoughts are with those closest to these tragedies but the truth is that situations like this affect all of us in some way even if we aren’t immediately connected to the people or places where an attack has happened. Living with the threatRead More →

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So you’ve made the decision to write a book. Now what? Where to start? As well as a determination to see it through, the main things you will need to think about first of all are:- Where? What on? When? Where? If you are incredibly lucky, you will have a room where you can lock yourself away from all the distractions of the house, where you feel comfortable and can write for hours on end. Practically though, you are probably sat at a table in a coffee shop or in a corner of the kitchen while the hubbub carries on around you. As lovely asRead More →

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In: Writing

OK, I’ll admit it, the title may be a tad misleading. Unless you have a time machine it is highly unlikely that you will write a book in five minutes. However, you can write it in multiples of five minutes. And that’s the key, you just need a lot of them. It isn’t easy to find the time to write with all the other things you have going on in your day. You may be a stay-at-home mum or dad and have children to juggle or you may have a full-time job and you would like to give it all up to be a writer.Read More →

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It’s hard to have enough concentration to be able to write when you have so many distractions during the day. You can’t always be listening out for the baby to wake up or constantly checking your phone for updates and still manage to write anything worthwhile. You need a healthy dose of concentration to be able to do yourself justice and write well. But what if time just crawls by? You’re staring at the blank wall more than you are writing. You look down and realise you have written the grand sum of 4 words and they aren’t even in the right order! Imagine you’reRead More →

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In: Writing

As writers, we like nothing better than to make up stories, weaving intriguing plots for our fascinating characters. The trouble happens when that creativity leaks into our personal lives and we end up telling ourselves little fibs. A writer’s life can be lonely and difficult. It may look glamorous to those on the outside but sometimes writing can be like pulling teeth without anaesthetic. And that’s on a good day! It can be particularly bad if we are trying to fit in the writing around other things in our life whether that be jobs, children, family or something else that takes up our time. NoRead More →

How to Find the Time to Write Book link to Amazon Store

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In: Writing

For 24 hours a day you are caring for your children and unlike other jobs, you can’t clock off. The problem is, you know you’d be great at writing a book but when could you possibly fit it in during the endless round of feeding, nappy-changing, playing, bathing, cooking, housework…I could go on… My free ebook helps you to discover those pockets of time you didn’t think you had, leaving you free to write your novel. A no cost solution to finding the time to write your masterpiece. More time to write while making sure your family life doesn’t suffer How to not feel guiltyRead More →