by Katherine Reay, @Katherine_Reay
I hope you’ve had a wonderful and productive 2021. It’s hard to believe we are closing out another year and a new one is only a few weeks away.
As you think of your writing and your craft, here are a few ideas to ponder as you say goodbye to one year and hello to yet another…
- Enjoy the Journey. While we all want our stories published, we write because we love to write. It’s part of us and the joy is truly in the journey. Additionally, how you approach the journey is in your control, whereas the end destination is often not. So embrace where you are in your writing and, while working towards those next steps, smile and look around at all you’ve accomplished and how far you have come.
- Be gentle with yourself. Writing is a creative process. While we all use a series of metrics to track our progress — word count, scenes, pages, chapters, time, etc — sometimes our metrics, rules, goals, and deadlines don’t work for creative processes. They stifle the very freedom and sense of risk we are trying to bring to our manuscripts. Change them up now and then, or take a break from them all-together. Enjoy the creative process in all its beauty.
- Pay Attention. To everything. There is so much richness in the world around you, full of tension, color, details, and intricacies. As you start to notice the little things more, you find ways they can become big within your stories. Great ideas can come from a simple comment, a tiny moment, a detail you barely caught — but, thankfully, you did.
- Chase down the Muse. If you wait for the Muse to come for you, not much will happen. The Muse can be very illusive! Chase her down each day by getting to your desk and writing. Writers write. There is no way around that one. And writing begets better writing. Keep the words flowing, even if you delete them the next day… And soon you’ll find a rich story developing or an even richer one emerging from your present idea.
- Keep Growing in your Craft. Get books, follow writers on Instagram, read blogs, find a writing group, or participate in courses like one offered here at Learn Novel… Always be curious and always seek something new for both your writing and your career in writing.
Thank you all for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and Holiday Season with your loved ones and all the best to you,
Katherine
An uncovered family secret sets one woman on the journey of a lifetime through the history of Britain’s WWII spy network and glamorous 1930s Paris in an effort to understand her past, save her family, and claim her future.
One call could bring ruin to her family name.
The letters tell a different story.
But history won’t let its secrets go so easily.
Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of several novels, including Dear Mr. Knightley, The Printed Letter Bookshop and the upcoming The London House. She has enjoyed a lifelong affair with books and brings that love to her stories. Katherine has also written one full-length nonfiction work, Awful Beautiful Life. She holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University and currently lives outside Chicago, IL. Publishing credits also include Redbook, USAToday, Christianity Today and FamilyFiction. You can meet Katherine at www.katherinereay.com or on Facebook: KatherineReayBooks, Twitter: @katherine_reay and Instagram: @katherinereay.