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Writing Craft

Poor Personal And Creative Habits Affecting Your Morning Writing Routine

by O.J Ebubeoha February 1, 2023

written by O.J Ebubeoha

You may have heard that building a writing routine increases your productivity. What no one talks about are the poor personal and creative habits affecting your morning writing routine that could ruin all your hard work if left unchecked.

What’s Your Creative Morning Routine?

Creative morning routines are a series of scheduled creative activities you have lined up to accomplish in the morning before the world awakes and distractions filter through.

It is an effective personalized system you develop to accomplish creative goals and tick off items in your writing schedule before tackling a new day.

What Are Personal Habits?

Personal habits are things you repeatedly do that can make or break you as an individual.

You subconsciously develop these habits and they lean toward being of either good or bad influence on your daily routines.

Examples of personal habits include drinking water, meditating, and exercising.

What Are Creative Habits?

Creative habits are writing habits cultivated to foster a system that guarantees productivity, consistency, and mastery in your writing craft.

These habits are conscious actions developed and nurtured to help you grow as a writer, make progress on a steady scale, achieve targeted writing goals, build your craft, and create a routine that effortlessly blends with your daily life.

Examples of creative habits: writing/ journaling daily, researching, reading, training your focus, etcetera.

Poor Personal And Creative Habits Affecting Your Morning Writing Routine

How Does Indulging Poor Personal and Creative Habit Affect Your Morning Routines?

Unconsciously developing poor personal and creative habits bleeds into your morning routine, disrupting your workflow systems or halting it entirely.

This causes glitches that could widen over time and affect your creative capacity as a writer and derail your goals.

I have made a list of 5 poor personal and creative habits affecting your morning writing routines and obvious solutions to tackle each.

5 Poor Personal And Creative Habits Affecting Your Morning Writing Routines

Going To Bed Stressed

Stress is a trigger for experiencing burnout.

Although sometimes unavoidable, going to bed stressed is a poor personal habit affecting your creative morning writing routine.

Constantly allowing your body to stretch beyond its limits without making out time to rejuvenate and practice proper self-care will eventually force your body to repair itself by shutting down entirely. Read these 5 DIY mental wellness tips for writers.

Often when this happens, it’ll take a lot more than courage and motivation to get back into your creative routines because there’s already an existing in your routine.

This may also give rise to feelings of procrastination, writer’s block, lack of consistency, and productivity toward your creative goals.

Ensure that you practice mindful self-care routines to ease your body and mind off the stress of the day before bed.

You could make a habit of going for short evening strolls, listening to soul podcasts or music, watching a movie or relaxing comedy, or taking a warm bath.

Poor Eating Habits

Neglecting to provide the nourishment your body needs to stay active, vibrant, and productive will bleed into your creative morning writing routine.

Imagine trying to concentrate at 3 am without having had any form of nourishment the previous day. It is a disaster waiting to happen.

It will slice your concentration in half and make your thoughts erratic. The constant reminder from your growling belly will only make staying up unbearable if you do not eventually succumb to its demands and go food hunting.

Maybe skipping your meals a few times won’t degenerate into this, but consistently indulging your poor eating habits will eventually affect your creative morning routine as a writer.

Not only will indulging in poor eating habits affect your morning routine, but it could also cause abdominal and clinical problems like indigestion, and ulcers, amongst others.

To curb this habit, you can create a daily meal plan for yourself and support it with a planner or checklist to ensure you stay accountable.

Cumbersome Creative Morning Work Plan

One of the best ways to have a productive writing morning is to make a creative work plan that is achievable within your creative time.

If don’t design your work plan to produce SMART results, it will affect your creative morning routine as a writer.

Instead of aiming to write 5000 words between 3 am to 5 am, choose to add writing 2000 words to your list as your smart goal.

This ensures that your morning work plan is simple enough to stimulate your creativity instead of stifling it with anxiety. Hence, you can confidently set out to write 2000 words in two hours.

If eventually you surpass that plan, it’ll become a bonus for your daily progress.

Obeying the rules of simplicity is better. Planning for less and aiming for more is much more achievable than planning for more and achieving less.

Cluttered Work Space

Waking up to a cluttered workspace taints your creative morning. It is an absolute mood killer.

It is as irritating as it is distracting to spend part of your scheduled morning creative time trying to make room for creative work when you have handled that task the night before.

It is a poor personal and creative habit to leave your workspace cluttered and unprepared for productive work the next day.

This habit not only eats into your time, it sometimes turns off your creative flow and creates room for distractions to follow.

Always ensure to leave your workspace de-cluttered before bed, to allow you to dive straight into work when you get up in the morning.

Project Heavy lifting

A simple word for project heavy lifting is lack of a working outline.

Predictably, you won’t get any productive work done if the outline of your work isn’t ready.

Imagine scheduling to write a blog article between 3 am to 5 am, but you have no topic to write on?

Scheduling to do your project heavy lifting within your creative time will give rise to creative fatigue because you’ll rapidly stay stuck in that research cycle instead of writing, which doesn’t count for having a productive morning except that was your plan for the day.

You can avoid wasting your morning by preparing your work outline beforehand. That way, you only channel your focus on completing your scheduled work for the morning.

Endnotes:

Having a productive, creative morning is achievable when you set your priorities in order before it’s time to work.

Stop allowing these habits to ruin your hard work and bleed into your creativity.

It may seem like nothing, but a combination of two or three poor habits could have devastating effects on your productivity and consistency in the long run.

February 1, 2023 0 comment

Guests Posts Personal Development

6 Intentional Growth Strategies For Burgeoning Writers

by Toby Funsho January 27, 2023

written by Toby Funsho

You may have made firm resolutions to pursue intentional growth as a writer this New Year. To achieve that, you will need new intentional growth strategies and a plan to elevate yourself, even as a burgeoning writer.

A lot happened in the last year. You probably were inconsistent, lacked motivation, were less productive, and feel concerned about your efforts.

It’s also understandable that even with a firm resolution carved in stone, you still have no idea how to grow as a burgeoning writer this New Year.

I have outlined six growth strategies to help you succeed effortlessly and fall in love with your writing journey again.

Six Growth Strategies For Burgeoning Writers

Have The Right Mindset

The idea of growth first blossoms in your mind.

With a defeated mindset, it is impossible to hold your conviction on any possibility of growth and success with your writing. You need to develop a positive growth mindset to conquer the battle of the mind.

Sporting a negative growth mindset already defeated the aim of success before writers even encounter real challenges. So, settle in your mind that you will excel, irrespective of your challenges.

Encourage yourself to find conviction in the conscious, positive steps you are taking to keep improving and getting better.

Manifesting affirmative words is important to help your subconscious mind align with your growth mindset because if you can see it, you can be it.

Be Authentic

Be you! Your writing skills are so unique to you alone. Do not act like somebody else, because no one can write as powerfully as you can.

You’d love yourself even more if you discovered what distinguishes you from every other writer. Do not allow the success of other writers to intimidate you, rather, challenge yourself to strive for excellence!

Show up as your authentic self, and your readers, who can see through any facade of pretense, would love you for who you are.

With authenticity and an aura of originality, in your writing, you can shine in your natural habitat, so find the niche you love passionately and serve your audience.

6 Intentional Growth Strategies For Burgeoning Writers

Enjoy The Process

Most writers are only interested in the results. 1000 YouTube subscribers in a month. 12k followers and over 100k in sales of books in the shortest time possible.

You can’t skip the process and expect to get the same results.

Growth takes time. The process is tedious and gets boring along the way sometimes. However, if you can follow through, the results will amaze you.

What do you do on those long, lonely nights? With several rejections and rejected manuscripts.

Your goals may not manifest within one month of intentionality. It’s going to take time. And if all your fixation and obsession is on results only, you will become frustrated and anxious.

But when you are obsessed with the process, your efforts will cumulatively pay forward. So, go with the flow!

Start with picking a niche that resonates with you, such that when you hit a wall in your writing journey, you can still hang in there.

Show Up Consistently

Consistency is a skill you must learn now. It does not mean showing up every day. It is showing up on the days you have agreed to show up for your brand.

It means embodying discipline as a life principle to help you stay focused on your commitments and goals for yourself as a burgeoning writer.

The more you show up, the more you are present in the minds of your audience, and the more they’ll come to like and trust you.

Develop Your Writing Skills

Developing your writing skills is the most important strategy of all. Learning never ends. So, stay on top of your game as a writer.

Constantly practicing and implementing what you’ve learned will set you up for success and set you apart from the crowd.

Read books, take up writing courses, and read blog posts. Just stay up to date, not just so you can have contents to churn out to your audience, but for you.

First, grow for yourself before anyone else. So, this year, plan to invest in yourself.

Find A Community

To grow faster, belong to a community of creatives.

When you find a community that aligns with your needs as a burgeoning writer, it makes your writing process a lot easier and enjoyable.

Writing communities are significant and helpful in all areas. There are knowledgeable individuals in these communities who are ready to guide you through your journey, those on the same level as you, and even those with whom you are more knowledgeable.

A community provides you with opportunities and keeps you from slacking if you’re actively involved. You will also have people who encourage you to keep on track.

Being among people journeying to the same place as you help focus your mind, motivate, and fuel your drive, rather than trying to figure things out on your own.

Endnotes

If you are already familiar with these strategies, please keep at them. If you are not, then re-read this and get to work.

I hope to see you excel this year beyond the previous years. You can do it. And like my friend Jane always says, ‘I’m rooting for you!’

January 27, 2023 2 comments

Creative Writing Personal Development

10 Unique Ways to Improve Your Writing Skill

by Fausat Abiola January 23, 2023

written by Fausat Abiola

Writing is an artistic expression, and there are unique ways to improve your writing skill.

Another widely held definition is that writing is an effective way of communication.

Excellent writing skills are to a writer what oxygen is to a human being, because just as we wouldn’t be able to live and function without air, a writer wouldn’t get very far without solid writing abilities.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to boost your writing skill without effort, personal development, and practice.

Even if you have a natural talent for writing, you still need to put in the time and effort to become proficient at it before making a career out of it.

Improving your writing skills takes time, effort, and determination. It also demands constant learning, consistency, and practice.

Although there may not be a fast route to becoming a better writer, there are unique ways to improve your writing skills and hone your craft. This article explores 10 unique ways to improve your writing skills.

The Importance Of Developing Your Writing Skills

Writing is often the first impression your readers have of you.

The imprint you leave in their mind about your style begins with your written word because so many of your readers first encounter you through your writing, even before they meet you in person.

When you write poorly, they may conclude on your level of intelligence and professionalism based on the errors you have made or the disorganization of your thoughts on paper.

In essence, people will judge you by your writing, so clear writing will genuinely increase your chances of success.

10 Unique Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills

Master Your Language

Become fluent in the language you plan to write in.

Perhaps you have a decent grasp of the language for purposes, such as talking to people and reading the news. However, the ability to write well is technical.

So, learning the language thoroughly involves understanding sentence construction, selecting appropriate words, and using them correctly. Here are 7 top-read books to help you master your creative language.

Read A lot

Reading is a unique way to improve your writing skill. You can learn so much from reading widely.

Challenge yourself to read any kind of writing, including but not limited to print media, online content, and oral histories. When you take up reading as a hobby, you will find an abundance of books to choose from.

You can benefit in various ways by reading because there are many types of writing that you will encounter. It also improves your vocabulary and fills your knowledge bank with fascinating information about the craft of writing.

10 Unique Ways to Improve Your Writing Skill

Get Used To Proofreading Tools

Even the most seasoned authors occasionally make a few mistakes in their writing.

As we have already established, these blunders can detract from your message and lead your reader to form unfavorable opinions of you.

Get the help you need from Grammarly or ProWritingAid to ensure that your writing is free of typos, grammatical errors, and style blunders.

Familiarize Yourself With The Basic Principles Of Writing

You can trace writers’ success to understanding and implementing the rudimental rules of writing because, when you master the basic art of writing, it becomes second nature to you.

Your writing style and voice will grow.

Every proficient author has handy – a copy of “The Elements of Style” and a good dictionary.

I highly recommended that you get familiar with, know how to use, and frequently refer to these style guides, though you do not necessarily need to learn all the intricacies of these stylebooks. Read Understanding the Basic elements of creative writing.

Make Your Message Clear

Think about why you want to write about a topic. What do you want people to get out of reading your piece?

Try putting your message into a 40-second “elevator pitch” that explains what you want to say with your writing. Work on this speech until you have got it down.

Developing message clarity before writing saves time and wasted effort.

Avoid Using Unnecessarily Complicated Language

Avoid using complex terms when simpler words would suffice. To what extent, for instance, is the word “municipality” required when “city” or “town” would suffice?

Note that your goal should not be to impress your readers with how knowledgeable you are, but to teach them something new. Your words should be as simple as possible.

Acknowledge That First Drafts Are Often Subpar

It’s not easy to put words on paper. It’s not something you can achieve in one swift motion; Rather, it’s a lengthy process. A draft is the first version of something that you will improve upon before publishing.

The quality of most first drafts is often low and terrible, so acknowledging it while preparing for an epic editing battle is a great way to hone your writing skills. Read 6 creative ways to write consistently.

Be A Ruthless Editor

Editing and proofreading are musts before submitting any written work. Acting as your greatest critic is important. If you can shorten a sentence without changing the rhythm or the content, do so as you read through your drafts.

It’s natural and unavoidable to develop a romantic attachment to your work. Editing ruthlessly will help you observe glaring errors in your work and how to improve on them.

Anticipate Your Audience’s Questions

It’s helpful to imagine the kinds of questions your readers may have if you were having a casual chat with them about the topic you’re working on.

When writing about your experiences, knowledge, and viewpoints, anticipate the questions they could have so you can answer them thoroughly in your article.

Show Your Personality In Your Writing

Being genuine is the best method to create a distinct voice in your writing. Use your writing to express who you are.

Use a voice and style that sound and feels natural to you. When appropriate, include a personal narrative to shed light on the topic at hand.

Endnotes

Although there is no one-size-fits-all approach to writing, developing these routines will help any writer improve.

After you have finished writing, you should always give your content a full read-through. While most of us read silently, reading aloud is beneficial because it captures the physicality of words.

Our understanding of reading is incomplete and impoverished unless we also take the time to read aloud. This trick will show you whether your piece flows well and if it keeps your readers interested.

January 23, 2023 0 comment

Effects Of Positive Growth Mindset On Your Writing Career

Personal Development

Positive Growth Mindset And Its Effects On The Success Of Your Writing Career

by O.J Ebubeoha September 24, 2022

written by O.J Ebubeoha

The best bet for any young writer venturing into the world of writing is to have a positive growth mindset which improves your outlook toward your writing journey.

Your goal plan and what becomes of the success of your writing career as a budding creative is parallel to the kind of growth mindset you have developed at the start of your creative journey.

This begs the question, what kind of growth mindset have you cultivated as a new writer? What kind of expectations have you projected for yourself?

Certain unrealistic expectations you project for yourself as a new writer will greatly affect your mindset toward building a successful writing career.

Refining these unrealistic expectations to mirror actual achievable results, in reality, is a great step towards building a positive growth mindset that will serve you long-term, keep your productivity levels at their peak, and fuel your motivation to stay on track.

What Is A Positive Growth Mindset?

A positive growth mindset is characterized by flexibility of perspective. It is a type of mindset held by people who believe they can adapt to change and shifts their focus to things that are necessary to achieve their goals.

People with a positive growth mindset view their diverse character traits as strengths rather than weaknesses and work hard to embrace their struggles with personal development, which creates room for knowledge expansion.

As a new writer, it is crucial to cultivate a positive growth mindset because it sets your writing journey apart, allows you to embrace new challenges, drives your zeal and focus, and encourages you to keep trying.

A lovely positive growth mindset quote from Thomas Watson says, “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.”

Despite the many failures you’ll encounter as a new writer, developing a positive growth mindset will help you harness that failure and transform it into a career success story.

How To Cultivate A Positive Growth Mindset As A New Writer

Your mind is the powerhouse of your creativity, and the type of mindset you have as a budding creative will greatly affect the success of your writing career.

Before diving into ways to cultivate a positive growth mindset, it is important to understand that changing from any other kind of mindset you may currently have as a new writer will require some effort.

It’ll take discipline, mindfulness, and consistent efforts to outgrow your present mindset and evolve into a positive growth mindset that’s free of inhibitions.

Here are seven ways to cultivate a positive growth mindset as a new writer.

Focus on your action steps, not the results

As a new writer, it is easy to feel pressured to jump right in and chase your goals, but after a short while, the strength to pursue that goal begins to wane.

The best line of approach to this is to focus more on your crafted action steps than on your endgame.

Keep an eye on the prize, but focus on taking it one step at a time

Understand that failure is a part of the process

Not even renowned and bestselling authors escaped this phase, so why shy away from it. As with any other endeavor, failure is a massive part of the process, and your writing journey is no different.

“Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” – Coco Chanel

Understanding that failure is a part of the process of building a successful writing career as a new writer will help you stay better prepared for when it hits and not take you unawares.

Celebrate your small wins

As with failures, you’ll also have times of triumph.

Celebrating your small wins without comparison to how many failures produced the result is a great way to cultivate a positive growth mindset as a writer.

Reward your progress

For every successful completion of an action step, it is important to reward yourself as a writer.

How big or little the reward should be doesn’t matter, what’s important is that you’ve acknowledged the progress you’ve made and that fuels your drive to achieve more success.

Accept challenges as a learning curve

Maintaining a positive growth mindset means your thinking progression isn’t linear or static.

This helps you accept new challenges as a part of your learning curve as a writer rather than perceiving it as a threat to the success of your writing career.

Know your purpose

You should be able to answer the basic question about your passion for writing, and understand what drives your need to achieve your goals.

Knowing your purpose for venturing into writing is a great motivation to stay on track and embrace all the challenges that come with it.

Ensuring that your drive for pursuing a career in writing is more internal than it is external will help you cultivate a positive growth mindset that’s free of inhibitions.

Revamp your perception

Every mindful creative understands the power of perception and the magic it creates. Perception is the reason why storytelling never gets old because it can make and break a soul.

Visualizing the success of your writing career begins in your mind. If you cannot imagine your goals as a writer, then there’s a 70% chance they may not come to fruition.

Effects Of Cultivating A Positive Growth Mindset And How It Affects The Success Of Your Writing Career

Pursuing a career in writing can be tough; still, when it comes to achieving success with your writing, it boils down to the type of growth mindset you have.

Inherently, there will always be challenges associated with achieving your goal, but it is your mindset toward these challenges and how you perceive them that affects your reactions and solutions to the,

Jack Sparrow said, “The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.”

Cultivating a positive growth mindset as a new writer is ultimately the best kind of mindset that will set your writing journey apart and propels the success of your writing career because it is unhindered by the perception of failure and challenges as a shameful roadblocks.

Here are 5 effects of cultivating a positive growth mindset and how it affects the success of your writing career

Builds Self-Confidence

The driving force behind pursuing your writing career is you. The person pushing for the success of your writing career is you.

So, ultimately without a crippling personal conviction that your goals are worth fighting for, they will remain but mere figments of an imaginative mind.

Cultivating a positive growth mindset builds your self-confidence as a person first, then as a writer who understands that every journey to success is different.

The minute you begin to perceive the challenges you encounter in your writing journey as a learning curve, your self-confidence increases considerably and builds the momentum for success in your writing career.

Builds A Resilient Personality

Slow and steady wins in the race are important moral lessons for cultivating a positive growth mindset.

To build a resilient personality as a new writer, you have to embrace the notion that no two writing journeys are the same. How progressive another writer’s journey is, has nothing to do with yours.

How many times you’ve failed in comparison to how many times you’ve achieved success should have no room in your thoughts or it could be catastrophic and negatively impact your pursuit of success in your writing career.

I hope this quote by J.K Rowling clarifies a few misgivings you might have.

“Failure is so important. We speak about success all the time. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success. I’ve met people who don’t want to try for fear of failing.” – J.K. Rowling

Resilience is very important to the success of your writing career as a budding creative and cultivating a positive growth mindset is key to building a resilient personality.

Refines Perception To Change

Planning and goal setting is always susceptible to change because the world evolves and things change.

Having a fixed growth mindset on how to achieve success with your writing career is morally damaging because you are inflexible to change.

However, cultivating a positive growth mindset will help you forego the lapses in your plan and realign your goals to match current trends that will help you achieve success in your writing career.

Refining your perception to change is an important advantage of cultivating a positive growth mindset, and helps you tailor your expectations to match your current reality.

Increases Productivity

When your mindset is not tamed by the fear of failure, or caged by the fixed perceptions of negative and positive outcomes, you become more productive in the pursuit of success in your writing career.

Untaming the wild side of your imaginative creativity will help you find diversity in your pursuits at every challenging step. No longer will you have to feel ashamed of your failure but embrace it as a part of the process.

Your productivity levels will greatly improve as a young writer who visualizes failure as a podium for growth. This projects a positive outlook and keeps you right on track for achieving success with your writing career.

Increases Motivation and Encourages Consistency

One of the earliest drivers of any goal plan is motivation. It may not be the key ingredient to achieving that goal plan but it is the sauce that spices up 50% of the process and gets you out of bed in the morning.

Consistency also plays a key role in achieving your goals alongside motivation but the trigger that activates these powerful feelings in you is your mindset.

When you approach the pursuit of success with your writing career from the standpoint of a person with a fixed or negative mindset, you are easily discouraged by tumultuous circumstances in your journey.

However, when you approach it from the flexible standpoint of a person with a positive growth mindset, these challenges will add more color to your process, spark your creativity, increase your problem-solving skills, and fuel your desire to keep moving.

Endnotes

Cultivating a positive growth mindset is important to your personal development as a new writer.

With so much to learn and even more challenges to tackle, there is a need to embrace the flexibilities that come with having a positive growth mindset.

Change is scary and takes time to adjust, but the achievable results of cultivating this type of mindset are far better than dwelling on things that aren’t sustainable.

Roy T. Bennett said it better. “Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.”

September 24, 2022 0 comment

Creative Writing

Mastering The Basic Elements Of Creative Writing As A New Writer

by Fausat Abiola September 23, 2022

written by Fausat Abiola

Creative Writing With Fausat Abiola

As a newbie writer, mastering the elements of creative writing serves as the essential foundation for your growth and mastery of your creative art. You have a lot to learn and get right to aid your writing journey, of which mastering the elements of creative writing is one.

The six main elements of creative writing are plot, characters, setting, style, theme, and tone. More elements can be considered and some of them include characterization and character development.

Although there have been arguments on how often or not these elements should be used in writing, it is still of great importance that you understand the mechanics of these elements.

What Is Creative Writing?

Creative writing has diverse definitions, but most commonly, it is perceived as any type of writing that depicts originality and the imaginative novelty of the writer.

Usually, you can tell it by how much it focuses on narrative craft, like character development, story, and plot, and how its structure is full of imagination, invention, and storytelling.

In summary, creative writing is seen as any kind of modern, original writing that doesn’t follow any standard rules and uses a wide range of techniques. It is your way of creativity expressing ideas and thoughts that are unique to you.

Simply put, it means giving your writing your own “style.”

What Is The Point Of Writing Creatively?

Creative writing can be used in many different ways, but the goal is always the same: to show how a person thinks and feels in a way that readers can understand.

Any form of writing, from fiction to Non-fiction, can use creative writing. It helps people feel closer to themselves and to other people. It also helps people talk about how they feel in ways they don’t usually.

Creative writers need to have their own style so they can say what they want to say without being too stiff or just copying what they’ve seen or heard somewhere.

What Are The Various Types Of Creative Writing?

Creative writing can take many different forms and can be done in many different genres and styles. There are many kinds of creative writing, which can be put into two groups: fiction and nonfiction.

Some of the most well-known types of creative writing are:

Biographies
Fiction includes novels, novellas, short stories, flash fiction, and microfiction.
Speeches
Poetry and spoken word
Playwriting/scriptwriting
Personal essays
Speeches

What Are The Basic Elements of Creative Writing?

Six basic elements of creative writing generally apply to all kinds and forms of writing. They include:

Plot
Settings
Tone
Theme
Style
Character

Character

At the very least, characters carry out the plot in a story. At most characters fuel and drive the whole story. Characters can take any form or personality, they can belong to a world known or unknown, and they can be human or supernatural.

Readers are often obsessed with relatable characters and become so involved in their fictional worlds that they cheer for the unlucky underdogs and hate the bad guys. So, relatable characterization counts.

Plot

Basically, the plot is everything that occurs in a story. Typically, stories have a linear progression. The plots have a beginning, middle, and climactic end.

A good plot has the power to elicit varying emotions in your readers. Your plot could leave them highly satisfied or utterly devastated.

Most writers’ exposure to stories in popular culture begins long before they start writing.

Settings

Your story setting is the place where your story happens. You can have one or more than one, depending on what your story needs. Your setting could be large, or it could be the living room or kitchen.

If you want to use this element, the best advice is to think about how a certain setting will bring out the themes in your work. Are you using a quest plot that would work best if it took place in different places?

If your story is about a character’s coming of age or personal growth, the setting will seem less important because most of what happens in that kind of story occur in the character’s mind.

Tone

The tone of your story is how you, as the author, talk to your readers about your story.

Your tone is pronounced through the words you use, the way your sentences are put together, what your characters do, and how they are described.

It is similar to the tone of your voice but in a cultured way to powerfully convey your story.

Theme

The theme of a story doesn’t have to be limited to a certain set of ideas. Your theme(s) are the larger ideas in your story, like murder, betrayal, honesty, and compassion.

Setting and theme are similar in that if you use a theme on purpose to make a point instead of because it fits naturally into your story, that piece of writing will probably fail.

Style

Style is fluid because it’s built of thin, transitory elements that are real but hard to grasp. It’s your vocabulary, syntax, rhythm, voice, and mood in your writing. It may be copied, but it’s primarily you.

It resists manipulation. Like DNA, it’s unique.

Elevated diction and specialized themes can help you change your style. Even mimicking authors with more obvious styles won’t make you a better writer.

Some freelancers claim they can control their styles, changing as tasks need, but this is a contrivance, not a change in personal style. Be authentic. Better writing is easy.

How Do You Know If A Piece Of Creative Writing Is Good?

First of all, it’s important to realize that there is no set definition of what a “good” piece of creative writing looks like.

Creative writing is, as the name suggests, a way to use your imagination to make something unique to you. It doesn’t fit into a single category, so there will never be a single word to describe the “perfect” piece.

Just think about the differences between a Gothic short story and a great Romantic poem. They are so different that it wouldn’t be unfair to judge them together.

But even so, there are a few general rules you can follow to make your creative writing as good as it can be by making it as real and true to you as possible.

As a new writer, these 5 rules will help you create exceptional stories.

Know Your Audience

All great stories start with a target audience in mind because you need to know who you’re writing for to really tailor your writing and connect with them.

So, any creative writer should plan out exactly who they want to read their work before they start writing.

Once you know this, your writing will naturally start to take shape and flow in a way that makes sense to your readers.

Craft Stories Around What You Know

Often, the best stories are ones that we can connect to and relate to in some way. Or, they are stories that seem so real that you might think the writer wrote them about his or her own life.

Now, this doesn’t mean you have to write about your life exactly, but you can use what you know about different parts of your life to make your story more relatable and believable.

Creativity Is Key

One of the most important parts of creative writing is creativity. It’s what makes you different from other writers in your genre.

This doesn’t mean you have to write a story about a completely mythical world full of strange creatures. Instead, just use your imagination to think a little outside the box and give things a unique twist.

Use literary devices like metaphors, alliteration, and different sentence structure to make your work unique and interesting.

Use Your Imagination

One of the best things about creative writing is that there are no rules about “how” to write. It’s a much more subjective genre that depends a lot on how you see things.

So, you should use all of your creativity to see what the end result could be. Some of the most interesting works of literature make us think or make us question the writing or the world around us.

Where could your story take us?

Plan A Loose Story Arc

Even though creative writing has few rules, it’s still a good idea to plan a loose story arc for any piece of writing you make.

Story arcs are important because they give your writing direction and purpose. They also help you write the whole piece at a good pace without wasting time or writing “waffle.”

If you follow your story arc, your writing will have a strong structure, pace, and direction, which will keep your readers more interested.

Endnotes

Creative writing is a literary genre that encourages you as an author to express yourself through personal experience and insight into a topic or theme.

It breaks all the rules of other styles of writing because it is based only on the reader’s tastes and experiences.

If you want to start a career in creative writing, you should immerse yourself as much as possible in the literary world by reading widely and writing frequently.

September 23, 2022 0 comment

Creative Writing Guests Posts

5 Reasons You Are Stuck Writing Your First Book As A Newbie Writer

by Toby Funsho September 21, 2022

written by Toby Funsho

The idea of writing a book has been idealized even among newbie writers as the greatest goldmine, yet there are several reasons you are stuck writing your first book and unable to live that dream.

Capturing your ideas, experiences, and knowledge into a book poses you as knowledgeable and an authority in whatever genre you choose to write in; however, several new writers never make it past the idea stage and many get stuck writing their first book.

The excitement has worn off and pressure is beginning to set in. Some may eventually conclude that writing a book to completion is tedious, demanding, and unachievable.

In essence, they quit writing and give up pursuing their creative passion barely a mile into the race.

Outlined below are the 5 reasons you are stuck writing your first book as a newbie writer.

You Have No Writing Experience

It’s quite easy to belittle a task until you are faced with the same. ‘Writing a book is easy, you might say,’ but in reality, it’s not as easy.

Writing takes a lot of mental hard work, research, and the ability to convey your message in a way your reader understands and can relate to – that’s definitely not for the weak.

As a newbie writer, jumping to write a book because you’ve got some fantastic ideas, without first practicing how to write the right way is like putting the cart before the horse.

It’s doomed to fail! That is a possible reason you are stuck writing your first book.

Gather momentum, start with writing consistently on your social media pages, develop your writing skill, and then launch into your book project.

These simple writing habits and processes prepare you for success as a newbie writer.

Perfectionism

Being a perfectionist has its perks and as good as that may sound, it does quite the opposite in writing. As a newbie writer, your first book might not be perfect, the earlier you accept this, the better.

No one; absolutely no one had their first attempt at writing a book perfectly (that’s not an excuse to write crap though). But focusing more on polishing your book will only stall the process.

Truth is, your growth is more important and that only happens when you consistently practice. The more you write, the more you are criticized, and then the better you become.

Edit, edit, edit, and then it’ll go into the trash because you end up feeling like it’s not good enough. Do not fall for that trap and cut your editor some slack. They’ll do the perfecting for you.

Editing While Writing

Nothing slows you down or distracts you more than trying to edit while writing especially as a newbie writer. This will not only break your creative flow, but it will also take you a long time to finish your book.

It is better to take time out to write and finish your first draft before diving into editing in detail. This gives you the opportunity to capture all your ideas uninterrupted.

As tempting as it might be to jump into the editing process as you write, I advise you to quell the urge to do so, especially as a newbie, because it’ll slow down your writing progress.

Juggling Multiple Book Projects

As a newbie writer, resist the temptation to write multiple books at the same time. Taking up multiple projects gets your attention divided, drained, and confused as hell and you’d end up with half-written books.

Resist this as much as you can.

When Ideas might drop randomly as you write, store them up on your notepads or whatever device you choose and refer to them later. These ideas can be developed into beautiful and captivating stories that can serve as your next book project.

This doesn’t mean you can’t juggle essays, short stories, and articles. The emphasis is on lengthy book projects.

Lack Of Discipline

Getting the story idea or any idea whatsoever is the most thrilling part of writing a book, but soon enough the whole excitement begins to dwindle and the reality of the task ahead begins to settle in.

Every author has had to go through this, so you are not alone.

What would take you through to the end is discipline. Discipline helps you focus more on your end goal (to become an author) and less on any distractions. It also applies to your personal life. No discipline, no achievements, right?

Did you know only 80% of books started by authors are completed by consistently showing up?

You should do the same. Set deadlines — daily, weekly, and monthly and meet them. This is the best way to measure your progress as a writer.

Showing up constantly isn’t easy and requires extraordinary discipline, but when you carefully master the art of consistently showing up, completing your book project becomes achievable.

September 21, 2022 0 comment

Excel With Consistency

6 Creative Ways To Write Consistently As A New Writer

by Jane Anne August 24, 2022

written by Jane Anne

Consistency is the quality of achieving a level of performance that does not vary greatly in quality over time and there are 6 ways to write consistently.

Consistency is what gives rise to mastery in a specific area of work or group of activities performed by an individual.

To become a master at art, you need practice. When you practice often, it becomes a habit you do consistently, which will grow over time to help you gain mastery in a particular activity or group of activities.

Building consistency with your art as a writer isn’t as simple as it sounds because dedicating your time to constantly practice something you are not being paid to do yet, might become a bit burdensome and tasking.

This article isn’t about writing tone, writing structure, or plot consistency; it is simply about growing your writing mastery as a young and budding writer.

Writing consistently is one of the greatest challenges many new writers encounter because it is the only assured way to grow as a budding writer, yet the hardest to keep up with. It is easier to fantasize about becoming an author/writer than to make it a reality.

That’s why many budding creatives sprout every day but only a select, consistent few make it through.

Read Writing Habits of Inspiring African Authors

Being consistent doesn’t only apply to your writing; it is surely evident in your life. Simple instances are, going to school/work every day, getting up at 5am for that 10-mile run, cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner, caring for your teeth twice daily, and so on.

These are consistent behaviors characterized by repetitive habits you’ve grown to accept as a norm over time. So also in writing, several writing habits can help you build consistency over time.

Writing consistently doesn’t apply only when you make the decision to publish a book; it applies to you the minute you identify as a creative writer. Why? Because to get to the point when publishing a book becomes a burning desire, you must be grounded in the art of writing or your desire to publish a book may never come to fruition.

Read How To Develop Good Writing Habits As An Aspiring Author

Benefits Of Writing Consistently

Writing consistently has its perks. It is the reward you are crowned with for going the extra mile and putting in all the efforts to grow your craft as a budding author.

It Fast Tracks Improvement

Developing the attitude of writing consistently, no matter how little help fast track your improvement. The results you’ll get from showing up when it’s time to write will far surpass anything you’ve ever imagined because you are on a fast track to mastering your craft as a writer.

It Builds Self-Confidence

Showing up consistently helps you become adept at writing, which builds your self-confidence even as an unpublished author. It gives you an edge that is immediately recognizable in your craft.

It Increases Momentum

Writing consistently encourages you to trust in your skill set and pick up the momentum with your craft. It takes away your doubts and replaces them with a growth mindset.

It Encourages Discipline:

To write consistently, you’ll need a suit up in the heavy armor of discipline because without it, your drive will fizzle out quickly, and just like that, you’re back to square one.

Discipline is the driving force upon which consistency is built. Without it, you won’t make much headway in anything, creative or personal life.

Read 15 Writing habits to cultivate as an aspiring author

6 Creative Ways To Write Consistently As A Budding Author

These methods aim to help you show up locked and loaded every time, with less worry about what to write and more passion for smashing your writing goals.

You can set your writing goals daily, weekly, or monthly, or basically have it molded into your book publishing plans for a given timeframe.

However, you choose to set your writing goals, these creative writing tips will always come in handy for creative and hazy days.

Use Writing Prompts

This is basically a list of done-for-you story ideas that you can flip any which way you like and develop into any story format you like.

Using writing prompts is a great way to get your creative juices flowing in the right direction. The beauty of using prompts is that they can be molded to fit any genre you wish to in and twisted however you see fit for your characters.

The fact that it is written in a particular format doesn’t make it a static prompt. Feel free to do whatever you like with it.

As an added bonus, feel free to download my 130 creative writing prompts for fiction and non-fiction authors.

Write About Anything

This is my all-time favorite because it helps me take a break from genre writing. Writing about anything gives you room to freestyle and write about anything besides a story plot.

Smashing your writing goals doesn’t have to rely solely upon writing fictional or non-fictional stories. It can be achieved by writing about mundane things to help you unclog your mind or free your thoughts.

You might ask, isn’t that the work of a journal? Not exactly, it isn’t. Writing about anything is technically called free writing which is widely used to free pent-up creative energies swirling around in your head.

As mundane as it may sound, it could produce beautiful results that you might decide to publish as a random piece, or you can keep it locked away in your draft.

You can free write on google docs, notepad on your phone, or go old school with a notebook & pen.

It’s your choice.

Use a Story Planner

A planner is known for two things, organization, and execution of tasks in the simplest way.

Using a story planner is perfect for your writing goals. It shows a roadmap of where your story began and where it is headed. It’s more than an outline because it not only helps you write and maintain consistency; it also tracks your progress throughout your story.

Writing consistently is easier when you have broken your story into smaller chunks using your story planner. This simplifies your work and makes your writing journey less scary.

Looking to get started with a story planner? Get the Inspired Creatives Writing Planner for Your Next Book Project.

Personal Journaling

Writing in a journal is different from free writing, although you can have a separate journal called the idea book to write whatever you want.

Personal Journaling is the conscious practice of writing down your thoughts and feelings for the purpose of self-reflection. It is a habit of analyzing your thought process to gain insights into various aspects of your life. It is also a great self-help tool for personal care.

You can have a mood journal, a daily diary, a wellness journal, a self-care journal, a mental health journal, etc.

The difference between journaling and free writing is in their pattern and goals.

When you free write, there is no pattern to your train of thoughts; you get to write whatever you feel at a particular point in time. You’re basically churning out words as it comes to you at a given time. The goal of free writing is to simply write.

With journaling, there’s always a pattern. Using a mood journal means you are working on controlling your emotions, and how they affect your life. The goal of this journal may be to become less angry at the world and more appreciative of the beauty in it.

Journaling focuses on an aspect of your life, not the entire parts of it except you are using a daily journal which is more like a personal diary. Either way, it helps you write daily because a journal aims to build consistency.

Although it doesn’t relate to your story in any way, it can serve as a way to meet up with your daily, weekly, or monthly writing goals.

Do you wish to give journaling a try? Browse my categories of personal journals on amazon.

Write Micro Fiction/Flash Fiction/Short Stories

A micro-fiction piece is a story written in 300 words or less. Flash fiction is a story written in 1000 words, while a short story ranges between 1500 – 5000 words.

There are other branches like novelettes, Novella, Novels, and Books over 120 thousand words, but we’ll stick to the ones above for now.

Underestimating the power of micro-fiction is a big mistake because you can write an entire book with pieces of micro-fiction, flash fiction, and short stories strung together.

It may seem unbelievable, but it is true. It kicks even better when all the stories are written to nail down a point, a message, a theme, or for a particular cause.

That 300-word or 1000-word story you think is thrash, might light the path for your self-publishing or traditional publishing journey.

Writing any branch of these stories can help you deal with writer’s block, break patterns of monotony, give room for refreshing ideas, and help you go wild with your ideas.

Write Articles/Personal Essays

This is one of my favorite creative methods to write consistently. Dabbling into writing articles and personal essays gave birth to my Medium blog.

Writing personal essays and articles is a great way to break out of your comfort zone and write something constructive that isn’t genre based. It’s an interesting way to challenge yourself and do something out of the ordinary but still a part of you.

Being a romance author doesn’t give me much room to write about my personal feelings, but as a heavy thinker with a lot of pressure to let out, I need an escape route where I can say the things, I want without considering the rules of my genre.

That’s how I found myself on Medium, writing unique articles and essays about my life, and sharing my profound thoughts on mental and emotional wellness.

You too can cultivate the habit of breaking away every once in a while, to flex your muscles on something different, but still a huge part of you. Sincerely, you’ll marvel at the ease with which you switch between personalities when you give it a try.

Endnotes

Cultivating the habit of writing consistently is a huge part of your growth process as a budding author. These 6 creative ways to write consistently guarantee you smashing results with little stress work required.

However, this doesn’t insinuate that your story should be shoved aside because you’re smashing your writing goals with the simple tricks listed above.

You should try finding a balance between writing consistently and working on your book project.

Did you find these consistency tips helpful? Use the comment section below to share your thoughts.

August 24, 2022 0 comment

Creative Writing

Untapped Sources Of Creative Inspiration For Your Next Book Project

by Jane Anne July 13, 2022

written by Jane Anne

Finding inspiration for your next story/book doesn’t have to be a burden for you as a young creative.

There is no need to have a meltdown trying to figure out what next to write, either as a full-length story, a short story, flash fiction, micro-fiction, or any other kind of tale you’d like to tell.

You can find inspiration in everything. If you can’t, then you’re not looking properly _ Paul Smith

One of the most popular ways to gain inspiration for a story idea is through using writing prompts. Also, for fiction authors, another great way to gain inspiration is blending a mix of genres or genre-based troupes, ancient retellings, personal experiences, or imaginations to produce something exciting and freshly baked.

However, there are several other interesting sources of creative inspiration for your next book project and some of these are buried deep in the simple things you find around you.

In truth, you have to be open to seeing beyond the things around you into what could be done to make it better, that way, you get to give life to these thoughts through words.

Better yet, you could be triggered by some of these sources, and it will take you on a long trip through the paths of revelation, enlightenment, and discovery of ideas that you can spin into a beautiful story.

Here are 10 untapped sources of creative inspiration you can harness for your next story/writing project.

Controversies:

Every controversial discussion has several sides to the topic because everyone wants to pitch their voices on the matter. As a writer, you can pick apart these voices, examine the core of the discussion, take note of the effects of the controversy, analyze the people it truly affects, and what everyone stands to gain or lose in the plot. This gives you a solid outline and boom, you’ve got an inspiring idea that can be woven into a beautiful controversial story that speaks from your perspective as a writer.

Before you use controversy as a source of inspiration, you must have a vested interest in the topic of discussion, or it won’t light the spark you truly seek.

Read: How to successfully write your first book: 14 best story writing tips

A Revised Story Ending

This isn’t a popular source of inspiration for most writers, but it has its perks because you can rewrite a more befitting ending to a story you love using your characters, plot, storyline, and theme.

Imagine writing a revised ending to a folktale you know in modern times, using a modern setting, characters, and plot. It will be intriguing to find out what would have happened if a character in the folktale didn’t die, a child wasn’t born, the war didn’t happen, anarchy didn’t exist, or a love tale didn’t fizzle out.

This source of inspiration puts a spin on the what’s ifs and whatnot of the story you are retelling in your own words.

Read: 15 Writing Habits to cultivate as an aspiring author

A-Troupe/Genre Merge

This is a beautiful and exciting source of inspiration for new writers. Blending troupes and genre-based plots together can make for an explosive, captivating, and phenomenal story idea if constructed well enough.

I’m talking something like mixing up the romantic, crime thriller genre with rivalry, power dynamics, and the hate-to-love troupe thrown in the mix, or a paranormal, sci-fi story, where werewolves, vampires, and witches were gods of galaxies.

Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself, but you get the point now.

A troupe/story merge gives you a great opportunity to explore the unthinkable, but you have to be careful to take note of all the genre-specific details of whatever troupe you’re blending.

Read: 10 Unrealistic writing expectations aspiring authors have Vs Reality

Character Inspiration

This aspect has been greatly misconstrued as only serving one purpose which is inspiring a character from a story. However, character inspiration can mean more than that. It can inspire an entire story in itself that is relatable and beautiful.

The picture and setting behind your character can trigger something beautiful in your mind, that you can expand into a great storyline.

Character inspirations don’t have to be used only to idolize a character from a story, they could be the main inspiration behind the entire story itself.

Read: Daily writing habits of inspiring African authors

An Artwork

A piece of art hanging on the wall or in an office, or in a gallery can trigger your senses. If a piece calls out to you, listen to what it has to say, and journey with it through the brush strokes to understand why it’s calling out to you.

An artwork in itself is a story, yet there could be more underlying threads you can pull apart to see into the soul of that piece of art.

When next you look at a piece of art, try to look beyond the painting. Also, not every art will call out to you or trigger you, but when you find the one that does, open up to accept its allure.

Read: 5 Reasons why crafting your story is a struggle

A Nagging Question/Thought

There is no doubt that a lot of new writers might not understand the power of their thoughts or understand how to navigate through the chaos in their heads. Most often, a lot of new writers will discard those thoughts or nagging ideas as a waste of time, especially if doesn’t have a definite form yet.

What you may not know yet, is that sometimes, our minds are triggered by something, and because you are not aware of what the trigger is, it becomes a nagging thought in your head you want to get rid of.

Instead of casting those thoughts aside, you should take your time to analyze why you keep having such thoughts and write them down as it plays out in your head.

These thoughts could be your response to a situation or experience that has eluded you for a long time or a new idea that is formulated because of some sort of trigger.

In truth, this particular source of inspiration could mean nothing at all or be the answer to the questions you seek. Either way, ensure you analyze it first, then make up your mind on what to do with the results of your analysis.

Read: 6 Tips to deal with pressure as an aspiring author

A Rare Occurrence

This source of inspiration happens rarely. It could come from a new normal or a devastating outcome. An example of one such recent occurrence is Covid 19.

I’m sure there are several stories inspired by this rare occurrence, either by those affected by it, those still left with its effects, or people who have loved ones affected by it negatively.

A rare occurrence doesn’t always have to be negative or traumatic. So also, you can put a spin on your story about such an occurrence from any point of view you wish to adopt.

As the title righty states, it’s a rare occurrence, which means it is a very uncommon source of inspiration for the writer, yet, very powerful when utilized well.

Also, such an occurrence doesn’t have to happen in recent times for it to be valid, you can take your story to whichever era it occurred and base you’re the timeline of your story there.

Read: 8 simple productivity hacks for budding authors

Seasons/Trends/Awareness Months

There are a lot of seasons in a year, but the focus is usually on the popular, trendy ones like Christmas-inspired stories, valentine-inspired love stories, summer stories, and things like that, whereas you can make a switch to awareness/trends for great story ideas.

In every calendar month of the year, there is an awareness/trend. You can browse for the full rundown of these trends and pick out trends that resonate with your author’s brands and weave stories from them.

Some trends are significant and encompassing, while others may be pretty straightforward. Trends such as mental awareness month, men’s mental health month, etc. can be used as great sources of inspiration for your next book project.

This is not to discourage you from writing about popular seasons. No. It sells like hotcakes too, but you can make an exception now and then to write about something different.

Read: 5 Essential writing skills for aspiring authors

Watching Movies/Reading Books

A great many ideas have popped up here and there from watching a good movie or reading a good book. This will always be an evergreen source of inspiration to the writer, especially new writers like you because books and movies trigger certain emotions in you.

These emotions are what you should harness and recreate with your story plot, feeding your character’s life with these emotions.

Using emotions as a source of inspiration has its perks because you can incorporate a lot of other sources of inspiration into it. Like a revised story ending, a troupe merge, character inspiration, a new purpose, etc.

When next you read a good book or watch a movie that made you feel different, cherish that emotion and dwell on it to see if it triggers anything in your mind.

Read: How to develop good writing habits as an aspiring author

An Interesting Conversation/Life Experiences

This is a highly common but uncommon source of inspiration because I’m not talking about your conversations with people. I’m talking about conversations people have as you commute to work, stories passed around between strangers, an altercation or situation between people you’ve never met, and real-life experiences of people you bump into on the sidewalk, because you have raw feelings around it.

This is not to say that your personal experiences don’t count; they do. But, listening and watching others express themselves will always trigger your curiosity, especially when you’re left wondering how the story began.

The need to fill in the gaps in that story is where your inspiration lies. The need to understand where your story goes from where it stopped is where your plot and outline lie.

Rare and unplanned conversations can become an untapped source of inspiration to you because you will hear the unexpected and listen to stories that will make you want nothing more but to write about them.

Endnote

These sources of inspiration can be handy for you as a new writer. Mixing it in with your writing prompts can help you create a unique story that stands out in the crowd.

Also, all of these may not resonate with you, but keeping an open mind is a crucial element you should inculcate as a new writer.

I hope you’ve learned and gained value from this post? Kindly drop a comment on which untapped source of creative inspiration resonates with you.

July 13, 2022 0 comment

Writers Listen

How To Fail As A First-Time Published Author In 15 Simple Ways

by Jane Anne June 27, 2022

written by Jane Anne

I’m certain this post isn’t for you. But, if you have made up your mind to be careless with your career as an aspiring author and fail as a first-time published author, then this post was written for you.

No one wants to be associated with the term failure, the same way no one plans to deliberately fail at something.

Failure is one of the greatest fears of every aspiring author, but in truth, it will happen because of the little inconsistencies and mistakes you made with your creative piece.

If we’re honest, what makes something impossible is not our fear. Rather, it is our indifference.

― Craig D. Lounsbrough

Every creator – you and me inclusive – strives for success, and every young, aspiring, and budding author like you, dreams to become a successfully published author one day.

To achieve that status of success, you’ll have to first set up yourself to achieve those accolades and write your first book of course.

This means you’ll need to sacrifice a lot to get where you have envisioned for yourself.

However, there is a thin line between success and failure, and you could fall prey to these subtle – not so subtle – factors that will jeopardize your strive for success as a first-time published author.

You may not believe me, but it is easier to fail at being a published author than you think because writing a book isn’t about its quantity, how dedicated you were to write your story, or how long it took to finish it; it is about all the little parts that make your story exceptional even as a beginner.

So, if you wish to succeed as a published author, this post is not for you.

But if you are hellbent on committing career suicide, I have taken my time to outline 15 simple tips on how to fail as a first-time published author.

15 Simple Tips on How to Fail As A First-Time Published Author

How to Fail – Tip #1

Don’t concern yourself with writing a compelling and relatable story. Just chug out as many words as possible, slap in a few unrealistic twists, and spin your tale however you wish because that is all that’s needed in a story.

How to Fail – Tip #2

Do not – I repeat – Do not concern yourself to check for typographical errors, plot holes, timeline mix-ups, and whatnot. Don’t do that. Instead, I beg you to allow it to jump out of the pages and scare your readers to hell.

How to Fail – Tip #3

Don’t concern yourself with reworking/re-examining your first draft after you are done. I bet it is a total waste of creative energy that could be spent elsewhere, whereas, you are confident that your readers have the psychic abilities to sift through all that mess.

How to Fail – Tip #4

Do not concern yourself with making your book covers look professionally made and genre-based. It is dangerous territory to even think about it. I strongly advise you to slip on your designing hat – get one if you don’t have one yet – and design away at your will. That will surely do the trick for you.

How to Fail – Tip #5

Writing an engaging blurb is tiring and inconsequential since it just sits pretty at the back of your book cover. So, do not concern yourself with such strenuous exercise because your readers will magically decipher what your story is about from your poorly designed cover and still rush in headfirst to get your book.

Kudos to you. Your plan to fail is already in motion.

How to Fail – Tip #6

Having an online presence is tedious, demanding, and very stressful, so, do not concern yourself with making an appearance. Everyone should know – without being told – that you are an author and should be accorded recognition as such.

How to Fail – Tip #7

Formatting your book interior is for fools who have enough time to waste on futile endeavors. Why bother formatting when you can slam your words together on a page and hit the big black publish button and be well on your way?

So, avoid it at all costs since your readers will be able to navigate and differentiate between chapters on their own.

How to Fail – Tip #8

Who says creating an author’s website is necessary? To solidify your depths of failure, don’t concern yourself with having a platform to call your own. Anyone seeking to know more about you should ask around or pick up the phone.

How to Fail – Tip #9

Don’t concern yourself with marketing and publicity for your book even before you draft it. All the work is done after writing and publishing your book because the rest is up to the world to decide and your lucky charm to sustain.

How to Fail – Tip #10

Don’t concern yourself with budgeting for your book publishing project. Everything you need to make your book successful will fall like manna from heaven for your sake. Nicely thought, author.

How to Fail – Bonus Tip: Make unrealistic expectations about your published book and give up when you realize those expectations aren’t obtainable in reality.

How to Fail – Tip #11

Do not concern yourself with asking for feedback and reviews from your audience. Assume they already know what to do – like rating your book, leaving reviews, or reposting/resharing. Yes, assumption works just fine too.

How to Fail – Tip #12

Don’t concern yourself with publishing across many online platforms, rather keep all your eggs in one basket by publishing only your sites for private eyes only. This is exactly how your book will sell out on tons and make you successful and a bestseller.

How to Fail – Tip #13

Publishing only e-book copies and thinking your work is done. Do not bother about creating and publishing your story in other formats like – paperbacks, hardbacks, and audiobooks (If you can afford them) – for diverse readers and reading communities.

Rather, expect readers to change their taste in reading materials for your sake. That is an awesome idea, author.

How to Fail – Tip #14

Seal up your creative spring after publishing your first book. Do not be bothered with writing/drafting other stories to add to your portfolio as an author, because that one book will do the trick for you. If it worked for others, it should work for you too.

Keep flogging that horse. It’s worth it.

How to fail – Tip #15

Showing up on your social pages is a total waste of precious time that should be diverted elsewhere. Do not be bothered to share your reviews, story snippets, teasers, short excerpts, shares, and what not to entice your audience. Go AWOL on your audience and allow your potential audience to do the background checks themselves.

That about seals the lid on your efforts to effortlessly fail as a first-time published author which is just perfect.

Endnotes:

Writing and publishing your first book isn’t all there is to becoming a successful first-time author. There is a whole lot more involved from the minute you begin to nurse the idea of your story, writing your story, and publishing it.

I shot myself in the foot with half the tips listed but eventually retraced my steps as I learned more and gained insights into the world of writing and publishing.

In hindsight, this post was written to guide you away from self-destruction and career suicide traps you may be setting for yourself because you didn’t know better.

But, now that you know better, and still wish to go ahead with these tips, by all means, be my most esteemed guest.

Did you find this post useful? What are your thoughts on matters of failure?

June 27, 2022 0 comment

How To Kill Your Creative Passion In 15 Exciting Ways

Writers Listen

How To Kill Your Creative Passion As An Aspiring Author In 15 Exciting Ways

by Jane Anne June 20, 2022

written by Jane Anne

There are certain habits you exhibit as an aspiring author that will put a dent in your efforts and ensure your creative passion never progresses beyond the thoughts and aspirations in your mind.

Possessing the gift of creativity is not enough to develop into something more than mere dreams and wishes. It needs actions and a pattern of conscious activities strung together to give life to your passion.

However, if you want to make sure your creative passion never sees the light of day or you deeply intend to make sure nothing good ever comes from exploring your gifts, I have put together 15 exciting tips on how to kill your creative passion without stress.

To make sure you execute the creative kill plan well, try these 15 murder tips.

Murder Tip #1: Entertain Doubts

Finding reasons not to pursue your creative passion because you keep doubting your capabilities and strength is a great way to execute the kill plan.

Murder Tip #2: Accept Defeat

Deciding from the outset that your passion for writing is a lost cause, and shoving it away because you believe it isn’t worth a shot before you even try, is a perfect way to take the kill shot.

Murder Tip #3: Ignore Learning

Believing that what you know is good enough, and refusing to explore your areas of interest in writing or learning the basics and rules guiding your genre/niche, is an excellent way to swallow the red pill.

Murder Tip #4: Disregard Personal Development

As a professor of the know-it-all department, if you decide that taking writing courses, learning from the wealth of writing materials on the internet, asking questions, and being inquisitive about your art is a waste of your precious time, then who am I to stop you when you desperately want to tie the noose around your neck?

By all means, take the leap.

Murder Tip #5: Bite More Than You Can Chew

You watch how daring James Bond is in his movies and admire how John Wick is invincible on his turf, then you decide to reach beyond the skies instead of taking it a step at a time. I assure you that the kill shot is waiting to be fired.

Murder Tip #6: Don’t Ask for Help

When you prefer to do all the work alone rather than reach out to ask for guidance, you’re setting up yourself to be crushed under the weight of the work to be done.

Murder Tip #7: Become A Jack of All Trades

Instead of picking a genre you are comfortable writing in, or a set of niches to blend with your taste and style, you decide to dip your ink into everything while dabbling your way through the writing process is the fastest way to murder your passion.

Murder Tip #8: Ignore Author Branding

Refusing to acknowledge the usefulness of building your author brand as you begin your writing journey as a budding author is one of the easiest, surefire ways to shoot yourself in the foot.

Murder Tip #9: Avoid Networking Like a Plague

Instead of creating meaningful connections within your community, nurturing your audience, and building a family of loyal supporters who will help promote your author brand and literary works as an aspiring author, you choose to fly solo and avoid it all.

Congratulations on your prime efforts, it will be duly rewarded in kind.

Murder Tip #10: Keep Your Creative Passion Hidden

Harboring feelings that your passion for writing and storytelling is best kept a secret from the world because you’re scared to share your gift or scared of criticisms and backlash.

Murder Tip #11: Disregard the Importance of Research

Disregarding the most important writing criteria is an excellent way to go way over the top with your kill plan.

Murder Tip #12: Become Disillusioned by the Prospects of Wealth

Holding on to the illusion of making a million hits with your first shot at writing is a great way to prepare your mind for the imminent death of your blossoming passion.

Murder Tip #13: Frown at Criticisms

Entertaining thoughts that your work of art is a perfect masterpiece and you frown at criticism and disregard corrections, you are inevitably drawing closer to the end of the line of your creative adventures.

Murder Tip #14: Impatience

As a creative, patience is a needed virtue to attain success.

Marching through your creative journey with an attitude of impatience your creative journey will be an excruciatingly painful and bitter one.

In the long run, it’ll become unbearable and lead you to quit.

Murder Tip #15: Entertain Fear

It’s safe to say there is no need to even begin your creative journey when fear holds you back.

I guess we’ll never know how beautiful your gift of creativity would have turned out or how revolutionary your stories would have been because believed in the crusher of dreams.

Entertaining the feelings of fear does not harm you because your passion will simply remain as it was, an untapped gift.

Endnotes

The thought of exploring your creative passion can be scary and filled with a list of valid reasons you shouldn’t give your dream a shot, but there is no reward without risk and no progress without a plan.

Deciding to become an author demands a lot of commitment, courage, determination, patience, consistency, and the hunger to learn from you, which ultimately molds you for success and recognition in the world of creative arts.

Entertaining the thoughts of giving up on everything before you even try is a notion to be dispelled and repelled by your thoughts because it will surely cause more harm than good.

Your passion for creativity is a gift. Do not shove it down the drain because you’re too scared to try.

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June 20, 2022 4 comments

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