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Journaling Your Book To CompletionOn any given day, how many people, events, problems, projects, family issues, things to remember and appointments are running through your mind? A LOT, right? If you're writing a book, you have to add on top of that a whole other world of characters, events, settings, plots, (if you're writing fiction) or stories, bullet points, theories and rhetoric (if you're writing non-fiction). How do you keep track of it all?Keeping a journal for your book can be a great tool. In it you can keep your outline, character details, plotting charts and anything else that serves as a guide for helping you stay on track. The following is a simple outline of headings for setting up your daily journal pages to help you with the day-to-day writing of your book. Word Goal At the top of your page start out with the date of the writing session and set a goal for how many words you will write for the day. Make the number big enough to challenge you, but not too big that you feel overwhelmed if you consistently miss it. You can also keep the word goal in line with what you're working on that day. If you are re-writing a chapter instead of creating a new one, then your word count for the day will be significantly smaller. (And that's okay!) Today's Work Will Focus On... Under this heading you will plan out what you want to handle in the session. Are you writing a dialogue where your main character learns someone's innermost secrets? Are you doing a scene setter that places the reader in the heart of your book? Are you writing a how-to chapter to explain how the reader can put to use the new strategies you've given them on how to be a better networker? Doing this also makes the word goal less intimidating because you immediately see what you're going to do with all those words! What Problems Might I Encounter? There WILL be problems--no big deal. Note what they may be so you won't get tangled up in the problem as you're sitting in front of the computer screen. Write down each one. Some examples: "How do I get my character to go from living at home to a place nearer to where all the action is happening?" "How do I introduce the character to the guy who will ruin her life?" "How do I shrink my program down to 5 simple steps that people can remember?" Acknowledging problems really helps to lessen their power over your writing. You aren't scared away from a problem so easily when you know you can come up with a solution. Possible Solutions Include... This is where you'll do a quick brainstorming of how you can solve the problem. You can try out one of the solutions in your writing session. If that doesn't work, you'll have a list of things you can try the next day. What's great about this is that you're starting to train your mind to look for answers. You'll find that when you're writing consistently, you'll be thinking about ideas and solutions all the time--in your car, in the shower, while you're taking a walk. This is really where the magic happens. I truly believe that the bulk of books can be worked out in your head--then you have to sit down and get it onto some paper! Today's Result and Where It Will Take Me Tomorrow... At the end of your writing for the day you'll want to take note of what you accomplished. Maybe the dialogue you wrote today has opened up another avenue you'd like to explore with your character. Or perhaps you've noticed a big hole in the research you've done for the biography you're writing and you realize you need to make a few more calls. I like to print out the pages I've written so I can really see and feel what I've done for the day. It makes me excited to do more. The idea here is to reward yourself for your work and also see that you have more to do. You're less likely to get writer's block if you see that you still have plenty more to say for your next session. But if you do happen to get stuck anyway, go to... Your Fun Page This is the page where you just dawdle and dream when the writing isn't quite happening. I had a page with "Acknowledgments" written at the top. Whenever I didn't feel like writing, I would go to this page and think about who I wanted to thank when the book was finished! It was fun to add names or cross them out depending on my mood! Having such a page helped me stay connected to my vision of being a published author. Your page could have the list of cities for your book tour, or notes on the introduction you would give before your readings. Keep it light, keep it fun. This way, getting to the end of your book will be a pleasure, not a struggle. Isn't that the way you want it to be? © 2005 Sophfronia Scott About the author: Sophfronia Scott, "The Book Sistah," is author of the bestselling novel, All I Need to Get By. If you liked today's issue, stay tuned for more because The Book Sistah also offers FREE audio classes, FREE articles, workshops, and other resources to help aspiring authors get published and market their books successfully. The Book Sistah, 230 South Main St. Ste. 319, Newtown, CT 06470 203-426-2036, Info@TheBookSistah.com Circulated by Article Emporium Your Book Not in Book Stores? Don't Worry Sure, we all want to look on the shelves at Barnes and Noble and see our books there. It's thrilling. But it's really not necessary. I see so many authors waste their time and money paying distributors and driving from store to store, delivering books when they should be selling di... The Published Novelist: Nine Essential Qualities So what does it actually take to make it as a selling writer? And beyond that, what does it take to ride out the tough spots in a highly competitive field? These are questions I get asked on a regular basis from readers, as well as people who are just plain curious about ... Book Proposals 101.: What Publishers Want Lots of writers like to talk about writing books. You hear very few talking about writing book proposals. Maybe that's why it's easy to forget that a strong book proposal is the first step to getting a great deal for your non-fiction book. It's where you make the big pitch and tell... Avoid Crafty Traps in Essay Writing Hidden pitfalls are on watch for your paper success in every paragraph of the essay you write. They are notorious misprints, insidious misspellings and numerous stylistic, syntax and format errors. Indeed they are your restless essay writing enemies, which are always on the alert, ... Journaling Your Book To Completion On any given day, how many people, events, problems, projects, family issues, things to remember and appointments are running through your mind? A LOT, right? If you're writing a book, you have to add on top of that a whole other world of characters, events, settings, plots, (if yo... Publish or Perish: It's Not Only for Academia, Part 1 I am the daughter of an obsessed writer. My father, a math teacher by vocation, a writer by avocation, brought me up believing that writing is a fine passion and that the highlight of a writer's life is being published. He gave me his love of the English language, great literature ... Do You Know What A Plot Is? What a plot is and what a story is can be sometimes confusing. If you think they are the same¡K They are not. A plot is the outline of your story. The story is everything included. I will illustrate the difference by asking you to visualize two pictures¡K <... Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 4 of 6 LATER, LATTER Later means afterwards; latter is the second of two things. "Later that day we went for a walk." "We have two choices. The latter is the more reliable, but the former would be cheaper." LAY, L... You Can Write Poetry Today Have you ever sat there staring at the paper, ready to write, but unsure where to begin? Want a solution that will overcome even the worst writer's block? Anyone can start writing poetry today using a few simple techniques. One, two, ...? Did you say or think thr... The U.S. Prison System The U.S. Prison System By Kenneth J. McCormick Http://aboutfacts.net The U.S. in now in the position of having the largest prison population in the world. How can this be, when we are not the most populous country? Well there could be many reasons for this... Top Ten Tips (Part 2) Golden Rules For New Writers - Things you need to know before you begin. Rules govern everything we do in life; even if those rules are of the unwritten kind we abide by them and expect other people to do the same. Why should writing be any different? I... Writing Tips - Is The Conflict Able To Be Resolved? Now that you¡¦ve made the conflict so bad it can¡¦t be resolved easily, you¡¦ll have to make sure it can be resolved ultimately. So what you need is a way out. When you can¡¦t find a way out, what you do is keep on making things harder for your character until y... Re-fresh, Re-hash, Re-write word count: 410 You are running out of ideas, you sit down in front of your computer and stare at the blank screen with a blank mind. Your fingers are idly waiting for some action. Writer's block? Perhaps. You must have an “Id... The Unexplained The Unexplained By Kenneth J. McCormick http://aboutfacts.net Life if full of unexplained things. It makes you wonder how so many things can be a mystery? Are we just not intelligent enough as a race to understand everything, or is it that we just haven't... Understanding The First Rule Of Writing—Before You Start The Great Bestseller Chaos and confusion come when established rules and procedures are not followed. Even mixing and matching systems to favor one's own position can cause a great deal of consternation. In writing a book, the first rule is to know and understand why you want to write in the first plac...
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