The Little Writer's Group

Motivation

Hello everyone welcome back! I apologize for the late update and I hope it will not take so long next week. How was your week? How are your books coming along? I'd say my books are coming along well. I'm still only on the first draft and nowhere near the climax, but we're getting there.

In the previous week we shared information about the very first books we've ever written and an idea occurred to me that we can share those stories on the Little Writer's Group. If you have your first story nearby and are interested in sharing it, pm me and send me a rewrite so I can publish it and everyone can comment on the story. Everyone's first book is not going to be extravagant to don't be scared of sharing your first book because you're worried it will be bad. However, if you are a little nervous you can decide whether or not you want me to say who the story belongs to when I publish it. I did not come up with this idea all on my own so I'd like to give credit to @sardas214 for inspiring this idea. Also if you have any ideas for fun activities to do in The Little Writer's Group, feel free to share them in the comments!

Last week I asked you all your writing struggles and said that it would be a topic for another week. However, there is a wide range of different struggles in writing so I will be spreading it across many weeks like jam on a large piece of toast. I most likely won't be able to cover everything because there's some writing problems with no solutions and there's nothing that can be done about it. In this week we will be talking about motivation and writer's block! 

Writer's block is a huge problem for every writer and sometimes all we need is a break, but what if you've already had a long enough break and you feel you are slipping behind? Taking breaks from your stories is fine, but taking breaks from writing in general could result in further writer's block. From lots of research and experience I have found great ways of curing writer's block and I hope they will work for you as well. You'll most likely know most of them but it's more of a reminder of how important they are to help with writing. Feel free to add on to the list.

-read (borrow a huge stack of books in your story's genre from the library. Even if you only read one or two paragraphs from each book, this helps a lot for inspiration.)

-write at a café (the best way for stealing side character names and styles.)

-people watch (watching people's behaviors in certain situations and transferring them to your characters can make your story a lot more realistic and relatable. Just make sure you don't look like a mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of your local grocery store because the truth is public buildings don't necessarily have shadows during the day time.)

-write short scenes and experiment (sometimes you don't know what you're capable of until you try it. While taking a break from your book, you can look up writing challenges and challenge your writing skills to better yourself as a writer.)

-change the weather (no not in the real world! I meant in your book. I've never tried this tactic, but apparently changing the weather makes a scene less boring.)

-Reread and erase the brick wall (sometimes when writing, a scene known as a brick wall escapes your fingertips and you find yourself not knowing how to move forward. If this ever happens, the best thing to do is start a new scene. Don't erase the old scene in case you realise it can be useful.)

-Go on an adventure (Go for a walk and observe the details most people skip over. Listen to the sounds of your surrounding world and make a list of everything that catches your attention. After your walk, write for twenty minutes about everything you experienced on your little adventure.)

Now that I did my best to cover everything I knew to cure writer's block it is time we talk about motivation. If you ever find yourself needing motivation to continue writing your book, come back to this chapter and read this small section. Hint: you may want to screenshot for later. *Stretches fingers.* *Clicks caps lock.* WRITE YOUR BOOK! You are writing a book from your  head with your  words and if you don't finish that book, no one will. Think about the hours you've spent typing furiously away, the time you've sacrificed to get your ideas down on paper, all the work you've been through to make it this far. You love to write and I know you do or you wouldn't be here! So act like it. Act like you are a published author with hundreds of published books and you are not going to let yourself or anyone tear you down because you are the best writer ever. Even if your writing is garbage, it doesn't matter because it is your garbage and there are people in the world who need to read that garbage. If you give up now, that will be one less competition for all the other writer's out there and what would be the point? Why quit now when you are so much closer to your goal? Don't quit. Keep writing that garbage. 

Thanking you for joining us in another week of The Little Writer's Group and I look forward to next week!

Question of the week: What instrument do you play or else which instrument do you want to play or enjoy listening too? I play the piano but I would also like to learn how to play the harp or flute.