The Tidy Guide to Writing, Editing, and Publishing Your Novel

Make "Little Ups" your motto

Once you go through the five planning steps to ensure you write your book right the first time, you'll be ready (and excited) to begin writing. Writing is both the easiest and most intimidating part of being a writer. That's why so many writers start novels but never finish.

Here's where the concept of Little Ups comes in. Little Ups are small but very real achievements, and I'll show you how to use them to keep writing and slam through writer's block. Each Little Up gives you a sense of accomplishment and brings you one step closer to finishing your novel. For each writing session, you'll set a Little Up goal. Examples of a Little Up are:

· Write 100 words

· Write one page

· Write a complete scene

· Finish a chapter

· Write for 60 minutes without interruption

· Write something six days per week

· Read a chapter you've written

· Post a chapter on Wattpad

The first Little Up for any new book is to give it a working title. Once you give your book a name, you give it an identity. Every person has a name, and your book is important enough to have one, too. If you haven't already, give your novel a title and celebrate the Little Up. Introduce your book to the world by writing the title on a piece of paper and then displaying it with pride.

You're already one step closer to writing the novel. Worried that the title may need to change once you start writing? That's fine. You can always change the title later.

Use Little Ups as milestones to motivate you to stay focused. Writers, as a general lot, tend to be too hard on themselves. Little Ups help you recognize that you are making progress, even when it feels like every word you need is buried deep in a sludge pit. On those days, achieving a Little Up, no matter how small, is a great leap forward.