JESSICA THERRIEN

From Imagination To Publication

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

IWSG - Writing Freely

Happy new year everyone! I'm going to try and make a 2017 goal to write every day and to be a better blogger. It's so easy to shut myself away in my writer cave and be anti-social, but blogging is such a great way to get back out there, meet new people with similar interests, and help each other out. It's something I've been terrible at. So, here I am trying to do better. I'll be stopping by as many of the IWSG blogs as I can today :) ...and probably more days after that.

In my writing world, I'm mainly focusing on a new MG fantasy novel lately. After finishing up my more established series, I have to admit it has been fun sort of writing in secret. Nobody knows anything about the manuscripts I'm writing or expects them to come out any time soon. It's been very freeing. I have found myself completely okay with writing something that might be complete crap, and just pushing forward anyway. I actually completed a contemporary YA novel about a month ago, and it's floating out there in agents' hands (eeeeek!) but at least nobody is hanging on the edge of book 2 to read it...

Anyway, I guess the point of this post is that it's nice to be pushing forward fearlessly with my writing. I hope you can find that kind of freedom, too! Who cares if the first draft is crap. Get it out.

I'll leave you with an amazingly eye-opening tweet by author Anna Banks that I've been reminding myself of every night:

"Writers, if you commit to writing just 1k words a day this year, you could write four 80k word books by December 31st."

Even one page a day would get you a 365 page book by the end of the year. Let's do this!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

22 comments:

  1. How inspiring, Jessica ~ One page a day would equal a nice fat book!!! Good luck with your daily writing goal! And Happy New Year!

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  2. Happy New Year!
    All the best with your writing goal also. Keep at it even if you have to miss a day, get up the next day and keep writing.
    Shalom aleichem,
    Pat Garcia

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  3. I'm trying to get in the habit of daily writing this year, although 1k words would probably be way too much of a stretch for me :-)

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    1. 1k a day is a bit much for me, too. Even if it's only a sentence I'm counting it, lol!

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  4. I used to be so disciplined. Now I'm lazy and happy and promising myself I will finish that WIP this year for sure! Absolutely. I do write every day, but not necessarily fiction. Hope your plans work out, Jessica. Happy New Year.

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  5. I can't free write. I edit as I go. I can't help it. :)

    Like Joylene, I write every day but not always on a WIP.

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  6. Glad you've jumped back in and joined us.
    Writing with no pressure is awesome.
    Happy 2017!

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  7. It IS freeing to write without outside expectations, isn't it? I just have to be careful so I don't turn the lack of pressure into a lazy slide into not writing at all.

    Every day! Yes sirree, that's the goal for this year. So far, so good. :)

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  8. There's something called the "100 Club," where you commit to write 100 words a day for 100 days. If you break the chain, you have to start over. 100 words is a small # and often you find yourself writing much more.

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    1. I LOVE THIS!! I'm going to look into it and absolutely try for it! Thanks!

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  9. Good luck with your goals. I can't work to a word count, but I do come to the page everyday. Happy writing.

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  10. The only thing you have to do with a first draft is...finish it! Best wishes!

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  11. Your words and that tweet are quite inspiring. We do need to leave out the drama, and get back to writing.
    Best wishes!
    Heather M. Gardner
    Co-host, IWSG

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