Friday 17 February 2023

Five More Writing Tips

5 Writing Tips

I've shared my writing tips here on the blog and I thought I'd put together a helpful compilation of a few of them




Writing to Music


I can't write in silence. I have to have music on in the background. Sometimes this is just general music on the radio but other times I use music to set the mood.


You can see my full post sharing how I use music to aid my writing here



Keep it Pinteresting


I've used Pinterest loads while writing, whether it's creating mood boards for characters or settings or plotting out the whole book in pins.


You can see my full post about keeping it Pinteresting here



Five Point Pitch


Plotting a book can be daunting but one technique I've found useful is creating a five-point pitch as a starting point.


You can find my full post about creating a five-point pitch here



Bullet Point Plot & Three Act Structure


Once you have a five-point plot, you can turn that into a bullet point plot and then a three-act structure.


You can see my full post about creating bullet point plots and three-act structures here




Daily Word Counts & Total Tallies


Motivation always seems to slip somewhere along the way of writing a novel and I've found a couple of ways to help me keep going through the tough times when the words don't want to come out.


You can see my post about keeping a daily word count and total tally here



I hope you find my writing tips useful. If you have any tips of your own, feel free to share them in the comments below :)






Monday 13 February 2023

Love is in the Air: Four Free Romantic Stories to Get You in the Mood for Valentine's Day

 

Valentine's Day Short Stories


'Twas the night (day, whatever) before Valentine's Day and all through the house
Every creature was stirring (please don't let there be a mouse to deal with as well)



If you're feeling a bit frazzled (aren't we all) but you want to get in the mood for Valentine's Day, grab a brew and settle down with a quick rom com. I've got four to choose from - and you can read them here on the blog for free!


Click the covers below to read the story and enjoy!


Roses Are Pink | Jennifer Joyce


The Night Before Valentine's Day | Jennifer Joyce


The Valentine's Day Message | Jennifer Joyce


The Valentine's Day School Disco | Jennifer Joyce


If you've read all of my Valentine's Day stories and are in need of more quick fiction, you can find more free short stories here

And don't forget to sign up for my newsletter for more free short stories straight to your inbox!


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Thursday 2 February 2023

If You're Editing a Book, it's Totally Okay To...

 If You're Editing a Book, It's Totally Okay To...



Scream Emoji


... freak out for a little bit when you get your editor's feedback. My book is shit! There's so much work to do! I'll never manage to pull it into a publishable state!
Deep breaths.
Your book isn't shit.
You've got this
Dreamy

... cheat on your book by daydreaming about the next book and its irresistible new characters and plots




Coffee shop


... take yourself off to a coffee shop to write. There's no TV there. You don't have to connect to the wifi if you're really strict with yourself. It's all about lessening the distractions. It has nothing to do with the frappes and the baked goods.
Nothing. At. All



Scissors


... have a little internal weep when cutting scenes or characters you love. But all is not lost. Cut and paste is your friend. Keep those scenes/characters to use in another book where they'll fit better




Chocolate bar


... reward yourself with snacks. Gotta get that motivation from somewhere, right?




Sad face


... be a little bit sad to say goodbye to your characters when you send the book off to your editor for the last time. But also...



Celebrate


... celebrate saying goodbye to your characters when you send the book off to your editor for the last time because you'd quite happily never hear from these characters or read their story again. Enough is enough. Be gone (this feeling will pass. Probably)



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