Gift Ideas for Writers

One of the biggest struggles common among writers is actually finding the time to write. Whether you’re a student, work full time, or take care of a family (or even all three at once!) it’s easy for your daily schedule to fill up. During hectic and stressful times, it’s easy to go days or weeks without putting pen to paper. If you’re struggling to find time to write

Prioritize Your Writing

One of the unfortunate truths of modern life is often there are more tasks to do than we have time to do them. In fact, a common way to procrastinate a task (often writing) is to prioritize other tasks that also seem important. There’s a joke: how can you tell a writer is on a deadline? Their house is completely spotless!

If writing is important to you and you want to be writing regularly, then you need to make the choice to prioritize it. The first thing is to tell yourself, “my writing is important and is a priority to me.” Once you’ve set that in your mind, you also have to set it into practice. You’ll need to schedule writing time (more on this in the next section) and if push comes to shove, you may need to choose writing over other activities (like going out to see friends or binging TV after work). This is maybe the biggest challenge, but if being a writer is important to you, you will have to make some sacrifices to achieve that. Otherwise, you’ll keep putting off your project until “someday” when you’re less busy. For most people, that “someday” never comes unless they choose to make it now.

If you haven’t already, you should set some writing goals so you have something to work toward each day.

Set a Writing Schedule

To make writing a priority in your life, you should treat it like any other obligation. Schedule writing time into your day like you schedule your gym time, meetings with your boss, or dentist appointments. While having a consistent schedule is easiest for forming a habit, you may have to customize it to fit around other obligations. Be creative if you need to. Maybe you can get 30 minutes on Monday before you go to the gym, but if Tuesday is a rest day you can schedule a whole hour.

The most important thing to do is show up for your scheduled writing time. Don’t let procrastination or scrolling through social media steal this precious time from you. There will be plenty of other real-world “surprises” that will try to derail your schedule, make the most of the time you can claim for writing.

Become a Weekend Warrior

While “write every day” is one of the most commonly dispensed pieces of writing advice, it’s not so easily applied to everyone’s lives. The consistency of writing every day is a great way to build a habit and consistently meet writing goals, but not everyone’s life can fit in dedicated writing time each day.

When I was working a traditional 9-to-5 office job, I was often not home until 6 pm or later. By the time I was done cooking and eating dinner I had no energy for writing and often ended up watching TV just to decompress from the stress of my job. Even if I could convince myself to sit down at my computer, my mental energy was drained and I often couldn’t get much writing done. I struggled for many years trying to “write every day” but I would never be able to make it more than a few days before failing at the goal.

A writer friend of mine recommended becoming a weekend warrior–and it worked! Instead of trying to shove 30 minutes of writing into each of my weekdays, I set aside 4 hours during the weekend. Usually, this involved me going to a cafe or my local library in the morning and settling down with a laptop and my headphones to write. Long stretches of dedicated time like that made it easier for me to “unplug” from my daily life and focus on my writing project. I enjoyed the sessions even more if a writer friend was available to join me–we would celebrate our writing success by going to lunch afterward.

Many writers don’t have the stamina for hours-long writing sessions, but if you’re struggling to fit in short sessions during the week, give a long weekend writing session a try and see if it works for you.

Get up Early

Just thinking about this makes me groan–I am a night owl and getting up at a “normal” time can sometimes be a struggle. But often, the easiest way to find the time to write is to “add” a little extra time to your schedule. This technique is especially loved by parents who enjoy the quiet morning hours before their kids wake up and create a distraction they really shouldn’t ignore.

According to the early morning writers I’ve talked to, the great thing about getting up early to write is it’s almost a sacred time. If you make your coffee or tea, don’t check the news or your email, then you’re existing in a time with no outside distractions. You can just sit down and write, knowing that everything else can wait until it’s time to “officially” start your day. Plus, getting your writing done first thing means it’s less likely to be the item that gets pushed off your schedule if your day has some unexpected bumps.

Write Wherever and Whenever You Can

Sometimes life is just too hectic to schedule a proper time to sit down and focus on writing. If you feel like you can’t schedule writing time, then there are other ways to prioritize writing and make sure it happens. But it requires a little creativity.

Analyze your day and looks for moments of “downtime” that you can regularly utilize. If you commute via public transportation, that is a great time to use to do some writing, and it happens twice a day! Your lunch break at work can also be used for writing time. This works especially well if you can eat while you’re working and then really dedicate your break time to writing. If you take walks for exercise or with your dog, you can use the dictation feature on your smartphone to write while you walk. Multi-tasking for the win!

You should be prepared to write at any time because it can be hard to predict when you’ll be gifted with extra time where you’re just waiting. This may mean carrying a small notebook and pen in your pocket or purse or writing on your phone in the notes app.

Any downtime you find yourself pulling out your phone and scrolling social media is time you could use to jot down a few more sentences! So if you’re in the hour-long line at the DMV or sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, that is time you can spend writing. If you’re motivated to find moments for writing during the day, you will find them.

I hope this article has given you some ideas on how to find time to write. If you’re looking for more tips on fitting writing time into your busy life, check out the book Writer with a Day Job by Aine Greaney. Make sure you’re reading to get inspiration for your writing. Check out how to find time to read in your busy schedule.

If you’re struggling with writing in general, learn how to get out of a writing rut and beat writer’s block.

Maybe you’ve dreamed of it all your life or recently a new idea has entered your mind that you can’t stop thinking about. While the idea of writing a book or novel may seem scary or overwhelming, anyone can write! You don’t need an MFA in creative writing or a literary agent, all you need to do is put pen on paper and write your story. If you’re stalling out, unsure of how to start the project of writing the first draft of your book, follow this guide to up your skills, meet your goals, and be successful.

Step by Step: How to Write a Book

In the simplest terms, all you have to do to start writing a book is to type the first sentence. But to set yourself up for success, there are some other steps to take to make sure you’ll be able to see the project through to the end of the first (second, third, etc.) draft. Follow these suggestions and you’ll be holding the first draft of your book in your hands before you know it.

Set Up Your Writing Space

Distraction is the biggest enemy of the writer. One of the best ways to avoid this is to have a dedicated space for writing. This will help you get into the writing mindset and keep your family or roommates from bugging you as you work.

A dedicated office space with a door you can close is the dream for any writer. Make sure you have a desk and a comfortable chair. I like to sit near a window so I can stare out when I get stuck. Try to keep distractions out of the room. Your phone can hang out somewhere else during writing time.

If your home doesn’t have enough space for a dedicated office, a small writing desk in your bedroom or living room is a great alternative. It will help you get into the writing mindset when you sit down, as well as signaling to everyone that you’re busy writing.

Philip Roth exclusively worked at a standing desk when he wrote his books. Get more writing space inspiration from the writing desks of famous authors.

If space is really at a premium, you can set up shop at your kitchen table. Create a little pre-writing ritual to help achieve the proper mindset. I like to get a cup of tea, grab my favorite notebook, and put on my headphones to drown out household noises.

If you find that working at home is impossible or it’s hard to keep your family members out of your hair, a remote writing space might work better. Grab your laptop and your headphones and spend some time at a local coffee shop or the library. Keep your wifi turned off on your computer to really help you focus.

Set Aside Writing Time

Writing a book takes time. The fastest writers can bang out a first draft in a month, but it’s not uncommon for it to take months or years. To meet that goal, you’ll need to be consistent with your writing time.

Make sure to set aside time just for writing. Many writers tout the benefits of writing every single day, but that is not a requirement. Figure out a schedule that works for your creativity and your life obligations. If you work a traditional full-time job, maybe you can spend 30 minutes before or after work (or on your lunch break) writing every day. If you work better in large chunks, set aside your Sunday afternoon to power through a few hours of writing time.

When your scheduled writing time comes, you have to be disciplined. Treat it like you would an important business meeting. Show up on time. Sit down with your computer or notebook, put your phone away, and write. If you’re stuck, try some activities to beat writer’s block, but if you really can’t write you have to keep with your schedule. Even if it means you’re just sitting there brainstorming, you’ll make more progress than you would scrolling on social media on your phone.

If your life is too chaotic to schedule writing time in advance, try to squeeze it in when you can. Carry your notebook with you or write on your phone anytime you’re stuck waiting. Make daily or weekly writing goals and seize time whenever you can to meet them (more on this in the next section).

Set Realistic Goals

Since writing a full-length book can take so long, a good way to stay motivated is to set smaller goals along the way. The best way to make sure you will be able to meet your goals is to make them realistic. We have a whole article on how to set writing goals you can actually achieve. The biggest key to your success is making sure your writing goals are realistic.

While you may like the idea of writing an entire book in a month, if you can’t commit to writing 2000+ words a day, you’re going to fail that goal. Think about your writing style and how much time you can commit to writing each day, then build goals off of that. Don’t make the goals too easy, you still need a little challenge. Many writers find daily or weekly word count goals work great. Another good option is writing times. Spending 10 hours a week writing is a great goal for writing a book.

Do the Writing

This is the most important part and at the same time the hardest part. You have to actually write the book! Now that you’ve set yourself up for success, you’ve got to put your head down and write the words.

Show up for your writing time and meeting your goals, you will eventually finish the first draft of your book. To make this process a little easier, follow the next three suggestions.

Develop Your Idea

While many writers are pantsers who just start writing without any preplanning, you may find that tricky, especially if this is your first book. Spending some time brainstorming your story will make it easier to meet your writing goals because you’ll know exactly what you need to write.

There are many approaches to developing your book idea. Feel free to try a bunch of them to find the ones that work the best for you. Creating a plot outline will give you a guide for your writing sessions. Don’t forget to spend some time developing your characters (creating a character profile is a fun way to do it).

Develop Your Craft

You’ll learn a lot just from the process of writing your first draft, but you can really develop your craft by seeking outside knowledge. Enrolling in a writing program at a college may not be within your budget, but there’s plenty of options to add new tools to your writing toolbox.

The easiest and most affordable way to learn writing craft is by reading books on writing. There’s a whole variety of books with writing tips available for a variety of genres and types of writing. I recommend going to your local library or bookstore and browsing the writing section to find some books that will go with your project. You should also consider these books on writing fiction.

If you’re looking for a bit of socialization with your learning, consider joining a local writing group. This will not only give you some moral support as you write your book, but many of these groups involve critiquing each other’s work. Surprisingly, you’ll often learn more from critiquing other writer’s rough drafts than you will from getting your own work critiqued. If you don’t know any local writers, you may be able to find a group on Meetup.com.

If you think you’d benefit from a more structured learning experience, you could take a creative writing class. Many community colleges and local organizations will offer classes for a fee.

If there isn’t anything available locally or you prefer to learn at home, a Masterclass membership gets you unlimited writing classes from professional authors like Margaret Atwood, James Patterson, Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oats, Dan Brown, David Sedaris, and more.

Read!

To be a good writer, you need to be a reader. Read all kinds of books. You’ll find there’s plenty of books you need to read for research to write your book. You should also read other books in the genre you’re writing.

Make sure you’re also reading books for fun and books outside of the genre you’re writing in. Also, seek out diverse authors and voices. Variety and diversity in your reading will help you develop as a writer and avoid cliches in plot or characters.

Save money by brushing off your library card or subscribing to Kindle Unlimited.

When You Finish Your First Draft

Celebrate! Finishing the first draft of your first book is a huge accomplishment. Treat yourself to a nice dinner or a special gift. Then put your book in a drawer. You need some time away from it. While it rests, keep reading and start working on a new project. Then after a few months, when you’re ready, read through your draft and start working on the next one.

While you’re writing your new book, check out the best software for writing a book and essential reference books for writers. Take care of yourself by following these 10 health tips for writers.

One of the biggest hurdles for new and aspiring writers if getting that first publication credit. Most creative writing students aim for writing short fiction. It works well with traditional writing classes and there’s plenty of opportunities to get short fiction published. If you’re thinking about writing a short story or have one ready to send out to magazines and anthologies, this article will cover everything you need to know to publish your short story traditionally in a magazine or on a website.

1. Write the Story

This is the most obvious step, but it’s often the biggest hurdle for people who are trying to get from “I want to be a writer” to “I am a writer.” It’s easy to come up with clever ideas, the real challenge is writing them down. Set a writing goal and get your first draft done. Then celebrate with a little treat or a small gift and put the story away for a few weeks.

2. Revise, Revise, Revise

You may feel like the first draft of your story is brilliant, but to be very honest with you, it’s not. If you send out the first draft on submission there will be a lot of form rejections in your future.

This is why I recommend you put the story away for a few weeks. It allows you to look at the manuscript with fresh eyes, so you can see what is missing from the page. Rewrite your story once or twice until you feel like it is as good as you can make it. Then give it to some readers for critique. If you’re in a writing class or group, then you’re all set. Otherwise, look for friends who read regularly. Don’t give your story to your mom who will be inclined to praise anything you do. If you don’t have anyone you know to crit your story, there are many online critique groups and forums where you can trade stories with other writers in your genre.

3. Proofread

Notice how this is a separate step. That’s because proofreading is incredibly important. There’s nothing that can trip up a slush reader or editor faster than typos, misspellings, and incorrect word usage. We want them to be completely enthralled in your story, so the manuscript should be as clean as possible.

At a minimum, you should run spell check on your document and read through it again to correct any errors. I recommend printing the story out or changing the font–this small trick will make it easier to find errors your eyes might otherwise glide over. If you have a friend who is also a writer or thrives at grammar, as them to proofread your story.

You can also utilize editing software like Prowriting Aid to help you proofread your manuscript.

4. Find a Market

Now that your story is it’s absolute best, you need to find the best market for it. If you’re writing short fiction you should be reading contemporary short fiction and the magazines you’d like to publish in. If you’re still learning, you can use databases like Duotrope or The Submission Grinder to find markets that publish the types of stories you like.

Make sure to read an issue of each market you’re considering to get a sense of what kind of stories the editors publish. If all of their stories are very serious, you probably won’t be able to sell them your humorous flash fiction. Take a peek at their submission guidelines while you’re there. Many editors will list what kinds of stories they’re looking for and the ones they absolutely do not want to read. Make note of their pay rates as well.

Keep a list (a spreadsheet is great for this) of potential markets to submit to. Include details like the editor’s name, their pay rate, word count limits, open submission dates, etc. Since you may want to submit to markets that don’t allow simultaneous submissions, it’s helpful to prioritize the markets for the order you want to submit it. I recommend sending your story to more prestigious or higher paying markets first (also take into account response time) and then work your way down the list.

5. Follow the Submission Guidelines

Slush readers and editors who are overwhelmed with submissions may be subconsciously looking for reasons to reject your story. You want your story to get a fair evaluation, so follow the magazine’s guidelines, even if it means reformating your story or rewriting your cover letter.

The submission guidelines for each market will have details of how to send your story (email, submission form, etc), what format your story should be in (file type, font, etc), and what other information you should provide (cover letter, author bio, etc.).

If the guidelines don’t specify what format to submit a story in, generally it is safe to send a Microsoft Word .doc file in Shunn Manuscript Format.

If you’ve never written a cover letter before, author and editor Alex Shvartsman has a great guide.

6. Submit & Track

You’ve prepped your manuscript, polished your cover letter, it’s time to submit! Send your story to your chosen market (and if they allow simultaneous submissions, send it to a few more, too). Make sure you keep track of when and where you send what stories. You can use the trackers on Duotrope or The Submission Grinder, or use a submission tracker spreadsheet.

7. Wait

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of waiting in the writing game. Duotrope and The Submission Grinder can give you a good idea of a market’s average turn around time. While you’re waiting, this is the perfect time to start a new story or novel. It will help distract you from the waiting game and help you get another story for submission.

8. Get Your Response

If you’ve just started submitting your writing, it’s highly likely that your first responses are going to be rejections. This can be extremely discouraging, but it’s part of the writing life. When you get a rejection you should always get a reward (a favorite candy bar or other small purchase) and then send that story right back out on submission again.

Many writers feel inclined to rewrite a story every time it’s rejected. I would caution against this impulse for a few reasons. 1. There are a hundred reasons why an editor might have rejected your story (The story is awesome but they just published a zombie story or they don’t like romance or they could only buy four stories and yours was the fifth). Unless you got a personal rejection telling you why they didn’t buy it, you can’t know what the issue was. 2. Focusing your energy too much on rewriting one story over and over again can ultimately just frustrate a writer. True progress and growth are made by writing new stories and developing your skills further.

In my opinion, it’s safe to consider rewriting your story if you get personalized critique from an editor that you agree with (eg. the ending doesn’t work, the character arc doesn’t make sense). You may also want to consider revisiting the story if you’ve received five or more rejections.

9. Publish Your Story

If you keep it up, repeating these steps by writing and submitting new stories, eventually you will make your first sale! Congratulations! Make sure to celebrate with a nice dinner or a fancy writing gift.

And then, it’s time to start writing again.

Need some writing inspiration? Check out the best books on writing fiction and tools that destroy writer’s block.

The creative process can be frustrating, especially when it comes to writing. When you’re early in your writing career, it’s easy to get discouraged. Luckily there’s plenty of great writing advice available from famous authors who’ve established their careers and figured out how to harness their creativity. Check out some of our favorites quotes and writing advice from these successful writers.

George Saunders

In an article for the Guardian, George Saunders talks a bit about his writing process. One of my favorite parts is when he talks about revision and specificity:

Revising by the method described is a form of increasing the ambient intelligence of a piece of writing. This, in turn, communicates a sense of respect for your reader. As text is revised, it becomes more specific and embodied in the particular. It becomes more sane. It becomes less hyperbolic, sentimental, and misleading. It loses its ability to create a propagandistic fog. Falsehoods get squeezed out of it, lazy assertions stand up, naked and blushing, and rush out of the room….

When I write, “Bob was an asshole,” and then, feeling this perhaps somewhat lacking in specificity, revise it to read, “Bob snapped impatiently at the barista,” then ask myself, seeking yet more specificity, why Bob might have done that, and revise to, “Bob snapped impatiently at the young barista, who reminded him of his dead wife,” and then pause and add, “who he missed so much, especially now, at Christmas,” – I didn’t make that series of changes because I wanted the story to be more compassionate. I did it because I wanted it to be less lame.

But it is more compassionate. Bob has gone from “pure asshole” to “grieving widower, so overcome with grief that he has behaved ungraciously to a young person, to whom, normally, he would have been nice”. Bob has changed. He started out a cartoon, on which we could heap scorn, but now he is closer to “me, on a different day”.

How was this done? Via pursuit of specificity. I turned my attention to Bob and, under the pressure of trying not to suck, my prose moved in the direction of specificity, and in the process my gaze became more loving toward him (ie, more gentle, nuanced, complex), and you, dear reader, witnessing my gaze become more loving, might have found your own gaze becoming slightly more loving, and together (the two of us, assisted by that imaginary grouch) reminded ourselves that it is possible for one’s gaze to become more loving.

Make sure you read the whole article for more wisdom from Saunders.

JK Rowling

Fans of the author are lucky, JK Rowling has written an entire article with her thoughts on writing. One of my favorite pieces of advice from her isn’t specifically about the writing process.

Fear of failure is the saddest reason on earth not to do what you were meant to do. I finally found the courage to start submitting my first book to agents and publishers at a time when I felt a conspicuous failure. Only then did I decide that I was going to try this one thing that I always suspected I could do, and, if it didn’t work out, well, I’d faced worse and survived.

Ultimately, wouldn’t you rather be the person who actually finished the project you’re dreaming about, rather than the one who talks about ‘always having wanted to’?

James Patterson

James Patterson often says he doesn’t give out writing advice, all he does is share what works for him. In an interview with Fast Company he dives into his writing a bit:

I think what hooks people into my stories is the pace. I try to leave out the parts people skip. I used to live across the street from Alexander Haig, and if I told you a story that I went out to get the paper and Haig was laying in the driveway, and then I went on for 20 minutes describing the architecture on the street and the way the palm trees were, you’d feel like “Stop with the description–what’s going on with Haig?” I tend to write stories the way you’d tell them. I think it’d be tragic if everybody wrote that way. But that’s my style. I read books by a lot of great writers. I think I’m an okay writer, but a very good storyteller.

He also talks about how using an outline helps his writing process (and helps him be so prolific!):

I’m a fanatic about outlining. It’s gonna make whatever you’re writing better, you’ll have fewer false starts, and you’ll take a shorter amount of time. I write them over and over again. You read my outline and it’s like reading a book; you really get the story, even though it’s condensed. Each chapter will have about a paragraph devoted to it. But you’re gonna get the scene, and you’re gonna get the sense of what makes the scene work.

Make sure to check out more of his advice in the article.

Ray Bradbury

One of the most famous sci-fi writers of the last century, Ray Bradbury wrote hundreds of short stories in an office full of things that inspired him. Much of his writing advice is about finding inspiration and joy in your work. In his book Zen in the Art of Writing, he gives tons of writing advice perfect for aspiring writers. Here’s my favorite bit:

Zest. Gusto. How rarely one hears these words used. How rarely do we see people living, or for that matter, creating by them. Yet if I were asked to name the most important items in a writer’s make-up, these things that shape his material and rush him along the road to where he wants to go, I could only warn him to look to his zest, see to his gusto….
…if you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half a writer. It means you are so busy keeping one eye on the commercial market, or one ear peeled for the avant-garde coterie, that you are not being yourself. You don’t even know yourself. For the first thing, a writer should be is–excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches, God knows it’d be better for this health.

Steven King

One of the most famous writers of our time, Steven King has freely shared his writing advice with fans and aspiring writers in his memoir On Writing. He gets into the nitty-gritty of dialogue, rewriting, and even research. I like his suggestions on writing description:

Description is what makes the reader a sensory participant in the story. Good description is a learned skill, one of the prime reasons why you cannot succeed unless you read a lot and write a lot. It’s not just a question of how to, you see; it’s also a question of how much to. Reading will help you answer how much, and only reams of writing will help you with the how. You can learn only by doing.
Description begins with visualization of what it is you want the reader to experience. It ends with your translating what you see in your mind into words on the page. It’s far from easy…. If you want to be a successful writer, you must be able to describe it, and in a way that will cause your reader to prickle with recognition.

Neil Gaiman

In a 2015 interview with Daniel Handler, Neil Gaiman was asked what his advice is for aspiring writers. His advice is very straightforward:

Finish things…. “Write” only takes you so far. “Finish things” takes you most of the rest of the way. Write things people want to read. Write things you care about…. I get puzzled and lost when people start asking me questions about what they should be writing for the market or whatever. There is no market–there’s nobody in the whole world of marketing ever would wake up someday and say, “A Series of Unfortunate Events is exactly what the world needs.” … Things like that happen because somebody wants to tell a story and you have an idea and you think you can tell that story better than anyone else.

This is a great reminder for all those writers struggling on first novels or feeling frustrated by the slush process.

Need more inspiration? Check out these 50 inspiring quotes about writing and these tools to destroy writer’s block. The five best books on writing will help you with your next project.

Make sure to get your writing done by finding time to write and setting writing goals you can achieve.