Ask Jeff- How do I get my novel finished?

Written by Jeff Heisler


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Title: Ask Jeff- How do I get my novel finished? by Jeff Heisler

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Q: "Dear Jeff. How do I get my novel finished? I set a goal to have it done by end ofrepparttar 129478 year and I've still got a long way to go. Any suggestions?" - Pam.

Jeff: A lot of writers have this problem. Fortunately there's a tool you can use to keep you on track. What you need is a quota.

Some writers are lucky that they don't have to push themselves to finish. They enjoy sitting atrepparttar 129479 keyboard so much- it's easy for them to finish novel after novel. Stephen King once described his writing output as "diarrhea ofrepparttar 129480 keyboard." What? Were you expecting something rosy fromrepparttar 129481 king of horror?

Forrepparttar 129482 rest of us- and it does include some major literary talents- we need a system to keep us on track. That's whererepparttar 129483 quota comes in.

I highly suggest using word count for a quota. Set a number of words forrepparttar 129484 day and be sure to meet it. Find a comfortable daily output. Many bestselling authors have 1,000 or 2,000 word daily quotas. Others have less.

Earnest Hemingway- THE writer, used a quota. People tell stories of Papa Hemingway sitting atrepparttar 129485 corner ofrepparttar 129486 bar, hovered over his hand written pages. He mumbled to himself as he counted each and every word.

Others use a page quota. BAD IDEA.

Look, your brain doesn't like to work any harder than it has too. If you give your creative mind an assignment to write 2 pages of manuscript, you'll end up with a lot of this:

"Hey Sam?"

"Yeah."

"Sam?"

"Yeah, over here."

"How are ya Sam."

yada yada yada. . .

Force your muse to work! It's easy.

Written by Jeff Heisler


--------------------------------------------------------------------- This article may be freely used provided an active link is included to http://www.heislerink.com/writeaway.asp and provided thatrepparttar resource box and all article content remain unaltered. Notification is appreciated, but not required. Notify author at jheisler@heislerink.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Title: Force your muse to work! It's easy. by Jeff Heisler

I find I don''t need a prompt when I sit down as much as I need a structured writing regimen.

Why?

I thinkrepparttar 129477 creative mind hates structure. Even so, it scrambles to find solutions to problems it faces. If I tell myself that I''m going to write scene X at 8:00 Monday morning, my creative brain panics and hurries to pull something together to meet this challange.

Byrepparttar 129478 time I sit down to write it''s really just about dictation.

This only works if you force yourself to write atrepparttar 129479 time you said you would. You may write junkrepparttar 129480 first couple of days, but that''s ok. Your brain is learningrepparttar 129481 consequences of not preparing. It will be ready next time.

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