Author: Nicole Simms

Hi everyone, it’s me again. I’ve got my ninja gear on, and I’m ready to fight those fears. So what do I have for you today? Well as you might have guessed from the title, I’m here to discuss how to take hold of those bad ideas, and watch it grow. Now I know you’re probably wondering why you would want a bad idea to grow, it’s rubbish right, will never get published, but there’s a surprise that can come from even the most rough ideas.

What inspired me to write this post was looking back through my own ideas, and thinking back to a story that seemed great at the time. Due to my strange sense of humour I thought a story about someone getting their arm pulled off and getting beaten with it would be hilarious, so there was my main focus, and I wrote a story. Now when I submitted the story I was told that my story wasn’t exactly realistic, the person would need to be anchored to the ground to have their arm ripped off, otherwise they’ll get thrown into the air. Hmm I thought, I didn’t even think of that, I was too busy laughing. So I altered the story and tried again  but after many attempts I still had no luck, and once I got over the arm detaching I realised that it wasn’t really a good idea. So rather than stamping a bad idea stamp on it, and deleting it from my computer and memory, I labelled it as needs to be edited, and continued on with other stories.

So what has this got to do with embracing the bad ideas? Well recently I thought about that story, and another idea started to grow from it, a better idea. There will be more character depth and a more interesting plot. So as you can see if I had deleted the story, burned it, and scolded myself for being a numpty, I wouldn’t now have this better idea. So to help you embrace your bad ideas, I’ve created a list of 5 things to consider:

• Leave the story for a while, give it time to develop and grow.
• Look for good points, do you have an interesting character, scene etc.
• Is it the wrong POV (point of view)?
• Does the idea need a different story?
• Try blending ideas together, an idea might not work, but parts of it might, so add it to another idea, and see what happens. (This is what I did)

As you can see even parts of your idea can work with another one, so don’t let doubt convince you that you’re pants because you came up with a rubbish idea, it happens, you’re human after all. The thing to concentrate on is that you are coming up with ideas in the first place, which is great, so keep it up.

That’s all I’ve got for you today, hopefully you won’t feel so lousy if you do come up with a bad idea, just remember there’s always a good idea hidden within a bad one.

As before, here’s another inspirational quote:

“If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.” – (Somerset Maugham)

For all those who read my blog posts you will know that I have been writing my first novel. Well after nearly three months of hard work, and roughly 129,900 words I have finally completed my first draft. I have to admit I didn’t do a dance, I think I was in shock, but once it sinks in I might. If you’re nearly at that point, trust me it’s a great feeling, so if you’re struggling getting to that end just keep going I promise you, it’ll be worth it when you hold that completed manuscript.

So what have I got for you today? Well while writing my novel I realised that I spent a lot of time getting started and not actually writing anything. I would finish working and then after 45 minutes I hadn’t even started writing. What was I doing? Was a question that often entered my mind. I didn’t know why it took me so long to get started, the amount of time I wasted I could have finished the novel earlier, but after some thinking I finally discovered what might have been the issue. It was that pesky Mr Self Doubt.

Yes he’s here again, and I’m blaming him because I would allow other things to distract me things that could wait, but yet I had to do it now, all so I wouldn’t have to sit in that chair and type because a part of me, only a little part (the self-doubt part) felt like the writing was the real waste of time. But as you can see it didn’t stop me from reaching my goal, I was still able to complete my first draft. So for all those who have dealt with the same issue, you can ride through it, but to help you on your way I’ve come up with some ways to avoid the time-wasting issue.

Ways to avoid wasting time:

• Set a time to write and stick to it
• Get prepared to start writing earlier e.g. if you like to read your last few pages sit down at least 10 minutes before your writing time
• Avoid starting any new task or chore close to your writing time
• Remind yourself why you are doing this, writing is not a waste of time
• Don’t allow yourself to drift off into a daydream unless it’s about your story
• Set your alarm for your writing time, and another one 5 minutes later to remind you that you should be writing by now.
•  Make sure you don’t have anything distracting in your writing room e.g. phone.

So there you have it, several ways to avoid time-wasting, now this doesn’t mean you’ll never waste time again, we are human after all but hopefully you won’t be wasting so much precious writing time. So all that’s left for me to say is, grab that focus and get that story/novel written because you’re so close to your dream, and you can’t reach it if you don’t believe.

Just like before I’ll be ending this post with an inspirational quote.

“It is perfectly okay to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly.” – (C. J. Cherryh)

Hi everyone, well I’ve finally reached the 100,000 words mark, however I’m still not finished with my first draft. I always thought that I would be done once I hit that word count, well not exactly 100,000, but according to the cards on my wall I still have a little while to go. I do think that by next week though I will have finally finished my first draft. I’d probably jump up and down and start twerking when I’ve done that because I’ve worked hard on this. So if any of you out there who are also close to finishing that first draft, then I hope you dance along and celebrate when you do finally type THE END.

So this leads me to this post right here. The first draft, it takes courage to sit and complete this stage especially as there’s no guarantee that it will ever get read. But it is a sure sign of your commitment, your dedication, and that hunger that burns within you. This is your step forward to chasing that dream, and if you’re determined to reach your goal it’s a step you need to take. However, like a baby’s first steps you will also be wobbly, unsure and a little scared, and this is what that pesky Mr Self Doubt loves to latch onto.

While writing my novel I’ve had to reread the last few pages to remind myself of where I’m at, and which direction I’m going in. I have those cards but I’ve found that they have changed so much that I don’t have the chance to write new ones to replace the old. I did however experience something unexpected, reading my work back made me cringe in some places. Things have been written badly, obvious spelling mistakes, things don’t make sense at places. It can be very off-putting, and can make you doubt yourself and your ability. So I’ve decided to do this post today to remind you of things that you need to keep in mind when you’re dealing with the first draft blues.

Things to remember

• The main thing to remember is that this is only your first draft. The job of the first draft is to get that story down and quick. Just like when a house is being built, it’s messy at first bricks and dirt everywhere, but then eventually it becomes a beautiful home. That’s the same for your novel, the first draft is the foundation, and you’ll have plenty of time to decorate it later.
• Nothing is perfect first time round, that’s why we have the edit process.
• Everything can be improved, the novel you see now with work and effort will transform from an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan, and the only magic that is needed is your own.
• If you can spot the mistakes then that’s great, you can see what needs to be fixed. That’s better than thinking your work is perfect when it isn’t.
• Actually finishing the first draft is an achievement in itself. Celebrate today and sort out the issues another day. Actually it’s advised that you leave the novel for at least a month before editing.
• You’re human, you make mistakes and that applies to your writing.

Now these are only some things to remember, but they all basically say the same thing, stop being hard on yourself and don’t listen to Mr Self Doubt. So the next time you read any first draft whether short story or novel, before you cringe and insult yourself remember these points, and carry on.

I found some interesting inspirational quotes for writers, so I’ll end this post with one.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Agatha Christie

Hi everyone, I’m back, and I’m also now roughly 83,700 words into my novel. Whoop yay me. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I sat down and typed my first word, but here I am. This example fits well with this post because I’m going to talk about how to keep hold of the positives, no matter how small, and if I don’t say so myself being so far into my first novel is a big positive. It’s so easy to focus on the negatives especially when you’re embarking on this writing journey, you’ll have loads more rejections than you will acceptances, so at times it can be a constant struggle to keep going, and that’s why it’s important that you embrace the positives because it’s those that matter the most.

It’s not easy, if you have your own Mr Self Doubt stalking you, he will regularly remind you of all the negatives, how many times a story got rejected, a negative comment about your stories, your lack of skill, and even if that isn’t true Mr Self Doubt will convince you that you are just not good enough. So how do you make those positives shine, how do you repel the negatives? Well I’m going to share some ideas with you, now I can’t promise that after trying them you will never think of a negative again, but hopefully when they come calling you’ll be able to slam the door in their faces and get on with the task at hand, and that’s to write.

1. Celebrate each success: Now whether you have had a story accepted and published, or you finished a first draft, you need to celebrate that. Get yourself a treat, buy yourself something nice or run around outside and tell the world how great you are. What ever you decide make sure it’s something you’ll remember.
2. Highlight your acceptances in green: If you have a submission spreadsheet, make sure that you highlight all your story acceptances in green or another bright and happy colour. You need to make sure that the colour really stands out from the crowd, so when you look at the spreadsheet your acceptances are the first that you see.
3. Note down all positives: Any positive even if it’s getting a cool story idea, it’s a good idea to note all these down, so when Mr Self Doubt mocks you can show him your book. You could call it your Record of Achievement.
4. Don’t just analyse the negatives: Yes it helps to know why you got a rejection, or what isn’t making a story work, but rather than focus on the negatives and rejections why not look into why things have gone right. Why was that story published, what about it made it stand out? Not only will this help you feel more positive about your work it can help you with your other projects. Knowing what works is just as important as knowing what doesn’t.
5. Turn the negatives into positives: Yes, believe it or not you can actually do that. Take a story rejection, if you are lucky enough to get feedback you will be able know how to improve your current skills, and what not to do again. This whole journey is a learning experience so anything that adds to that is a great positive.

So there you have it, these aren’t magical formulas to help you never focus on the negatives again but hopefully they can help you to put your fears in perspective, and to really see that you are doing great. Every day you sit down to write, you are doing great. So stay positive and stay focused, and let’s keep writing and the dream alive.

Hi everyone, I’m back, and I’m also now roughly 61,800 words into my novel. Whoop yay me. Okay enough about me let’s get back to this post that I have for you all. So what is up for discussion this week? Well since beginning this blog post I have dealt with many self-doubt issues, how they plague us and often stop us from pursuing our dreams. But what about other people’s doubts, what about dealing with those who laugh at you for mentioning you’re writing a book, or tell you to stop dreaming? Well today, we are going to set people’s doubts on fire.

We all know how hard this journey is, it’s long and often feels impossible, but yet we continue with it. We write with no guarantee of success, short story after short story, novel after novel, and often the only payment we get for our hard work is rejection. It takes a lot of determination, courage and guts to keep going for that one green light, and often we do eventually get it, when we get it, well that’s a different story, and depends on whether we continue or give up.

It’s easier to give up, or put writing on the back burner, there are no real deadlines, you’ve got a day job and/or a family to look after. Also unlike a “normal job”, you don’t have to worry about not being paid because chances are you won’t anyway. But even with all that stress we continue fighting on. So why is it that some people feel that you are messing about when you say you’re a writer, only because you haven’t had a novel published yet? Why is it that people roll their eyes or give you that, yeah right look?

I’ll admit that there are some who fantasize about writing, but don’t actually do any, but for those that do, and keep doing it, we deserve to be taken seriously. It’s hard enough fighting with your own self doubts without having to deal with other people’s doubts.

Some may not see your dreams as realistic, but they are your dreams, and it is your life, if you want to aim for the sky as long as you are prepared to work for it then you aim high. Life is too short to be playing it safe, or to not do what your heart desires. You want to write, you write, and you hold your head high because if you are still doing it even when faced with no guarantee then you deserve lots of praise.

So if you are ever faced with that kind of person then you remind yourself of your struggle and determination, and be proud. Forget what others think, unless it’s helpful feedback or encouragement it’s not worth listening to.

That’s all I got for you folks. Keep writing and keep the dream alive.

Hi everyone, I’m back again. I don’t have those famous points and tips for you today, but I do wish to share my thoughts while I’m on this writing journey. As I’ve previously said before I am now writing my first novel. I’m now roughly 36,900 words into my novel, sometimes I just hold the pile of paper to really feel how much work I have done. I’m not done yet, not even halfway but this is the most I have ever written on one story, and as I write the ideas continue to grow. It’s both exciting and daunting at the same time, I always thought I wouldn’t be able to write as much. I convinced myself that I would work through all my plot points and still be nowhere near a novel, but I was wrong the story is pouring out of me like champagne from a bottle.

So what’s the point of this post? Well while writing this novel, and reading many things about writing, it’s clear that there are no real guarantees. Yes, you can write a novel, but that don’t mean it’ll get published, yes your novel might get published but that don’t mean you can give up the day job. There are just so many uncertainties, and it’s these that can often help Mr Self Doubt grow, and in the worst cases they are the reasons why many writers just give up.

This is a long journey, and I have just realized how long it really is. But even though you can’t know for sure if you will become that famous author there is something that you can guarantee. What are those, you ask? Well it’s simple you can guarantee that you will continue writing, improving and submitting. They say that to develop your skill you need to write, and it’s true if I compare my stories to the first ones I used to do there is obvious improvement. But writing alone won’t help you also need to read, and read a lot, take courses etc, and the final one keep submitting. If your dream is to be published, you’re not going to get very far if you don’t submit your stories. I know one thing for sure if I never continued on writing and submitting I wouldn’t be where I am now on my journey, I’ve still got a long way to go but I’m moving along, and getting closer to my dream, and that’s what you all have to do.

There’s only one guarantee on this journey and that’s your commitment to this, you can decide whether you will keep going, and continue to fight your way through, or whether you will throw in the towel, which is something I don’t recommend. DON’T EVER GIVE UP!

That’s all I got for you folks, a short one I know, but I’m hoping that it’ll stop a few writers out there giving up. I’m off again, going to push fear aside, and get that novel written. Keep writing and keep the dream alive.

Hi all, I’m back. I’m sure some of you have noticed my absence last week, well I’ve finally taken the plunge, and decided to stop talking about it and start writing that novel. I’m now 16,500 words into my novel, and with my fingers and toes crossed I’m hoping to cross over the 20,000 word threshold by Sunday. For all those who have previously read my posts, you will know that I was planning to death. However, I had taken control and given myself a deadline, I never did finish my planning, I’m doing it as I’m writing, and the strangest thing is, it works, I’m even adding scenes that I had never planned, and even changed ones that I had. I’ve allowed my characters to lead me, and I have to say not knowing exactly how things might work out allows me to create suspense for myself, as I write. I can’t wait to write The End, and hold my finished manuscript in my hand, even though that wouldn’t be the end, no it’ll be the beginning.

Even though I’m enjoying writing my novel, there’s something that is stopping me from totally losing myself in the experience, and that my friends is fear. I’ve felt self-doubt, and felt the B slap of rejection, but this fear is new to me. It wasn’t until I wrote Chapter One on the page that this fear began to grow. So today, I thought I might share some of these fears with you, and hopefully realise that they aren’t as scary as I/we think.

1. What if I can’t complete the novel? This is down to you, as long as you are prepared to put the work in, you will complete the novel. Also you’ll be surprised how the word count grows even from the smallest of ideas.
2. How am I going to deal with the rejection for this when I’ve put in so much time and effort? You just have to deal with it like you do for the short stories. Remember the reasons for rejection aren’t always about the novel being rubbish. Also the feeling of an acceptance outweighs the rejection. If that don’t work, you might want to treat yourself, just not too much.
3. What if this becomes a discarded novel, never allowed to see the light of day? Your first novel won’t necessarily be your first published, that’s even happened to Stephen King. So while that novel might be stuffed away in your drawer, you must remember everything can be improved, even after ten years of neglect you can pull that novel back out, and get it back out there.
4. What if I’m a one hit wonder? It might happen, even though I don’t think I know of any author this has happened to, yet I fear it lol. However, as long as you are prepared to grow and develop, your next book should be better than your first, so hopefully we won’t have that one hit wonder issue.
5. How can I juggle a growing writing career with my responsibilities? It’s tough, I’ve read that some published novelists still have to keep the day job. However, if this is your dream, you’ll be amazed how well you can juggle, I can’t lie it won’t be easy.
6. There’s so much to learn about publishing. That’s why we have the internet lol.
7. Will anyone buy my book? If you have impressed an agent, and then a publisher the odds are somebody will buy your book. How much one cannot be sure.
8. What if I’m just meant to write short stories? You’ll never know until you give the novel a go.

As you can see many of these questions are due to Mr Self Doubt, but there’s other things that are just not in your control. The only thing you can do is write the best book you can, and get it out there. You can always do better every story can be improved. One mustn’t let fear block them from their goal, and a lot of the time you don’t really have anything to fear.

So folks, I’m off again, going to push fear aside, and get that novel written. Keep writing and keep the dream alive.

Hi all, I’m back again, here to help you all on your writing journey, and mine. So today I have an interesting topic for you, I will be discussing how to get story ideas. Now I know for many of you the ideas just pop into your head out of nowhere, but others it can be a little tricky, especially when you need to create a story for a submission call that has a certain theme or topic.

I’ve experienced it, you see a new story submission call, you would love to have a story published with them, but you are left with a question. What shall I write? You want a story idea that stands out from the crowd, that’s different from any other that has ever been created, but that pressure can often result in a blocked and often strangled mind. No ideas come to you, you become frustrated, the deadline draws near, and you still don’t have a clue. Don’t panic I have some ideas that might help you solve this tricky situation.

So I shall throw on my Supergirl cape (it’s pink lol), and fire my 10 tips at you.

1. Take a shower: Now this might only work for me, but I find that when I have a shower the ideas just come to me, and not only that if I have a plot to figure out, it all gets worked out in the shower. I’m not sure why that is, maybe it’s because it can help to relax your mind, either way it’s worth a try.
2. Open your mind and senses: Sometimes you can close off your mind to the world around you when you’re worrying about things in your life. So block off that part of your brain, and sit and take in what’s around you. The best place to do that would be outside.
3. Do some research: If you don’t know much about the theme or topic, doing some research into it can help. You might even find some information that could work as a story. Wikipedia is my friend when it comes to research, however it isn’t a reliable source, or so my lecturers once told me.
4. Ask yourself, what if: The what if question can open your mind to more possibilities, and at times you can even get the main character answering them for you. This technique is also suggested when working out who your main character is.
5. Relax don’t force it: Trying to force an idea will only block you further, also what you come up with might result in a weak story. You need to let the ideas flow and embrace them.
6. Go for a walk: This links with point two. By being outside you allow your mind to relax and open up. Make sure you take a pen and notebook with you to note down any ideas that come to you, and no matter how random the ideas seem to be, make sure you write them down anyway.
7. Mind map: I did this once for a story submission call for a supernatural Christmas related short story. I wrote down the word Christmas, and then next to it I wrote the word Supernatural. I then listed all the words I could think of that related to each word. My story didn’t win, but I created an unusual story that might have a home somewhere.
8. Create a character first: For many the first thing they create is the character, they pop up, and demand you write their story. However, not everyone works this way, so if you are used to coming up with a plot first try creating a character because from that a story might follow.
9. Use your dreams: Sometimes you think about the story submission theme so much you can end up dreaming about it, and if you’re very lucky you might just get that idea. I suppose this comes under using your subconscious.
10. Observe: You’ll be surprised how a simple thing as watching your family and friends, or even the quiet next door neighbour can help you come up with ideas. This links with point 8 because you are focusing on characters more so than the plot. I like to note down my observations because it could be of use for another story if not for the one you need to write.  

What you can see from these tips is that the main thing is that you relax your mind, and allow yourself to be open to the ideas. To get ideas you must allow space in your brain for you to receive them. So if you are struggling to get an idea for that short story submission try one (or more) of the tips above. Hopefully one of them will relax your mind, and you will finally be able to come up with that story idea that you desire.

Well that’s all I have for you folks, keep writing and keep the dream alive.