Tag: writing goals

Tips for Surviving NaNoWriMo

Posted on by staceyjaine in Indie Author, NaNoWriMo, Stacey Jaine McIntosh, Writing

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Yes. It’s October and you know what that means. NaNoWriMo is coming.

It’s October 15th which means there’s just over two weeks until November is upon us.

Eek! Don’t ask me what I’m writing cause I don’t know yet.

Having participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) since 2005, I like to think I’ve picked up a tip or two along the way.

So, I’ve decided to share.

Tip #1: Pace yourself. Writing 50,000 words in 30 days may seem like a massive undertaking and leave you feeling completely overwhelmed, but the truth is it doesn’t have to. 1,667 words per day is completely doable, and if you break it down into even smaller goals… say 834 words in the morning and 834 words at night it’ll be an even easier goal to smash.

Tip #2: It’s never to early to kill off a character. In NaNoWriMo… anything goes. I once killed of a main character in the first chapter. Surprisingly, it worked and pushed the other characters forward. Death scenes take up a lot of words. So, does sex.

Tip #3: Editing is for December. Turn off your inner editor. Yes, it’s hard, but completely doable.

Tip #4: Turn off distractions. Procrastinating is the worst enemy to any NaNoer. If it helps set a timer, and turn off the WiFi. Research is fun, but time consuming.

Tip #5: Have fun. Because if you’re not having fun while writing, there’s really no point.

And there it is. I hope you find these tips helpful.

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Motivation Monday

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stacey Jaine McIntosh

 

New Monday = New Week!

Monday’s are for fresh starts! Who is with me?

Not to mention all the new goals and new plans waiting to be unveiled.

So, what did you accomplish? Good things I hope.

Currently, I have Pendragon awaiting further edits, A Rueful Equinox sitting at just over 2700 words and… A Curse of Thorns & Roses is in the planning stages. And that’s just my writing projects. I’ve also been editing short stories, creating various content which I hope to share with you soon. As for my little Monday ritual it usually involves coffee and cake.

I’ll be sharing future progress and if you happen to have made any of your own, please do share in the comments… no matter how big or small it was!

And don’t worry if you didn’t make much progress today is a new day and the start of a new week.

Just work the steps from this post and you’ll be on your way!

Motivation Monday

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stacey Jaine McIntosh

 

New Monday = New Week!

Monday’s are for fresh starts! Who is with me?

Not to mention all the new goals and new plans waiting to be unveiled.

So, what did you accomplish? Good things I hope.

I did a lot this past week and I’ve got a lot of balls up in the air to get on with over the next week.

We’ll see how productive I am next week.

What’s your Monday ritual? Did you make one? 

I did!

What about you?

I’ll be sharing my ritual along with weekly progress reports in subsequent Monday blog posts.

Share the progress you made in the comments no matter how big or small it was!

And don’t worry if you didn’t make much progress today is a new day and the start of a new week.

Just work the steps from this post and you’ll be on your way!

Tuesday Teatime

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stacey Jaine McIntosh

So, I’m taking a little break from the serious writerly advice I’ve been offering lately and doing something fun.

So, here’s 5 quotes about coffee for you to enjoy!

1. Coffee is the best medicine.

2. Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death and sweet as love.

3. All you need is love and more coffee.

4. Coffee is happiness in a cup.

5. Life happens. But coffee helps.

Motivation Monday

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stacey Jaine McIntosh

 

New Monday = New Week!

Monday’s are for fresh starts! Who is with me?

Not to mention all the new goals and new plans waiting to be unveiled.

So, what did you accomplish last week?

Did you make your Friday more productive? Or did you struggle with it like I did?

What’s your Monday ritual? Did you make one? 

Did you set a weekend routine? If spending both days writing counts, I totally nailed it.

As for Monday’s not sucking… well I’m still working on that. 

How about you?

Share the progress you made in the comments no matter how big or small it was!

And don’t worry if you didn’t make much progress today is a new day and the start of a new week.

Just work the steps from last week’s post and you’ll be on your way!

Motivation Monday

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stacey Jaine McIntosh

New Monday = New Week!

Monday’s are for fresh starts! Who is with me?

Not to mention all the new goals and new plans waiting to be unveiled.

I’m not the biggest fan of Monday’s to be honest but I’m looking to change that. And I thought what better way than to bring you guys along for the ride with me and maybe see some positive changes in your lives as well.

So, how can you fall in love with Monday’s?

1. Make Friday Productive.

Have a slower start to the working week by preparing the best you can on Friday. Put in a lot of work on Friday. So you don’t have that much on your to do list for the new week. Get the most difficult tasks done on Friday so that Monday doesn’t have to be crazy and full of stress.

2. Create a Monday Ritual.

To start loving Mondays find a habit, a treat, or a ritual – something that you really love and look forward to and make it happen.

3. Stop derailing yourself on the weekends.

Most of us love to sleep in on the weekends but it isn’t always practical. You’ll find yourself getting exhausted fast. To avoid that keep your weekend sleep schedule similar to your weekday schedule and you’ll soon find yourself ready to take on Monday.

4. Change your mindset.

Stop telling yourself that Monday’s suck. The truth is they don’t. It’s just that for some of us the weekend never lasts long enough. Instead think of Monday’s as a fresh start. A new chance to go after things that matter most to you.

I hope this gives you a much needed boost to take back Monday and mould it into something you can learn to love.

The #1 Thing That Will Make a Difference to Your Writing

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stacey Jaine McIntosh

Want to know the one thing that will make a difference to your writing?

Well I’m about to share it.

Get ready.

It’s reading.

Yes. READING.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. It can’t be that simple, right? Wrong! It really is that simple.

Immersing yourself in the genre you’re writing in not only helps you with language and style but also with finding your writing voice and it also helps with grammar and spelling. Something every writer at any stage can benefit from.

I don’t know about you but my grammar is often weak, especially in my longer works. But I’m working to improve it, and reading helps me to recall certain grammar rules.

It also helps your mood by helping you relax and centre yourself. Plus if you’re anything like me, reading a paperback book can aid in helping you fall asleep.

So, what are you waiting for? Go on and grab yourself your next favourite read and get cracking.

Paperback books are still my most favourite thing to pick up and read, but kindle is a close second.

What’s your favourite? Paperback or eBook?

Comment below!

Bonus points if you share the title of the last book you picked up and read or are reading!

How to Make Writing Fun!

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stacey Jaine McIntosh

Whether you’re just starting your writing journey or you’ve been writing for years, you may have found the excitement has died down some and the lure of words on the page just isn’t as strong as it used to be.

Well… here are 4 ways to make writing fun again!

1. Use a writing prompt. Check inspirational images or word prompts on Pinterest.

2. Engage the world around you. What’s out your window? Write about it.

3. Flip the pages of your favourite novel. Draw inspiration from the page you land on.

4. Illustrate the last thing you wrote. Even if it’s bad. The drawing not the writing.

I hope one or all of these help inspire you to write something great.

And when in doubt… RELAX! The words come easier when you stress less!

Arcane Writing Competition

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stacey Jaine McIntosh

In 12 days time, Iron Faerie Publishing are holding there first ever writing competition!

The competition starts on June 1st and runs til the end of August. There’s still plenty of time to join, so what are you waiting for?

Contest information can be found below!

The contest will consist of four rounds.
Minimum of 4,000 words. Maximum of 8,000 words per story.
4 stories in total.
You’ll have 3 weeks to write each story and then submit it.
Competition will begin on June 1st 2020.
Story Prompts will be delivered via our facebook page at the start of each phase.

TO ENTER
Select a mythical creature and let us know via private message through our Facebook Group or email it to us. (be it dragon, werewolves, witch… something supernatural)
Send (a one-time fee of) $10US via paypal to ironfaeriepublishing@yahoo.com once your choice as been confirmed.
June 1st-21st 2020 is PHASE 1
June 22nd-July 12th 2020 is PHASE 2
July 13th- August 2nd is PHASE 3
August 3rd-August 23rd is PHASE 4

WINNERS
The TOP 4 authors will be published in an anthology.

PAYMENT
Royalties will be split between the authors and Iron Faerie Publishing. 50/50.

Goodbye April, Hello May

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stacey Jaine McIntosh

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Goodbye April, Hello May!

As another month passes by and these are very different times, I’ve decided to take a moment and list a few of the smaller things I want to accomplish this month.

1. Write every day.

2. Read at least 4 books.

3. Finish something! (and by something, I mean one of my longer 10k stories.)

Alright! So, it’s only three things but when you’ve got four kids who are currently homeschooling even small things like those three can seem huge momentous things.

They’re not… by the way, but April was a mess of stress and anxiety for me. I’m hoping May will be a little better.

Fingers crossed May is kind to all of you, too.

2019 in Review

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stacey Jaine McIntosh

Well another year is almost over and it’s brought with it a lot of accomplishments.

I’ve had 65 acceptances and seen my work feature in 14 anthologies with more being published in the new year!

I’d absolutely love you to support me by purchasing a copy of any one of these anthologies and if you have already purchased a copy please consider leaving a review.

Angels | AVAILABLE NOW

Apocalypse | AVAILABLE NOW

Coffins & Dragons | AVAILABLE NOW

Curses & Cauldrons | AVAILABLE NOW

Divinity | AVAILABLE NOW

Fable | AVAILABLE NOW

Forest of Fear | AVAILABLE NOW

Forgotten Ones | PREORDER NOW

Hawthorn & Ash | AVAILABLE NOW

Organic Ink 1 | AVAILABLE NOW

Organic Ink 2 | PREORDER NOW

Spring’s Blessing | AVAILABLE NOW

Summer’s Splash | AVAILABLE NOW

The Best of Iron Faerie Publishing 2019 | PREORDER NOW

Pendragon Sneak Peek!

Posted on by staceyjaine in blogging, Stacey Jaine McIntosh, Writing

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Work on Le Fay is coming along steadily but slowly.

It’s always the way when I set myself a deadline. I promise it will be available soon!

In the meantime, I’ve posted a little SNEAK PEEK into the next installment, Pendragon in my Facebook group. You can check it out HERE! It won’t be available anywhere else, so if you want to read, please consider joining the group.

Pendragon is the third and final installment of this trilogy and tells the story of Mordred, the rightful heir of Camelot in Avalon.

As with all my stories, particularly those dealing with the Arthurian Legends, there’s a twist because I like “what ifs”.

Mordred, the son of Morgan le Fay and Arthur Pendragon is fated to bring down Camelot. Morgan herself, tries to prevent him from being born but fails, obviously, and trouble ensues. You’ll have to read the excerpt to discover more.

And if you haven’t already, you’ll want to check out Morrighan! It’s only 99c on Kindle and $4.99 for Paperback!

 

 

 

I Wasn’t Planning to Take a Break, But…

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stacey Jaine McIntosh

The internet went out and I had no choice.

And of course I had no contest pre written and there’s only so much cell data available on my mobile phone.

So, I’d love to say I’ve been busy writing up a storm, but sadly no internet meant my kids didn’t quite know what to do with themselves and I had to deal with the cries of boredom.

But it wasn’t a total loss and some new words have been written. And some editing got done on two stories which means everything is moving forward.

While I was away, I did create a group where fans of my work can gather. I’m hoping to grow my readership and this seemed like a logical first step.

You can find the link here. It would mean a lot if you joined. And there’ll be a sneak peek for my upcoming novelette Pendragon coming very soon if you do decide to join, which won’t be shared anywhere else!

Bye March

Posted on by staceyjaine in Indie Author, Stacey Jaine McIntosh

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Another month has come to a close. I spent most of it waiting on things that didn’t arrive and trying to write amongst the anxiety that came with waiting on those things that didn’t arrive. Suffice to say, March has been utterly exhausting.

Rewarding, but exhausting.

I was looking over my submissions for the quarter and I’ve subbed twelve stories and two poems. With five stories still pending completion. Not to mention I’ve written a whopping thirty-two blog posts. While I’ve had two rejections this year, on stories I felt had promise, I’m trying to not let that get me down.

And right now, I’m battling the clock on two projects. Le Fay is probably the most pressing, but another… so far untitled, is proving a mite more interesting. It’s what I like to call Arthurian Legends meets The Vampire Diaries. I couldn’t resist throwing vampires at fire breathing dragons and seeing what came about. Turns out even with Le Fay not quite finished, Morgan’s not letting go. Not that she ever has and I doubt if she ever will.

It’s early days but I’m hopeful I’ll be able to finish the third instalment, Pendragon, ready for a late May release.

So, that’s what I achieved. What’s something you achieved?

 

 

Missed Deadlines

Posted on by staceyjaine in mum of four, Parenting, Stacey Jaine McIntosh, The Eldritch Series, Writing

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And… I had this post all written out and then it got eaten by gremlins.

So, I’m forced to rewrite it.

24th of July on a personal level is hell. Every year I dread the clock ticking over to today because nobody likes to be reminded of tragic events in their past. I’m certainly no different.

And today, well today marks the anniversary of my mum’s rather unexpected passing. Worse… today marks 10 years since she passed away.

And it’s no less easier than the year before. It’s hard and sad, cause my kids don’t remember her… two never got to meet her… which is crappy.

Anticipating the sadness and tears and the general blanket fort and tv binge that was in store for me given the nature of today, I attempted to put a positive spin on today.

In doing so, I gave myself a deadline. Finish Nightshade by today. Sadly, that didn’t quite happen. Life, as they say, got in the way.

But I am closer to finishing the novel at least. Which is a good thing and I’m trying not to dwell on everything else. At least for the moment.

Since I wasn’t successful in my endeavour, I’ll leave you with a question to ponder, until next time…

What do you do when you miss a writing deadline? Let me know in the comments. Because I am rather curious and desperately in need of a distraction.