I'm going to be honest with you, being a writer has it's ups and downs. (*scoffs and crosses arms* You can say that again.)

You start a book that you can't finish 😳. You lose inspiration 😔. You find that nothing seems to fit 😣. (You write the first three chapters of a great idea, reread them despite the pleas from your sister not to, determine that everything you've ever written in your entire life must be complete crap 🤦🏽‍♀️. Then you start to question why you even decided to be a writer if you're not even that good 😩. I mean, we've all been there, right? *crickets chirping  fills the air as the room remains silent* Just me, then. Okay.)

(Don't worry we've all been there)

On the flip side of all that is the wonderful feeling of creating a world that only you truly understand. You have the power to move us. To make us laugh 😂, cry 😭, squeal 🙈 and dance 💃🏻 around with delight. There is an amazing feeling to know that someone has read your work and dropped their phone because they got so excited. (You start writing your acceptance speech for when you inevitably win the noble prize for literature. *more crickets* Really? Still just me?)

(😳 Yup just you.)

So! I want to spend this chapter helping you find ways to be able to keep going when it looks like it's getting hard. First we'll start with time.

I'm guessing a lot of your struggle is with finding time to write. I know I've had the same struggle. I'm going to tell you a secret. *Leans in* There is always time to write. You just have to find it. It doesn't matter if you are full time student working a job, there is time.

Now! Where is this elusive time?! Well that's what you need to decide. I say start with the fifteen minutes you would take on social media to write part of a chapter. Maybe skip a TV show for one night and write. That is the hardest part, cutting something that you always do. But if you are determined enough, the time will make itself known! Trust me!

I started writing for fifteen minutes as I waited to pick my sister up from the train. Fifteen minutes each day and here I am. The same goes for you!

So search and you might be surprised with what you find!

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Writer's Block.

This has to big the biggest issue writer's face. I have a couple ideas on how you can work through that. Wanna hear them? Haha of course you do! Because you love the smoothing tone of my voice!

1. DO NOT EDIT YOUR BOOK WHILE YOU ARE WRITING! Sorry to say that so loud but it's true. This is a HUGE cause for writer's block. People get part way through their book and go back to the begin just to reread it. They see how many plot holes they have and start editing it.

DO NOT DO THIS!! Instantly, your creative flow will shut off. Why? It's because you are trying to work out of the analytical side of your brain.

I second this motion! With the highest amount of enthusiasm! We talked about this in the third chapter. The editor is still not yet welcomed into the writing room. Tell him/her/it to stay away. They are not welcome!

Real quick! You have two side to your brain the analytical side (left) and the creative side (right). When you edit you get out of your right brain and go to the left. You can't write from the left side. SO! Do not edit while you are trying to write! (I already briefly touched on this, but thanks for the refresher. Joy, of course, does a better job at describing how the brain works. But the main point is that now you have an idea.)

2. Sometimes it's best to work on multiple projects. It might surprise you or not, but I write two books at once. That way if I'm stuck on one book I go to the other. This way I'm always writing. I understand this is a strange technique but hey it might help you!

I only recently started doing this as well. I of course assumed Joy was just crazy for taking on so many projects all at once. But I have since seen her genius among her insanity. Or hanging out with her so much has caused me to loose my own. Still not sure.

Wow thanks.

Anyways, when you allow yourself the luxury (yes, I said it. This tip has only furthered my writing capabilities.) of having two projects, it actually allows for more creativity and space for each work. When the inspiration and vision for one project dries up, you allow it space and time to refuel as you work on your other piece. And vice a versa.

3. Know where you are going. I've mapped out a majority of my stories, it's how I like to write best. But Mr. Write wasn't mapped out at all. I had a vague idea of situations. I think the reason I never got writer's block with it was because I knew how it was going to end. So you need to know what your end goal is!

I am the worst when it comes to this. I will create a story, a world, a universe, and dive head first. I come up for breath around chapter 3 (the third chapter slump, I call. Have yet to write a book where I didn't have an existential crisis every time I completed the third chapter of a book.) 
and then I start to panic. I know my characters well enough that then I know its time to figure out where I'm going.

I work shop, stretch, negotiate until I know my ending and then I dive right back in. But now I know what I'm looking for, I know where I'm going. I don't know how I'm going to get here. But I allow that to remain a mystery, as the characters still need room to develop and react as they are suppose to.

4. Don't have a blank page. What does this mean? It means when you're done with a chapter open up a new document (or whatever you use) and write something on it. It could be the next chapter title (that's what I do) or it could be one sentence on what you know needs to happen in the chapter. This way you are never going to something blank, that will just feel overwhelming. A couple words or a bit of dialogue can help you go a long way!

This is the only way I completed my first novel (the one that will never see the light of day, yeah, that one. Might be a bad example, but hey, I start and wrote a full length novel based on this one tip.) Every time I finished a chapter, I would take an extra five minutes, while my brain was still focused, and write exactly what I saw happening in the next chapter. At the end of each chapter one that first draft are small paragraphs or bullet-points for the next chapter. So the next time I sat down to write, the essence of what I wanted to write was all ready to go, I just had to take it and run with it.

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Wow! 😳 Okay that was a ton of information.

Maybe take a break. Breath. Have some ice cream. I know this is all new stuff so don't feel overwhelmed by it. If you just want to do your own thing and wing it, great! Do it! What I want more than anything is to help you write, so take from this what will help you and go at it!

If you got questions just comment and ask away!

Good luck and happy writing!