Ellis Morning's Blog

I mentioned word count goals a while back, the advantages and disadvantages of working with them. Now I’ll do the same with another go-to progress and motivation method: deadlines. Deadlines Are Great Deadlines can help you break down a huge, impossible-seeming goal- like novel-writing- into manageable chunks, and provide a timeframe for getting it done. They also give you that kick in the rear you need to stop procrastinating and start writing. We tend to prioritize tasks with due dates…

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I learned something neat this week about the song Mother, by Danzig. If you don’t remember it, take a moment to refresh yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgSn0SbQJQI When Glenn Danzig released this song in 1988, it didn’t get much attention. It wasn’t until 6 years later that the song became a hit. In a 1994 interview, Danzig had this to say regarding Mother: It was the song I always wanted to write. … But I never wrote that song to make it a…

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(Image credit: Imagebase.net) As you work on scenes- especially those in 1st person or 3rd person limited- it’s essential to nail down the character whose perspective you’re working from. I’ll call this the point-of-view (POV) character. You have to write from that head. You have to convey the sights, feelings, thoughts, and actions that are available to them. In the process, it’s easy to forget about doing the same for all the other characters in the scene: I’ll call them…

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(Image credit: Photos Public Domain) With National Novel Writing Month (aka Nanowrimo) wrapped up (heck no I didn’t participate, though it feels like I did- 29,000 new words added to my manuscript in the past couple of weeks!), it seems an apt occasion to explore what’s good and bad about the word count goal. The Word Count Goal Is Great On its face, it just makes sense. It’s the easiest possible way to quantify writing and measure progress. Most people…

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(Image credit: Gratisography.com) Have you ever surprised yourself by half-assing a homework assignment, and getting an A on it? Or by posting something to social media you thought was dumb, but it really took off? Sometimes, the amount of sweat you put into something is inversely proportional to how well it comes out, and how well people receive it. Weird, but true. The makers of Goat Simulator only spent 10 weeks on development, yet have sold 1.1 million copies. Meanwhile,…

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Help! There’s something I really need to write, but ugh! I just don’t want to! Have you ever felt this way? Careful- your spider-sense is tingling! Sit back for a moment and think about why. Your reluctance may just be pure procrastination, especially if it’s a homework or job assignment. To get past it, you’ll need to flex your discipline muscle, plunk your butt in front of the computer with minimal distractions, and after a few crappy sentences, you’ll be…

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