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Does Your Novel Really Suck?

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Every writer that I know, myself included, always hits a wall at some point in their writing process. Usually it’s smack dab in the middle of the manuscript where you look at your book and you think, does this suck? Do I suck? Should I just scrap this whole thing? 

 

I’m going to give you five questions to ask yourself before you chuck that 70,000 word manuscript into the digital trash.

 

Do you hate your character(s)?

 

I’m gonna admit something. This was me. I wrote 70,000 words on a novel that I basically had to toss and start over with because I really hated my main character. If I had stopped, when I started to feel stuck, and asked myself this question, I could have saved myself a lot of time and energy. 

 

Sometimes we really don’t like our characters, but there are fixes for that.  Before you trash the whole thing, ask if there’s another character you’d rather write about or are you just bored with this character? If it’s another character calling to you, stop and retool your outline and try writing a few chapters from the new character’s point of view.  If you’re just feeling bored, try interviewing your character or journal as them to see if you learn some new things.  You can also throw something kooky at them to see how they would react – it can even be something totally out of the norm for your genre like an alien invasion, earthquake or other natural disaster – you can always toss that chapter later, but you might find you discover something about your character or book plot that will help you feel more excited overall. 

 

Are you connected to your story anymore? 

 

Writing a novel is a long process and I believe it’s pretty normal to get bored. We know our stories so well. We live and breathe them every day. We think about them constantly so it’s easy to get tired of our own words. If you’re feeling disconnected (or a little bored), maybe you just need a break. Maybe you need to write something else for a while. A short story, bad poetry, or create some characters for something new. 

 

You might need a break from writing all together. That’s okay! 

Do you just feel burnt out? 

 

Are you tired? Do you just hate sitting down to write? To go along with the above question, if you’re feeling burnt out you might need a break from writing all together.  Maybe you don’t wanna think about your book or your characters anymore. Again, that’s okay. Give yourself a time period. One week, two weeks. Don’t give yourself too much time, but give yourself a couple of weeks and do something completely different.

 

Play guitar, paint with watercolors, take a photo walk with your phone. Whatever YOU think is FUN – do that! Then come back and see if you feel better. 

 

Do I just not see a way to end this stupid thing? 

 

Even if you have an outline and have an ending written down, you might have gone through some twists and turns and you’re not where you thought you should be. Now you don’t know how to get to that end.  

 

When this happens, I like to take a couple of days and journal it out to rethink some things. Do you like where your outline was or not? Do you like where you are now? 

 

Start from where you are, figure out where you want to go, and then keep writing from there. If you need to take a couple of days to do this, it’s better to do it now than to just keep spinning your wheels or wind up scrapping the whole thing and never finishing. 

 

Are you judging every word you’re writing?

 

I do this. This is your inner editor talking. I also believe this is sort of the on ramp to feeling burned out. If you can catch this now, when you’re judging every little word before you get completely burnt out, you can save yourself a couple of weeks of frustration. 

 

If it is your inner editor, you’ll want to befriend your inner editor and get them on your side.  The easiest way to do this, have a conversation with them, ask them what they’re trying to tell you and how you can work together to keep going. Hopefully they give you some useful information and they allow you to get back to work.  If they aren’t being helpful, make sure you write that down and see if there’s something you can do to quiet the voice for awhile. 

 

Remember that this process can take some time, but again, stopping to deal with the issue now will keep you from giving up all together and never getting to The End.

 

Great, so let’s say you’ve asked yourself these five questions, you’ve fixed the problems and you’re ready to push through and finish your novel – you love your story, you’re grooving again with your characters, you see the ending – but you don’t know how to get there.  That’s where I come in with my 1:1 Coaching Package, Muddy Middle to Manuscript where I walk you through a process to help you overcome your issues, learn more about your plot and characters, and find the needed motivation to get to The End. 

 

If you have any questions, leave them below.

3 Reasons Writer’s Give Up on Their Book (And How to Avoid it)

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Is there more than one unfinished novel sitting on your hard drive? Are you wondering if your current work in progress is headed in that same direction? 

 

I feel like there are three reasons why writers get stuck in the muddy middle – they think their book stinks, they can’t see a way to end the dang thing, and they’re not getting along with their characters.  These are very valid and frustrating reasons, I know, but there are solutions and ways to avoid these problems so you don’t throw this book into the digital trash pile.

 

Reason #1 – Author’s Feelings

 

When you start to get stuck, all you can think is: this book stinks, or I stink, I hate this character, I hate this plot. 

 

What was I even thinking writing this book?!?

 

These are very big feelings, and sometimes you just need a break, a little step away from your project to get out of the weird mood. Sometimes you need to reconnect to your big why –  the reason you wanted to write this book in the first place. Maybe it was the character that you created first or the plot or something about the ending, something about this book got you excited at some point. So you need to re-remind yourself of what your big why is. I personally like to have some sort of physical representation of my big why in my writing space.

 

Now I of course use a tarot card for that. I usually pick one card that’s sort of the theme of the book I’m working on and I leave that in my space, but you can also use a vision board or a digital Pinterest board, or you can literally write it down and look at it every day or once a week.  You can do this various ways, but you need to make sure you’re connecting with that Big Why throughout the writing process.  

Reason #2 – Can’t See Their Way To “The End”

There could be two reasons this is happening – you had too detailed of an outline and you are completely off track OR you never had an outline to begin with and now you feel painted into a corner with no way out.  Feeling this way can make you throw up your hands and say I’m Done! 

I suggest taking a step back and looking at where you are right now before you figure out where you want to go.  Give yourself a day or two and just think about your characters and where you would like them to end up. Then start doing other things – dishes, showering, exercising, cleaning – and see if ideas come to you.  Once you have an idea of how you want the story to end then you can figure out how to get there.  

Then, like stepping stones over a river, figure out the scenes you need to write to connect Point A to Point B.  If you are not where you need to be – let’s say you are completely off track – just write from where you think you should be and fix things during edits and revisions. 

Reason #3 – Not Getting To Know Your Characters

Yes, you created them and you have the characters sheets with hair color, eye color, where they grew up and what they do all filled out but sometimes that’s not enough. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again – I like to think of characters as my friends. Even the antagonist, even the bad guys, even the side characters. I think of them as real people. And I talk to them like they are human.  Non-writers might think I’m a crazy person, but it works really really well.

Sometimes I do this process out loud, sometimes I write things down in a journal, I always use Tarot cards, but you need to start talking to your characters and asking them questions.  I use Tarot to help me create my characters so I will grab that card, but you can choose one now or use an image off the internet or a magazine.  You can also just picture them in your head, but you need some visualization of your character so you can interview them, journal as them, talk to them and find out their hopes, their dreams, their wants and needs, their fears, etc. 

You can also ask them questions like:

  • What do you want me to know about your story? 
  • Why did you give me your story to tell? 
  • What do you want by the end of this story?
  • What do you want me to know about OTHER CHARACTERS?
  • What can you tell me about SETTING?

It’s kind of like being their therapist, you want to go deep and learn things about them that you didn’t know before.  Treat them like friends, build a relationship.  Yes, this process takes time, but it’s better to take some time away from your draft and deepen the relationship with your characters than scrap your novel all together. 

If you have multiple manuscripts or novels that you’ve scrapped or stopped writing on because you got stuck in that middle, it might be time to bring in a writing coach.  This is what I do with Muddy Middle to Manuscript, my four session 1:1 Coaching package where I walk you through your feelings around your novel, plot and characters and then help you get your story back on track, help you get to know your characters better, and help you find the needed motivation to get through the muck and type The End.  I use Tarot to facilitate the conversations, help us understand the problems you are having, and brainstorm answers and solutions so you can feel confident, energized, and excited about your book again. 

First drafts are hard. First drafts are messy. First drafts aren’t perfect, but we expect them to be. We expect them to be these beautiful things and we get really down on ourselves when they’re not. And I’m here to tell you that you, as a writer are valid. Your story is valid. If you have a story on your heart, it’s there for a reason and I wanna help you get that out into the world.  So if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave them below. If you’re ready to check out Muddy Middle to Manuscript, click here to read more and then schedule your first session. 

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The Worst Writing Advice For Writers I’ve Heard

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Here are three terrible pieces of writing advice I hear most often…and how to avoid them.

Write Everyday

I’ve heard this for years and in all kinds of places, and for me, it did not work. It did cause me to burn out and stop writing for weeks and months at a time, because I was simply too exhausted.

To avoid this, I think it’s better to look over your schedule – either weekly or monthly – and see where you have time to schedule writing and then when you have the most energy to dedicate to your writing.  Personally I believe it’s better to consistently write only 1-3 times a week rather than try to write every day, start off strong, then flame out because you were just too tired to keep up with the schedule.

Just Start

So in the writing world, there are usually plotters and there are pantsers

The plotters are the ones that have the very, very, very detailed outlines of pages and pages and pages. The pantsers just go by the seat of their pants and they just start.

Both camps believe they are right, that they have the right way – and maybe for them, they do, but I personally like to have the middle ground, which doesn’t necessarily have a name, although I have heard it called plotser (not sure I love that).

For me, I figure out what information is needed so I know how to start, how to end, and some juicy scenes in the middle to get me from Point A to Point B.  I also need to know my characters and then I’m pretty much ready to start my first draft.  This will be different for every writer, so you will need to experiment and play to see what feels “just right” for you.  

Note…if you need to stop at some point during the first draft to flesh out some more scenes or more characters, I think that’s perfectly fine.

Edit As You Go

 

This, for me, is the absolute worst advice I’ve ever heard – so please, just don’t.  I have seen this stop writers from finishing their first draft way too many times.  They start obsessing over that first chapter, or the beginning, trying to get everything perfect that they never get to the end.  

 

Fixing the occasional typo, or having some great idea when you’re finishing up a chapter that will help that particular chapter, isn’t what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about spinning your wheels working on the chapters you’ve already written because you’re not sure how to end the story or your characters start doing things that feel out of your control.  Writers that do this think if they get the beginning just right that the ending will come and I’ve never seen it work.

 

My first advice to alleviate this problem is have somewhere you can keep notes for revision. It can be in the document itself, a separate document, or a writer’s notebook.  When you have ideas about how to make your beginning better because of something you just wrote in the middle, write it down and keep going. My other advice is to see where you are when you get stuck and want to keep revising previous chapters and where you want to go and then start writing as if your book was exactly how you want it – you can always fix things and make things work later. 

 

What’s the worst piece of writing advice you’ve heard? Let me know in the comments below.

My Favorite Way To Come Up With New Ideas As A Writer

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

I find that writers get stuck for a variety of reasons:

 

  • Lack of ideas
  • Lack of motivation
  • Getting stuck in their own head
  • Overthinking things
  • Worrying
  • Issues with their characters

 

The perfect writing tool to help with these issues will allow you to have more creative freedom, give you a new way of looking at things, and help you get out of your own head so you stop worrying or overthinking about things and help you get back on track, back in flow, and back to writing.

 

And most importantly, give you motivation even on your worst days.


If you’ve been around for any length of time, you might guess that the magical tool I use and would love to introduce to you is – Tarot Cards!!

 

Some writers get scared when they hear the word Tarot, especially if they aren’t into that woo-woo stuff, but I’m here to tell you that you can view the cards as just beautiful imagery on cardboard. 

 

Those beautiful images help me unlock things deep in my psyche, they help me get past everyday life and my normal way of looking at things to get a new perspective, new ideas and new insight.  I use Tarot cards for pretty much every part of the writing process from creating characters to outlining and plot development to editing sessions and daily motivation, especially when I’d rather do anything other than sit in that chair and write. 

Watch the video above to see two examples where I show how I use Tarot to motivate me when I’m stuck in the muddy middle of a first draft and help give me some new ideas during an editing session.  

 

If you’ve never used Tarot as a writer, what questions do you have for me? Leave them below and I’ll make videos and blog posts for you!

How To Make Readers Fall In Love With Your Characters

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Creating characters that your readers love can take time. Adding depth should be down in layers, putting more and more in as you work on each revision or draft.  Here are four things that I think writers need to think about when adding this depth to their characters.

 

What is your character’s motivation?

 

Yes, I know the joke about actors asking their directors, “What is my  motivation?” is funny – especially for me since I was an actor – but it’s also true!! Trying to figure out what your character wants is super important.  The other part of this equation is what do they need? Which I can guarantee you will be different.  I would ask these questions for both your protagonist and your antagonist….and these are really great questions to add depth to your side characters as well.

 

What about your character’s flaws?

 

All humans have flaws.  Even if we don’t want to admit it to anyone else, or ourselves, we have flaws.  We all have things we don’t like about ourselves, but this is what can take your character from flat, two dimensional, and bland to a fully fleshed out three dimensional human that your readers can feel for, can see themselves in, can root for.  

 

It’s very easy to see these flaws in our antagonist characters, but having them for the protagonist is really going to help you deepen that character and if you can use that character flaw to help you with plot development, you’re going to have a better story overall. For example, if your character always rushes into relationships without thinking, that can definitely help move the plot forward, or give them some conflict that will flare up at the worst possible time.

How does your character see their friends? How do their friends see them?

 

I picked this technique up when I was analyzing scripts as an actor. We would look at what was said about us onstage by other characters to help develop our own and I’ve carried this over into writing.  It can be helpful to think about how our characters act around each other, are they different around friends and family, at work or school, around people in authority? What is the dynamic between the people in your novel?

 

Even if you’re writing a single point of view and you’re not writing what others say about your main character, you can still ask them to find out and use this information to help with those character flaws, to help you understand your characters better, to help with dialogue or actions taken by your character.

 

How does your character feel about their enemies? How do their enemies feel about them?

 

This is the reverse of the other question, but why do they have enemies? No one gets along with everyone, so that’s fine, but ask why they don’t get along with certain people…is it warranted? Does your protagonist see the antagonist as their enemy?  

 

Using Tarot Cards 

 

If you know me, I use Tarot cards to help create my characters, but I also use them to help deepen my knowledge of my characters and answer these questions as I continue to write and edit my novels.  How? There are a few ways.

 

One, grab the card you used to create your character originally and talk to that persona, asking them the questions above interview style OR journaling as if you are them so you can gather information and answers. 

 

You don’t have to use Tarot for this, you can use images from PInterest or the web or just think about your characters in your mind. If you would like to use Tarot and you didn’t create your character this way, grab your favorite deck and choose a card right now – that’s totally cool!

 

Another way I like to do this is to use the above questions as a Tarot spread.  Grab your favorite deck, shuffle the cards and lay out 1-2 cards per question above for each character. This is a really fun way, although it will take you a while depending on how many characters you need to do this process with.  Have your journal or film yourself and start talking through all the ideas, write down everything and anything you can think of, and use what works and throw out what doesn’t.  

 

Remember this takes time. You’re not gonna get your character right on the first draft and that’s okay, that’s normal.  I love to do this kind of work in between drafts, when I’m not quite ready to work on the actual writing, but I don’t not want to work on the writing – you feel me? It can help you get back into the setting and storyline of your book when you’ve been away, taking a break in between drafts, so you are back in the mood to jump right in with your characters and start editing. 

 

If you haven’t taken my free training – Novel Narrator, where I walk you through the process of using Tarot to create your book’s characters in 30 minutes or less, download that here.  

 

Let me know, which question above was the most fun to ask your character? 

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4 Fears My Inner Editor Has Convinced Me I Have

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

…and how I have used Tarot to overcome them

Our inner editors can be very loud and can totally convince us that we have a range of fears from fear of success to fear of failure. But I think that if we learn to acknowledge and address these fears, we can overcome them with journaling and Tarot. 

In working with my clients, and in my own writing career, I have seen the same four fears come up over and over again. And they all stem from that loud inner editor. 

The fear of failure – This book is not gonna be a success. Why am I even bothering? 

The fear of success – Oh, this book’s gonna be great, but then I’m gonna have to write a second book…I can’t do that!

The fear of bad reviews – Just the thought of someone critiquing our books can cause us to completely shut down.

The fear of being “found out” as a fraud, otherwise known as imposter syndrome – Oh no, someone is going to come and take me away to fraud jail because I’m really not – insert thing here causing you panic.

I don’t believe these fears ever truly go away, but I do believe that if we work on acknowledging and working through them, we can quiet them down enough so we can take action and move forward toward our dreams.

That is a huge key to getting over writer’s block. 

 

 

What I would like you to do is grab a journal and answer these questions:

  • Which fear are you currently dealing with or which fear do you deal with most often?
  • How does this fear show up in your life? 
  • How does it stop you from writing and how does it affect your writing life in other ways? 

 

Once you’ve acknowledged the fear, keep journaling, let your mind wander and really get everything out about how this fear shows up and how it stops you from pursuing your dream.  
If you are dealing with a few fears, start with one and work through both exercises and then you can go back and do the same thing with another one – in fact, it might be super helpful to do these with all four fears, but let’s start with one. 

Once you’ve done the journaling work, the deep inner work, and you know which fear you are dealing with – let’s do something a little fun, a little different – a 3 card Tarot spread!

Grab your favorite deck, give it a shuffle and lay down the three cards – one for each of the following questions.  If you’d like to watch me go through this process in real time with my own fear, click the YouTube video above. 

 

Facing Your Fears Tarot Spread

  1. What is my fear trying to tell me?

  2. How can I face my fear with grace and acceptance?

  3. What’s one action I can take to move forward through the fear?

 

So that is what I would do first. I would acknowledge my fears by journaling first, and then I would work through the 3 card Tarot spread to deepen my knowledge or the fear and to come up with action steps through the fear.  

Because I really don’t think our fears ever truly go away. I think we just have layers of depth where we learn more and more about ourselves, more and more about the fear and why it’s coming up and how to effectively deal with it. BUT I do think doing this work quiets the fear so that it’s not so prevalent, it’s not so in your face, and you can then take the action steps needed to move forward toward your goal.

I would love to know if you try these, what came up for you or what action step you are now going to take, so leave a comment below.  

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Kickstart Your Creativity Using Multiple Tarot Cards

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Let’s say you’ve been dabbling with using Tarot cards for your writing and you’ve been pulling one card at a time – great!!  Looking at one card can help you gain insight, get you out of your own head, and spark ideas but by adding a second (or even third) card, you can take your writing from pretty awesome to freaking amazing! 

 

Look at each card individually first

Grab your favorite Tarot deck, shuffle and pull one card at random.  Spend some time looking at that card and see what comes up for you.  Look at the background, foreground, what the “character” of the card is doing, colors, animals, etc. Note or write down everything you can think of.

Now, pull the next card and do the same thing.  Spend some time and note all the things about this card as it stands without thinking about the first card.  Again, look at the background, the foreground, and the character.  Write it all down. 

Watch the video below to see real world examples using one of my favorite Tarot decks for creative writing.

Look at the cards together

Here’s where the magic comes in.  Put the two cards together and start looking at what’s the same about each card.  Do they both have water elements? Are there similar colors? Does each card have animals? Are they both in the same suit? Is the character facing the same direction? Anything and everything that’s the same gets noticed first.

Then take note of what’s different.  Is one card more warm tones while the 2nd card is more cool tones? Does one have lots of animals while the other is pretty barren? You can notice anything that catches your eye that’s different about the cards.

You can then assign meaning to those things based on your writing style or genre or just what strikes your fancy.  If you’re trying to get help writing a scene, let that guide you to what’s more important.  Like I tell people, there is no wrong answer – there is just YOUR answer.  So write everything down and start connecting the dots.

 

Have fun

Here’s where the fun comes in – start writing by putting them into a scene together.  They can be attending the same party, waiting for the bus, be co-workers, sitting at a bar – seriously the sky’s the limit here.  Pick something that works for your genre or a setting you like and start from there.  You can type all of this, handwrite, or turn on your phone and record yourself and then get it transcribed or type it up later.

OR another fun writing activity is to start the action on one card and finish it on the other.  For example, let’s say you pulled a Queen and a King card.  You could start with whatever’s happening  

 

Try adding more cards

This is something you can do with multiple cards as well.  Just follow the same steps – look at each card individually, then look at them together – what’s the same, what’s different, and then group them together and start writing! 

 

Things to think about

If you pull a card that doesn’t have a person or character on it, can you still use the card?  Sure, just use elements from the card to either create a character or add to the scene – you can combine the elements of both cards to create one perfect setting, one weird character, or one conflict that you can then use.  

It’s usually helpful, before you start, to decide if you want to write a scene, create a character, or if you just need some inspiration to get around writer’s block.  It’s helpful, but not needed if you just want to have some fun and see what comes up for you – again, there is no wrong answer, there is only YOUR answer and your answer is beautiful – and so are you!

Did you find this helpful? You might enjoy my signature course, Turn on the Tap, happening this June – so join the waitlist by clicking here to find out more ways to use Tarot with your writing, especially for ways to deal with and get unstuck if you are dealing with writer’s block.

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6 Ways Tarot Has Made Me A Better Writer

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Sure, I was a good writer before I found Tarot but since I’ve started incorporating these magical cards with my writing….I’ve become even better!  How has it helped me?  Let me count the ways. 

 

Helps me get out of my own head

 

We all get stuck in our comfort zones, our own little ways of doing things, but using Tarot and the imagery in the cards helps me break free of that and see things that I might not have thought of before.  If the villain in your book always kills their victims in a certain way and you’re getting tired of that, pulling a card and seeing what else might be possible helps with the brainstorm process, helps your brain make new connections.

 

Helps me develop ideas

 

For my novels, Tarot has helped me create characters, develop subplots, helped with conflict, and gotten me out of stuck corners during problem scenes or sections.  I always get some new ideas, new things to think about that allows me to continue forward movement and continue writing – even if I need to fix things later, at least I have words on the page. 

 

I also use Tarot to help me come up with ideas for YouTube, Instagram, email sequences for my business, and my newsletter.  It really can help you come up with ideas for almost anything – tell the cards what you are looking for while shuffling and let the magic happen.  

 

Helps me deepen my relationship with my characters

 

Yes, I teach how to use Tarot to create characters – and you can check that out here – but it also helps me deepen those relationships, even developing friendships with my characters. Even with my villains and antagonists!! When I create characters I usually choose a Tarot card (or let the Universe provide me with one) and I’ll keep record of that so I can grab that card and “talk” to my character when I need to. 

 

I do this normally by journaling with them, but you can also record yourself speaking and answer yourself back as if you were the character – sometimes it can be super fun to do these kinds of things to help you learn more about your characters.  Ask them about their likes and dislikes, what makes them tick, why they do the things they do and what they want you to know.  I guarantee you will know so much more about them if you take the time to talk to them.

 

Helps me have a relationship with my Inner Editor

 

And speaking of creating relationships, over the years I’ve developed one with my Inner Editor.  I chose a Tarot card to personify that voice in my head and started having conversations, learning more about them and telling them more about me.  He’s changed over the years but we now have a very nice working relationship where he helps me (rather than hinder me) and I can write so much faster and with greater purpose than before.  

 

If you’d like to learn more about this process, I teach all about it in my signature course – Turn on the Tap, which is coming this June, so sign up for the waitlist here.

 

Helps encourage me when times get tough

 

Who here has cried over a draft or section of their writing? I have.  One of my favorite ways that Tarot has helped me become a better writer is it encourages me when times are tough.  Listen, things are not always going to be rosy when writing.  Sometimes we feel defeated, we get blocked for days or months, sometimes are characters are real jerks and stop listening to us, or sometimes we just paint ourselves into a corner and can’t see a way out.   Tarot can help you see the big picture.

 

For me, specifically, it helps me see how far I’ve come, how much I’ve already accomplished and how amazing my journey has been.  In the video attached above, I pulled The Magician card and realized how perfect that was for encouragement because we do all have the tools we need to move forward, sometimes we just need to remember how magical we are, how amazing we are for being able to pull words out of thin air and create whole new worlds and people!   The Magician reminds us that we can feel grounded while reaching for the stars – it’s a beacon to help you keep going.  

 

Helps me when I need a writing coach

 

In that same vein, Tarot has become somewhat of a writing coach for me.  Yes, I am a writing coach and have amazing support around me from a kick ass editor to a really awesome writing group, sometimes you need to be able to rely on yourself for answers. 

 

When you are having a panic over something at 3am, you can’t always call on another human being, but you can reach for your trust deck of cards to give you guidance and answers.   For this example, I pulled the Knight of Wands which is all about the fiery passion, nurturing your dreams and your projects while keeping both feet planted on the ground – it gave me a message of your project being precious and you being an amazing writer who cares so much and it shows! You can’t see it right now, but you have bigger things to conquer, bigger mountains to scale and you are going to do just fine!!

 

And that’s how I use Tarot as my writing coach, sometimes you need that little burst of inspiration to help you stay in the moment and keep writing.  We all need someone to tell us we are doing a great job and we don’t all have those people in our lives, so let Tarot do that for you.

 

By combining the magical tool of Tarot with the innate knowledge you have about writing can help take your writing career and journey from pretty good to freaking awesome.  Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below and hopefully this gave you some insight into why I think Tarot is the best tool for writers to help unlock their creativity and keep them writing for the long haul. 

How To World Build Real “Fictional” Places

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

When most writers think of world building they start thinking about space odyssey, fantasy realms, or worlds with lots of magic but I’m here to tell you that it’s just as important when building out real “fictional” places to help ground your readers into the reality of your story.

 

What is World Building?

 

It’s setting the stage for my characters, the actors, to play upon. This can mean anything and everything from their house, the city they live in, to far off magical lands. The Young Adult books I write happen in real places – my first novel, The Art of Lying, is set in New York City. The book that’s coming out this summer is set in my hometown of St. Louise and my 3rd novel is set in the Circus. Now it’s not a real circus, but circuses are real things – so I think it counts.

 

To make sure these places ring true for your readers, you need to think of three things: Key Landmarks, Elementals and Character Interactions.

 

Key Landmarks

 

For this category, think about things like places – buildings, parks, homes; food – local specialties, likes and dislikes of the characters; proximity from one place to another – do your characters have to travel, do they walk everywhere?

 

To help you decide on these key landmarks, go to the characters themselves.  What’s most important to them? Do they need coffee in the morning to get going? Do they have a specific route they take to work or school? Then think about your story, what main problem does your story need to have? What would help or hinder the conflict? 

 

Once you have these key landmarks – you will need to use maps, pictures, interviews, or actually going there and doing real life research to help you get the small details right, which will go a long way to help with your setting and world building as a whole. 

 

 

Elementals

 

What year or time period is your book set? Present day, 1980’s, Colonial times, the future? What country does your book take place in? Things are going to be different in Ireland versus the United States, for example.  

 

Real “fictional” places can also be historical places, or setting your book in the future, but in a real life city, so make sure you keep these places and times in mind. 

 

What season are you in? It’s going to make a difference especially if your character spends time outside or needs to take public transportation, or is driving through the desert, or dealing with a climate change – like snow in Las Vegas (it happens, but it’s super weird). 

 

Remember, to keep your plot points in mind as well – when do things have to happen? For example, my 2nd book has the characters trying out for the high school varsity baseball team and trying out for the Spring musical – those need to happen at a certain point in the school year. 

 

Character Interactions 

 

How does your character interact with the setting? For example, if your character lives in the suburbs of St. Louis they are going to need access to a car, but if they are too young to drive what are they going to do? Bum rides off their older siblings, have to deal with car pools and their parents, or walk home? 

 

My suggestion at this point would be to interview your characters and find out how they feel about where they live – do they love where they are? Do they hate it and can’t wait to move as soon as they can? Do they love the setting, but hate the weather? What does your character think about the setting you’ve placed them and how does that help or hinder your story?

 

As you can see, world building is a totally different thing if you are writing a fantasy world or something up in space where you are in complete control of the setting – you have a lot more options and maybe more creativity, but it’s just as important when you’re writing about real places and real settings to get those specific details right – even if it’s just a small thing like how the park smells or how the food tastes, it really helps ground your reader into the reality of your book and helps them focus on the story and the characters. 

 

Let me know below one tiny detail you will be adding to your real world building in the comments below!!

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Mix & Match A Customized Writing Ritual Built Just For You

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Do you have a writing ritual that helps you put more words on the paper? Would you like one that’s totally customized just for you? 

 

I believe that having a writing ritual can help you actually look forward to writing so you sit down day after day with a smile on your face.  This is how I wrote the first draft of my third novel in 4 months (which is fast for me!) – by having a writing ritual that I could not only customize for me and my likes, but also how I felt each day.

 

There are four categories that I think make up the perfect writing ritual, read through and choose 1-2 items from each to start building out your customized ritual.  

 

CATEGORY ONE: GROUNDING

You want to come into your writing space, or writing project as clear as possible.  Back in my college theater days we had something called “leave your baggage at the door” where you would visualize all the stuff from your day – the fight with your roommate, the bad grade on the test – as baggage that you would drop at the door of the theater rehearsal or performance space.  The thing is this concept has been extremely helpful as a writer as well. You forget the fight, the bills or dishes piling up, and leave that baggage at the door so you can concentrate on your story.

 

This is how I ground, but there are other things you can do.  Deep breathing, meditation, feel your feet on the floor (or your butt in the chair) – anything that helps YOU be in the present moment so you can write without distraction or worry.  This needn’t take long, but will go a long way to give you peace of mind so you can enter your creative world. 

 

CATEGORY TWO: EXCITEMENT

This category is all about hyping you up so you are in a good mood to write.  I like to use music, either a particular song or genre.  Another thing I like to do is choose a Tarot card and do some light free writing. Some people read from their pervious writing sessions, dance it out, or light a candle.  Think of something that will amp you up so you have the energy to write for that day’s session.  This is where the customization can really come into play – what kind of energy boost do you need that day? Song and dance, a candle and three deep breaths, or will quickly reading the last line you wrote get you ready to start typing up new words? 

 

 

 

CATEGORY THREE: MOTIVATION

Okay, so you are in the present movement and you are hyped up, now you need to keep that motivation high to write for your session.  Personally, I continue using music but others have told me they love having a mood board to look at, character sheets with images, a favorite snack they can nibble on, or a timer they can try to “beat”.  Some people need complete silence and that’s great too, I suggest trying a few to see what works best for you most days. 

 

CATEGORY FOUR: REWARD

When your session is over you might feel like you are in a haze of creative energy.  For that I suggest a re-entry type exercise that can help you come back into the real world.  It can either mirror what you did at the beginning to ground – so pick the baggage back up, feel your feet on the floor, or do a quick meditation – or use some other technique like closing your project or laptop or just checking off that day’s session on a calendar.

 

Once you are back into the real world, you need to reward yourself for a job well done – I don’t care if you wrote two words or two thousand words, you deserve a reward.  Give yourself a gold star sticker, a piece of chocolate, a dance party, or 30 minutes to watch your favorite show.  You earned it!!

 

Now that you have a few items that you can choose from for each category, I want to ask you to look over your list and make sure at least one item each day is going to light you up, something that’s so fun you can’t wait to do it.  For me, this is music – it lights me up, keeps me motivated and makes me super happy.  What is that element for you? 

 

I would love to know what your current writing ritual is and what you might be adding now that you’ve read this article – what were you missing? What will definitely light you up so you can come back to the page (and the chair) day after day so you can finally type The End on your novel?

 

 

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