Your Regular Writing Practice Starts Tomorrow
Plus writing links and resources!
For writing links and resources, scroll down.
Just call me a tortoise…
My writing practice is not super strict. I have two preschool-age kids and an older family member with health problems. My days tend to be busy and unpredictable. If I don’t get to write for a few days, or even a week, I don’t let it throw me.
But on days when everyone is healthy and there are no major emergencies, I commit to at least one hour of writing. Often that amounts to about 1,000 new words on my work-in-progress. Other days I spend that time brainstorming, or writing something totally unrelated to my novel. What I’m saying is, I have a routine, but it’s flexible, because that’s what works for me right now.
I started writing my current novel-in-progress in August, and I hope to be finished with the first draft this summer. Not super speedy, but I’ve completed eight other novels in this way: slow and steady.
What I’m saying is, you don’t have to commit to writing every single day unless you can and want to.
What I’m saying is, your routine doesn’t have to be perfect or look like anyone else’s; it can allow for sickness or family emergencies or other life events.
What I’m saying is, you can have a writing practice, no matter what, and with that practice you can accomplish big things.
What could you accomplish with a regular writing practice?
Finish writing that book, maybe? Or simply get in touch with your creative side and see what happens...
Why not find out?
Cultivating a Regular Writing Practice, a virtual email course, will officially start tomorrow and run the entire month of April.
This is a totally do-it-on-your-own-time course, so even if you’re flying to Aruba tomorrow or something, the course will be waiting for you when you’re ready to start.
Cultivating a Regular Writing Practice is the first of many courses that will be available exclusively for paid subscribers of my email newsletter.
The weekly assignments will help you create a unique writing practice that works for you. It’s only $5/month to subscribe, which means you’ll get this entire course for $5.
Your subscription will also give you access to The Writing Room Slack Channel, a private online space where you can connect with other writers, share your assignments, and participate in accountability-checks and goal-setting.
Future courses for paid subscribers include:
Getting Started on Your Novel
Writing a YA or Middle Grade Novel
Sticking with Your WIP (Work-in-Progress)
Writing and Submitting Short Stories
Researching Literary Agents & Writing a Great Query Letter
For more information, read here about Cultivating a Regular Writing Practice. Or send me an email if you have questions! info@evalangston.com
Writing News:
#1 Are you a querying writer? Then mark your calendar for these upcoming April Twitter pitch parties. And be sure to read my article 13 Things to Know About Twitter Pitch Events.
April 7 (8 am—8 pm EST): #MoodPitch — BRAND NEW Twitter pitch for all un-agented authors of all genres and age categories, with a mood board image added. (I will be participating in this! Let me know if you are, too.)
April 14 (8 am—8 pm EST): #LGBTNPit — annual twitter pitch event for queer, trans, and nonbinary authors with a special focus on trans and nonbinary people
May 19 (8am—8pm EST): #PitDark — Twitter pitch for manuscripts that contain an element of horror or darker writing in a range of age categories
#2 Check out this FREE query workshop with Nat Lockett on April 10. Submit your queries for a chance to receive live feedback.
#3 Looking to work on your manuscript with a writing mentor? The Rogue Mentor mentee submissions will be open from April 22-25, and the mentor wishlists will be going live on April 7.
#4 Check out this very popular (and free) Novel Outline Template from former agent and current writing coach, Mary Kole.
#5 NYC Midnight’s 100-word Microfiction Challenge kicks off on April 22. You’ll be randomly assigned a genre, action, and word with which to write a micro-short-story in 24 hours. Winners in each group advance to the next round and write another story. It’s a lot of fun, and you’ll be surprised with what you can come up with when the pressure’s on. The final day to register is April 21.
#6 Globe Soup is offering a £1,000 prize to the winner of their Short Memoir Competition. Write a memoir of 3,000 words or less on the following theme: places that have made me, changed me, or inspired me. The contest deadline is May 17, but early bird pricing ends tomorrow! You can sign up now and submit your entry later.
#7 Looking for a writing coach, editor, or ghostwriter? Might I recommend Beth Weeks? She is a recipient of the 2018 Jordan-Goodman Prize in Fiction, a finalist for the Hudson Prize, and was nominated for the 2019 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers as well as the 2020 Pushcart Prize. Whatever your issues with your current WIP, chances are she can help.
#8 Black Mountain Institute (an international literary center based in Nevada) is hosting Wave In, an in-person art and music festival in Vegas May 5-7, and the line-up looks awesome. Plus, for the first time there will be free programming aimed at young readers.
#9 This year the Writing Day Workshop “How to Get Published” Conferences will be held virtually. I attended one of these conferences in person a few years ago in Philadelphia, and I thought it was fantastic. I can’t vouch for the virtual version, but there are some benefits: recorded classes, no travel expenses, attend in your comfy pants. Plus, you can sign up for Zoom pitch sessions with agents for $29 a piece. Check out the upcoming conferences (and remember, anyone can attend from anywhere; just keep the time zone in mind).
Philadelphia Writing Workshop: May 6-7, 2022
Chicago Writing Workshop: June 10-11, 2022
Sincerely,
Eva
Very nice Eva. You have much on your plate!