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So, my first blog post. The awkward one, where I couldn’t think of what to write…and thenceforth came the inspiration. Write about inspiration!

It’s one of the most common questions an author, especially a fantasy author, gets asked. Where do you get your ideas? My first reaction is normally to say “I find them down the back of the sofa, with the loose change and the biros�, but that’s not really very helpful, is it?

The thing is, for each book there is no one inspiration, or not for me anyway. Each book comes about when three or more bits of inspiration collide.

For my current Work In Progress, I can pinpoint those.

Firstly, I was asked to present a list of ideas. This is a great jolt for inspiration, because you actually have to think of something! Having recently read some classic adventure fiction, I plumped for two highwaymen. They’re quite new at it, I thought. What if they’ve been thrown out of their old job, and have been forced into this? OooOoh. What if they’re brother and sister while we’re at it? Dick Turpin and the Wicked Lady.

Then I had to think a little deeper about this, about where these people are â€� something I usually do as I write the book, tbh, and this only really took root after I’d written the first couple of chapters. I’m fascinated by revolution (Up pitchforks!), so I thought about revolutionary France as a backdrop, but that wasn’t quite right. And then, because I read a lot of non fiction, I was reading about post-Moorish Spain, and thought “Oooooh! I can do something with that!â€�, not to mention I adore Morocco, so I wanted my main city to have that heat drenched, sun baked feel. So it turns out that my world is post an empire that fell, leaving them in a version of the Dark Ages…followed by a resurgence in technology, and that led to a revolutionâ€�.and now here we are, after all the dust has settled, but while old resentments are still festering. And of course, no revolution is really complete without a counter-°ù±ð±¹´Ç±ô³Ü³Ù¾±´Ç²Ôâ€�.

There was a third thing also, but I’m saving that for the Big Reveal!

Other instances include me watching Dynamo on the telly, and wondering “What if he really can do magic? What if his real magic didn’t look as good as his tricks?� which butted up in my head with a recent reread of Wizard of the Pigeons, and my husband telling me about this ex-special-forces guy who wears twin sets and pearls, floral skirts, a handlebar mustache and insists everyone call him Deirdre as a way to deal with his PTSD�

Another series was inspired by a random comment on a forum somewhere that got tangled up with a really weird dream I had about some seriously creepy magic married to my desire to write a type of protag I’d never tried before.

My point here is � inspiration often doesn’t come from just one thing, one thought, one picture, one idea. It’s a bit from here, a bit from there, a sudden joining of the two in ways that might be unexpected. And one reason that I think perhaps the most vital attribute a writer needs is an insatiable curiosity � about everything. People, places, histories. Everything.

Then again, it could just be that I’m incredibly nosy!

So the sequel to Ten Ruby Trick, The Pirate’s Lady, will be out soon � next month in fact. And I have a shiny new cover to put on it.

Tada!

Ìý

Ìý

Soo…what do you think?

The Given & The Taken � How It Came to Be

, author of awesome vampire stories Blood & Roses and Smoke, is at least partly to blame for The Given & The Taken, which is book #1 in the Tooth & Claw series.Ìý The two of us spend a great deal of time yakking via IM while we're both writing (or, on occasion, procrastinating). One topic that has come up more than once is the idea of predestined mates.Ìý In short, it bugs us both. Of course it's something that can be done well, but it also has the potential to be incredibly squicky, and we've both read a few too many examples of it meeting that potential.

Around the beginning of 2011, we'd been having another one of our conversations about predestined mates, and a plot bunny started gnawing on my brainstem. I had also been, for some time, pondering the idea of writing something paranormal. I like vampires and werewolves as much as the next person, but just hadn't settled on the right story.Ìý Plot bunny, meet genre.

And this, my friends, is how L. A. Witt's brain works:

What if a pair of predestined mates were so incompatible, there was just no way they would work out?Ìý Such as…say…she's a woman, and he's gay. Enter Levi, a wolf who's been paired with Selena, who is pretty much the only one in the pack who understands why it's just not going to happen.Ìý So, with her blessing, he finds a male mate, Ian, who happens to be human. The pack is less than thrilled (which, of course, makes me happy…always love stirring things up for the people in my head). They're going to grudgingly let Levi bond with his chosen mate, but they aren't going to make it easy for them.

In fact, you know what, Levi? We're going to let you two bond, but then you're going away for a year, and if Ian can find you after that year is up? Well, Mazeltov. If not, you get your sorry butt back here to the pack and bond with Selena like we told you to in the first place.

Awesome. Now I've got a monkey wrench thrown into the whole predestined mate thing, but I'd really like to bring in some vampires.Ìý The story just feels like it needs some bloodsuckers.Ìý Ooh, I've got it! Ian doesn't do so well with this "year apart" stuff, and in a moment of weakness, not only cheats on Levi but does so with a vampire. And winds up converted to a vampire.

Levi's pissed, of course. And Ian feels like an ass, because…well, he kind of was an ass. Oh, and Darius the vampire isn't going to just fade into the shadows. He had a nibble of Ian and would like some more, thank you very much, even if a certain werewolf tries to get in his way.

At this point, I thought I saw the story laid out in front of me like a clear, straight stretch of Midwestern blacktop. Well, minus the cornfields and gas stations, anyway. Point being, the setup was there, the characters were in place, and it was go time. But every time I tried to flesh out the details, it all fell flat. Yeah, that Nebraska interstate was laid out in front of me, but my car was broken down on the side of the road withÌý nary a tow truck in sight. (Pardon the travel puns and Midwest analogies…I just drove to Nebraska, so guess where my brain is.)

So what the hell is the problem? Come on, characters. Let's get it together here. Pissed off werewolf, prodigal boyfriend, antagonistic vamp—wait. Wait just a second.

Darius doesn't want to be a villain.

Okay, let's try this again, this time with Darius in a protagonist's chair.Ìý Much better.

Oh, and Selena? Selena doesn't want to be a barely-there secondary character. Nuh-uh, author lady. I didn't let my predestined mate wander off with a man so I could sit at home and knit. I'm not even coming along for the ride. Bitch, I'm driving!

And…there we go. I put together a nice shiny outline (ah, Excel, how I love thee), and started writing. The boys (and Selena) turned out to be an opinionated bunch, though, so I pretty much ditched the outline and followed them.

The end result?

The Given & The Taken, which is now available from . Keep an eye on my , , and for updates about the sequel, The Healing & The Dying, as well as additional books in the Tooth & Claw series.

Ìý

Don't forget to to go to L A's blog tomorrow for a new post in the Cock and Bull tour

So, I have my cover art for my Viking:

And a blurb too:

Viking raiders destroyed Wilda's home. She witnessed the murder of her mother and would have been killed herself if it weren't for the Viking boy Einar, who saved her from his ruthless brother. The blood and murder left Wilda cold and shorn of feeling.

Eight years later, the heathens return for Wilda. As a captive in the Viking village, she finds protection and silent comfort in the man who once gallantly saved her.

Einar has been cursed to silence by his brother. With the dark net of his brother's power cast over their village, silence is a small price to pay for his family's safety. But Einar is immediately drawn to Wilda, and the need to protect her from his brother awakens his Viking courage. Can Einar break his brother's curse in time to save the village and the woman he loves?

ANNND � spoiling you today aren't I? And teh sequel to Ten Ruby Trick will be coming soon too! Woohoo!

So, I recently sold an historical to Carina. Yay me! Vikings FTW! But, and here was the tricky part, writing historical is very different to writing fantasy. In fantasy, of course, I can just make stuff up. And I do. But historicals need to be at least fairly accurate, or you’ll have history buffs sending you emails about how the colt 45 wasn’t invented till the year after your hero used it�

But in many ways, especially in how you use your worldbuilding/research they are very similar. Worldbuilding serves much the same purpose in fantasy as research does in historical � it gives the reader a sense of place and/or time. It lets them, for that short while, inhabit somewhere different.

The trick is, not to drown your story in it. Because your reader almost certainly is reading mainly for the story. Not a treatise on how beer was made in 844.

Now when I decided to write this historical, I decided to approach the research in much the same way I do worldbuilding. In fantasy, the little worldbuilding I do up front is all to do with culture. This culture values this, so these things are likely. Details come as I write. Researching Vikings, before I started writing what I looked for was attitude and laws. So, Saxons for example didn’t automatically leave everything to the first born son (that came in with the Normans). Instead they often willed their lands etc to who they wanted to have it. Because of this, and because a widow with a lot of land was obviously a big draw, a law was introduced that no widow can be made to marry for a year after her husband’s death.

This little nugget, combined with my Viking hero’s absolute belief in seidr, that is magic, and Bad Guy’s attempt to take over the fjord (hey, coups are universal!) started off my plot. Everything else, all the little details of how they lived, what they ate etc came later, much later. I researched them only when it was relevant to the plot/depth � that is, if I had my heroine making dinner, it helped to know what it would be! Being the type of writer I am, the more I knew upfront, the more likely I would dump it in the novel to no effect. Your mileage may vary, depending on what sort of writer you are.

That’s my method of making sure research/wordlbuilding doesn’t overwhelm the story � only ‘discover� it as and when I need it. If I end up a little light at the end of the first draft, it’s easy to go and add extra detail. I find it harder to cut.

Now, if you’re more of a planner, this probably won’t work! You’ll want to know all the details up front. This is fine and dandy, if that’s how you need it to be. If not, then the ‘as you go� technique can really help not drown your story in details. If you know all your stuff before hand, that’s a different thing. Just try to make it relevant to what is actually occurring and what the reader really needs to know. That almost certainly does not include a three page description of anything. Really. Layer it in, subtly.

Please.

So, I recently sold an historical to Carina. Yay me! Vikings FTW! But, and here was the tricky part, writing historical is very different to writing fantasy. In fantasy, of course, I can just make stuff up. And I do. But historicals need to be at least fairly accurate, or you'll have history buffs sending you emails about how the colt 45 wasn't invented till the year after your hero used it�

But in many ways, especially in how you use your worldbuilding/research they are very similar. Worldbuilding serves much the same purpose in fantasy as research does in historical � it gives the reader a sense of place and/or time. It lets them, for that short while, inhabit somewhere different.

The trick is, not to drown your story in it. Because your reader almost certainly is reading mainly for the story. Not a treatise on how beer was made in 844.

Now when I decided to write this historical, I decided to approach the research in much the same way I do worldbuilding. In fantasy, the little worldbuilding I do up front is all to do with culture. This culture values this, so these things are likely. Details come as I write. Researching Vikings, before I started writing what I looked for was attitude and laws. So, Saxons for example didn't automatically leave everything to the first born son (that came in with the Normans). Instead they often willed their lands etc to who they wanted to have it. Because of this, and because a widow with a lot of land was obviously a big draw, a law was introduced that no widow can be made to marry for a year after her husband's death.

This little nugget, combined with my Viking hero's absolute belief in seidr, that is magic, and Bad Guy's attempt to take over the fjord (hey, coups are universal!) started off my plot. Everything else, all the little details of how they lived, what they ate etc came later, much later. I researched them only when it was relevant to the plot/depth � that is, if I had my heroine making dinner, it helped to know what it would be! Being the type of writer I am, the more I knew upfront, the more likely I would dump it in the novel to no effect. Your mileage may vary, depending on what sort of writer you are.

That's my method of making sure research/wordlbuilding doesn't overwhelm the story � only 'discover' it as and when I need it. If I end up a little light at the end of the first draft, it's easy to go and add extra detail. I find it harder to cut.

Now, if you're more of a planner, this probably won't work! You'll want to know all the details up front. This is fine and dandy, if that's how you need it to be. If not, then the 'as you go' technique can really help not drown your story in details. If you know all your stuff before hand, that's a different thing. Just try to make it relevant to what is actually occurring and what the reader really needs to know. That almost certainly does not include a three page description of anything. Really. Layer it in, subtly.

Please.

So, I recently sold an historical to Carina. Yay me! Vikings FTW! But, and here was the tricky part, writing historical is very different to writing fantasy. In fantasy, of course, I can just make stuff up. And I do. But historicals need to be at least fairly accurate, or you'll have history buffs sending you emails about how the colt 45 wasn't invented till the year after your hero used it�

But in many ways, especially in how you use your worldbuilding/research they are very similar. Worldbuilding serves much the same purpose in fantasy as research does in historical � it gives the reader a sense of place and/or time. It lets them, for that short while, inhabit somewhere different.

The trick is, not to drown your story in it. Because your reader almost certainly is reading mainly for the story. Not a treatise on how beer was made in 844.

Now when I decided to write this historical, I decided to approach the research in much the same way I do worldbuilding. In fantasy, the little worldbuilding I do up front is all to do with culture. This culture values this, so these things are likely. Details come as I write. Researching Vikings, before I started writing what I looked for was attitude and laws. So, Saxons for example didn't automatically leave everything to the first born son (that came in with the Normans). Instead they often willed their lands etc to who they wanted to have it. Because of this, and because a widow with a lot of land was obviously a big draw, a law was introduced that no widow can be made to marry for a year after her husband's death.

This little nugget, combined with my Viking hero's absolute belief in seidr, that is magic, and Bad Guy's attempt to take over the fjord (hey, coups are universal!) started off my plot. Everything else, all the little details of how they lived, what they ate etc came later, much later. I researched them only when it was relevant to the plot/depth � that is, if I had my heroine making dinner, it helped to know what it would be! Being the type of writer I am, the more I knew upfront, the more likely I would dump it in the novel to no effect. Your mileage may vary, depending on what sort of writer you are.

That's my method of making sure research/wordlbuilding doesn't overwhelm the story � only 'discover' it as and when I need it. If I end up a little light at the end of the first draft, it's easy to go and add extra detail. I find it harder to cut.

Now, if you're more of a planner, this probably won't work! You'll want to know all the details up front. This is fine and dandy, if that's how you need it to be. If not, then the 'as you go' technique can really help not drown your story in details. If you know all your stuff before hand, that's a different thing. Just try to make it relevant to what is actually occurring and what the reader really needs to know. That almost certainly does not include a three page description of anything. Really. Layer it in, subtly.

Please.

The "E" Word

By JK Coi

No matter what you write, whether it's a manuscript or a grocery list, editing will eventually be a part of it. (Yes, I've had to scratch out the word "cookies" from my grocery list too many times, although I can't quite bring myself to add "carrots" in its place)

It's a fact of life for authors that writing = re-writing. But I tell myself that editing shouldn't be looked at with fear or as a chore, but the opportunity to catch mistakes (because, let's face it, they're ALWAYS there) and to make my work even better.

Even before I send a book to my editor, I've done my own round of edits, hopefully to make her job easier (or at least this is what I tell myself. The swearing and cursing that comes through the internet lines after she opens the file tell a different story).

I tackle edits in three waves. The first wave occurs during the writing process of the first draft. As much as I'd like to tell you I simply sit down and start clacking away at the keyboard, that the magic of my own mind takes me away and I don't look back until it's all done…that's not the way it goes. I'm editing as I go. Not extensively, but enough to tweak and fine-tune my words. It helps in the long run to make sure my next pass isn't quite so extensive.

The second wave is my way of looking at content and depth. This is where I will strengthen the emotional conflicts and hopefully weed out inconsistencies of plot. (Note that these inconsistencies invariably drive me CRAZY. I can spend HOURS looking up lore and fairytales about goblins and ghouls and as many other scary creatures as I can, and researching the cities and towns I have dropped my characters into—you'd think I would have learned by now to write about a place that I've actually been to!) However, this reminds me: I do a lot of my research when the book is already done. There are usually tons of placeholders in my manuscript with square brackets around them that look something like this: [DETAILS OF SUPER-COOL VAMPIRE POWERS] or [CASSIEL IS THE ANGEL OF SOLITUDE AND TEARS—WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS MEAN?]. Anyway, if I spent all my time with these niggly little details BEFORE I started writing the book, it would never get finished!

Anyway, once I've lost a week of sleep and finally combed through the manuscript for this second wave, I will send the book to my critique partners. Tip: Biting fingernails, inhaling chocolate, and staring at the empty email inbox for hours waiting for a response is not a good use of your time. The thing I try to remember when my critique partners and beta readers get a hold of my book is that their comments will mostly be suggestions based on their own style and personal preferences. So the third wave starts once I've looked over all the suggestions that were made and decide what I'm going to do with them, but honestly, I hardly ever make all the changes that are suggested. It isn't that I don't trust their judgement or respect their opinion, but I also have to keep my own vision for the book. I find if I let too many people tell me to change this and change that, my voice gets muffled and the writing loses its strength.

Finally, after three passes or "waves" of editing, I hopefully have a worthy manuscript to send to my editor…and the editing begins again!

For the readers, how much does bad editing bother you when you're reading a book? Can you overlook some spelling and grammar errors when the story is compelling, or do you want to grind your teeth at every instance of their when it should have been there?

For the other writers out there, how many passes does it take before you consider your book good to go? Do you have a tried and true process?

After a life filled with tragedy, rocker Gabriel Gunn thinks he's finally getting the better of his personal demons. Then he's attacked after a concert—and rescued by a warrior goddess brandishing a sword and white wings. As hard as it is to believe in an angelic bodyguard, Gabriel must face an even more impossible truth: he carries the devil's soul within him.

Amelia has been watching over Gabriel for years, using her angelic powers to prevent Lucifer's return. Now she must also protect him from warring angel factions with their own agendas. Amelia would do anything to avert another angelic war, even sacrifice her own emotions to avoid temptation. Yet with Gabriel she feels things she no longer wants to deny, and pleasure she never imagined.

But the closer Gabriel and Amelia get, the stronger Lucifer becomes. Will Amelia be forced to kill the man she's come to love to stop the war she's always feared?

J.K. Coi is a multi-published, award winning author of contemporary and paranormal romance and urban fantasy. She makes her home in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and son and a feisty black cat who is the uncontested head of the household. While she spends her days immersed in the litigious world of insurance law, she is very happy to spend her nights writing dark and sexy characters who leap off the page and into readers' hearts.

Website:

Twitter:

The "E" Word

By JK Coi

No matter what you write, whether it's a manuscript or a grocery list, editing will eventually be a part of it. (Yes, I've had to scratch out the word "cookies" from my grocery list too many times, although I can't quite bring myself to add "carrots" in its place)

It's a fact of life for authors that writing = re-writing. But I tell myself that editing shouldn't be looked at with fear or as a chore, but the opportunity to catch mistakes (because, let's face it, they're ALWAYS there) and to make my work even better.

Even before I send a book to my editor, I've done my own round of edits, hopefully to make her job easier (or at least this is what I tell myself. The swearing and cursing that comes through the internet lines after she opens the file tell a different story).

I tackle edits in three waves. The first wave occurs during the writing process of the first draft. As much as I'd like to tell you I simply sit down and start clacking away at the keyboard, that the magic of my own mind takes me away and I don't look back until it's all done…that's not the way it goes. I'm editing as I go. Not extensively, but enough to tweak and fine-tune my words. It helps in the long run to make sure my next pass isn't quite so extensive.

The second wave is my way of looking at content and depth. This is where I will strengthen the emotional conflicts and hopefully weed out inconsistencies of plot. (Note that these inconsistencies invariably drive me CRAZY. I can spend HOURS looking up lore and fairytales about goblins and ghouls and as many other scary creatures as I can, and researching the cities and towns I have dropped my characters into—you'd think I would have learned by now to write about a place that I've actually been to!) However, this reminds me: I do a lot of my research when the book is already done. There are usually tons of placeholders in my manuscript with square brackets around them that look something like this: [DETAILS OF SUPER-COOL VAMPIRE POWERS] or [CASSIEL IS THE ANGEL OF SOLITUDE AND TEARS—WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS MEAN?]. Anyway, if I spent all my time with these niggly little details BEFORE I started writing the book, it would never get finished!

Anyway, once I've lost a week of sleep and finally combed through the manuscript for this second wave, I will send the book to my critique partners. Tip: Biting fingernails, inhaling chocolate, and staring at the empty email inbox for hours waiting for a response is not a good use of your time. The thing I try to remember when my critique partners and beta readers get a hold of my book is that their comments will mostly be suggestions based on their own style and personal preferences. So the third wave starts once I've looked over all the suggestions that were made and decide what I'm going to do with them, but honestly, I hardly ever make all the changes that are suggested. It isn't that I don't trust their judgement or respect their opinion, but I also have to keep my own vision for the book. I find if I let too many people tell me to change this and change that, my voice gets muffled and the writing loses its strength.

Finally, after three passes or "waves" of editing, I hopefully have a worthy manuscript to send to my editor…and the editing begins again!

For the readers, how much does bad editing bother you when you're reading a book? Can you overlook some spelling and grammar errors when the story is compelling, or do you want to grind your teeth at every instance of their when it should have been there?

For the other writers out there, how many passes does it take before you consider your book good to go? Do you have a tried and true process?

After a life filled with tragedy, rocker Gabriel Gunn thinks he's finally getting the better of his personal demons. Then he's attacked after a concert—and rescued by a warrior goddess brandishing a sword and white wings. As hard as it is to believe in an angelic bodyguard, Gabriel must face an even more impossible truth: he carries the devil's soul within him.

Amelia has been watching over Gabriel for years, using her angelic powers to prevent Lucifer's return. Now she must also protect him from warring angel factions with their own agendas. Amelia would do anything to avert another angelic war, even sacrifice her own emotions to avoid temptation. Yet with Gabriel she feels things she no longer wants to deny, and pleasure she never imagined.

But the closer Gabriel and Amelia get, the stronger Lucifer becomes. Will Amelia be forced to kill the man she's come to love to stop the war she's always feared?

J.K. Coi is a multi-published, award winning author of contemporary and paranormal romance and urban fantasy. She makes her home in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and son and a feisty black cat who is the uncontested head of the household. While she spends her days immersed in the litigious world of insurance law, she is very happy to spend her nights writing dark and sexy characters who leap off the page and into readers' hearts.

Website:

Twitter:

BY A G Carpenter

Since writing is work that means if we're serious about being "writers" � pursuing publication, honing our skills, etc � we need to know how to keep working even when the muse isn't smiling at us.

This means developing habits and strategies to get you through the "dry spells". Here are the ones that work for me.

1. When in doubt, outline.

It's true that I don't always outline before I start a project. But once I see what kind of shape the story is taking I do like to sketch out my ideas. This might be just a paragraph summarizing the story-arc. Or it could be a detailed 3 page bullet-pointed breakdown of all the key plot points. Or a stack of index cards containing notes for each proposed chapter. It just depends. But when the creativity gets thin I have something to look at to remind me what should come next. That has proved invaluable on many occasions when I've opened up my document and just thought "I don't know what to say now." It's not foolproof, but it gives me a way to see where I'm at and where I should be going.

1b If you're a panster, call it brainstorming

If you happen to be one of the folks really cannot stand the thought or concept of outlining, look at it as a kind of brainstorming. It's not about dictating where a story should go before you write it out, it's about figuring out the possible outcomes of a given set of characters, their goals and where the story has taken them so far. The idea that outlines are some kind of impermeable code of honor that once written they cannot be deviated from in any way, shape or for, is rampant. And this is silly. And outline, just like any other writing practice, is just a tool. You use it for however long it works, then put it aside when it is no longer useful. I use outlines as kind of a rough-rough draft. They give me a chance to try out a plot without wasting two months and 80k words writing a story that has plot holes you could drive a bus through and requires a total rewrite.

When the creativity runs thin (and you note I say when, not if)I find that brainstorming about where the story could go next is just the kick in the pants I need to write the next chapter. And it helps me avoid writing myself into a corner and having to trash three or four chapters in which my characters wallow about with no direction.

2. Set Measurable Goals.

This may sound obvious and unnecessary, but it's really important. Set a goal that you can measure. This means number of words (or pages) per day/week/month. Giving yourself a specific amount of time to write every day/week is good too, but it won't produce the same results. (Haven't we all sat down to write for an hour and then spent 45 minutes of that writing time playing solitaire, reading email or surfing the web?) Set a goal that can be quantified, something concrete, something you can't waffle about. "I will write 500 words every day." "I will write 15 pages every week." And so on.

I like to have a daily and a weekly goal because, like most of us, some days produce nothing but frustration and a worn spot on the delete/backspace key.

3. Keep your goals in mind.

Once you've set your goal, keep it in mind. When you sit down to write, review what your goal is and how much you have already achieved that week/month. (This is important because some days you simply will not reach your goal. Other days you will write as much as you normally write in a week. By having goals that are not just daily but also weekly and monthly, you can see the overall progression even when a cold destroys the daily wordcount.) If you are ahead on the weekly wordcount at the beginning of a writing session congratulate yourself. "My typing ability is improving" or "That day off to sleep really paid off" or whatever. If you're behind, figure out how much needs to be done to catch up. (Maybe slipping in an extra session or adding a hundred words to the daily goal for the rest of the week.) If at all possible make it something achievable, otherwise you may start to feel overwhelmed.

4. Write every day.

Not all of us can do this. But if you can, you should. If you can't, then find the time to write as frequently as possible. Trust me, it helps.

5. Write to the limits of your capability.

An online acquaintance recently asked how much he should be writing every day. (He's in college and usually busy with schoolwork.) Unfortunately that answer depends on the individual. When my story is firmly in my head I can write 1500 words in an hour. (When it's not, well, let's just say the number isn't that big.) And I can normally find an hour a day to write. (Sometimes it's more but I try to be realistic.) So, for me, 1500 words a day is a good goal. For someone else it may seem an impossible dream.

The point here is to figure out-given the best possible circumstance: Gotten enough sleep, no unexpected crisis etc-how much you can write a day. Then set that as your goal. Don't try to make it some impossible-to-achieve-and-ultimately-momentum-killing goal that is way beyond you, and don't settle for something easy. Best case scenario is you write at the upper edge of your capability. When that starts to get easy, raise the goal, or if life gets difficult, you bring it back down a bit.

6. Keep Writing Time for Writing

It's easy to get distracted by other stuff when you sit down to write. But the most important discipline you can develop, more valuable than writing every day, or setting goals, is to use your writing time to write.

This means you do not do research when you sit down to write. You do not check email or read blogs or otherwise engage with teh internet. You do not fiddle with your wordcount spreadsheets. You do not play computer solitaire. (Note from Julia: Have you been spying on me? )

When you sit down to write, you write. If you can manage that, the rest will fall into place.

By day A.G. Carpenter is a mild-mannered stay-at-home mother. By night she writes fiction of (and for) all sorts. Her microfiction has been published at and .

She blogs at and Twits @Aggy_C