7 Habits of Highly Successful Freewriters
by Bill Henderson @ Write a Better Novel freewritinghabitsNo matter which variation of freewriting you’re attempting (again, details to come), here are the “rules.” In other words, what you should actually do.
Four Freewriting Tools Every Novelist Should Use
by Bill Henderson @ Write a Better Novel charactersfreewritingideasAny novelist, any fiction writer, lives under the constant threat of being shut down by one form or another of writer’s block. It’s just a given of the trade. New writers encounter it as an existential crisis. It’s frightening, because it seems to be a cosmic message that we’ve made a huge mistake. We thought we had what it takes, but suddenly, it seems, we don’t. Experienced writers have looked into the eye of the beast and realized it’s just that, a beast, and like any beast, can be successfully grappled with and defeated. In my opinion, anyone can blow writers block out of the water by knowing when and how to use several variations of freewriting. I call them tools because they do what good tools are supposed to do: they make it easier, and in some cases possible, for anyone to build, repair, and speed their work.
Writing First Draft? Forget Looking Good. Make Messes
by Bill Henderson @ Write a Better Novel draftsfreewritingmethodsMost of my adult life I’ve used an original NordicTrack cross country ski machine. I love it, but I remember how ungainly and uncoordinated it made me feel on first try. It reminded me of learning to ride a bicycle; I practically fell off a couple of times until I got the knack.
There was a nice new “Pro” model at my health club, but I never saw anyone on it, even when the other machines were jammed with users. One day I asked one of the trainers why. “Because they don’t want to look bad.” He had a point. The membership was young, and trendy singles filled the place after five, strutting their stuff to the opposite gender.