Being a writer is always harder than people think. To sit and produce a novel-length story without constantly deleting and re-starting gives even the most patient and relaxed individual a run for their money. And now, with the digital age slowly taking over, many people are dropping their pens in favour of a wireless mouse. So how can the digital age encourage us to be an author while preventing us from constantly hitting that delete button?
There are some fantastic websites out there that will encourage you and your writing on a regular basis. NanoWriMo is a huge charity that runs a yearly competition to write a novel in one month:
With reminders every single day to get your target words written, without worrying about perfecting the vocabulary or sentence structure, this will help you actually get that novel written rather than agonising over the first paragraph for hours on end. Once you have met your target of 50,000 words in 30 days you will receive rewards to celebrate the draft of your novel!
Don’t forget that creating a story doesn’t always include words. Creating a story with pictures tells a tale by showing the reader exactly what is happening, rather than leaving them to envision it on their own. People are always saying that what they imagine from a book is always completely different to how things appear when the novel is turned into a film.
By doing it this way, things are flipped with the reader knowing exactly what the characters look like and drawing their own conclusions about their characteristics and plot-line from the pictures provided.
It is a well known theory that writers write and writers read, but there is a reduced chance of you developing your plot into a novel without inspiration. Try signing up to vloggers who regularly discuss writing as well as giving you hints and tips to encourage and inspire. Listening to the latest writing news on a daily basis will also get you into the discipline of regularly writing.
No longer is writing a solitary activity. The internet is now a playground for writers to interact and enjoy the art of writing with each other rather than slugging it alone. Even renowned authors are joining forces to collaborate on a selection of short stories. After all, who says that writing should be a serious task? Set a theme, write a selected number of words, save it as a google doc and share it with a co-writer, then wait in anticipation to see what they do to the story.
Not only will this technically half your workload and give you a regular break to restore your creative juices, but waiting to see what direction your story has been taken will stir up extra excitement, making the art of writing all the more exhilarating.
Here is their completed story, something that may have taken a very long time to create took only an hour and seemed like a lot of fun. Give it a go and see where the adventure takes you.
No matter how amazing the digital age is making the art of writing, you won’t always be inspired when sat at your computer – So make sure you keep your favourite writing pen and notebook on your person at all times for a quick write up when something random happens.
For more writing tips, head over to Pen Warehouse.
