10 Writing tips during writing slumps / lockdown #writingtips #amwriting

Posted on June 11, 2020 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

Everyone has days when they just can’t find the inspiration to write.

I’ve heard from writing friends that they’ve found it especially hard to find any creativity over the last few months what with lockdowns and the pandemic. Thankfully I haven’t suffered with lack of inspiration but I have found it hard to adjust to having family around during my writing time and helping / nagging two teenagers about their home school lessons can be draining.

I thought it would be a great time to share some of the tips I’ve found helpful now and in the past to help me keep my writing mojo.

10 Tips to writing through a slump

Allow yourself time to write. Giving yourself the permission to write frees up your subconscious and hopefully your creativity.
Write anything and see what arrives on the page. Lately I’ve managed to write some short stories by just starting with whatever comes into my head.
Experiment to find the right time to write. Are you most creative first thing in the morning, evening, in bed at night? I’ve discovered first thing in the morning before I even get out of bed is my optimum creative time, though I used to love writing before I go to sleep too.
Find the right medium to get down your ideas. For me that’s pen and paper or in a beautiful notebook. Maybe you like to type directly on your laptop, put notes on your phone or maybe a diary or journal.
Typing up ideas you’ve scribbled down and giving them a working title can really get the creativity going as you see the story emerging on the page.
Use idea spinners; Title prompts, picture prompts, story cubes, online sites, competition story prompts, news articles, or whatever springs to mind as your pen hits the paper.
Have a writing journal or a place to scribble down ideas or bits of stories. When you are stuck for an idea it’s great to be able to flick through your past scribblings and see if anything inspires you.
Maybe it’s time to revisit an old novel or short story attempts. I like to print them off, or even better send them to my ipad or kindle. Then, armed with a notebook and pen, I can read through them as a normal book and make notes on what needs changing or expanding.
Sharing stories with critique partners can help you find out what’s not working and talking it through may just inspire you to finish it. One of my beta reader’s recently pushed me to reconsider the whole mood of a story and I realised making my character so morose was stopping the reader from connecting with her.
Write with a friend. You can spur each other on. This is something I’ve been doing with one of my writing buddy’s Jackie. She decided to start sharing the story on her blog to force her to write more. Here are the links so far; The day of the Badger (working title) Part One , Part Two.

A few points to remember

Write now. Edit later.
Don’t think too much about the story. Allow your mind to work as you go along and be amazed at the story that unfolds.
Don’t hold back.
Don’t expect it to be a wonderful first draft. The fun is in the editing, at least it is for me!
Enjoy yourself. Writing and creating is the best natural high there is.

I hope these tips have inspired you to write.

Do you have any great tips to share?

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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy

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May writing update #fantasy #indieauthor #mondayblogs

Posted on May 4, 2020 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

The strange days we are living through have had a big impact on me emotionally. I’m constantly moved to tears by the kindness of strangers and the sacrifices people are making to get us through the epidemic.

The lockdown hasn’t impacted my life as much as others. I write from home anyway and my writing has kept me sane and helped me escape the gloom of the real world. I have fallen far behind on my original plan for 2020 but in these times we all have to adapt. I am now focused on 1 major project, though it does have 3 parts. It would be wonderful to complete the whole project by December 2020, but I won’t pressure myself just yet. There are still seven/eight months left – now that is actually beginning to sound impossible! Let’s see what happens. That has become a motto for me lately.

Publishing Plan for 2020

End June – publish prequel novella.

The odds of me completing on time? Not sure. I had though it was almost ready, but after a beta read I know I have a lot of work to do. With the kids home both doing live lessons and needing access to my laptop, it can get awkward.

There is also the pre-order issue to consider. I haven’t found it makes a huge difference to sales, but I would like a short pre-order period. That means I need to buy the cover and sort out the blurb asap – time to start panicking!

End September – publish The Starlight Prophecy

This books is probably 80% written. I know the end and what needs to happen, I’m just not yet sure how it all comes together. It has a dual timeline element like Visions of Zarua and I’m hoping it works. Again I will be relying on my beta readers for their verdicts. I already have the cover and I am really excited to start sharing information about the story, but I have to be patient for a bit longer.

December – publish sequel novella

A few weeks ago I had the wonderful idea of following on the story 6 years after the end of The Starlight Prophecy. Ideas have been flowing and I’ve even drafted quite a few scenes, but I have to be patient and finish the main book first!

Other projects

I hope to write some more short stories this year. Over the weekend I’ve written two that I’m really happy with and I’d love to keep up the momentum. I find I am most inspired first thing in the morning, sitting in bed with a notebook, a pen and a cuppa.

Book Reviewing

I have hardly reviewed any books over the last few years and I think that’s a shame. As an author I love getting reviews and I want to share the love for other books too. I’d love to make another author’s day so I’m determined to write a few reviews this year. I’ve already started with books 1 & 2 in the Firewalker’s series by Emma Miles. Here’s my review.

Audiobooks for Silent Sea Chronicles trilogy.

I’m hoping work will start this month on book 1 The Lost Sentinel. My narrator has been reading the trilogy and making notes on all the characters. This is a huge project and I admire him for taking it on. I can’t wait to start listening. Maybe I’ll even get to share a sample at some point…

Final thoughts

I have plenty of other projects and books waiting to be written but I don’t want to put any more pressure on myself this year. I’ve a feeling things are going to get worse before they get better here. My husband is self employed and has no work. When the lockdown lifts we hope that will change, but I think my writing is going to be even more important than ever to my sanity.

I’ll leave you with a picture of my new writing companion. She’s a neighbour’s cat who keeps sneaking into the house and is trying to adopt us.

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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy

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A writer’s life – Prague highlights #indieauthor #fantasyauthor #Tuesdaybookblog

Posted on November 12, 2019 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

I recently spent a wonderful few days in Prague enjoying the sights, the food and the drink. But the real highlights of the trip was seeing my translated book – Zarua Ztracene Mesto (Visions of Zarua) in the bookstores and visiting my publisher, Albatros Media. I signed some books for competition prizes while I was there and found out the story behind how they discovered my book too!

The holiday to Prague was months in planning and ran into its fair share of problems. I was supposed to go with my daughter and husband, but we didn’t have anyone to leave the puppy with so I transferred the flights to my parents and they came with me instead. We had various issues doing the transfer and I experienced a lot of frustration trying to get hold of the airline on the phone, but I finally got everything sorted a few days before we were due to fly.

The morning of the flight didn’t get off to a good start either when my alarm didn’t go off! My phone had decided to switch off and I woke up at 4.25am with only 5 minutes to get dressed and brush my teeth before the taxi arrived. We got to the airport on time, but my phone refused to switch back on and was heating up. It’s a closed unit so I had not option of removing the battery and I feared it wouldn’t be allowed on the plane. Thankfully a lovely man at the Dixon store showed me how to get it to switch on and it started to cool down almost instantly. The phone had hardly any charge left, but the pressure was off and I could finally relax and enjoy the start of my holiday. So much stress and it was still only 6.30am!

We arrived at our grand hotel and spent four days exploring the sights, having first got to grips with the transport system, which I must say is cheap and very simple to use once you understand it. The weather was beautiful and warm on the first day and we only needed a cardigan as we started our first adventure into Prague.

The remaining days the temperature dropped and we needed coats, scarves and gloves! We decided to take a bus tour through Prague, which included a walking tour of Prague Castle, a traditional lunch and a boat trip under Charles Bridge. The guide was very knowledgeable and we had a lot of fun despite the cold.

I would love to share some more pictures but I will save them for another post. I’ll end by saying that Prague is a great place to spend a few days exploring on foot or jumping on and off the many trams that run through the city. There are beautiful buildings everywhere you look, and don’t forget to look up or you’ll miss some great architecture. The eagle-eyed might also spot a few of these cute little guys in the River Vltava (Coypu).