Harry/Draco Writing Support

You're here, and you made it!

We hope that you had fun this month and met some if not all the goals!

Just remember these great tips!



Make sure to check in with us with your FINAL COUNT and we wish you all the best.

If you’ve had trouble writing, it’s okay.
Maybe you’re overwhelmed, overworked, have family issues or personal issues, maybe you’re too hard on yourself or you’re in a taxing life situation. If we’re in places that force us to cope with being in these bad places, it’s hard to open ourselves up and be vulnerable when we write.

If trying to get yourself to write is only stressing you out more, take a break.
You might have other things in your life that are causing this stress in the first place, and feeling guilty about not writing probably isn’t helping. But it’s okay to have this trouble, and it’s okay to take a break from writing to deal with issues in your life, and it’s okay to come back to writing when you’re ready.

If all your writerly friends are writing and you can’t keep up, that’s okay.
Don’t compare yourself to others. You’re not them and they’re not you. Your situations are different, and you may be in vastly different places in your lives. It doesn’t make them better or you lesser. It’s better to go at the pace that you need to go at, no faster. You’ll be happier with your output then.

Family and friends might not get it.
Sometimes we need validation from our loved ones, but for whatever reason, they can’t give it to us. They might not understand why writers need to write and they might not support it, and they might say it’s a waste of time or other hurtful things. This is why it’s so important to find a community of writers that understand what you’re going through and can share in your woes.

You’re not as bad as you think you are.
We’re our own worst critics. We get so used to our own abilities that we don’t see what we’re capable of and we don’t see the potential in what we produce. It’s okay to seek out positive reinforcement, to ask people to read and tell you what they liked, and it’s okay to read really poorly-written stuff to boost our own egos. Sometimes we just need it.

If you write, you’re a writer.
It’s not up to anyone else to decide except you. (Source)

As always the hd_writers community is here for you, always and WE BELIEVE IN YOU!

SAID IS DEAD?

Are you close? Are you finished? Are you editing? Here are some words that might help you get back into the groove. What do you think?


(Source)

While you're here, check in below and let us know how you did yesterday with your writing, and how you're doing overall!

Whether you're ahead or behind, remember, ALL WORDS ARE AWESOME WORDS and just by writing you are making progress. Need some encouragement or cheerleading or just a place to vent your frustrations? Let us know!

Words got you stuck?

( 5 Strategies to Un-stick Your Stuck Words )
While you're here, check in below and let us know how you did yesterday with your writing, and how you're doing overall!

Whether you're ahead or behind, remember, ALL WORDS ARE AWESOME WORDS and just by writing you are making progress. Need some encouragement or cheerleading or just a place to vent your frustrations? Let us know!

What's in a name?

( Finding Original Names For Your Characters )

While you're here, check in below and let us know how you did yesterday with your writing, and how you're doing overall!

Whether you're ahead or behind, remember, ALL WORDS ARE AWESOME WORDS and just by writing you are making progress. Need some encouragement or cheerleading or just a place to vent your frustrations? Let us know!

Can you be a weekend warrior?

If you work during the week, then the weekend is the best time to get writing done. However, weekends fly by and by Sunday evening, you've got no words to show on paper!

Here are some tips on how to become a weekend warrior! (from: betterwritinghabits.com)

1. Make A Plan

If you’re going to get any writing done over a weekend, begin by having a plan. What do you want to accomplish? How much writing do you want to get done?

Come up with a specific writing goal you want to accomplish over your weekend. It can be something as simple as “write 500 words.” Just pick something that you can measure at the end of the weekend to determine if you met your weekend writing goal or not.

Your plan should also include specific writing times. Don’t tell yourself, “I’ll write on Saturday” or you’ll end up skipping your session all together. Instead, choose a specific day and time to write, such as Sunday at 1:30 p.m. This will help you stick with it.

2. Stick To It

Once you have a plan, stick to it. Don’t change your scheduled writing session. Don’t make excuses for why you can’t write. Just stick with it.

Sit down and write at your scheduled time for the scheduled length of time. Once you’re finished, you can go on with your weekend.

Having a schedule makes it easier to do everything you want to do with your weekend and get some writing done as well.

3. Step Away from the House

Writing at home works for some people, but for most, it is a huge distraction. There are chores to do, people to spend time with and shows to watch on TV. Writing at home sometimes takes double the time because of all the distractions.

But when you step away from the house, you’re able to work with fewer distractions, which will help you get more done in less time.

If it’s difficult for you to work from home, get the support of your family to make writing time happen.

Ask them to leave you alone for an hour while you write in the bedroom or have them help with the chores so you can use that time to write. Support is really helpful for weekend warriors.

• How do you get writing done on the weekend?


• Do you utilize the hd_writers chats? (Either general hdwriters or SRS?)


• Do you participate in Word Wars?

While you're here, check in below and let us know how you're doing overall! Remember ALL WORDS ARE AWESOME WORDS and just by writing you are making progress.

Need some encouragement or cheerleading or just a place to vent your frustrations? Let us know!

Getting That Ending!

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity —Gilda Radner

You have ten days left, is it time to think about your climax or your ending?

How do you pick the right ending for your stories? Do you know before you start, or do you take it day by day, word by word?

While you're here, check in below and let us know how you did yesterday with your writing, and how you're doing overall!

Whether you're ahead or behind, remember, ALL WORDS ARE AWESOME WORDS and just by writing you are making progress. Need some encouragement or cheerleading or just a place to vent your frustrations? Let us know!

We want to read your stories!

Because there is a natural storytelling urge and ability in all human beings, even just a little nurturing of this impulse can bring about astonishing and delightful results. —Nancy Mellon, The Art of Storytelling

How do you nurture your impulse of storytelling?

While you're here, check in below and let us know how you did yesterday with your writing, and how you're doing overall!

Whether you're ahead or behind, remember, ALL WORDS ARE AWESOME WORDS and just by writing you are making progress. Need some encouragement or cheerleading or just a place to vent your frustrations? Let us know!

Counting the Minutes



How can we find time to write? And how do we make the most of that time?

To find more time to write, first know that it takes some trial and error. Everyone works a little bit differently, so the method that best fits into your lifestyle or meshes with your personality is probably much different than another person’s. Give one or more of these a try and see what happens:

1. Schedule it.

For those who live and die by their calendars, block off time to write. Of course, when something else comes up, it’s all too easy to cancel or move that writing “appointment,” so this technique requires an attitude adjustment too—you have to prioritize this time like you would any other important meeting, deadline, or special occasion. Play with setting aside the same timeframe each week, so you’ll find it easier to remember and work around it. Or look for a time when other people don’t usually schedule things, such as early morning or late at night.

2. Give something up.

As busy as life is, we all spend some time doing a whole lot of nothing. Whether we’re wasting time on social media or TV, there are portions of our days when we could be more productive. Sure, downtime to relax and recoup is a vital part of life, but too much of it becomes a time-suck. Look at how you can swap out activities and limit your time-wasting ways so you have a chance to write instead.

3. Make space.

Consider creating a ritual or a dedicated space for your writing. While it doesn’t have anything to do with your calendar or appointment book, associating a special place or treat with writing motivates you to make it a priority. It could be as simple as sitting down with a cup of coffee or clearing out a corner of the dining room table, but that small action may be just the inspiration you need to write more often.

4. Time yourself.

When free time is rare, use it wisely. If you find yourself with a few minutes to spare, set a timer and write as much as you can. The tick-tock of the clock provides extra motivation so you don’t waste a second. Or use this trick to boost your productivity in general. Give yourself a specific amount of time to get something else done quickly in order to use the leftover minutes to write—instead of taking 30 minutes to clean, allow yourself 15 minutes and then use the additional 15 to write. (Source)

How do you find time to write?

While you're here, check in below and let us know how you're doing overall! Remember ALL WORDS ARE AWESOME WORDS and just by writing you are making progress.

Need some encouragement or cheerleading or just a place to vent your frustrations? Let us know!

Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Tips on How to Write a Great Story

“Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.” - Kurt Vonnegut

While you're here, check in below and let us know how you're doing overall! Remember ALL WORDS ARE AWESOME WORDS and just by writing you are making progress.

Need some encouragement or cheerleading or just a place to vent your frustrations? Let us know!

ALSO! Are you following your friends (LJ or otherwise) updates? Check out cyn_ful She's more than half way there already and has a favour to ask! "I have opened my baby up in the original first draft form on my LJ. No one has left any feedback yet. I'm kind of nervous and dying for something" (Read the full comment here and make sure to provide feedback!)