Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Guest Post: Writers Momentum by Amanda Fanger

Next in our JuNoWriMo related guest posts, we have Amanda Fanger, talking about the powerful force, Writers Momentum, based on a post she previously published on amandafanger.blogspot.com.
Don't Give Up / 2007 / SML ---

It’s here. JuNoWriMo.

A year ago I had no idea what that even was, but now I’m eagerly participating, counting the words as they add up towards my goal.

One would think that since I’ve known I was going to participate in this fifty thousand-word mad-dash for a year now that I’d be well-prepared. But then, it would be obvious that the one doing the thinking along those lines wouldn’t know me very well.

Actually, knowing myself the way I do, I’m kind of surprised how calmly I’m approaching the guillotine-err… I mean word challenge.

At least, I’m not panic-stricken – gulp – yet.

So, supposedly knowing about what I knew about knowing about this challenge, one may also assume I had came up with a course of action at the beginning of this year, one that would lead me safely to June Novel Writing Month’s doorstep, sound of mind while pursuing my creative writing career.

But as it always does, Life came along and happened. So while things were great most of the time, if I would get overly busy, I would cut back on time spent on my creative writing preparation.

Big mistake.

In his book called @WriMo: A 30-Day Survival Guide for Writers, author Kevin S. Kaiser says it’s a “fatal mistake” to stop pushing ourselves towards our goals. He says that we should never give ourselves a break in our drive for making our dreams a reality.

Think about how hard a writer has to work to even get started. We’ve got to come up with a story idea, figure out the plot points and character arcs, and then fit it all together. To stop in the middle of all that (before we’ve reached “The End”) is to kill our creative drive.

Kaiser points out how much easier it is to keep going once you’ve started and have momentum behind you.

It’s tougher to do anything when you haven’t started yet. 

“The trick is continually and consistently adding ‘push’ to your situation so you can keep momentum,” Kaiser writes. 

I really enjoyed the little bursts of wisdom and encouragement that are provided throughout this book’s pages. Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book to review, but that’s not why I’m writing this post (full review of the book can be found on Goodreads here:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/426869097).

Keeping that last statement from Kaiser in mind, I’ve noticed something about successful people; they all share that common trait. I’m not just talking about writers, but those who have made it despite people all along the way saying they couldn’t do it.

They all push themselves onward.

They don’t “take breaks” from their dreams.

So, if we have stopped pushing ourselves for a bit (*raises a guilty hand*), how do we get back into the game? JuNoWriMo is an excellent time to consider doing something :)

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Raised on a farm and homeschooled, Amanda Fanger has always had a passion for art in the form of music and words. Writing since an early age, she developed a knack for telling stories and started working for her hometown newspaper right out of high school. Several of her articles have won statewide writing contests and she was awarded the Outstanding Young Journalist by the South Dakota Newspaper Association in 2009. She wants to live a life that is pleasing to God and quotes Proverbs 25:11, "An idea well-expressed is like a design of gold, set in silver." You can learn more about Amanda and follow her journey at amandafanger.blogspot.com.

Thank you for being here Amanda!

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