Writing tip #6: Read! what you love
Announcing two new writing resources designed to bring some excitement, spark and momentum to your writing journey!
Dear readers,
How are you doing? Here in Ontario, it feels like autumn—the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and leaves are starting to change colours.
Are you writing these days? If not, do you want to be? Especially if you associate this time of year with school, you may feel the itch to start a new writing project, or to finish one you’re already working on. Or maybe you’re looking ahead to November and considering joining #NaNoWriMo, the global writing activity that takes place every year.
If you’re looking for motivation to keep writing, I hope this edition of Doing the Write Thing can help bring you that excitement! I’m introducing two resources to help you jump into that writing project that’s on your heart—including the first-ever Doing the Write Thing workbook, designed to help you connect or re-connect with your writing dreams. And if you’re looking for a break from writing, I truly respect that too.
I’m very excited to be writing to you and sharing more writing tips and writerly energy with you today. I feel the momentum that I hope you’re feeling or about to feel when you read this too. Happy reading and, certainly, happy writing!
~ Marisa
In this newsletter…
The Heart of Storytelling: Read, read, read what you love!
The Writing Life: An update on editing In Your Dreams
New writing resources: Now you can access all Doing the Write Thing writing tips in one place, hopefully for your convenience! I’m also excited to provide more details on my first writing workbook, coming October 2, 2023!
Writers’ Corner: I’d love to help: what do you really want to know about writing? Let me know so I can try to tailor newsletters to include topics that are helpful to your writing journey too.
The Heart of Storytelling
This is where I’ll share writing, editing and publishing tips, based on my experience.
Read.
This is probably one of the most common pieces of writing advice out there: Read, read, read and read.
My advice is to read what you love! There are so many benefits to reading, several of which can support, nourish and fuel your writing.
I’d like to echo something I agree with in the book Gentle Writing Advice, which I am reading right now (not right now—as in, I’m not typing this with one hand while holding the book and reading it with the other, although I did read the book up until a couple of minutes ago, just before coming here to write this). Side note: That book is full of humour and has actually made laugh out loud multiple happy times! And the way I added a joke into this paragraph reminds me of how much I love writing humorous copy, and also speaks to the fact that there is so much humour in that book.
But the point here—in that book, as I understand it, the author Chuck Wendig argues that writing advice that works for one person might not work for another person, and what might work for you now can change another time. I agree with him.
So, keeping that in mind, I’m sharing with you how I benefit from reading, which might not all be ways in which you benefit. But I do think that the reason writers have been advising other writers to read for so long is because every writer benefits from it.
Here’s how reading helps me, and maybe helps or can help you too:
Reading shows you what’s “acceptable” for creating a strong story. Reading other books shows me what’s been deemed “acceptable” out there by other publishers and writers and even readers. Sometimes I get hyper-focused on credibility in my stories, and it helps to be reminded of how much flexibility is actually there.
Reading reminds you of what you love about your own writing. Realizing that you like or don’t like something about a story you’re reading can put you in the mood to work on your own writing. Sometimes I’ll start reading a book and realize, “I want to read/work on my story!”
It can also be a confidence boost to realize that there is no such thing as perfect. You can notice things in other stories that you would do differently and realize that that person still wrote a great story and a publisher believed in them. This can give hope that this could happen for your story too.
These are the books I’m currently reading, plus or minus a few: I’ve since added Harry Potter a l’ecole des sorciers as well as Gentle Writing Advice, and I had to return The Bookbinder to the library, so I’m looking forward to continuing to read that really good book too!
Reading is relaxing. I’ve been working on a lot of writing projects on a nightly basis lately—mostly related to this newsletter, actually—and I noticed that when I read even just a few pages, it is so relaxing for me.
It’s enjoyable! I love getting caught up in a really good book! It’s such a good feeling and it’s so good to love what you’re reading. I also love reading with a warm blanket and a mug of warm tea.
When I was a kid, I used to peruse library books on turnstiles, like Belle searching for a book at the bookstore. It felt so nice to bring a truckload home to read and devour. This year, I recreated that good feeling again by exploring the books at a community library and taking one home. It felt so good! And then I found out it was the not-first book in a series, so I didn’t read it yet (despite trying to make sure that it wasn’t the not-first book in a series). But it felt good to find it spontaneously and naturally like that. Do you enjoy looking for books at libraries and bookstores too?
I encourage you, fellow writer, to read, whether you want to research and select a book or pick one up off the shelves (and then pay for it, of course, if you’re not at a library). There’s a really good chance that reading a book you enjoy will have a positive impact on your writing in some way—even if it’s “only” because you may enjoy writing more when you feel you’ve taken some “me” time to relax with a good book first.
How about you—are you reading right now? Do you like to read one book at a time, or juggle multiple books? What are some of the things you like about reading? Do you feel it helps your writing? You’re welcome to share!
The Writing Life
In autumn 2022 (about a year already!), I made a decision to pause editing my book In Your Dreams (I was about three-quarters of the way through) to go back to the beginning and read it like a reader; I wasn’t allowed to make any edits, so I wrote down all my ideas and opinions with the advantage of a fresh perspective on my own work.
A few weeks ago, I FINALLY finished that editing readthrough—YAAAAAAY!!
To me, this is a huge milestone because
(a) I had thought I’d finish that readthrough by April or May, so it was exciting to finally finish that step! (In August.)
(b) I could see that the book is super polished! It’s almost ready! All of that editing is paying off, and it’s encouraging to realize the book doesn’t need a lot more work after all!! (Although polishing will still take time. But it’s so close, EEK, almost there!!)
(c ) This brings the book closer to being published!
I’ve mentioned that I want to submit In Your Dreams to literary agents this year. The book is probably not on track for that goal, but I am super hopeful that I can get it ready for early next year and I am making sure to recognize and celebrate that progress is being made, even if it is more slowly.
Part of that is because of the importance of balance. Sometimes other things come up,—like work and other writing projects—and so you can’t always write on nights when you want to. That’s okay! Stay strong. Stay the course. You got this!
What’s next for writing: I’m working on editing the last quarter of the book and then I’ll go over it plus tons of pages of notes I made (that part is a little daunting, but I will work hard to resist getting sucked in more than the story needs. I know I can do this!). Then it’s time to polish, query and submit to literary agents! I LOVE In Your Dreams and I’m also SO excited to do more of my other writing too.
I’ve also been doing a lot of newsletter writing. On that note…
Coming Soon: Fresh Start Writing Workbook!
I’m SUPER excited to share with you that the first Doing the Write Thing workbook is launching on October 2, 2023!
A couple of years ago, I took multiple writing tips and insights that have helped me establish writing as a regular habit and I shared them over the course of a week as a guest on the Instagram account for The Writing Champions Project. This month, I updated that course by creating a workbook for everyone who wants a fresh start with their writing or writing routine.
Whether you’re looking to establish a writing habit for the first time or coming back to writing after a break—or even looking for a fresh start in your relationship with writing—this workbook is for you. My hope is that you will find all the inspiration, motivation and guidance you need to excitedly jump into writing thanks to what’s right here in this workbook.
The workbook is launching on October 2, 2023, and is available to all paid subscribers. I’ll send out a newsletter to let you know when it’s out! You can wait for that announcement, disregard if it doesn’t feel like a fit for you right now, or become a paid subscriber now if you’re ready to jumpstart your writing routine with this workbook. Please note that you can unsubscribe anytime.
You may be interested in this workbook but deliberating over the part about price. Please know that I have complete respect for budgets! I work carefully with a budget myself. If you’re interested in the workbook and the information inside it but are looking for a free option, you can also access the free version available in the form of Instagram posts published starting on January 19, 2021.
The workbook coming out on October 2, 2023, is built off that structure and has been updated to include more content as well as links to additional resources that elaborate on some of the topics shared there. I’m investing more resources and information into it in the hopes of making it worth the investment for you too. I always appreciate your support, whether as a paid or free subscriber.
I know I like to learn as much as possible about something before I buy it, especially since I really like to spend wisely. To help you learn more about the content in the Fresh Start Writing Workbook and to see if it's right for you, I included the workbook structure/table of contents below:
Part 1: What’s in your heart?
Day 1: Who are you?
Day 2: What is your writing “why”?
Day 3: Which places help you feel your love of writing?
Part 2: What’s stopping you or slowing you down from making your writing dream come true?
Day 4: Solutions to common writing challenges: getting and staying in the habit of writing
Day 5: Solutions to common writing challenges: improving your writing
Day 6: Solutions to common writing challenges: making your writing dream come true
Day 7: Organize your writing dream in bite-size goals
It is truly my hope that this workbook helps ignite or re-ignite that writing spark so that instead of facing that desk/writing space with fear or fatigue or overwhelm, you feel EXCITED and eager and GOOD about writing and following your heart to the physical or metaphorical page.
[Please note: The original copy of this newsletter outlined six sections in the table of contents, but the workbook was updated on September 29, 2023, to include the seven featured here.]
Update: All Writing Tips in One Place
About a month ago, I wrote that I hope to make it easier for you to find and access writing tips from these newsletters, and I said this because I want to help you get and stay in the habit of writing (if that is what you want to do). I wrote that I thought the solution is to separate The Heart of Storytelling and The Writing Life into their own newsletters, but I got a better idea: instead of separating those two sections, I’ve put together a post that links to all the writing tips so that you can get the information and motivation you want exactly when you need it. I hope that this resource is super helpful! Feel free to bookmark or keep visiting as it will grow to offer more helpful writing tips at your fingertips.
Again, here’s that link to all Doing the Write Thing writing tips:
Writers’ Corner
This is where we’ll gather around the virtual cozy fireplace to talk about writing and participate in fun writing exercises and contests!
I’d love to help! Which writing topics do you want to explore more?
Please share your opinion in the poll so that I can take your preferences into consideration when we explore writing topics in future newsletters.
Note for polls: Workbooks are part of the paid subscription, but if you’re interested in a topic that gets turned into a workbook, I will also think about ways to share some information on it for free while exploring it more in-depth in the workbooks.
Which other topic(s) are you most interested in learning about?
You’re welcome to share in comments below! The goal of this newsletter is to help fellow writers get and stay in the habit of writing and to keep writing. I can do that best if I understand what you’re looking to learn more about.
Thank you for taking the time and for sharing!
Thank you all SO much for your support—it means so, so, so much! I hope Doing the Write Thing keeps helping you do the write thing.
The next Q&A is coming soon! (Aiming for September 2023.)