Very soon you’ll have completed your first writing project, at least the rough draft. You may go through a number of drafts before the final, but here are some suggestions which may help in the process. First, unless on a deadline, I would suggest putting your rough draft in a drawer for a few days. Distance will help you to be more objective. Time will also work towards preventing writer’s doughnut. If not careful, as a writer, when you see gaps in your writing, your mind will patch right through them. You know what you wanted to say, and almost automatically, your brain fills in the gap. Stepping away will…

If you’ve been writing all month, you may be getting ready to start, or are already in the last chapter of your project. As you are nearing the end of your project, there are a few things to keep in mind. Did you say what you either set out to say, or told the reader you would? Fact or fiction, try to tie up any loose threads in your last chapter. You’re still not editing yet, that will be soon, but you want in your rough draft as much as possible, to craft a cohesive story. Prepare to end on a high note. Even if it’s a tragedy you are…

Some people are wonderful at journaling, it may or may not surprise you that I am not. If it’s a writing project, fact or fiction, that comes easier to me. Daily writing about my life does not. I’m sure one factor for this is the practice that journalists have cultivated, which ironically is the same practice that writers attempt in their books, writing daily. Writing daily though, when it comes to your writing project, can help you complete your book in a way other things can’t. Even if you feel that day’s attempts are not as good as others, it will give you a road to pave later. Roads don’t…