Scheduling Writing Time and Embracing Ideas

by Christine

It is an interesting balance, finding the time and motivation to write horse stories.  The topic of horses is one I am ever passionate about.  Having the motivation to write a particular story however can be difficult at times!

I schedule time each week to work on one novel or other.  Recently I have finished and published B and B  and I still aim to bring out the sixth novel in the Free Rein series before year’s end.  That said, book 6 is being difficult!  I have half of the novel written and am struggling to continue with it.

Do you Schedule Writing Time?

In spite of this, I set myself a goal to write a chapter each week, knowing that sometimes I just need to sit and write.  When I do this, the ideas come and I get caught up in the story once again.  Writing takes real commitment at times.

Alongside working on this story, I started to toss around the idea of a series for young adults.  As I mulled it over for a week or two, I sat down to write one day and found the characters developing before my eyes.  In fact, in a 3 day period, I had written half of the first two novels in the series!

There are times when motivation strikes you and you just need to write.  Take advantage of the times when the words flow quicker than you can write – or type! – them.  Alongside this, be diligent in setting aside time to write each week so that your stories are progressing.  As a writer, it is important that you consistently invest time in your art, even when you don’t find motivation knocking on your door.  Find a balance between making use of ideas when they come to you and writing because you know your story needs to be written.

If you’re a writer, what story have you most struggled to complete?  How did you get around this?

Setting Themes or Morals for Your Horse Story

by Christine.

For the Free Rein series which is aimed at 8 – 12 year olds, I like to have a theme or moral of the story running throughout each novel.  Alongside this, my focus is to provide educational facts about horses in each story and cover a different area of horse care.

I want the stories to be enjoyable for readers, but to also have a suitable ending, a lesson learned and some facts picked up along the way.  I believe a particular theme or moral to stories for younger readers can be a great thing to focus on.

If you are considering writing for the younger reader, perhaps this is something you would like to consider including, too.  Because the Free Rein series books cover horses and faith, I often try to tie the title in with a horse lesson and a faith lesson.  It can be a nice way to round out the story and to help focus the theme of the book on what it is called.

Do you enjoy children’s stories with morals attached?

The Reader Appreciation Club

by Natalie Keller Reinert

Some writers (more successful ones than me!) have fan clubs. I want to go the other way, and start a Reader Appreciation Club.

You can join the Reader Appreciation Club if you write a helpful review of a book, that doesn't include any plot spoilers but just lets potential readers know why you liked it, so that they can decide if they would like it. You can join the club if you tweet or post on Facebook about a book that you can't put down. You can join the club if you send the author an email or a Facebook message or tag them in an Instagram photo or just in any way possible let the author know that someone's reading the author's book, and that someone likes the author's book.

If you take a book on vacation, tell the author!
From Reader Appreciation Society Charter Member Summer T.

Then once you're in the club I'll shower you with praise, send you chocolates, and ask you to cheer me up when I'm feeling down.

Because that's how you got into the club. Not because you sold books for me, or made my book more visible to buyers, or even because you said nice things about my book. The members of my Reader Appreciation Club (imaginary, because I live in Florida and mailing chocolates would be messy) get to join because they let me know that they're reading the book. "Hey Natalie, you know that entire summer you spent indoors editing a novel? I read it."

As an author I don't get a pat on the back from my boss.

I don't get to chat with anyone in the break room at lunch time.

I don't even see my customers (as someone with a retail/hospitality background, this one is particularly tough!). Basically, you're all just highly theoretical to me until someone actually sends me that email, or tags me in that Instagram photo of my book visiting the Bahamas as a beach read, or writes that review at a booksellers' website.

Sometimes it feels like I'm sending my work out into a void, hunching over something, obsessing over something, for months and even years, and then... just waiting. Waiting for a little proof that someone read it, that my work resonated with someone, that all that work matters.

"You know that entire summer you spent indoors editing a novel? I read it. You exist. It exists. That summer mattered."

Writers and websites like Goodreads will tell you that writing a review helps an author sell books, and that makes it a nice thing to do for an author that you like. And that's true -- don't get me wrong.

This is all a review needs to be, to be helpful to readers and precious to authors! Welcome to the club, Morganmom!

But even when someone isn't comfortable writing a review, or they don't have time, or they don't have an account with Amazon after all so that 500-word review they just wrote has just been deleted and never again *%&*#((D!! -- just letting the writer know, in some small way, that someone has actually read that work they sent out into the void months ago, or years ago... that's all you need to get into my Reader Appreciation Society. (Imaginary.)

Thanks to everyone who has ever emailed me, tagged me, tweeted me, written me a review... thanks to all of you. You're my pat on the back from my boss, and you're my chat in the break room, and you're my validation that all this work matters.

You guys rock, and you totally deserve chocolates.