I’ve been thinking a lot this week about conversations I’ve had with other writers, or people who would like to be writers but aren’t sure where to start. I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking about things that I’ve learned that I wish someone had told me when I was starting out. So, whether you’re an aspiring writer, or you’ve been at it for a while now, I wanted to share some quick inspirational tips that I find helpful. 

​1. Write the dang thing.
A lot of people I talk to tell me they really want to write, but they have a hard time finishing anything. Most of the time, it’s perfectionism that’s giving them paralysis that gets in the way of their writing. I don’t think anyone needs to finish a project that they don’t feel passionate about, but I think a lot of times it’s only that fear of our work being garbage that gets in the way. The advice that I give writers who struggle to get through their first draft but want​ to do it, is this: If it’s garbage when it’s finished, you can fix it. If it’s still garbage, then you can throw it out (or save it), but at least you’ll have finished it. 

2. Read what inspires you.
The very best thing that I think helps develop our writing ability (outside of actually writing, of course) is reading. Especially if writers are feeling stuck, I like to encourage them to do some reading. Not just any reading, and definitely not reading that will suck them down an endless whirlpool of information overload. What I encourage them to do is read something that makes them feel inspired, that gets them thinking about or excited to work on their own project.

3. Like any skill, writing gets better, easier, more natural, with practice.
None of us are magically good at writing overnight. At least, no one that I’ve ever met has been. This is a skill that we improve as we go, and the best thing to do is practice, practice, practice. Just as an athlete practices their sport, and a musician practices their instrument, we writers must also practice our craft. 

4. Don’t put your writing on the back burner.
Write regularly and consistently. Muscles are always easiest to use when they’re warmed up and used to a certain type of movement. The best way to make progress on your project and to build that ability is to work at it regularly. If you don’t write every single day, I would at least encourage you to make a routine of it and stick to that routine as closely as you can. 

5. If you want to see progress, make your writing a priority.
No one else will take it seriously if you don’t. I kind of had to learn this one the hard way. I used to think about my writing as a hobby, or something that I dabbled in. As a result, nobody else took it seriously, either. The moment I started making my writing a consistent part of my schedule - and more importantly, when I started telling other people that my writing time was important to me - people started to respect my writing and the time I wanted to set aside to write.

6. Immerse yourself in the world over time. Deep diving all at once could lead you to drown. 
I’ve spoken with a lot of writers who told me that they felt like giving up because there was just too much information out there. They would sit down to write and be bogged down by all the different people out there telling them what they should do with their work once it was finished. Even just on the topic of writing your book, there are so many resources out there, which is great, unless you feel like your work won’t be good enough unless you implement everything that everyone has to say. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge believer in professional development and being informed. What I would say is take it in a little bit at a time. Choose one thing you want to focus on learning about at a time. 

7. Find your people and lift them up. If they’re your people, they’ll lift you right back.
Writing can feel like an incredibly lonely job. It’s so easy to feel like you’re doing it all on your own, because for a lot of the process, you actually are. I have a lot of authors tell me that they don’t make friends with other authors. Some tell me it’s because they are competition (which I think is silly), and others tell me it’s because other authors get too high and mighty and don’t want other writer friends. 

While I totally get that, and have experienced that myself, I think it’s important to find your community. And there are writers out there who feel the way I do, who want to lift other authors up because they know it’s hard. So don’t give up on making other writer friends. But find those people who believe in building a community focused on encouragement and support. We’re out there!

8. There is always someone who is better than you. Let it humble you. Let it challenge you. Don’t let it stop you. There’s always someone worse, too.

I have a lot of people who tell me that they want to write a book, but they don’t feel like it’s worth trying, because they’re not going to be as good as X,Y, Z author out there. I get that. Imposter syndrome is awful to deal with. But… my not writing, you’re kind of making that mindset a reality. You can always get better if you work at it, but you’ll never get better if you don’t try it.

9. Connect with your readers. They’re people, not numbers. 
This kind of goes back to number 7 about building a community that is supportive and genuine, but I think it goes a little bit further than that. I have experienced being super hyped to meet an author whose work I really enjoyed, only to be treated… well, like a number. Like I wasn’t important enough to even look at. As an author, I have a hard time understanding that. Yes, I get that sales are nice, of course, but when I get the chance to meet a reader, or even better, when a reader tells me they have enjoyed my work… well, that makes my whole week. I want to engage with them. 

I know also that events where authors sign their books are limited in time, but I’ve never held an event at a bookstore that wasn’t willing to let me hang out for longer than I was scheduled for if it meant engaging with the readers. So, yeah. Readers out there, I see you, and I know that without you, there’s not nearly as much purpose for us writers to write. 

10. Ask questions.
Again, writing can be lonely work, and it can totally feel like you need to figure all the answers out for yourself, but I implore you. If you have questions, ask somebody. The worst thing that can happen if you ask is that the person you’re asking won’t have an answer for you, but even then, you haven’t really lost anything. So reach out. You don’t have to figure everything out on your own.

That’s it for this week. If you enjoyed these tips or found any of them to be helpful, check back next weekend for more writing-related content, or sign up for my email list on my homepage so you never miss a post!

If you’re wondering why I didn’t post on this blog last weekend, it’s because I did something new. I booked two author events for the weekend. I was a little worried about how it would go, and I wanted to make sure I was really well prepared, so I didn’t plan my post ahead of time. 

Today, I’d like to share with you how I feel things went last weekend, as well as what I would like to do better next time. 

Saturday
Last Saturday, I booked another signing event at the Barnes & Noble in Sugarhouse, Salt Lake City. I’ve had another signing there, and I’ve heard that other authors do pretty well in that location. I was a little nervous about going back to that location, partly because I have heard that other authors have done well, but my last signing at that location yielded only six or so book sales in two hours. 

I honestly had a great time at this location. I was grateful for the staff for being so welcoming and for providing me with two tables to accommodate all the books I brought (I brought all ten of my published works with me). I had some truly incredible conversations with new friends, sold another six books, talked with some wonderful readers about potential book club opportunities, and had a handful of new people sign up for my email list. All in all, I felt it was a successful event, and I was incredibly grateful that - despite my lower than usual book sales for an event like this - I had such a good time. Plus, I was able to bring my husband and kiddo along, and the staff was so patient with them running around the store while I worked at my table.

Sunday
On Sunday, I attended a book fair as a vendor/author for the first time. I honestly didn’t really know what to expect, and I was a little worried that things wouldn’t work out, because I hadn’t done an event like this before. I have got to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Even walking up to the building, I wasn’t certain I was going the right way, parking in the right place, or even entering through the correct door. This was not due to a lack of information provided by the host. Honestly, the host gave me everything I needed - including a heads up that the air conditioning was out and that they recommended bringing a personal fan to accompany their air conditioning solutions. It was all my anxiety about trying something this new and this big. 

I was able to get set up fairly quickly, and because I brought my own table and requested a 6x6 space, I had plenty of room to spread out my displays. I think I might start requesting that I bring my own table to other book signings as well, because having such a large table for all of my works made a huge difference in how easy it was to set things up. 

Now for the part that I really enjoyed: talking with people. Thanks to my awesome sister who came with me and worked my booth with me, I was able to wander around a little bit and talk with other vendors and authors, and I was able to make connections with some really cool people. I think my walking around and talking with people ultimately helped my book sales, as well, which was really cool. I was surprised to find that my poetry sold the best out of all of my books. I ended up coming back home with only two copies left! 

I can definitely see myself doing things like this again in the future (booking multiple events in a row, or at least close together, AND working more fair-type situations). I learned a lot and took a lot of notes about things I would like to implement for my own growth (namely a banner to go behind my table, paper bags to send with readers when they purchase from me, a bookshelf for my displays, etc). I also need to stock up on more bookmarks, especially for Bound!

Thank you to everyone who has joined me on this journey. I appreciate all of your support and patience as I learn and grow! 

If you liked this post, or are interested in reading more writing-related content, check back next weekend! Until then, have a great week! 

I haven’t read a full book series in at least a couple of years, and though this concept is on my mind frequently as I write, it hit me today that it may have been too long.

As a writer, I think about the concept of a book series often. I think about the kind of outlining it takes to make a successful plot for each book in a series, and the journey the character must take across the span of the entire series. When I write a new book, I often ask myself if this is something that has both the potential for a series and the passion required for me to do a series justice. 

I do have plans to do a series of novellas, or to write works that are connected by a common theme or within the same world, but I have not, as of yet, written a book series. I think one of the major reasons for that is because I worry - as I think many writers do - that their work isn’t going to be interesting enough or exciting enough to hold a reader’s attention across the span of several books. Yes, I know that this is something that is fixable, especially with the right planning and editing, but the worry is always there. 

As a writer, I am also aware that writing a full series would require a tighter writing schedule than what I have, which at the moment doesn’t seem entirely feasible. I talk to many readers who, when I say that my next fantasy book is coming out in the next six months to a year, they respond with, “That’s so long.” I think I worry that if I’m always​ telling them that my next book will come out in six months or a year, many readers will forget about the series altogether, especially if they wait for the paperback edition, which often releases months after the hardcover.

Today, I remembered what it was like to find a series of books that interested me as a reader, and I was reminded just how incredible it was. When I was younger (and had a lot more free time on my hands), I specifically looked for series I could get lost in over the span of several books. 

I remember waiting eagerly for the next book to come out, even if it was several months or even a year away. I remember that it was like a scavenger hunt every time I went to the bookstore to see if my favorite authors had released anything new, and I’d practically jump with joy anytime I found that the next book had released. Even if I had to wait longer for a paperback edition, that eagerness didn’t fade. If anything, it gave me reason to go back and re-read the other books in the series, so everything would be fresh in my mind by the time the next one came out. 

I also remember reading a couple of series where the stories kind of died down or didn’t hold my interest as well, and I still finished them because I cared about what I was reading, even if this particular book didn’t compare to the others in the series. I bought the books to have the completed series, which was like collecting treasure to me. I finished reading the series because I needed to know how everything ended for the characters I had fallen in love with. 

Even today, with my schedule as busy as it is and my reading time as precious as it is, I still seek out my favorite authors every time I’m at the bookstore, and I still purchase their new works, even if I don’t currently have the time to read them. 

And I realized… I had made a terrible assumption. 

I had put every other reader out there into the same box I was in. Just because I don’t have as much time as I’d like to have to get into a long series doesn’t mean that’s the case for every other reader in the world. And just because I talk to readers who say things like, “That’s so long…” doesn’t mean that they aren’t willing to wait, or that they wouldn’t be just as excited as I used to get when a new book came out. 

Maybe there are people out there who will feel the same way about my books as I have always felt for other authors’ books. That thought excites me. While I don’t have any long series on the docket at the moment, maybe I won’t shut the idea out for my future writing endeavors, if I find a story idea that will stand the test of a longer series. 

That’s it for today! Check back next weekend for more writing related content, or sign up for my email list on the homepage to receive my author newsletter, so you never miss a blog post! 

Everyone has their own writing process, and for me, the writing process is constantly evolving as I learn new strategies to keep myself productive and motivated. Today, I’ll be sharing 5 tips that have made a world of difference in my writing process, and I hope they’ll do the same for you. 


1. Write Every Day
I’m not telling you that you have to write every single day until you die. What I have found, though, is that writing is easier and much more enjoyable if it’s a habit, something that you do at some capacity every day. A lot of writers have told me that the idea of writing every day is overwhelming, and I totally get that. At the start, it can be extremely overwhelming to try and write every day, just as it is overwhelming to start any new good habit. It’s daunting to create good habits, like exercising, dieting, and so on. Writing every day is no different. 

What I have found is that if I set a goal to sit down and write at some point every day, even if it’s just for a few minutes, even if it’s not going toward my main project, but it is in the same mode as I write my books, it helps, and every day that passes makes it a little bit easier to get on my device and write again the next day.


2. Write With A Stopwatch Counting Up
This is another tip that usually gets me some precarious looks. People don’t often like working with a timer, let alone when there’s already so much pressure around writing. But I will tell you that for me, just clicking the “start” button on my stop watch app on my phone before I start writing has kept me motivated and excited to keep writing. Timing myself counting up gives me a less pressured way to keep track of how long I spend writing every day, and gives me a good idea of my average word count per minute on any given day. Setting the timer counting up has also allowed me greater flexibility and motivation in how long I write. When I sit down lately, I tell myself, “I’ll just write for ten minutes. I can do ten minutes.” 

What happens is that at the ten minute mark, I’ve often found the flow of the scene I’m working on, and the words have started to come more quickly. When I look down at my still-running stopwatch to see that I’ve passed my ten minutes, then it’s easy to keep going for fifteen minutes, then twenty minutes, and most days, I’m still able to hit that 45 minute sweet spot, and get tons of content down without the pressure of having to sit down and write for 45 minutes every day.


3. Word Dump
The number 1 issue that everyone I talk to has is that when they sit down to write, even if they’ve built the habit of consistently writing every day, is that they don’t know what to write. That initial freeze up is so normal, and if you don’t know how to work around it, getting words on the page becomes quite a bit more difficult. There are two things that you can do to help get past that initial freeze. First, start by writing garbage. 

What I mean by “start by writing garbage” is sit down and get your fingers moving. Write down your thoughts, your worries, what you feel like is making you freeze up. The next thing you’ll want to do while you’re in this initial word dump is guide your word dumping to be connected somehow to your story. Here is an example of what I do almost every day when I sit down to write.

OKAY BREY - YOU HAVE TO WRITE NOW. YOU HAVE TWENTY MINUTES BEFORE YOU HAVE TO GO DO SOMETHING ELSE, SO IT’S TIME TO GET WORDS ON THE PAGE. I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START. I HAVE AN IDEA OF WHERE I WANT TO GET TO, BUT NO IDEA FOR HOW I’LL GET THERE. LET’S SEE… I KNOW THIS CHARACTER IS GOING TO DO X, Y, Z. WHAT WILL DRIVE THEM TO GET THAT WAY? OH! WHAT IF THEY RUN INTO SO AND SO… YEAH, THAT COULD WORK. IF IT SUCKS, YOU CAN ALWAYS FIX IT WHEN YOU EDIT. 

And then I get started on whatever little transition piece was holding me up. This word dump is EXTREMELY helpful, but you’ll want to be sure you eventually guide your focus to your story specifics. I try to spend less than three minutes doing this word dumping, so the majority of my writing time can be spent on my story.


4. Leave Yourself Notes
Like I do with my word dumping when I begin my writing sessions, I make notes to myself throughout so that I can keep my writing flowing. There are two kinds of notes I leave myself.

The first kind, which I leave while I’m drafting, is an editorial reminder. It may be a quick note like, “OKAY BREY - THIS SENTENCE SUCKS. REWORD IT.” These notes are brief and are intended to remind me that there’s an issue in the manuscript that needs to be addressed, but it doesn’t have to happen right now. One major time eater for writers facing “writer’s block” is the perfectionism mindset that tells them they need to find the perfect word here or get the perfect syntax there. If I feel off about one of my sentences, or if I want to find a better word, I just make a quick note for myself in all caps and move on. 

The second kind of note I leave for myself happens at the end of any given writing sessions. The purpose for these notes is to help me remember where I left off today, and what I hope to write tomorrow, so that when I do come back to write tomorrow, there is minimal re-reading or thinking that needs to happen, and I can, again, spend most of my writing time actually writing the story.


5. Set and Celebrate Small Goals
​The fifth and final tip I’ll share with you all today is to set and celebrate small goals throughout your writing process. These goals can be anything, but setting small goals can be immensely helpful in keeping you motivated to finish that draft. Here are some examples of small goals I set often:

• Write for at least 10 minutes 
• Write at least 5/7 days this week
• Write at least 750 words a day this week, OR Write at least 5,000 words (this changes. My usual weekly word count goal is 10,000 when I’m deep in a draft)

It’s important to really acknowledge and celebrate these goals, because you’re achieving something small that adds up to a much larger achievement. If you reach these goals and celebrate them, you’re much more likely to stay motivated to finish your draft.  Bonus tip: I would highly recommend that you partner with somebody who you can share these goals and achievements with. Having someone who will celebrate with you makes all the difference. 

I hope today’s blog post was helpful! If you’d like to receive weekly blog posts, be sure to sign up for my email list on the home page so you don’t miss any writing-related content!