How NOT to write a book #10: How to stay sharp between fantasy projects!

Congratulations! After all that work... after all that time and effort... after YEARS of developing your craft, you're finally done! You're beautiful manuscript has been edited a few times and is now ready to send to query agents! Hurray for you! Buuuuuuut... now you have a new dilemma. You've gone from writing every day for months, to editing every day for months, to having nothing to write but queries. How are you going to stay sharp between now and your next fantasy project?

Well, first of all, this isn't a problem because you can go years without writing and randomly start writing again at the same level as before. Who needs practice?

...

Oh... you're thinking you DO need practice... Ugh... fine... (googles writing advice stuff) Okay. Here's what you need to do:

1. Read every day! All the lists say this. Everyone who reads is a great writer! Such good advice

2. Write in a journal every day! Sure, journal writing is a completely different style than fiction writing, but who needs to practice things specific to their genre? Not you! Master chefs keep sharp by making microwave meals! Trust me!

3. Stop and smell the roses! Go play with the kids or take a vacation! I don't know how that will make you better, but multiple sites can't be wrong!

4. Go people watching!

5. Write a 'how to' guide on... Okay... I'm gonna stop the schtick already.

Wow, that was painful. The sarcasm was killing me! I swear, there are so many lists of typical, boring, and useless pieces of writing advice. Are people actually getting paid to write these things? That's depressing.

So, as you may know, one of the reasons I started blogging was to keep my writing muscles in shape. With the goal to keep improving, I hoped not lose a step between now and when I start back to work on the next books in the series. Most lists of "How to get/stay good at writing" and "How to improve your writing" include "write a blog/journal" with the mindset that "all writing is good writing practice."

Well... it's not.

I'm 5,794 words deep into "Red Apprentice" and I can tell you from experience that the past eleven months of blogging two to five posts per month wasn't enough. It may have helped in many ways, but not in terms of Fantasy Writing. Imagine someone saying that the practice and workout routines for swimming will help you improve at basketball. Same goes for writing. Where one must excel in blogging or query writing differs from the skillset for fantasy writing.

In the course of writing The Dreamer, I learned several of my bad tendencies. I discovered words I overuse and phrases I depended on too heavily. I created mindsets and employed measures to remember to do things. I even forgot the acronym that helped me remember to use sight, sound, smell, touch and taste to help pull the reader into my character's perspective. As I'm writing "Red Apprentice," I'm finding myself feeling far more out of practice than I anticipated. The specific things one does when writing fiction just aren't done when blogging.

If you're a fiction writer and in between projects, MY suggestion is to occasionally do FICTION writing prompts. Create situations where you need to write metaphors. Get your creative muscles going by throwing yourself into a new fantasy. Find one with scenarios you're not used to and get yourself out of the box you've been resting in for so long. Hopefully, when you go back to your work-in-progress, you'll either be sharp and ready, or you may even have improved!

Just don't go thinking writing cooking recipes or reading a book will keep your mind in fantasy writing shape. I swear... people give the silliest advice on writing sites....

With all that in mind, please leave a comment letting me know if you'd like to see random writing prompts as my blogs every now and then.