A writing student contacted me today. She’s a Web writer, who’s writing a novel. Unfortunately, she’s stuck.

To paraphrase, she says she’s almost halfway through the novel, and can’t see her way forward. She’s been working on the project for almost two months. Should she just give up and delete the material and start something new?

Here’s my response.

No, don’t delete anything at all.

It’s common to get stuck. Professional writers plough on regardless. They know that sooner or later they’ll pick up steam and will get inspired again.

They write anyway, no matter how they feel about the material. They know that they can always go back and delete material, but if they stop writing, the project is over.

You can move forward in many ways.

Here are some ideas.

* Choose a scene you’ve written , and then write the scene in the first person, from the point of view of a secondary character.

This gives you another viewpoint, which may jolt something loose.

* Give a primary character a secret, which he/ she is desperate not to reveal.

You’ll tend to procrastinate on a novel if the characters bore you — sometimes your story people won’t come to life. Giving someone a deep dark secret helps.

* Have you plotted out scenes from the rest of the book? If you haven’t, plot one scene — make it exciting — and then write the scene.

If you do this, you’ll want to go back and revise some of the scenes you’ve written. Don’t do that. Just keep writing scenes until you complete the book.

* Use your dreams — they can help you to write.

Tonight, as you’re falling asleep, think about your story people. Imagine them interacting. This can be enough to inspire you with some fresh ideas.

If you remember a dream in the morning, write it down.

Imagine characters in your novel for every night for a week before you fall asleep. You’ll be amazed: your story will come to life, simply because you’ll start caring about your story people again.

Write more – become a pro writer

Yes, you can write more and become an expert writer – even if you’re a world-class procrastinator.

Did you know that when you write more, your writing improves? Many of my writing students experience this. They find that when they write more, writing is easier for them – they’re not dominated by their inner editor.

My new writing class, “Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” is based on lessons I developed for my private coaching students to help them to write more, improve their writing, and make more money writing.

If you’re struggling with your writing, the class will help. The techniques you’ll learn in class with help you write fiction, nonfiction, and copy for business.

Discover how you can write more, improve your writing, and sell more of your writing to higher-paying markets.

Here’s an excellent article from the Guardian, “Ten Rules For Writing Fiction”. Actually, the article contains many more tips than that. Read the entire article, it’s well worth your time.

In the first part of the article, Ten rules for writing fiction | guardian.co.uk my favorite tip is:

“Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful.”

FWIW, here’s my own two favorite tips:

Don’t bore them

How will you know you’re boring people? A good clue is that you’re bored yourself. If you’re bored, spice it up. Your readers will appreciate it.

Don’t annoy them

How can you annoy readers? One of the ways is by using exclamation marks.

Another way is by using synonyms for “said” instead of just writing “said” when you need to.

If you can avoid boring and annoying readers, you may just write a great book.

Write more – become a pro writer

Yes, you can write more and become an expert writer – even if you’re a world-class procrastinator.

Did you know that when you write more, your writing improves? Many of my writing students experience this. They find that when they write more, writing is easier for them – they’re not dominated by their inner editor.

My new writing class, “Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” is based on lessons I developed for my private coaching students to help them to write more, improve their writing, and make more money writing.

If you’re struggling with your writing, the class will help. The techniques you’ll learn in class with help you write fiction, nonfiction, and copy for business.

Discover how you can write more, improve your writing, and sell more of your writing to higher-paying markets.

Want to write a book? It’s more than just typing.

You’ll love this article from the WSJ, How to Write a Great Novel: Junot Diaz, Anne Rice, Margaret Atwood and Other Authors Tell – WSJ.com, in which many writers tell you how they write.

Excellent tips for new writers..

I especially liked this quote from Hilary Mantel:

“British novelist Hilary Mantel likes to write first thing in the morning, before she has uttered a word or had a sip of coffee. She usually jots down ideas and notes about her dreams. ‘I get very jangled if I can’t do it,’ she says.

She’s an obsessive note taker and always carries a notebook. Odd phrases, bits of dialogue and descriptions that come to her get tacked to a 7-foot-tall bulletin board in her kitchen; they remain there until Ms. Mantel finds a place for them in her narrative.”

Writing is the first thing I do every day too.

BTW, if you haven’t read Wolf Hall; read it. It’s wonderful. I’ve always been prejudiced against novels written in the second person, but in Wolf Hall, it works.

Want to make great money writing? Discover the secrets of high-selling, highly paid writers, for free. Each week, Angela Booth’s Fab Freelance Writing Ezine is delivered in easy-to-print PDF format.

Join the thousands of other writers who are using the information to change their lives. You’ll learn how to write, and how to sell. Angela’s been writing for 30 years, and shares her knowledge with you.

Novels take commitment. A book you can read in three hours can take anywhere from three months to three years to write.

Here’s a cute idea for you if you can’t get started writing: use Twitter.

How to Start a Twitter Novel suggest a plan to write a “Twitter novel”:

“1. Throw Out The Manuscript

Twitter is instantaneous. Serializing a manuscript may be easy, but trying to contract and make logical sense of it in 140 character bursts is not. By doing this, you limit the flexibility that Twitter grants in presenting your fiction. Start fresh.”

Now, of itself, a Twitter novel may be close to useless. However, it can provide you with inspiration to write if you outline your “real” novel 140 characters a time in Twitter.

Responses from your followers will help.

Recession-proof your freelance writing career

“Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” gives you all the tools you need for a thriving writing career, no matter what the economic climate.

Three weeks after completing the class one student wrote:

“Thanks Angela, for all your help and advice in class. I’m quitting my job next week. I printed out my letter of resignation tonight after landing a contract writing job that will pay me more for three months part-time work than I earned in from my day job in the whole of 2007! You were right – the great gigs are out there, and now I’ve got the skills to land them. Your class opened my eyes. Bless you…”

“Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” shows you how to thrive as a freelance writer. Would you like to write five times more than you’re writing now, and sell to higher-paying markets? Take the class.

Writing a novel in the form of a letter or a diary (think Bridget Jones) is a tried and true device for writing your novel.

DEAR AMERICAN AIRLINES by Jonathan Miles uses the letter device.

Book Review – ‘Dear American Airlines,’ by Jonathan Miles – Review – NYTimes.com reports:

“‘Dear American Airlines,’ Jonathan Miles’s fine first novel, takes the form of a letter to the titular air carrier, which has stranded Benjamin R. Ford, the book’s middle-aged protagonist, in O’Hare Airport on the way to his estranged daughter’s wedding.”

So if you’re writing a novel and are stuck, write a chapter or two in the form of a letter. It’s a fascinating way to reveal more of your character and help him come alive for the reader – and for you.