Link of the Week: Rahul Kanakia

Every Saturday, I'll be highlighting one link -- it could be a blog post, a book, a website, or anything else -- and explaining why I think that link is useful for writers trying to develop and maintain a daily writing routine. Unlike my Sunday Links posts on my general writing blog, I won't restrict myself to brand new links. Whatever I find that I think is worth sharing will be fair game.

When I came across this blog post earlier today I knew that it had to be my link for the week. Rahul Kanakia is a science fiction writer whose stories have appeared in Clarkesworld, Apex, Intergalactic Medicine Show, and many other notable publications. As of today, he's "gone one full year without missing a day of writing." Some of his approaches are slightly different than the ones I use, but it's obvious that they are working phenomenally well for him.

There are lots of great, inspirational comments I could pick out of the post but, really, the best thing I can do is urge you to go read it. If you want a model of how to write every day, Rahul may have just what you're looking for!

Writing Prompt: Friday July 6th, 2012

Every Tuesday and Friday, I'll be posting one or more writing prompts as possible starting points for stories or poems. I'll be mixing this up as much as possible and will sometimes utilize quotes, photos, music, and anything else I can think of which might help get your creative inspiration going.

Today's writing prompt is this photograph:

I hope this prompt inspires some of you to write something amazing. If you end up writing a story, poem, or anything else based on this prompt and it gets published somewhere (including your blog or personal website) please stop by and leave a comment so I can see what you came up with.

Come back next Tuesday for another Writing Prompt.

Upcoming Deadlines: "UFO", "Penumbra" and "...For All Eternity"

One of the tools I've used sometimes to help myself get started on writing is writing towards prompts or themes for upcoming publications, either anthologies or themed issues of periodicals. Every Thursday, I'll be posting two or three such submission calls which I find of interest. There may be a somewhat heavy speculative fiction bent to these lists, but I'll endeavor to mix it up a bit for those who write mostly in other genres.

A quick reminder that the anthology of humorous speculative fiction for which I'm an associate editor has had its submission period officially open as of July 1st. "Unidentified Funny Objects" is open through August 31st, 2012 and pays 5 cents per word for stories of 500-4,000 words.

The eMagazine "Penumbra" runs calls for themed issues. They have not updated the page recently, however the "Utopia" theme just opened on June 1st and historically their calls have been open for at least a couple of months. Since Duotrope lists the prior month's call "Exploration" as being open through July 31st, you should still have a bit of time here. They pay 5 cents per word for stories of 500-3,000 words.

The second submission call for this week is from "...For All Eternity." This is an anthology put out by the people behind Bete Noire. They are looking for stories based on one and only one of the Seven Deadly Sins. The anthology will have one story for each sin. This submission call runs through July 31st, 2012 or when filled. They pay a 1 cent per word for stories between 3,000 and 6,000 words plus a copy of the anthology.

Please make sure to read the linked guidelines pages closely to ensure that you understand details of the submission guidelines, terms, payment information, etc.

Stop back next Thursday for more Upcoming Deadlines!

Three Ways To Keep Yourself Motivated To Write Every Day

Writing every day is not always easy. Now that I've been doing it for so long, there are many days when it isn't hard to allocate the time and energy for writing. But there are days when it's quite hard.

Here are three things I think about when trying to keep myself motivated.

1. Keep the Chain Alive - If you've read "Write Every Day" or some of my other posts about daily writing, you're already familiar with the idea of having a calendar with a visible "chain" made up of Xs where you've marked off days when you've reached your writing goal. To keep it alive, you have to meet your goal every day. On my absolute hardest writing days, this has been one of my major motivators and the visible feedback has done a lot to help keep other people in my household aware of my progress and encouraging me to keep at it.
2. Remember Why You Write - This will be somewhat different from person to person. For me, a major reason that I write is because I enjoy developing stories and being able to share them with other people. To get stories published in places where a large number of people read them requires writing great stories and to write great stories requires a mixture of talent and hard work. I've chosen to make sticking to a daily routine part of my "hard work." Thinking for a few minutes about the bigger picture writing goals I hope to achieve and remembering that writing today is part of those goals has helped focus my mind.
3. Give Yourself Permission To Write Something Different - If you're not facing a deadline of some kind, some days writing something totally different can be a great way to keep yourself moving forward. You could take a break from your novel to write several blog posts up in advance or maybe try writing a few poems. Or maybe it's a good day to hop out to Duotrope and look at themed anthology/magazine issue submission calls and see if something catches your eye. Mixing things up a bit without breaking my daily writing routine has made quite a few days easier than they would have been if I'd forced myself to work on one specific thing.

Writing Prompt: Tuesday July 3rd, 2012

Every Tuesday and Friday, I'll be posting one or more writing prompts as possible starting points for stories or poems. I'll be mixing this up as much as possible and will sometimes utilize quotes, photos, music, and anything else I can think of which might help get your creative inspiration going.

Here's today's writing prompt:

 "The fireworks were only the first thing to wake Karen that evening..."

I hope that it inspires some of you to write something amazing. If you end up writing something based on this prompt and it gets published somewhere (including your blog or personal website) please stop by and leave a comment so I can see what you came up with.

Come back on Friday for another Writing Prompt.

Monday Motivation: Avoiding Discouragement

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
-Mark Twain

One of the greatest challenges many writers face is discouragement. And some of the most painful discouragement comes in the form of negativity from people when you talk about what you're doing with your writing. Even well-meaning friends and family members can take the wind out of our sails with questions and comments like "Is there really any money in that?" or "So, I went to Barnes and Noble, but they said they didn't have anything by you..."

Maybe you can't (or shouldn't) truly "keep away" from those people. After all, we all have our flaws. But you can try to keep their words away from your mind and heart. Seek out the people -- writers and non-writers -- who are encouraging and supportive. Let their words be the ones that take root within you.

Call for Guest Posters & Interviewees

I've got several people already lined up for upcoming weeks, but am still interested in being in touch with other people as well, so I'm repeating my call for guest posters and interviewees from last week.

The first guest post/interview will be coming up a week from today on July 8th.

As a reminder, every Sunday, I'll be featuring another writer for a guest post or an interview. If you're interested in either writing a guest post or being interviewed by me for this feature, please let me know either by making a comment below or filling out my "Contact Me" form.

These won't be particularly lengthy, in general. I'm figuring the average post/interview will be in the 400-1,000 word range. While they don't need to focus directly on writing every day, I'd like there to be at least some connection between the overall subject and developing/maintaining a daily writing habit.

Thanks to anyone who is interested in being a part of this feature!