Through the woods,

Past the wheat fields,

Over the stream,

Behind your grandfather's barn,

Lays a kingdom ruled by kids,

Amazing tree houses, bridges and ziplines connecting,

One in the center,

Rising up farther and higher,

Made of wood but with candy decorations,

Laughs can be heard,

And some grownup cries as kids retaliate for times punished,

Raise a cup of apple juice,

Or eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,

Just be carefull,

Ramparts are armed with nerf guns,

Little brothers will pull hair,

Once thirteen,

The kingdom is no more.

(I have yet to finish editing it, and I don't plan on letting anyone read it, but I can tell you the writing of it was an excellent learning experience :] )

BEFORE I share with you my questionable pearls of wisdom:

Neil Gaiman talks about having a "compost pile". Have a notebook where you keep all your new story ideas, or write lil short stories with new characters. Like you're allowed to do other projects while you write your main book. If it's just fatigue from sticking to one thing, deem Sunday's your "fun write" day or something where you just write a lil short story in like 1-2 hours to get it out of your system, and then through the week work on your main book.

Include character ideas for new stories as background characters, or introduce them halfway through your novel as a new point of conflict or something.

Now, what I learned from my own writing:

I have found that setting too many rules for myself sucks the fun out of the process. Let yourself "free-write". Be ridiculous. Make yourself laugh. Have fun. Know who your character is, and then just invent madness and pretend its you reacting to those situations.

After some time, you'll develop a style. You may not spot it right away, but going back and reading through 200 pages you wrote, you'll notice where you break your style, at least.

Once you feel like you have direction - whether that's after writing one page, ten, or thirty, take a minute and outline your plot. It's more important to know your characters. How would they react to X, and why? Based on what past experience, and what future dreams/goals? This directs their (re)actions in situations, no matter what you think up!

So, once you've got that, you can make an outline (if you want). This provides motivation for that "middle slump". Make today's goal writing page 102-115. Tomorrow's goal is 116-125. The weekend when you wanna spend more time? SPEED ROUND! pgs 126-140. You can worry about cleaning it up later. So instead of staring down a 250pg manuscript goal you set for yourself back at page 5 when you felt young and ambitious, you only have to write 5-10 pages a day.

Make it a habit, like your morning coffee or your evening tea.

If you're serious about churning out a book, make a rule to only watch TV on weekends or something. Dedicate that 1-2 hours in the evening to your goal. It feels pretty good, I promise. 5 pages a day doesn't seem like a lot, but in a month you've made some real progress.

Make a bullet point roadmap for yourself, in not-too-much detail; you'll fill in the blanks with the finer points as you come to them.

Throw a wrench in your character's plans. Those hopes and dreams they had? Crush them, and then have them recover. Or challenge them in some way. They shouldn't be a broken shell of a person, but they shouldn't be perfect/unstoppable either. Conflict = interest.

Feel free to re-read scenes to refresh yourself, but fight the urge to edit if you're writing your first draft of your novel. Why spend thirty minutes meticulously editing a page, only to decide it doesn't really belong in your story once you're done writing the next five chapters?

So...yeah. Have a blast. Let yourself feel like an absolute bonkers person - no one has to see those pages but you. Once you know you've got some solid material, polish it so it is a diamond and no longer a turd (though I'm sure it was suprememly delightful in its original state). :) [[kind of my take on Hemingway's "write drunk, edit sober" lol]]

Force yourself to write.

1. Make a cup of tea/coffee.

2. Select a playlist--soundtracks and Ludovico Einaudi or Jorge Méndez work well (nothing with words). You can also try binaural soundbeats. Play it while writing and start visualizing your story or empty your mind and listen to the music. You'll figure out what works for you.

3. Give yourself a 1000 word minimum and one chapter theme/story beat to write per day, everyday, except Shabbat. I recommend using pencil or pen and a spiral notebook that you like.Write at a stand up desk if you can, or laying on your stomach in bed. Do not allow yourself to get up until it's done.

4. When you have 5-10 spiral notebook pages, you'll be done. If you want to keep writing, do so until you are done, but never allow yourself to stop early. Type it up, spellcheck, but don't read it or edit.

5. Repeat this process, no excuses, for 35 days, and you will have a novella, 55 days and you will have a novel. This is your rough draft. Save it often.

6. Give 3 days to rest and to decompress. Then print and start reading your story. Use a pencil or purple pen for notes & edits. This is your copy editing phase, don't make big story changes, just grammar & spelling. When you edit it in your computer, duplicate your rough draft and rename it as your first draft. This is the copy you will edit.

7. For the second edit, duplicate your 1st draft, rename it to 2nd draft. Print. Start playing around with your story. Fill in insufficient character background, descriptions, etc. Type these edits into your 2nd draft. Spellcheck and grammar check.

8. Repeat step 7 for your 3rd draft. This is the copy you will workshop.

9. Apply edits, repeating step 7.

10. You are now on your 4th draft. Duplicate and save as Draft 5. Send this copy to a story editor, then a copy editor, then a book cover designer & layout editor.

11. You are now on your 8th draft (once you duplicate the layout/1st proof). Check the font, margins, paper weight. Read it as a customer. Make notes In your spiral notebook. Now read it as the author. Make notes. If you are happy, save the PDF file and upload it at Amazon after you copyright it and secure a barcode for it. Now you get to focuson marketing, publicity, and getting book reviews to help sell your work.

If you are not happy with it, repeat step 11. Send your notes and corrections to your book cover designer &/or layout editor. Get a 2nd proof, and go again until it's right.

Tips:

*Wear orange UVEX glasses for screen time

*Use symphonic music while writing

*Write your rough draft with a pen/pencil in a spiral notebook, unless you prefer a voice recorder. Transcribe to a computer writing program that is easy to save into PDF, and always save in the writing format and the PDF format.

*Take walks before and after writing

*Eat a snack and use the facilities before aitting down to write.

*Do chores, work in the yard, or paint/do photography/doodle after writing. It's good for the body and helps the brain decompress.

*Bluelight, TV, video games, and social media are your enemy and a cololsal waste of time. You will never write anything if you engage in these activities, gossip with your friends, are obsessed over your partner/child/parent/evil neighbor, etc. The craft comes after prayer/meditation--no excuses.

*Do not use a red pen to edit your work. Red is the color of teachers, stop lights, and judgement. You will not encourage your self improvement or creativity with red.

It is difficult to help you or give advice if with out more infomation about the original story and your new better idea. I would like to first ask do your original idea and your new idea fit together?

If Yes, then reread your original story and take note of how you would be able to incorporate your new better idea into what you already wrote. You will have found that you have written 50 pages of a rough draft. You will probably end up rewriting serveral pages, and find yourself with a better story. Once you 'get back to where you stopped' you will naturally continue on with your better idea.

If No, then reread your story and ask yourseflf the folloing questions. do you still like it? are you statisfied with what you wrote? If the answer to these are no then still be sure to keep it saved, it is still stuff you worked hard on, and you might find yourself coming back to it later. Essentially, your 'junking' your old story, and will start a new book with your new 'better' idea. If you want to stick with your new idea, and finish a book, then try to think about it in sections. Try keeping one scene in your head at a time (this might prove difficult), and write it to your satifaction. Let your mind drift and flow to the next scence with the end of that one. If you continue like this then pop ups for new 'better' ideas for a completly different book will lower, instead you mind will stick with making continually making improving your scenes.

By using this method you can return to you old idea reread those 50 pages, and improvements for your original will come to you.

For me at least, it worked to write every day, even when i was feeling frustrated and like i should be moving on and if i had a new idea i'd write it down and save it for when i needed a break from the novel i was focused in. Consistency is key, there is no magic trick and it will be hard but it's important to hold on to that story if you think it's good. Remember no one will be able to tell that story if you don't and the characters will never live if you give up on it.

Disclaimer: I'm on my sixth manuscript, and yet to get a coherent/complete first draft of any of them. (Although come to think of it I have a great idea for another one written down somewhere that I was going to use for NaNoWriMo this year, until life intervened). The point here being, I can tell you what has helped me but I am not one of the auspicious / organized ones. I just tend to sit down and try my best.

Formalities out of the way, probably the best piece of advice I've gotten on actually finishing is to write the thing chapter by chapter. End each chapter with a cliffhanger and you'll automatically have somewhere to start next time. Second disclaimer, if you do it this way, when you give it to a friend to read don't do it a chapter at a time. It just makes them frustrated that you don't write faster. I found this method really helpful as a minimal planner (I'll start with a sentence or two like the kind from the blurb on the inside of the dust jacket, and just go with whatever comes to mind). It enabled me to finally get a coherent chronologically ordered story, and feel like I was making progress. I have since taken up another project that I've been at for around two years now, without the structure the story is all over the place. The big difference between the two projects is "step size": the current story has been going for longer, I have character arcs and a timeline and everything, but that doesn't stop new characters from showing up most of the way through without bothering to introduce themselves; there is a plan but no cohesive chunk of text longer than a scene or two. The earlier story is shorter and has been dormant for a while, but is very easy to keep track of with the chapter-by-chapter progeression. I have no idea for what's going to happen next, and make things up as I go along (in the hallowed tradition). But the chapter-by-chapter story always has a clear place to go, while the disorganized one is like trying to find the end in a Gordian knot.

Without the facile direction to progress in, it can be incredibly difficult to feel like I'm making progress at all, because while the word count increases it doesn't necessarily get closer to being a story, if that makes sense. So I would recommend:

If you're a planner:

- Get your story arcs / plan all worked out

- Decide on a general chapter length (I tend towards 5,000 words but I'm long-winded; 1,600 is good for some people)

- I prefer sitting down and writing most of a chapter at once, although if you do more with scaffolding, intermediate drafts, or organization your timetable will depend on that. Figure out your preferred organizational style, and try to find a writing schedule that works for you

If you're not a planner:

- Have a general idea for the story

- Start with the first chapter. I tend to prefer starting with slightly absurd situations as a way to introduce my character and because I write to have fun

- Every chapter should feature a choice/decision, and the results of that decision should lead to the development of a slightly new situation

- This way, every chapter builds on the last, and you can change the story's direction whenever you want

Then, once you've got a first draft, revising. Quite frankly, I have no idea how to go about this one. Even for academic papers I tend to be a one-and-done draft writer, and if multiple drafts with "significant changes" are required I sometimes take out the best parts and use the mutilated essay as a first draft.

So, to summarize, the best technique I've been recommended is to take it chapter by chapter. Chronology and context are somewhat automatically included, because you'll be building off what you just wrote. Don't ignore your other ideas: write them down somewhere else fully enough that you'll be able to use them later. That way you can decide to either flesh out the new ideas more fully, or to continue with your current project. I tend to keep comp books so for new ideas, taking a marker or highlighter and color-coding the edge of the pages for new ideas can be really helpful. Other than that, I put the working title at the top of the page when I write part of a story. I should probably have separate sections for different stories or something, but I don't. I just flip around a lot, and look for labels. The other thing I enjoy about the comp book system is that typing it into my steadily growing word processor document gives me a chance to kind of edit as I'm transcribing, and comp books are much easier to carry around than a computer. The downside is that if you have multiple comp books without clear delineations between story ideas, you might end up doing a lot of flipping and end up with multiple comp books. If my own experience is anything to go by, organization is incredibly subjective. Working from front to back, my comp books are a series of bits and pieces of stories I'm working on, sometimes picking up from the previous page, or where I am in the word processor document of the story, or an entirely new scene I just realized could be incredible. Working from back to front is more organizational, so currently to-do lists, grocery lists, more planning stuff. The two sections tend to meet closer to the back cover than the front, but beyond a general "creative writing in front, executive function from back" scheme there is no real organization. I've tried using sticky note flags and paperclips and dedicating a single book to a single project. For me everything runs together so it's easier to just flip around and have everything in the same place. Some people are highly organized and have an entire system that works for them; if you're one of these people I admire your innate talent for executive functioning. If you're not, don't worry: there are plenty of unorganized or somewhat organized folks out there. Pick a system, try it, and keep trying and modifying until you find something that works for you. There's such a wide variety of people, it;s no surprise that something different works for everyone.

One last note, I think it;s a little unfair to expect yourself to focus solely on writing your novel until you finish it. Everyone needs a break, to focus on different things from time to time. Taking the time to do some writing exercises, or planning, or writing an unrelated short story, are equally valuable. The human mind is hardwired to wander to some extent. So what if you take a break from your novel to capture that awesome short story idea you just had? It's not like that day will be the difference between your novel being a couple pages versus a couple hundred. So while I think the dedication and perseverance in writing a novel are important, I think it's also important allow yourself to enjoy other smaller projects in the meantime.

Wow, that ended up being a lot longer than I intended. Hope you find some of it helpful!

1) Make sure your characters, settings, and plot ideas are written down for reference.

2) Have a set time each day where you sit down and write.

3) Reread what you have written.

4) Put yourself in a scene and ask yourself, “Would I do that?” “How would I do that?”

“Why would I do that?” “Where would I do that?” “Who do I want to be?” “What do

I want the outcome to be?” “When do I do that?” This is the basis of the who, what,

when, why and how.

5) Proofread every page you finish first before moving on to the next page.

6) Understand detail is important, but too much of it can kill a story.

7) Read other authors, and not necessarily your own favorites for sparks of ideas.

8) Ask yourself if you would buy this novel if it was written by someone else.

9) If unhappy with most of what is written, rewrite it. Often you will find things you

left out before that were integral to the story.

10) Post an excerpt and ask for opinons. Proser’s here will help you.

Echos go on forever

At least as far as you can hear

Love goes on forever

Connecting everyone you hold dear

Family goes on forever

And yet they all feel so near

Hope goes on forever

Because without it, we fear

They say space goes on forever

And many people doubt

But love

And hope

And family

And echos

(That’s what it’s all about)

They all take up so much space

That the universe has to expand

Or just fill up, and break

It was later than normal, darker than normal. A strong wind whistled about. Somewhere a dog barked with nervous energy. Closer-by, someone’s back-porch windchimes busily tinkled out harsh claxons of warning. A metal trash can paid no heed to the “Children at Play” sign, rolling past her as though it had someplace important to be.

A taxing day was nearly over. She just wanted to get out of her heels, to pour a glass of wine, and to relax. Winnie was now all that stood in her way. “Come on, Winnie, just do your business, already!”

This night‘s wind was strangely warm, and absent of rain, lending to the night an eeriness which reminded her that tomorrow was Halloween. She made a mental note to pick up a bag of candy or two on her way home tomorrow. Looking around, she hoped for better weather tomorrow, for the children’s sake. Overhead a steady stream of cloud silhouettes raced through the washy glow of a low-hung, cartoonish moon. Across the way, beyond the dim light of an outmatched street lamp, an obscure tree-line swayed wildly, with partially bare limbs flailing their desperation overtop rooted, concrete feet. From the wooded copse loud cracks, and crashes carried over to her through the gales while the crinkling leaves of a dying summer cascaded to the street in waves, skittering in scratchy circles there beneath the underpowered street lamp. She should probably get inside.

No matter which direction she turned her head wild strands of hair found her eyes and mouth, so that her free hand was unceasingly tucking it behind her ears. With her face bent downward away from the gusts she pleaded with Winnie to get her business done, but Winnie, oblivious to the harrowing night, continued her sniffing, and stalling... a dog’s repayment, she supposed, for the extra time spent home alone, as work had kept her late once again.

Another ear-splitting crack drew her eyes back to the copse. She saw something this time that she hadn’t noticed previously. Beneath the lamppost, amongst the circling leaves, stood a man. How had she failed to see him before? Something besides the warm wind produced a shiver inside her. “Come on Winnie. Let’s go home.”

When she started back, the man began walking as well, unhurried, keeping pace. She lifted up on Winnie’s leash, pulling the little dog along behind her. “Come on, Winnie!”

Winnie saw the man now. She stopped walking, and snuffled the wind. She pulled against her leash, emitting a low, menacing growl that added to the woman’s unease. Winnie was a friendly dog, and liked everyone. She whispered to the dog through tight, angry lips. “Stop it, Winnie. Come on!”

Once away from the lamp the man was hard to see. She peered in his direction, looking for movement, but his dark clothes blended in with the dark woods behind him. She could make out just enough to know that he was walking faster now. She felt a stronger surge of fear this time. She pulled the startled dog to her with the leash and scooped it up in her arms. Even tucked in safely against her the dog continued its growling. She walked faster, her heels clicking hard on the asphalt. The man had pulled slightly ahead. He started across, slanting toward her side of the street. In a few moments he would be between her and her house. It was probably silly. She was being irrational. The man was probably a neighbor, and harmless, but she began to run anyway.

She could not run fast, not with a dog in her arms and with high heels on her feet, but she felt an undeniable urgency, so she ran along as best she could. She was quickly winded though, and slowed back to a fast walk. Winnie was barking now, her little body rigid as she pulled it in closer in a failed attempt to comfort. Across the way the man broke into a jog of his own. She panicked now. He was faster. Much faster. He was going to cut her off. She stopped walking. “Who are you?” She yelled. “What do you want?” Her voice sounded unusually weak beneath the howling wind, and the barking dog.

The man made her side of the road a good twenty yards ahead of her. He made no attempt to answer her questions. She wondered if he had even heard her? She wanted to turn around, to go the other way, to put distance between herself and the stranger, but that would take her further from home, further from it’s safety. If she could stall long enough a car might come by. If one did she would flag it down. The man turned around and started toward her.

”What do you want?” She screamed it this time, desperate to be heard. She tried to make out his face in the shadows, his expression, but could see nothing. She was truly panicked now. “What do I do?“ She repeated the words over and over, her mind blank. There was pepper spray in her purse, and her phone was there too, but her purse was on the table beside the front door. She had only planned to be out for a minute. How careless she had been!

The man was close now. Her every instincy screamed “Danger.” Not knowing what else to do she turned and ran in the opposite direction. She heard his footsteps behind her. A whimper escaped her as a strong hand grasped her bicep. Winnie snapped viciously at the hand, and it let go. She was crying now. She ran faster, as fast as she could. She ran for her life.

She was pushed violently then from behind. Winnie yelped. The little dog flew from her arms as she sprawled face first onto the rough, unforgiving asphalt. Ignoring the pain, she rolled herself over to find him looming over top of her. She struck at his shadowy face with both hands.

“Leave me alone! What are you doing?”

There was no answer, but neither did he move away. She was caught. There was nothing to do but surrender. She stopped struggling. “Are you going to kill me?” She asked him.

His voice was low, steady, calming when it finally spoke, more like a teacher to a pupil than a man about to commit murder. “Yes, among other things.”

“Why?” Her voice was somehow calm too.

“I was sent here. All of these years you have gotten treats., but this year is different. This year I am your “Trick-or-Treat.”

”You were sent here?” There was desperation now in her voice. “Sent by whom?”

”Ah!” She was able to make out a twisted smile in the shadows of his face. “Now there is the question. You will find that out soon enough. I am here to take you to him, but I am only the messenger.”

There was no more sound but the wind as cold, boney fingers circled her neck.