Welcome to Monday Motivation - Tools in the Toolbox

So we just ran one of our amazing and awesome challenges where Libbie Hawker, author of like 40-novels and the bestselling outlining book, "Take Off Your Pants."

Our challenges are designed to break down tough concepts like plotting and outlining into bite-sized chunks, but sometimes this leads to writers believing that there is a universal right or wrong way to create. With this idea, it is easy to get stuck on plotting and outlining, and designing a novel "the right way." And, sometimes, that means some writers wind up focusing more of getting the tool right than their story right.

And so I want to encourage you to two things in your writing life. The first thing is to study writing craft broadly. Learn about the snowflake method and the hero's journey. Study character. Pacing. Dialogue. Chop up your favorite novel to see how the author used different beats to move the story forward.

But, I also want to encourage you to look at these tactics as tools. They aren't the point of writing, but they are a tool you can use to tell your story. So bend them, or break them, or don't even use them. Do whatever you need to do to move your story forward.

Thank you so much for listening, and I hope you have a wonderful week of writing.

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