NEED WRITING HELP?

     I am new at this novel-writing thing, and I can't believe I have waited this long to start.  (I'm 44)  The rewards I get from writing every day are fantastic.  Aside from my eventual dream of making a living by selling my books, which is a long shot from what I have read and heard, I get a lot from writing.  It changes your identity slightly for one thing, and opens avenues of thought that I didn't really know were there. 
     If you are new to writing and are looking for guidance, don't come to me. Ha. Seriously I am in the same boat, so I wouldn't be much help. I have, however, read lots and lots of books, blogs, websites and the like over the last four months and have found  some very encouraging and informative items that I will post on this blog as time allows.
     By far, the best resource I have found to date is Holly Lisle's website. http://hollylisle.com/ She has been a published writer since 1985 with over 30 books.  She offers tons of free advice and also has free and paid writing courses.  I am currently taking the How to Think Sideways course, which I find to be excellent. 
     I have to say, I am an independant, pig-headed guy and when I first started writing I had the illusion that I didn't want any help.  I just didn't think it was necessary.  As I progressed I ended up reading a few books about writing, more out of curiousity than anything and found out that I really didn't know everything. (I know what your thinking and trust me, I was surprised too.)  Once I started delving I found an amazing quantity of information on how to write a novel.  Topics covered everything from motivation, scheduling, outlining, character development and so on.  I soon found that my writing up to that point was pretty flat and although I had a good idea, it needed more.  Holly's website and many other sources opened my thinking enough to accept that I had to seek knowledge and dig a lot deeper to write well.  I am no where near there yet, but I keep plugging away, and I'm getting better.

If you are a writer or are thinking about writing or you have been putting off writing that book for years now, you should check out Holly's website.  I guarantee she will inspire and show you that you can indeed write.  Put away self-doubt and act.  You'll never know until you start.
Good Luck

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog.  I have created this blog to track the progress of writing my first novel.  I began this work in January 2012 and have found it to be an incredible journey of learning so far.  Now I am about 50000 words in to it and have become very passionate about writing every day.  My plan is to record my weekly progress and comment on new writing techniques or methods that I have learned about.  At some point I may even become brave enough to post some of it, but don't hold your breath.  It is my goal to create links to other author blogs or writing blogs in general to perhaps make this a resource for new writers like myself.  I have found that staying motivated is probably the most important thing at this point, so I will pass along anything I have read or picked up regarding that as well.  That will all have to wait until tomorrow though...5am comes early.