Category: Mojo Writers Guides

One of the incredible, surprising, wonderful things to come out of the pandemic* was the “Short Story a Week” writing challenge I had with a fellow writer. Over the course of eighteen months, I wrote 57 short stories (including nine novellas** and most of a novel), which was a wonderful way to escape reality and at the same time feel like I was accomplishing something.

After 18 months of writing a story a week, I was convinced that I had a neverending Font (fount?) of Creativity. A fire hose of innovation that could not be quenched. A veritable endless supply of ideas, and the energy to bring them forth into the world.

And then I hit The Wall.

All of my energy was shot, ideas refused to bubble up, and I found myself in the Desert of the Real.*** Suddenly the fun and joy of writing became a torturous slog. Totally Un-fun.

Which was when I knew I had to do something.

So in a quest to recover my mojo, I researched. I read books, listened to podcasts, scanned the internet**** and used myself as a guinea pig to test the theories and activities I came across. Some worked, some didn’t.

Throughout it all, I found a path that worked for me. And I figured that if it could work for me, maybe it could work for others. (Besides, there was SCIENCE behind many of the concepts I was working with. Science is good stuff.)

So what came of all that research and testing and experimenting was “How to Get Your Mojo Back”.

I wrote it for writers as part of my Mojo Writers Guides, but the core of it applies to all creative types (which means most people). The book covers the physical, mental, and emotional blocks to creativity, and how to find your way (back) to the Road of Creativity (aka Life).

Like the other Mojo Writers Guides, I wrote it for me because these were the words I needed to hear, to remind myself of. And I hope it helps others with similar struggles.

You can find “How to Get Your Mojo Back” at most online retailers.

(Did I mention that it’s snarky and loving and filled with sci-fi and fantasy references? So, pretty much a normal Andi Winter book, albeit non-fiction.)

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*There were a lot of horrible things that came about as a result of the pandemic, but let’s shine a light on some of the good things. Because we could all use a reminder.

**Although some would argue that anything less than a 90,000 word novel is a “short story” (ahem, George R.R. Martin), generally accepted descriptions for assorted length fiction go like this:

1-1,000 words = flash fiction
1,000-7,500 words = short story
7,500-17,500 words = novelette (doesn’t that just sound cute?)
17,500-40,000 words = novella
40,000+ words = novel

***The Matrix, anyone? But without the ‘tastes like chicken’ goupy meals. Thankfully.

****Did you know there is a lot of information on the Internet? And that some of it isn’t exactly accurate? But oh my goodness—those silly cat videos are simply delightful!

Every book and story I publish is a labor of love, but damn if this isn’t the Book I Was Meant to Write. I love this book. I mean it—I wish I’d had this book when I was starting out nearly twenty years ago, and I now have a copy on my shelf that I keep rereading to remind myself of lessons I’ve learned the hard way (and continue to relearn over and over and over again).

“How to Write a  Novel in 30 Days” is a short, pithy guide to writing a novel, with a bonus of tips and strategies for writing that novel in a month. It covers fundamentals of mental attitude and discipline (crucial for artists of every stripe) , and then gets into the nitty gritty of novel structure. There is no preaching, no “You MUST do it this way” or any other ridiculous requirements for the writer beyond:

Do what works for you.

And an unstated follow-up:

Open your mind to trying different things and see what works for you.

In the book, I go over Plotters (writers who outline or otherwise plan their novels), Pantsers (writers who write ‘by the seat of their pants’), and Hybrids (the majority of us who combine the two). Having been a Plotter AND a Pantser AND a Hybrid writer, I feel very comfortable talking about these different approaches.

Then we delve into just how the hell you can possibly complete a 50,000 word novel in a month. I share strategies that I have used, some of them legitimate means of moving a story forward and some of them a little more on the cheap tricks side (a girl’s gotta hit her word count somehow).

Comments from beta readers (and from attendees of the “How to Write a Novel in 30 Days” workshops that I’ve held) praise the content for providing solid help with writing a novel, as well as for inspiring writers and making them feel like this is something they can do. Which they can!

If you are looking for a compact, to-the-point writing guide for your novel (whether or not you want to write it in a month), this is the book for you!

“How to Write a Novel in 30 Days” is available as an e-book and paperback at the usual online retailers.

For a few years now, I have taught a workshop on “How to Write a Novel in 30 Days” where I share the tools and attitude necessary to write a complete novel in a month. The workshop runs sixty minutes, so it covers some broad concepts in a short amount of time, from the actual physical tools you need to write, to basic story structure, to the mindset and strategies that make the process easier.

Writing a novel assumes that you know how to write a story. It took me awhile to realize that a lot of people decide they want to start writing, and well, they have read a lot of novels, so they’ll just write one of those.

And then they try to write a novel, struggle with it (“Why won’t the characters do anything?”), and eventually give up.

(I was one of those people, and I have the awful partial first draft of a YA fantasy novel to prove it.)

It can be an incredibly frustrating process, and with so many books and videos and workshops out there, it can also be frustrating trying to find a straightforward answer to “So how the heck do you write a story?”

I know about those frustrations because I went through a lot of books, watched a lot of videos, and took a lot of courses trying to find the answer to that one question.

“How to Write a Short Story” is my attempt to help aspiring writers avoid the frustration and get to the joy of writing.

In this book, I talk about the core components of a story, regardless of length. These basics are the building blocks for all fiction. Then I discuss the nature of the ‘short story’ and how it is different from a novel (not better, not worse—just different), and then wrap up with strategies to use when you get stuck with your story. These strategies also work well with longer stories, so wannabe novelists would get helpful information from this book, as well.

Looking for a compact no-nonsense guide to writing fiction, with a heavy dose of snark on the side? Look no further!

“How to Write a Short Story” is available as an e-book and paperback at the usual online retailers.