I've recently made it to the middle of a story I'm writing and it didn't take long for me to realize that I didn't know how to handle keeping the story going. So I looked to one of my favorite authors on writing for guidance.

Hello, everyone! Time goes so fast doesn't it? I've been meaning to get a post out for weeks now but I just keep getting overwhelmed by schoolwork. That also means I haven't been writing though. (Aside from class papers, that is.) But even when I am not writing, I still have ideas and inspired moments about the project I have going. And I always have ideas about future projects that I know I won't be able to get to anytime soon.

When it comes to plotting my stories, I definitely prefer to outline ahead of time. I like to know from the beginning which direction my story is going in. Of course, I am always open to change as well. Sometimes the characters take things in a whole new direction than I'd originally planned. In that case, I simply adjust my outline to include those changes. Having an outline doesn't mean it's set in stone.

Every writer has a million ideas bouncing around in their head. The problem is getting those ideas down on paper. Those of us who are just starting out need to figure out just what we need to make those ideas work.

Critically acclaimed novelist, N.M. Kelby gives us some fantastic advice on how exactly to do that in her article, "Taming the Beast". Here she tells us that we need to realistically outline and throw away what bogs readers down the most. And that we need to set up a game plan to hook the readers and keep them reading.