Bethany Henry: Writing & Wellness

Life is busy and writing is hard, yet we have words to write and stories inside of us. So what do we do? Beyond learning the rules and craft of writing itself, these are several key writing beliefs that can help us succeed in our work. These mindsets can shape our attitude and approach to writing and to life, helping us achieve more than we thought possible. 5 Key Beliefs of Successful Writers 1- Believe Our Writing Time Is Possible Sometimes we give up before we even try. Sometimes I get caught up in busyness and stress, and it can seem like a far-off dream to ever be a successful writer. It seems impossible my projects will get finished or that they will be any good. I get overwhelmed and defeated before I start. We can have fear of failure, fear of difficulty, even fear of success. Fear takes on many forms and speaks many lies. But what if we believed our writing was possible? What if we approached our days with the belief that there was time and space for writing? Busyness and fear...

Last month we took a look at seven underappreciated mythical creatures to inform and inspire our writing. Beyond the classic dragon/unicorn/mermaid triad, there are countless other mythological beings, characters, and creatures to learn about. Unique and fantastic beasts can be found in the mythology of every culture and they’re a gold mine of inspiration for writers. Because there are so many stories and legends out there (and because they are just that cool!) today we’ll look at an additional five lesser-known mythological creatures along with writing prompts. Note: As with most myths and folklore, the information about these creatures is varied and hard to pin down. Most of what I’ve gathered and condensed here is information from  Wikipedia ,  MythOrTruth.com ,  Mythology.net , and  Brittanica.com .  Beyond my notes, I’d encourage you to research further! There is a wealth of material to be found. 1. Harpy Harpies have their roots in Greek and Roma...

Ever stop reading something because of a spelling mistake? Find yourself twitching when someone misuses their/they’re/there? Shake your head over a typo? I have. This is why editing is important. The Importance of Editing Whether we plan to submit our work to an agent, self-publish, or take our work down a different path: editing is vital. Mistakes will mark as as an amateur and cause our work to be disregarded. Besides, we owe it to our work to make it the best we can! We’ve made it this far- now it’s time to bring our stories as close to perfection as possible. This post is Part 8 of the Steps to Success series designed to walk us through the process of writing a novel from beginning to end. As always, personal preferences and experiences differ. This guide is based in part on my own experiences as well as from authors I have worked with and/or learned from along the way. If you haven’t looked at the earlier steps in this series yet, I would encourage you to do so.  In order to h...

It’s too easy to be busy. We have meetings, commutes, chores, errands, classes, and bills to pay. We have families and coffee dates. And somewhere in there we should probably shower, eat, and sleep. Now these aren’t bad things. In fact, they’re important and good. (Please don’t give up showering! 😉 ) The problem is that sometimes we get caught up in our activities. We go go go until we forget what it’s like to slow down. Our lives are filled with busyness. Sometimes we forget that being busy is not the goal. Busyness is not inherently good. It does not make us more important. It doesn’t even always make us more productive. Being busy should not be our identity. Ever feel proud of being busy? Brag about how tired you are or how many meetings you have scheduled in one day? I’ve totally done that. There’s something in us that says we must be important if we’re busy. We must be getting things done and taking names. Out time must be in high demand. What happened to working smarter not hard...

Beta reading is the process of having other people look at our work and give critical feedback. I know, I know. I hate asking for help too. And who likes receiving criticism?  Unfortunately, the solitary writer who classily churns out novel after novel on their vintage typewriter completely on their own isn’t a practical model to live by. Getting support and feedback from others is necessary for our writing to reach its full potential. Today we’re looking at why beta reading is important and how to use it effectively. This post is Part 7 of the Steps to Success series designed to walk us through the process of writing a novel from beginning to end. As always, personal preferences and experiences differ. This guide is based in part on my own experiences as well as from authors I have worked with and/or learned from along the way. First of all, do we  really  need beta readers for our work? It can be scary to let other people look at our writing. (What if they laugh at...