#ToAFutureWriter – Surviving is better than coping.

The Stories of Tomorrow are like children – they are our future.

Right now, National Novel Writing Month is creating tomorrow’s stories, but they need some help. Their website for the NaNoWriMo Young Writer’s Program needs a rebuild, and so that means they need funds to accommodate it. If you have $10 (or more) to spare, please consider donating. You can read more about the Stories of Tomorrow campaign here.

The #ToAFutureWriter social media campaign (June 12, 2014) is to share inspiration. To write to our future selves, or to someone who has a story they need to tell, and remind them that it is worth it. No matter how hard it seems.

Below, you will find my thoughts. Hopefully they will be of some encouragement to others, as well as myself.


Dear Writer-in-the-Future,

How do you write down words of encouragement for the future, when you feel like you’re stuck in a rut?

How do you jot down your dreams for the future, when you have too many regrets each day?

Sure, the chores got done… but the writing didn’t.

Sure, you needed a few minutes to relax and just not think after the stressful phone call for the third time today, and a few minutes is okay.

But that few minutes keeps turning into a few hours, and suddenly it’s time for dinner, and you know how hard it is to get any undisturbed writing time after everyone is home from work for the day.

Don’t cope with circumstances. Stop coping. No more excuses.

Yes, take care of the things that need taking care of. You can’t get away with not feeding people and animals. And if you need to make the bed in the morning to feel like you’ve accomplished at least one thing in the house, that’s okay.

But stop coping. Start surviving. Start living.

Let yourself become immersed in the lives of your characters. And if, for some reason, you can’t get into their heads at the time, step outside your house, and see what’s going on.

Sit in the yard and just absorb nature.

Take notes on what it feels like to be outside. What the birds sound like. The buzz of bees.

Those are things you need to know when writing stories, too. Not just how it feels to sit on the sofa for hours on end.

Don’t give up. Each day is a new day to start over. Keep dreaming, and keep writing. Even if it isn’t what you expected to write that day.

You never know when inspiration will find you, or what will trigger it.

And it’s okay for the dirty dishes to wait a few more hours.

Túlélő / Survivor (Explored) by Mátyás Varga
Túlélő / Survivor (Explored) by Mátyás Varga

Recent Comments

  • S.B. Roberts
    June 13, 2014 - 8:49 am · Reply

    So, I’ve been tagged in a Writing Process Blog Hop and as part of the process, I need to tag three other bloggers. I know that life is busy and I totally understand if you’d rather not, but I enjoy reading your perspective. : )

    All you have to do is answer these four questions and nominate three other bloggers.

    1) What am I working on?
    2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
    3) Why do I write what I do?
    4) How does my writing process work?

    Let me know if you’d like to participate with me. : )

    • Rebekah Loper
      June 13, 2014 - 11:22 am · Reply

      Thanks for thinking of me, but I actually just did the Writing Process Blog Hop on the communal writing blog I contribute to, so I’ll pass this time, since my answers would be pretty much identical.

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About Rebekah

Rebekah Loper writes character-driven epic fantasy featuring resilient women in trying and impossible circumstances who just want to save themselves but usually end up saving the world, often while falling in love.
She lives in Tulsa, OK with her husband, dog, two formerly feral cats, a small flock of feathered dragons (...chickens. They're chickens), and an extensive tea collection. When she's not writing, she battles the Oklahoma elements in an effort to create a productive, permaculture urban homestead.