This is because it only takes about 2 minutes to write before I go to bed. I just jot down 3 things that I’m grateful for that day, some people do more or less. Sometimes they’re big things, like having a husband I love or having a nice house, other times it’s smaller things like a cup of coffee I really enjoyed, or that the rain stopped so I didn’t get soaked when I walked my dogs. It doesn’t matter how big the things you’re grateful for are, the point is that you appreciate them.

The gratitudes don’t need to be detailed at all, I literally write three sentences a day. Some people write more. Some people like to have a new gratitude journal each year, but I just use mine until it fills up.

It’s best to write your gratitudes either in first thing in the morning, or last thing at night. I do it at night because I like to think back over the day. It’s so vital to remind yourself that it doesn’t matter how small your gratitudes are. We all have bad days, sometimes terrible days, and sometimes it can be hard to step outside of the upset and find something good. On the day my dad passed away I was grateful for my dog because I needed quiet and took him for a long walk while I processed what had happened.

It’s also really important not to just be grateful for the same things all the time, search your mind for different good things, particularly pertaining to that particular day.

I don’t tend to look back over my gratitudes, it’s more of an in-the-moment kind of thing.

You can buy some absolutely beautiful notebooks specially designed to be for gratitudes, but I just use a pretty notebook that a friend got me because as Marie Kondo would say, it brings me joy.

Regular journaling has been scientifically proven to improve well-being, but it’s making the point of writing down what we’re grateful for that is particularly powerful. Benefits shown to be associated with gratitude journaling include better sleep, improved self-esteem, increased happiness, decreased stress and increased positivity. Because you’re choosing to see what’s good about your life, you’re choosing positivity over negativity, and so giving less power to negative emotions. Writing the positives down makes them more concrete. You sleep better because you’re thinking positive thoughts rather than worrying and your self-esteem improves because you’re recognising your achievements and being present with them.

And all this for just 3 minutes a day!

Or have you ever forgotten that the back door is through the kitchen in chapter 3, but is exited via the utility room in chapter 10?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone! This kind of thing used to happen to me all the time, and it’s a real pain to correct them in later drafts of your work as they may have repercussions for later scenes.

Thankfully, I’ve come up with a little trick to help: what I now do is I draw a little map of the homes of each of my main characters in the back of my writing notebook.

I start a new notebook for each of my romances, and it must be A4 sized and with fairly narrow lines. Ideally it should be hardback, but let it not be said I won’t accept the right softback, especially if it’s a Moleskine. The back few pages are full of basic layouts of my protagonists’ homes – including any important pieces of furniture, such as favourite chairs, and where windows are, and, sometimes, what can be seen out of them if that’s relevant to the plot. I keep it very roughly to scale, so I know, for example, what room is above what other room. 

Here’s the sketch I did for a manuscript I’m currently working on, it’s my heroine’s tiny London flat. Obviously, this is a very simple home so there’s not much involved in drawing it out, especially as it’s all on one floor, but you get the idea.

This tip really doesn’t take very long, but it’s made a huge difference, saving me editing time, and having the drawings in the back of my writing notebook makes them super easy to check.

Of course, you could always take it one step further if there was a particular town or village which was going to feature heavily in a book or book series, and draw a map of the area. I really wish I’d thought to do this for Tonnadulais, the fictional Welsh town which features in my romances ‘The Green Hills of Home’ and ‘Snowed in for her Wedding’ – it would have made things a lot easier when I returned to it!

1: Make as detailed a plan of your storyline as you possibly can before you actually start ‘writing’. The plan can always be changed and updated, but it will give you a guide.

2: Set yourself a REALISTIC daily word target, and really, really try to stick to it. 500-2000 words is generally sensible.

3: Turn off the internet – Facebook and Twitter are very, very useful when it comes to marketing your book and making contacts BUT they do not help write your book! Unplug that internet and only plug it back in again when you’ve reached your word target!

4: Set aside proper time for your writing, even if that can only be a few minutes some days! Many of my best scenes were sketched out whilst waiting for my son to finish Judo.

5: Before you end your writing session, make a plan for what you’re going to tackle in the next one, that way you won’t sit down with no idea what to write! (Hopefully!)

6: I find it useful to write a first draft as quickly as possible, getting all key events in, so I have a really good idea of chronology in the story.

7: Read everything you can, but especially books from your chosen genre. This will give you a great idea of all manner of helpful things like how quickly the stories in this type of book progress and how long each chapter should be.

8: Try not to leave your manuscript for long periods, if you really want to finish it it’s important to be immersed in your work. If you go on holiday, you can always scribble down a few scenes by the pool!

9: Get feedback from someone you trust and respect, ideally another writer in your genre. If you’re heading in the wrong direction hopefully their advice will get you back on track.

10: And finally, there’s nothing wrong with a little reward for some good work. It’s amazing how quickly my daily word target is completed if I’m promised a KitKat at the end of it!

Right, I’m off to take some of my own advice now! 1000 words here I come!

For someone who’s already a professional author, and is hopefully being paid good money to write, it’s their job, they can write 9 til 5, or whatever hours they choose. But it’s not so easy for those unpublished, or not-quite-making-enough-to-give-up-their-day-jobs writers. Even the most dedicated writer will have times when they get in from a long day at work, or they’ve finally got the kids into bed, and the very last thing they feel like doing is turning on the computer and fiddling around with a tricky scene. The thing is though, no one else is going to finish that novel for you, so if you really want it, you have to find the time to write it! And often this is a case of changing priorities. Yes, it would be nice to settle down in front of your favourite soap with a glass of wine, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s a prime example of a time when you could be writing!

Here are a few tips on carving out some writing time that I picked up whilst writing my romances, I hope they help!

1: If you’re a morning person, maybe you could get up a little bit earlier and fit some writing in before the day starts? If you’re more of a night owl, get something down before you head to bed!

2: At the end of your writing session, plan what you’re going to write next, not only will you look forward to getting back to it, but you won’t waste time by wondering where to start when you next settle down to work, and you may have been able to do some planning in your head in the interim.

3: Try to make the most of every writing opportunity you have, however short, and always carry a notepad and pen around with you. It’s amazing how much you can scribble down in ten minutes waiting for someone to meet you for coffee.

4: Similarly, keep writing materials next to your bed so that if you have an amazingly, fantabulous idea during the night, you’re able to jot it down quickly before you forget it.

5: Be very time aware, if you have an hour to write in, make the most of it. Don’t faff around checking Facebook and Twitter for the first twenty minutes, get down to work!

6: And finally, make sure everyone around you knows that, short of an emergency, your writing time is sacred, YOU ARE NOT TO BE DISTURBED! If you prioritise your writing, others will too!

Best of luck!