October 2011: Nanowrimo is a great challenge to take to get your writing jump started. The challenge consists of writing 50,000 words during the 30 days of November each year. You don’t have to finish the book and it doesn’t have to be perfect. You can spend the upcoming months revising, perfecting and polish what you’ve written during your Nanowrimo journey.

September 2011: Make time for writing. The hardest part of becoming a writer is to stop making excuses about having time and actually set it aside especially for you. Engage your family and friends to help you out. You will be amazed at how supportive they will be in helping you stick to it.

August 2011: If you are new to writing – as a career or just getting serious about it – start small. Short stories and short story contests are excellent ways to start honing your skills. You can learn a lot about plot, character development, setting scenes and writing dialogue in just a few thousand words. Don’t be afraid to enter contests and submit to literary magazines – that is half the challenge.