Larissa Jones

30 days ago, I signed up for Dickie Bush & Nicolas Cole's cohort-based course, Ship 30 for 30.

In that time, I wrote & published 30 Atomic Essays, learned the fundamentals of Digital Writing, made friends, and started gaining clarity over what my niche might be. It has been a very rewarding (and challenging) journey, and I am more excited than ever to keep writing online.

Here are the 3 biggest things writing & publishing consistently every day for 30 days taught me:

1. Planning ahead makes writing 10x easier

On the days when I spent time finding a topic beforehand, even when I had to write late at night, I found it easier. This just reinforces to me what I've thought about fiction writing: worldbuilding makes everything so much easier because you'll never start with a truly blank page.

2. Engaging is key

I noticed very quickly that on days when I didn't engage with other people's essays, my own engagement metrics would go down the following day. Ship 30 is heavily reliant on participants engaging with each other at first, and it does work. The important thing to remember is that to grow beyond the cohort, you have to engage heavily with people who write on similar topics.

3. There is so much more to learn about applying these skills to fiction

I am a fantasy writer at heart, and I wanted to use these 30 days to find a way to do more with my stories. Atomic essays are great for flash fiction, but I have yet to figure out how they will play a part in longer stories. I look forward to exploring how to bring more worldbuilding into my future posts.

If you have been thinking about getting started writing online, too, let me know. I'm happy to share more about the experience and what I learned.

When I was 15, I decided I wanted to be a fantasy author.

Of course, whenever we set goals in life, life tests us. And I was no exception.

These were the 2 most difficult choices I've ever had to make in life—and both directly impacted my goal to be an author.

Hard Choice #1: I had to give up the writer's dream of being "discovered".

Even though I had been writing for a few years by the time this choice came around, it was still hard. I would put a couple of chapters out on Wattpad or share a short story on Tumblr, and instead of the heaps of praise other writers would hear, I would get no responses.

It took enormous effort to get anyone to read my work, and I knew then I wouldn't just be able to throw some chapters out and have someone pay me to write a novel.

Knowing that, it still took me a long time to decide to publish anyway. I have a long journey ahead, but it will be even more worth it for the time spent building an audience who genuinely cares about my stories.

Hard Choice #2: I had to give up on a story when it just didn't work.

I used to write collaborative stories with others, and a few of them were truly amazing to write. Others were much more of a struggle. I wanted to let them go, but I was attached to the characters and the work I had already put in.

What I finally came to terms with was that sometimes a story just doesn't work like you want it to. Maybe the characters are meant to tell another story, or maybe the plot just isn't right.

For the characters I truly love, I filed them away for future use. And if that day never comes, then that's okay.

And here's the thing:

Being forced to make these choices ultimately got me to where I am today—which is a writer who publishes every single day and is absolutely worldbuilding obsessed.

Today, England lost its longest reigning and incredibly loved monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.

As an American, I know I can't possibly feel that loss the way they do, but I wanted to share one thing I learned from watching her reign that I'll never forget:

Celebrate your successes and stand firm during the hardest days.

This one amazing woman has been through nearly a century of history and weathered trials and losses that I could never imagine. And yet, she continued to move forward no matter what came her way.

Traveling to England earlier this year was such fun because of the festivities around the Platinum Jubilee. It felt like such a celebration, and I truly felt lucky to have been there to experience even a small part of it. The best part is that the Queen's Green Canopy will leave one more lasting mark upon the world in remembrance of all she did.

I hope we can all take this lesson to heart and remember Queen Elizabeth II today and for years to come.

Sometimes you just need a little help from a random generator.

Especially when you're having a difficult writing day.

I needed a little brainstorming help today, so I found a generator for magical items. Here are some of the best ones:

Screamer's Drink

Does it make the drinker scream? Is the drink only for people who like to scream? Who knows!

Fine Shooting Rapier of Ice

There are many strange things about this rapier. Most importantly: how does one shoot with a rapier? If you do figure out how, it'll be very fine!

Orb of the Felines

Does this orb call cats to your aid? Does it turn you into a cat or scare people with growls? Where cats are concerned, the possibilities are endless!

Forbidden Leather Armor

Why is leather armor forbidden? Is this true for all leather armor, or just this set? What happened with this set to make it forbidden?

Immovable Trumpet of Voidness

Anything immovable is automatically fun to write about. How did it get to be immovable? When you play it, does it summon a void? What happens if you put it into a bag of holding and then play it?

Unknowable Pill

Mystery pills make for incredibly fun stories! What if your characters were forced to take this pill? Do they even know what effect it had on them?

I hope this list inspires a few stories, it was incredibly fun brainstorming with these!

What was your favorite magical item?

Two months ago, I knew (almost) nothing about hieroglyphs. I've always been fascinated by hieroglyphs, but it never occurred to me until recently that I could learn to read them!

The most unusual result of taking this class has been the way it changed and increased my creativity. Here are 3 reasons why that really stuck out to me:

Lesson #1: Words can be impactful even generations after they are written.

Offering formulae are particularly good examples of this. Based on the Egyptian belief system, reading and speaking an offering formula would give prosperity to the person it was written for, no matter how long ago they died.

That's such a fascinating way to remember that our words will carry weight in the future!

Advice #2: Contradicting myths doesn't make any of them false.

In the Egyptian pantheon, there are multiple creation myths. Despite the contradictions between them, they believed they were all true because the gods have a different sense of time.

The same could be said for any pantheon you create!

Advice #3: Words can have layer upon layer of meaning.

Hieroglyphs allow for much more depth of meaning than we can accomplish with the English language. The ancient Egyptians had symbols for many objects and used that in their art.

The most fascinating pieces were the ones where the artwork was made of the same hieroglyphs that were written alongside it, creating multiple ways of sharing the same story.

Sprinkling foreshadowing and symbolism into your story can add layers for readers to enjoy as they get to know your world!

I would never have guessed that learning hieroglyphs would have taught me so much about culture and creativity.

I'm curious: have you ever learned something that changed how you write from an unexpected source?

There are a lot of podcasts about writing and worldbuilding.

And honestly, I've tried listening to most of them.

They all have good advice for getting started, but they don't help me find new ideas. That's where roleplaying game (RPG) podcasts come in.

If you are new to worldbuilding, particularly fantasy settings, here's why I would recommend blocking out a couple of hours per week to listen to and study different roleplaying podcasts:

Reason #1: The settings are rich with ideas.

Settings for RPGs are designed to give players room to create a backstory with real depth. As a result, they are a fantastic blend of cultures and ideas that can show you what you can accomplish with a setting as small as a city or as big as a continent.

Reason #2: They're much more spontaneous and unique than regular audiobooks.

With podcasts, it is vital to keep the listener entertained enough to go on to the next episode. The characters have to be engaging, and the story has to draw you in. The best of these podcasts show you how to engage your audience and how to improvise new parts of the setting without losing the story.

Reason #3: You can learn how scope plays into your worldbuilding.

Keeping the scope of your worldbuilding in mind is vital, and these podcasts are a perfect example. The characters can only travel so far, and it's important not to overwhelm their story with details about a region they aren't likely to visit just yet.

As a beginner, I promise—these are some of the most helpful resources on the Internet you can sink your teeth into to get inspired to worldbuild.

Everyone struggles with finding the best way to be productive and organized.

Personally, I have for years. Journals full of random notes, an assortment of sticky notes, and year after year of unused planners can attest to that!

But what changed for me was realizing that I wasn't working with my natural rhythms. And as soon as that clicked, I started to understand that getting organized and finding ways to be productive wasn't that hard—I was just doing the wrong thing.

Here's what I should have done instead:

Create an energy calendar

Print out a weekly calendar that has hourly blocks, and get your colored pencils ready! While this can be done electronically, I highly recommend a paper version.

Hour by hour, fill in the blocks with the color that most represents how that time of day feels to you. Don't think too hard about it; the first color that comes to mind is often the best choice.

When all the blocks are filled with color, go through each color and create a legend for yourself. For me, I found colors like blue to mean low energy or sleepy, while yellow might mean that I tend to feel bright and cheerful.

Now, take a look at the calendar and compare it to your normal weekly schedule. Where are you putting tasks that don't match up with the energy level or mood you have during that time of day?

I first discovered this idea in The Write Type by Karen Peterson, and it absolutely changed everything. The beauty of it is that your calendar will be unique to you!

By figuring out how you feel throughout the days and weeks, you can plan your tasks for the times that suit them. I can guarantee it will make you happier, more productive, and most importantly - more creative!

I used to think it was impossible for me to be organized because I was a "creative type."

I have been doing this for years.

Rock bottom for me was when I nearly burned myself out completing NaNoWriMo because I had no plan and no way to keep my ideas organized. I was frustrated about having to always search for things, I was mentally drained from trying to remember where I put all my information, and I was struggling to write because I didn't know where to go with each scene. It was terrible.

How did I break this bad habit?

I learned about how my mind works - and found tools to help me that fit with what I needed.

Everything changed as soon as I started working with my natural rhythms instead of against them.

And honestly, I saw almost immediate results.

• I started using templates to help me brainstorm information for my world-building.

• I was able to organize my ideas from the beginning and sort them easily.

• My writing output grew and became much easier to accomplish each day.

• Best of all - I didn't feel overwhelmed anymore!

So, if you assume you have to choose between creativity and being organized, I encourage you to learn from my mistakes.

And learn how your mind works so you can find the right tools for you.

I have been learning about organizing for most of my life. My often cluttered room and notebooks full of random ideas growing up can attest to that!

Along the way, I have done all sorts of things to try to get better:

• Read The Bullet Journal Method

• Listened to the Learn Do Become podcast

• Tried every "novel writing" book I could get my hands on

• Etc.

And all of these things helped me a ton.

But if I had to start all over again (as a beginner), this is the simple framework I wish I had for learning how to organize my ideas and my mind:

Step 1: Start with a mind sweep

Having so many ideas rattling around in your head all at once can be overwhelming, especially when you're scared to lose them. Set aside 30-45 minutes with a notebook or computer and write down everything. Don't try to organize it, just get it all out of your head and onto the page.

Step 2: Group ideas by project

A mind sweep can bring up all kinds of things from a variety of different projects. Start sorting through the list by grouping similar ideas or topics together. If something applies to multiple projects, just write it down with any of them it belongs to.

Step 3: Spend some time with each project

Go through each project in your list of ideas one by one and begin expanding on each idea. If needed, set up a wiki or world bible to keep everything in one place and give yourself time and space to process until you can see if it works with the big picture of your project.

When you're first starting out, this is all that matters. There's more to organizing ideas, but this is a great first step.