Why work harder if you can work smarter? Why do so many bright and
brilliant writers inflict so many obstacles on themselves? Perhaps some of these
habits sound familiar.
~ Comfortable:
Only write when
you have a good, long stretch of free time available. And unless you’re inspired,
you could still rationalize your way into a postponement. Easily.
! Smart:
If you’re
accustomed to diving in without thinking about it, you’ll waste less time and
energy. Trick yourself into daily commitment. A lot can happen in even fifteen
minutes. Julia Cameron is right; “write every day.”
~ Comfortable:
Postpone every
challenge. Hate writing dialogue? Save it for a rainy day, or a sunny one, or a
perfect one when you can’t write because it’s so beautiful out.
! Smart:
Worry wastes time.
Not just with the dentist, but the next scene, stretch of dialogue, or whatever
seems an impossible challenge. Even if it isn’t easier than you think, you could
complete a whole lot of fiddling and drafting in the time devoted to fretting.
~ Comfortable:
Why worry about starting
the book with a great inciting incident or the scene with a great hook? You can
always fill it in later. Besides, you’ll know more by then.
! Smart:
The opening launches
your book, just as a good hook launches each scene. Think that through in
advance to avoid starting too early or without enough conflict.
~ Comfortable:
Go ahead and write
everything in scene. You can always decide later if the level of drama and
emotion warrant changing the pace.
! Smart:
Why compose what
you’ll later compress or discard altogether? It’s true that sometimes you must try
things out. It’s equally true that once you try it, you might never want to let
it go. Even if it slows momentum.
~ Comfortable:
Pile on mini-plots and
minor characters. Nothing maximizes your word count faster!
! Smart:
It’s not the
number of words, but their quality. Even in the first draft, try to streamline.
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