That’s
my dad talking. It was his favorite rant. This line was the only thing I
inherited from him besides high cholesterol and back hair. TMI? That’s your
problem. BTW this is the first blog
entry I ever wrote that has two titles, it is also the only one with S/A
acronyms.
Let’s
press on. No really we need to keep going.
The
big fat tips for finishing your novel are:
Your
going to type one hundred and ten thousand words over and over again so just
get to love it. Fall in love with the process of writing. Some days your best friend will be a WIP that
means work in progress. Keep progressing.
Environment
matters. I have sincere ADD and I have to keep my surroundings undistracted. I
do this by going to the same place with nothing to grab my fickle attention. I
can stare at a blank page and my ADD will become antsy for something to do
then suddenly my fingers start tickling the keyboard and whoop-dee-doo words
start flying out of me like lies from congress.
I do not need it quiet nor does the space have to be devoid of design or
nice things. Just has to be the same for maximum effect. I get bored of a scene
in about forty seconds. My favorite spot is a corner of the room with curtains
drawn.
Keep
your ego out of the way. It’s a lying little bastard telling you your not good
enough to publish. This is true at first but not last. I went to Toastmasters
for a year and began to win more than seventy percent of the contests I was in
because I left that idiot ego out of the room before I practiced or listened to
a single critique. I have more than
twenty awards for public speaking based on one simple idea. Keep your ego out
of it.
Keep
an open mind. Let it all in. Notice during critiques people will tell you
specific things about craft or general comments about how your writing affected
them. This feedback is priceless if you learn to channel it. Your ego will toss
up a wall at this time. Crash that wall and toss the little bastard out of the
room on the spot without apology. You will get back to your environment with
your notes and rediscover the process that you fell in love with.
Most
importantly keep writing. Your first draft is supposed to be the brain dump of
all time. Edit later. Keep major ideas clumped together, call those chapters
for now. Get that 80 to 100k words DONE and forget how you’re supposed to do
it, just do it.
If
you want the best website to start and live at for a while I can recommend:
http://blog.janicehardy.com/
