David Farland blogs on writing techniques and also on writing philosophy. Today’s Blog addressed the long held belief that any writing was better than no writing. Which does have merit, of course, if our eventual goal is perfection of the written word. But if our goal is seeing our finished book in print, multiple times over, we need to up our game.
At the most recent LERA – Land of Enchantment Romance Writers meeting, four successful (and may I say brilliant?) writers shared their secrets. Jeffe Kennedy Robin Perini Katie Lane and Darynda Jones shared their secrets to success as well as their secret triumphs and failures to a roomful of people who thought they knew about the writing life. In brief, they take their writing seriously, they schedule when they will write and they write. That muse so many of us pretend to need before we can create can show up or not. They write. Given the multitude of awards and best seller statuses shared (check them out!) the system obviously works.
If it works for them, it can work for us. Going back to David Farland, he finishes this bit of writing advice with: “If you’ve been using the “tortoise method” of writing, grow up.”
Gulp.Dontcha just hate it when something so profound slaps you between the eyes. If your muse wants to take a holiday, let her/him/it. Wave buh-bye while you’re sitting down to pound out your next 1500 words. Guaranteed, she/he/it will be back looking over your shoulder, wanting to be a part of the process.
Me? I’m editing A Question of Honor (first in a series about a ranch in northern New Mexico that helps out PTSD warriors) and writing on Seasons (working title) My heroine in Seasons doesn’t really have a name yet, so far she’s been Leslie, Mel, Jess. Even so she’s having adventures and delving into her painful past. I do love my angst.
Every sunrise is a new adventure
Mona Karel Author 