So really I'm just sitting here thinking about the cupcake I didn't get this morning (Backer's does a faux Hostess thing with filling and white squiggle on the top). But just to prove to you all that I awesomely care about the craft of writing, I want to share with you a list of mine I recently found in some of my notes. It's called MISTAKES I HAVE MADE.
1. Not having a plot.
2. Not being in-scene.
3. Not being specific.
4. Not reading something aloud.
5. Not giving a piece a cooling-down period.
6. Not reading widely and regularly enough.
Those are mistakes of craft. I have made (also) mistakes of the spirit. They include the following:
1. Waiting for inspiration.
2. Waiting for the right time of life to write.
3. Backing off a project too soon.
4. Letting my fear get the best of me.
I'm thinking of writing an article about this all and offering some solutions. The best one being DO NOT TAKE UP WRITING.
I feel that way sometimes . . . but mostly I'm glad I get to do this.
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4 comments:
It's true that writing is a fool's game. Let's not kid ourselves. And yet: as I am reading a (let's face it!) probably only serviceable police procedural (set in L.A., which makes it must-read), I am yet again feeling so blessed that someone made it their work to write this novel. A NOVEL. Which, may I remind you, you have written MANY of, a genre that is kind of like ultra-marathoning (at least that's how it looks to me).
So: whatever your mistakes, you have made novels. Darn good ones--excellent ones. I am so glad you are a writer.
Did my mother/husband send you the second four on my behalf?
mmm, cupcakes with filling and squigglies.
I always wanted to be a psychiatrist. People say it's hard because you take it home with you. It's hard to detach. Hard to seperate and not get personally involved.
Funny thing is, when people know you're a writer, or striving to be one, it's cool, and way to go, and the word talent comes up a lot.
What other profession do you need to have a greater understanding of people and relationships?
And instead of being the psychiatrist, you constantly feel like you need one.
p.s. stay the course, fight the good fight, and remember the whole thing about mistakes and learning from them and all of those cliche's .
I think the second four fit with every major project of note in my life and all of my unintentional attempts to sabotage them before even beginning. Well said.
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