Okay folks, this should be totally self-explanatory, but let me tell you something, for even experienced writers, writing without our internal editor switched “on” can be hard. You’ve heard of the internal editor, right? That’s that little voice, the angel, or devil on your shoulder that makes you go back to the beginning of each paragraph to read, re-read, and edit it to death before you can move on. That little bugger can make a writer cra-zee!
So here’s the deal, imagine a switch for your internal editor and flip it to the “off” position. Write. Write. Write. If you have to, write longhand. But don’t, let me repeat; don’t edit anything until you write “the end.."
What? You feel like you might lose your train of thought. Your subconscious brain doesn’t forget my friends so you have lost nothing. How do you trick your conscious brain into picking up where you left off? That’s easy. Go back to the work you did the day before (yes, I am making the assumption you write on a daily basis) and re-write, or re-type the last couple of sentences or paragraph where you left off. Then all you have to do is keep going. Cool huh? Try it!
The most important thing is to get your ideas on paper in their freshest, most tender state. That is where all of your emotion lies in the newness of a thought or idea. If you edit before you even get the complete thought on paper then you lose the feelings that drove you to have the thought or idea to begin with. Don’t do that. I want to read about whom you are and what you are feeling whether it’s fictionalized or not. If you don’t feel like you can trust yourself to put your emotions on paper, well, that’s another letter for another day.
So get to it! Close your eyes. Envision the switch. Turn it off. Nice. Now write.
Until Wednesday, I am back and feeling a little more organized and Unstoppable.
Showing posts with label editor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label editor. Show all posts
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The Unstoppable Blog
Welcome to the new and improved Unstoppable Blog!
I heard recently that it is better to be whole than to be good. That one dwells with the Divine by embracing his or her nature. Do you believe that to be true? If so, I hope you will "Follow Me" this year as I journey down my path and Emerge Unstoppable in 2011.
If you want the back-story, please read my profile. Today is the first day of my new life, not a day to dwell on the past. Good-bye old me. Hello world!
I'll bet your wondering what's so special about this blog. Well, not much up until now, except that it is written by me. Ha! Kidding. My older posts are still available if you are interested in knowing more about my spirit, my writing, and who you are reading. But, looking ahead, I promise to bring you entertaining content, wisdom as I know it, and tips to make the journey of becoming a new writer your own.
Here's the plan:
Every Monday is Malleable Monday. That means I am giving you permission to take what is usually the worst day of the week and make it what you want it to be - bend it, shape it, make it your happy day. My Malleable Monday posts will focus on the ABCs for New Writers. In other words: Inspiration, Direction, Motivation. At lease, until we get to "Z".
Wednesdays are Wisdom Wednesdays. This is where we will share with each other little bits of wisdom we have gained as individuals.
And finally, Truth or Fiction Thursdays. Each Thursday I will share a short with you that is so incredible, so unbelievable, that you will have to ask yourself - Is it truth or is it fiction? Then hopefully, you'll share your answer with the group.
As for today and the re-launch of the Unstoppable Blog, I would like to gain 25 followers. How do you follow? J
ust click on the Follow button at the top of the page and follow the directions. (Lots of following to be done!) If you "Follow Me" today, midnight February 28, 2011 to midnight, March 1, 2011 (EST) your name will be entered into a drawing to win the Unstoppable T-shirt (or another Unstoppable product of your choosing). It's a cool shirt and it will get you started on your journey to Emerging Unstoppable in 2011!
Until Wednesday, I remain,
Unstoppable
I heard recently that it is better to be whole than to be good. That one dwells with the Divine by embracing his or her nature. Do you believe that to be true? If so, I hope you will "Follow Me" this year as I journey down my path and Emerge Unstoppable in 2011.
If you want the back-story, please read my profile. Today is the first day of my new life, not a day to dwell on the past. Good-bye old me. Hello world!
I'll bet your wondering what's so special about this blog. Well, not much up until now, except that it is written by me. Ha! Kidding. My older posts are still available if you are interested in knowing more about my spirit, my writing, and who you are reading. But, looking ahead, I promise to bring you entertaining content, wisdom as I know it, and tips to make the journey of becoming a new writer your own.
Here's the plan:
Every Monday is Malleable Monday. That means I am giving you permission to take what is usually the worst day of the week and make it what you want it to be - bend it, shape it, make it your happy day. My Malleable Monday posts will focus on the ABCs for New Writers. In other words: Inspiration, Direction, Motivation. At lease, until we get to "Z".
Wednesdays are Wisdom Wednesdays. This is where we will share with each other little bits of wisdom we have gained as individuals.
And finally, Truth or Fiction Thursdays. Each Thursday I will share a short with you that is so incredible, so unbelievable, that you will have to ask yourself - Is it truth or is it fiction? Then hopefully, you'll share your answer with the group.
As for today and the re-launch of the Unstoppable Blog, I would like to gain 25 followers. How do you follow? J
ust click on the Follow button at the top of the page and follow the directions. (Lots of following to be done!) If you "Follow Me" today, midnight February 28, 2011 to midnight, March 1, 2011 (EST) your name will be entered into a drawing to win the Unstoppable T-shirt (or another Unstoppable product of your choosing). It's a cool shirt and it will get you started on your journey to Emerging Unstoppable in 2011!
Until Wednesday, I remain,
Unstoppable
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Ego and the Unstoppable
It's truly funny how, as the newbie writer on the block, you are truly clueless when it comes to how you stack up against your competition. At least you are until you enter your very first "professional" writing contest.
Now, it is hard enough getting up the nerve to let one person (my one person is my dear friend and personal editor, Linda) read your manuscript for the first time. But when you submit your manuscript and synopsis for review by your colleagues, those wonderful people you spend one day of the month with at a Georgia Chapter meeting, those people you know will be judging YOUR brainchild with their knowledge and experience, now, that's hard!
I did just that! I sucked it up, wrote the first few thousand words of novel number two along with a synopsis that I really pulled out of thin air (I am THAT person who doesn't know how it is going to end until I write it) and sent it in. Yesterday I got wind that the finalists were posted. It didn't bode well that I had nary received an e-mail from someone telling me I had made the cut, so I reluctantly signed on to review the list.
You'll never believe it, but I wasn't there. My totally awesome work-in-progress had been passed over by the judges for more excellent works. What do you think that did to my ego? Let me tell you...for about two seconds I thought how unfair it was, out of seventy some odd people trying to accomplish the same thing, that I could be passed over. Then, I looked a little closer at the list. On it were some new friends that I have made since joining the Georgia Chapter of Romance Writers. People I've come to adore and admire. It didn't matter how hard I stared at my computer screen or how hard I wished my name would just magically appear there, I just didn't make it.
After my two-second pity party, I moved on to all the positive things this meant for me and what I learned:
1) Now I don't have to write a full 70,000 words!!! Whoo-hoo!
2) The novel has changed considerably since I wrote the synopsis (for the better)!
3) Losing doesn't mean I can't still sell it.
4) I can submit it to other contests with the new and improved synopsis and manuscript.
5) I have something new to blog about. Yea!
So you see, after a little more thought, and still a lot of hope, I decided there were five good reasons to keep plugging away at my little book project. I still have personal goals and deadlines to meet by October 1st. For those of you who don't know my writing career intimately, that is the day I will pitch novel number two to an editor (or agent) at Georgia's Moonlight and Magnolias conference. I have a lot to do between now and then like finish the initial draft, do my edits, (hopefully have editor/friend Linda look it over), and perfect my pitch. It's a lot, but I can do it and will.
Now, all this is to say, if you have a dream to finish what you started, go the distance, just do it...then I say DO! Get out there, accept the critique, find the positive, and keep going. Because really, in the end who are you doing it for anyway?
Until next time, I remain...Unstoppable
Now, it is hard enough getting up the nerve to let one person (my one person is my dear friend and personal editor, Linda) read your manuscript for the first time. But when you submit your manuscript and synopsis for review by your colleagues, those wonderful people you spend one day of the month with at a Georgia Chapter meeting, those people you know will be judging YOUR brainchild with their knowledge and experience, now, that's hard!
I did just that! I sucked it up, wrote the first few thousand words of novel number two along with a synopsis that I really pulled out of thin air (I am THAT person who doesn't know how it is going to end until I write it) and sent it in. Yesterday I got wind that the finalists were posted. It didn't bode well that I had nary received an e-mail from someone telling me I had made the cut, so I reluctantly signed on to review the list.
You'll never believe it, but I wasn't there. My totally awesome work-in-progress had been passed over by the judges for more excellent works. What do you think that did to my ego? Let me tell you...for about two seconds I thought how unfair it was, out of seventy some odd people trying to accomplish the same thing, that I could be passed over. Then, I looked a little closer at the list. On it were some new friends that I have made since joining the Georgia Chapter of Romance Writers. People I've come to adore and admire. It didn't matter how hard I stared at my computer screen or how hard I wished my name would just magically appear there, I just didn't make it.
After my two-second pity party, I moved on to all the positive things this meant for me and what I learned:
1) Now I don't have to write a full 70,000 words!!! Whoo-hoo!
2) The novel has changed considerably since I wrote the synopsis (for the better)!
3) Losing doesn't mean I can't still sell it.
4) I can submit it to other contests with the new and improved synopsis and manuscript.
5) I have something new to blog about. Yea!
So you see, after a little more thought, and still a lot of hope, I decided there were five good reasons to keep plugging away at my little book project. I still have personal goals and deadlines to meet by October 1st. For those of you who don't know my writing career intimately, that is the day I will pitch novel number two to an editor (or agent) at Georgia's Moonlight and Magnolias conference. I have a lot to do between now and then like finish the initial draft, do my edits, (hopefully have editor/friend Linda look it over), and perfect my pitch. It's a lot, but I can do it and will.
Now, all this is to say, if you have a dream to finish what you started, go the distance, just do it...then I say DO! Get out there, accept the critique, find the positive, and keep going. Because really, in the end who are you doing it for anyway?
Until next time, I remain...Unstoppable
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