Do you dare to suck?

Here's some liquid courage from the one and only Maureen Johnson.

Motivation from Meg Cabot

Tips for writing first drafts

Natalie Whipple has a great blog post on the art of the first draft:

Oh, the first draft. Some people like them—some people hate them with the fire of a thousand vengeful ex-girlfriends. But no matter how you feel about that first draft, you have to write it! There is no getting around it, promise.

My good friend, the incredible Stephanie Perkins, did an indispensable post on self-editing (and HBMs in scarfs). Seriously, if you haven't checked it out yet—go now. My post can wait for you.

No really, did you go read it? Good.

Anyway, this got me thinking maybe I should impart whatever wisdom I might have on first drafts. Because Steph is the PRO when it comes to editing, and I kinda sorta know a few things about first drafts...what with how many I've written. Couldn't hurt to share, right?

Read the rest.

Being positive about rejection

Darcy Pattison's blog has a bit today from an ebook called Nail Your Novel (just in time for NaNoWriMo). It's about how to read the rejections you get from editors.

I loved this line:

Persistence. The publishing world is full of tales of how our biggest literary stars just plugged away until they got their break. Persistence is vital. But persist intelligently.

Editors and agents do actually read each manuscript they’re sent – although goodness knows how as every day only contains 24 hours. Rejections are not effectively a lottery ticket that shows your numbers that didn’t come up. They tell you how you can significantly improve your odds.

Be positive about rejection – but don’t be idiotically so.

Read the rest.

Does self-editing make you crazy?

Here's an interesting take by Sean D'Souza on why we self-edit and what we need to do to get over it. (Hint: write more. Lots more.)

Write. Edit. Write. Edit. Edit. Edit. Edit. Write.

Does this sound familiar? If it doesn’t then you’re probably from Mars, because most of us drive ourselves crazy with self-editing when we write.

And it’s not only when writing.

We self-edit when we’re walking. When you walk on gravel, you walk differently than when you walk on grass.

We self-edit when we’re talking. We choose different words and sentence structure, create different tones, and make different sounds depending on who we’re speaking to.

So self-editing is a very natural part of human behavior. There’s one difference when we self-edit as writers, though.

Read the rest.

Writing through interruptions

Here's a thought-provoking quote:

”You can revise bad writing, but you cannot revise a blank page. Give yourself permission to write junk, then fix it.”

For the rest of a helpful Kristi Holl piece on writing through interruptions, click here.

Writing challenges: 500/1,000 words a day

Debbie Ridpath Ohi, who offers daily diversions for writers, has two challenges. If you want to write 500 words a day, click here. For the 1,000-word-a-day challenge, click here.