Something Different 

I took a small break from updating my blog this month.  Actually I took a small break from writing all together.  I realized that if I am to have any semblance of a writer's life it can't be lived confined to the four walls of my office.  That and I wanted to quit smoking.

Everything was fine until I started thinking of writing.  Then I started thinking of this blog.  And it all made me wonder when is enough enough?  Some of the greatest writers in history are built of off epic lives.  Fighting in wars, drugs, partying and enduring societal abuse are common.  The drive to write becomes an outlet, a way of coping with these lives.  But when we sit and write we are channeling these experiences not creating more. And it is inevitable that the creative well will go dry after enough draining.

So I pose a question; where is the middle ground?  How do you find balance in your life between living it and writing it?

On a side note it has been 432 hours since I smoked a cigarette.

Writing is Deleting

When your egg timer goes off and it's time to stop writing for the day don't stop just yet. Read through the pages of what you wrote and find your favorite part. Look for the sentence, paragraph. page or chapter that screams masterpiece. Read and reread that one part as many times as it takes for you to feel fantastic about being its creator. Embrace your inner megalomaniac. Done yet? Okay now highlight and delete that part. Now read what you wrote, does it stand alone? If not make it. You should be able to remove any part of your story and still have a story. And don't forget the words of Faulkner; "Kill your darlings."

A Carrot On A Stick

It's time to talk about having goals. Having day dreams of crowded book signings and readings is great. But how will you get there without laying out a path for yourself? Goals. When your career path specifically goes through the dark woods of creativity it is easy to get lost along the way. Unless you give yourself clear cut goals both short term and long term you will not succeed in this field. So where should you start mapping your path to success?

Word Count - This is a very basic starting point. Pick a word count for yourself to hit every day. I try never to write any less than 250 words per day. Now for me that is a relatively low number and very easy to hit. But that is the point. If I set it at 3000 words and have a fully stacked schedule that prevents me from hitting my goal I will feel like a failure. Negativity is counter productive to creativity. Start small and remember slow and steady wins the race.

Literary Magazines - Both online and small press literary magazines publish on a monthly and sometimes weekly basis. These make for great short term publishing goals and also allow you to gauge the quality of your writing. I try and submit to at least one magazine a month and shoot for at least 4-5 publications a year.

Now remember every good system of goals has an even better system of rewards. In a career where you work largely alone you need to reward yourself for meeting goals. If you make your word count every day for a month treat yourself to a movie or dinner. Just don't ever reward yourself by taking the day off of writing. This is a seven day a week 365 day a year job you chose and you can't risk taking time off. If you can help cut a path for yourself with small goals you will reach your larger ones. And in the end seeing that book on a store shelf will be a greater reward than anything you can give yourself.

"Remember to get the weather in your god damned book-- weather is very important."

~Ernest Hemingway to John Dos Passos 1932, Selected Letters, p.355

A Few Commonly Misused Words

The following is a selection of words that are commonly misused. They are pet peeves of mine when I see them in professional writing; especially mine. Lists like these are very common this one being prepared by Iowa Experiment Station Publications at Iowa State University. This leads me to a favorite editing technique of my own. Pick any of these words then take your longest most recently edited piece of writing and do a word search. See where it pops up and in what way it is used. Was it used correctly? Were you trying to sound more colloquial? Was it dialog? Then once you have determined its usage cut the little bastard out or substitute him for the proper word.

ACCURATE - (an accurate estimate) - accurate implies complete freedom from error or absolute exactness. Anestimate is an approximation. Try "a reliable estimate."

AND/OR - use one or the other. AND THEN - use one or the other.

CHECKED - (The traps were checked). imprecise. use 'examined' or another more precise word.

HOWEVER - do not use with another conjunction at the beginning of a sentence or independent clause ('However, because...' or 'However, since...').

IN ORDER TO - 'To' will suffice.

LESS(ER), FEW(ER) - 'less' refers to quantity, 'few' refers to number.

Now the original list is longer so I will include a link. But when you read through it remember that you don't necessarily have to edit out the words or usages. This is meant as a broad guide to clean up your writing. But strictly adhering to these lists as if they are unbreakable laws will lead to you sounding unreal. It is important to use information like this as guidelines that will let your own personal style emerge.

http://web.mit.edu/jrickert/www/writedoc.html

pro·cras·ti·nate (pr-krst-nt, pr-)

v. pro·cras·ti·nat·ed, pro·cras·ti·nat·ing, pro·cras·ti·nates

v.intr.

To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.

v.tr.

To postpone or delay needlessly.

When it comes to the craft this is the toughest beast to overcome. To me this word lurks on the inside of every failure and behind every writers block. It disguises itself as things as important as research and as menial as doing laundry. This word is a career killer. I have wasted plenty of my own hours researching(procrastinating) the best ways to overcome procrastination. I have devised(procrastinated) lists and schedules for writing my books. I have tried everything to overcome this and hold myself accountable. But in the end for the only way to truly slay the demon of inaction is with action. Just like realizing that the only way to beat writers block is to write.

*Definition is from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/procrastination