A Writer's Second Chance

Once again, we have a photo poster that has simple words that are laced with wisdom. As I've gotten older, I am happy to spread household tasks across the week. There was a time in my early adult life that I felt like I had to do all the chores in one day. Sure, it looked great at the end of the day, but exhaustion had claimed me. 

Those old enough to be fans of the Civil War novel, Gone With the Wind, will remember the line Scarlett O'Hara repeated many times. "I'll think about that tomorrow." She also said, "After all, tomorrow is another day." She was a top procrastinator, but moving onto tomorrow in our writing life is not procrastinating. It's often a smart move.

If what you're working on today doesn't seem to be falling into place like you'd hoped, it's alright. Tomorrow, you have another opportunity to try and sort it out. There's nothing wrong with admitting that today is not the day for you to be writing. I've written on this blog many times that you're better off leaving the writing for a short period. Tomorrow, it may look completely different. The big problem of yesterday can sometimes find a clear solution on another day.

When those rejections come in, and you're feeling deflated, stop thinking about it. Tomorrow, you have another chance to either submit to another market or revise your earlier submission. 

We were given yesterday and today, and we're promised tomorrow. What happened on your writing journey yesterday is gone, no changing whatever occurred. What goes on today might work out or maybe it won't. That's why we're given tomorrow. It's another chance to build upon what happened today or to change it in some way. 

If your writing isn't working out well today, you're given a second chance tomorrow.

Mistakes in Writing Are Not a Problem

I love this poster. It makes a great point without saying something like Get off your rear end and get to writing. There is another piece of advice that says something like Apply butt to chair, fingers on keyboard. Write!

Yes, it does not matter if you are making mistakes, or not writing very well. It is more important that you're making the effort. Go ahead and let happen what will happen. 

There is no guarantee that what we write is going to be award-winning prose or poetry. Nope. My own theory is that the more we write, the better our work will be. I hate to use a cliche, but the practice makes perfect theory is right on. We should all realize that when we look at the results of our early writing days compared to the present. Some of what we wrote way back when is cringe worthy, I'm sure. 

What kind of mistakes do we make when we write, especially those first drafts? Here's a partial list: 

• repeating thoughts and words
• spelling errors
• tense mistakes
• point of view errors
• using too many passive verbs
• exceedingly long sentences
• information dump in fiction (sounding like a textbook in the middle of a fiction story)
• unnecessary words (just, really, very and others)
• punctuation (commas are problematic for many)
• weak opening paragraph
• weak concluding paragraph
• fiction too predictable

There are others, but that gives you enough to worry about. Hopefully, these kinds of mistakes are made in your first draft, and you correct them when you do your revising and editing. If you consider a story, essay or article finished, but it has many of the errors above, the end result is going to be a rejection rather than an acceptance if you submit your work in hopes of publication. 

Don't worry if you're making mistakes. As the poster tells us, it means you're writing and that is the number one activity we want to see. 

Breathe In, Breathe Out

Today's poster made me think of professional athletes. A basketball player shoots thousands of baskets in a career and doing so is as natural as taking a breath to stay alive. Not having a ball in hand and aiming at the little round hoop ahead would make a basketball player very anxious if he went days without doing so. 

We're no different. If we want to become a pro at this writing game, the first thing we must do is to write and write and write. Every single day, or almost every day. We do have to take time out for emergencies, major events, illness and a few other monumental moments. If we aim at writing something every day, it becomes a habit. I believe that the more we write, the more we want to write. 

If you write only occasionally, it's easier to let inspiration slide on by. What if you're out on the beach and a family nearby creates a situation that makes you want to write a story? If you don't act on it soon, the idea pushes itself farther and farther back into the recesses of your mind. You might pluck it out someday, or you could leave it there, buried under several other 'put aside' ideas. 

If you have a regular writing habit, you're more likely to act on the inspiration of the beach scene early the next day, or day it occurred. If you happened to have a notepad in your beach bag, you could jot down thoughts to be used in your next writing session. 

I've found that, after every writing conference I attend, my muse strikes up the band and I want to get home so I can start writing. I've written in airports and on planes because the ideas from the conference are swirling in my mind and begging to be acted upon. And yes, in this kind of situation, I do get anxious if I can't write. 

I also get anxious if something prevents me from writing for a few days when I'm home and not all that far from my keyboard. Writing something every day is like taking that daily vitamin pill. I do it because I know it's good for me. (And also because I love it!) Writing every day gives me writing energy. Once begun, never done! 

If you are away from writing for a lengthy period of time--say weeks, or (gasp!) months, it might be harder to get back in the groove again. Or, it could work the opposite and you'll want to dive in headfirst and write in every spare minute. 

I do know, firsthand, that if you skip a couple days, it's pretty easy to pass by on that third and fourth day. Discipline yourself to write something every day. It doesn't have to be 1000 words. It can be a journal entry, or those Morning Pages we've talked about before, or a short poem. Maybe a paragraph or two doing a writing exercise. 

Write until you can't stand it if you don't write. Breathe in, breathe out and keep writing.