What are the 5 words that best describe your life right now?
writing dreaming different creative struggle
or:
I try living my dream
August 6, 2006
My life is taggable
My favourite podcast for writers
That would be I Should Be Writing.
If you are an aspiring writer, you want to listen to Mur Lafferty’s Thoughts on life as a struggling fiction writer. Trust me, if you’re not listening to this one, you are missing out.
(I also listen to Mur’s other podcast, Geek Fu Action Grip. Nothing to do with the craft of writing, but still an entertaining podcast. She has been reading some of her serialized fiction called Heaven over the last couple of shows, and I love that story.)
What to do with that first draft
So, writing the first draft may have seemed hard work. But when you’ve done it, you’ll find out that the real work is just about to begin: you have to revise that masterpiece of yours. Here’s what Ernest Hemingway said about the first draft: “All that matters is that you finish it.”
Holly Lisle’s method of novel revision is something I really should try (she has another version online, too, plus lots of other free articles on many aspects of writing). This sounds like the kind of method that could actually work for me. So far, I’ve never revised any of my novel drafts to the point where I’m happy with the thing.
Does I work? Well, it works for Holly Lisle. And Jay Penney used Holly’s method and blogged his revision progress here.
Writing prompts (2)
I love writing prompts. On one of my Blogger sites, Die Textschubse, I have been posting a prompt every day since January 1, and will continue to do so until December 31 (haven’t decided yet what is going to happen with the site in 2007). The prompts are in German, but if anyone is interested in an English version, let me know.
Over 200 writing prompts in English can be found at Creative Writing Prompts. Point your mouse at any number at random and the prompt will pop up.
There are also writers’ communities which offer writing prompts in some form, often posted daily or weekly. On LJ, for example, there is a community for writing prompts appropriately named Promptly Writing. You can post your prompt responses there, but you don’t have to do that.
Now go, check out those links and start writing. Have fun!
New feature: Catch of the Day
Writers portal with loads and loads of all sorts of writing-related links. Perfect for those long boring hours at the office.
: )
