Wednesday, June 15, 2011

My 3 Worst Writing Habits

All writers have them. I swear, ask the best bestselling author and if they say they don't they are a liar, liar pants on fire. They are bad writing habits. Here are three of mine:



1. Writing until I hurt myself. - I do have a set number of words/pages I sit down and do each day. After of years of trial and error, I figured out the number that allowed me to write quickly but also not burn out. But sometimes, especially when I'm have multiple projects due in a short amount of time or when I'm at the end of a book and can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I ignore my goal and just... go crazy. This is good in that I finish a book ahead of schedule. This is bad in that my wrists hurt, my head hurts, my back hurts and I'm tired for three days after. And yet I still do it. I get that it is part of my process now... but man I wish I could adjust that process.

2. Getting ahead of myself and starting before I should. - I'm a big plotter. I do character sheets and synopses and pages and pages of detailed scene sketches. I always have every intention to get to a certain point and then start writing. And I always start before I reach that intended part. I think this one is related to one. I'm willing to just WRITE when I'm excited. Which is not a bad thing but I do sometimes put the cart before the horse and have to rethink mid-book.

3. Love-Hate, Love-Hate, Love-Hate -- My husband can attest to this one, but I know it isn't just me who experiences it as a writer. I start my book, I love it. I hit about 100 pages, I hate it. I hit 200 and I love it. Get the picture? Back and forth from soaring excitement to crushing defeat. It is exhausting.

Everyone has weakness as a writer. What are yours?

2 comments:

  1. I plot and plan, start writing, and then have a new idea and change everything. Replot. Write. Replot. Write. I guess it's just my personal balance between pantsing and plotting, but I drive myself crazy with it.
    Also: adjectives. Why use one when I can use three?

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  2. Hiya! Just followed you--welcome to Blogger :)

    I'm there with 1 and 3. #2 I'm usually the complete opposite. I'm a pantser, and sometimes I get halfway through something and realize my lack of planning has made me have to rethink the whole dern thing.

    I call that my "great big rewrite" :)

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