Welcome to Day 164...
On Day 162 I posted some helpful writing tips. One came from Josh Shenk, author of Lincoln’s Melancholy. Here's what Josh had to say about finishing your manuscript.
Get through a draft as quickly as possible. Hard to know the shape of the thing until you have a draft. Literally, when I wrote the last page of my first draft of Lincoln’s Melancholy I thought, Oh, shit, now I get the shape of this. But I had wasted years, literally years, writing and re-writing the first third to first half. The old writer’s rule applies: Have the courage to write badly.
I couldn't agree more with Josh. It took me years to get my first book completed and out to market. And yes, while part of the delay factor was my own fear about publishing, the other factor was not managing well the time between writing and editing.
I literally got stuck in re-write mode on early sections of the book and it made me lose my momentum for the tale of the story.
Sometimes the hardest part in writing a book is completing the story and tying together the plot with a compelling beginning, middle and end.
Which is why jumping into writing mode and riding that wave of momentum is key to getting the story done.
So remember this cautionary tale. You can spend years tweaking, rewriting, editing, but at some point you have to put the story into drive and ride it through to The End.
Here's Today's Takeaway Lesson...
"Finish What You Started"
Here's to Being All In,
Maggie
Follow me on Twitter @AuthorMaggie #busywriterslife
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