This seems like good advice. I always aim to give editors as little work to do as possible, including worrying about whether or not they’ll get my manuscript in time.
The photography! Sir! Spiffing! And... Fantastic advice - absolutely agree with "killing your darlings"! As an editor in chief I hate, HATE, cutting the submissions, because of this! I usually send them back, asking to rewrite.
I love deadlines as they help me with dopamine-hungry ADHD, but whooshing passing deadlines, not so much!
I am with Terry on the writer's block—I do not believe it exists, not per se, at least.
New ideas come from old ones; I heard somewhere that books are made of books. As writers, we need to know, learn, and expose ourselves to varied ideas. If one does this, then the block should not be a problem. Living with a neurodegenerative condition and severe cognition issues, I can still write. It is difficult but possible. Sometimes, we are just overworked and need a break to beget ideas.
I think writers' block is used mainly by the aspiring writer's community as a way to connect and build an identity as a writer. That's why I try not to criticise it, but when writing is your bread - your income - you just "gotta do it".
In my previous career as an academic, I could not tell my boss I had writer's block—knowing her, she would smack me with a heavy 'Reproductive Toxicology' tome, reminding me of my responsibilities. Yes, she was a character, to say the least!
I have a love-hate relationship with word counts. If I unharnessed my ADHD, I would probably write a short article as long as Proust's masterpiece. Word counts help me practise the art of brevity, which we all can see I am very, very far from attaining!
Yes, good advice, especially about daily word count goals and having something else in mind to do that's useful and/or enjoyable (and ideally both)!
This seems like good advice. I always aim to give editors as little work to do as possible, including worrying about whether or not they’ll get my manuscript in time.
‘kill your own darlings, don’t wait for someone else to kill them for you. Kill the expendables and make the darlings immortal’ – excellent advice!
Agreed!
The photography! Sir! Spiffing! And... Fantastic advice - absolutely agree with "killing your darlings"! As an editor in chief I hate, HATE, cutting the submissions, because of this! I usually send them back, asking to rewrite.
I love deadlines as they help me with dopamine-hungry ADHD, but whooshing passing deadlines, not so much!
I am with Terry on the writer's block—I do not believe it exists, not per se, at least.
New ideas come from old ones; I heard somewhere that books are made of books. As writers, we need to know, learn, and expose ourselves to varied ideas. If one does this, then the block should not be a problem. Living with a neurodegenerative condition and severe cognition issues, I can still write. It is difficult but possible. Sometimes, we are just overworked and need a break to beget ideas.
I think writers' block is used mainly by the aspiring writer's community as a way to connect and build an identity as a writer. That's why I try not to criticise it, but when writing is your bread - your income - you just "gotta do it".
In my previous career as an academic, I could not tell my boss I had writer's block—knowing her, she would smack me with a heavy 'Reproductive Toxicology' tome, reminding me of my responsibilities. Yes, she was a character, to say the least!
I have a love-hate relationship with word counts. If I unharnessed my ADHD, I would probably write a short article as long as Proust's masterpiece. Word counts help me practise the art of brevity, which we all can see I am very, very far from attaining!