Insider Secrets from Top Writers

Hello Fellow Writers!

Yesterday I did manage to plot out more of "Snowed in with a Millionaire". Well, technically, I reworked some of what I have in the hopes that it will help me through the sagging middle. The going is tough but I'm plowing through it. If I can't manage to get 40 pages of really tight plot written then there is no way the story will make a good romance novel. I'd rather learn that now than after writing the whole thing and realizing it doesn't work!

Today I will review a book on writing that I pulled off my shelf, after not having read it in a while:
"The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists: Insider Secrets from Top Writers" by Andew McAleer.

This book was really good. Now that I have it in front of me again, I want to reread it for the motivation it inspires. It covers everything - from the creative side of writing, to the discipline involved in actually getting things written, to the business side of getting an agent and getting published. The contributors are all well known, published authors who know what they are talking about.

Here is a tidbit that I especially enjoyed, from Daphne du Maurier Awaed winning author Vicki Stiefel, of the critically aclaimed Tally Whyte suspense novels, including Body Parts, The Grief Shop, The Dead Stone, and The Bone Man:

First-draft rule: Don't go back. I love to edit. Love it! So when I'm writing a first draft of a new novel, I never do it. What! Yup, I never go back and edit. Why? If I did, I'd end up with about twenty pages of really, really, really well-edited material. And that would be it. On a first draft, I push forward. Period. Gee, but I'd love to go back and just tweak that one small section. Nope, not allowed. I push forward. Golly, if only I could smooth out those pages. I know they'd be better. Probably right, but no way, not now. Gosh, it would be great if I could have these words in the "real" Portuguese right now, I'll begin that research and... Forbidden. Don't do it. Just jot some quick notes and move on. Move forward. Always forward. Relentlessly forward. And that's how I write some 400-plus manuscript pages for a novel.

Side roads are great, if you're driving a car or taking a hike. For me, they're crummy when writing a novel. So I write on, and write on, and write on. And suddenly, I'm there. Whew. And when I've finally made it to the finish line, I smile. Because that's when I pull out my pen, and I edit, edit, edit the bahoosie out of the manuscript. That's when I do thorough and important research. That's when I check spelling, continuity, and a million other things. But not before then. Because if I did, I'd never have finished book one.

Rereading that section made me wonder if this is what is paralyzing me with "Snowed in with a Millionaire". I too love to edit, and I have a hard time shutting off my "internal editor". Then again, I can always put this theory to test once I have my plot outline finished. I really like what this author has to say because I love the idea of just writing, writing writing nonstop. If only it were so easy in practice as in theory!

Today I am going to work more on my plot for "Snowed in with a Millionaire". Seriously, the fact that last week I made my daily goal to write out the whole plot in one day is laughable. This is taking longer than I had realized it would!

Tonight I am going to my Advanced Writing Workshop, which I am looking forward to. The feedback I've received for "Marrying a Movie Star" has been very helpful so far, resulting in revisions that have strengthened the book.

Wish me luck and good luck to you too!

Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers