Writing, Part 2

This may sound stupid to some, and is really embarassing to me since I've been writing for half my lifetime now (yikes, I'm going to be 31 next weekend!) and I'm finally just 'getting' it. Then again, I go through phases of trying new things and sloughing off the habits of other things that just doesn't do it for me anymore.

1. Plan to write.

I splurged on myself; I bought a little Embassy notebook that I can add paper to whenever I want. I use it for notes on stories - little ideas that pop into my head at the most inopportune moments when I don't have a real notebook handy, or I don't happen to be at that point in the story but I don't want to forget the idea. Without notes, I'd be lost with 6 novella-length stories and other different short stories running around in my head but no outlet for them.

2. Drafts are your friend.

I've finally realized that the biggest complication in my life, with my writing, is that I have expected the final copy to flow from my fingers to my notebook/computer, a perfect copy of what I plan someday to publish. It doesn't quite work that way, which is probably why I have tossed 4 other copies of the first original story. Also, it makes me stall, when I have so many ideas on what is going to come next, but I just can't seem to get through this one blasted piece of prose. In this case, verbal vomit is a good thing - get the idea down. It's called a draft. You'll go back later and make it sound better and fit in the story. But for the most part just get it down and out of your head before it makes you nuts.

Writers go through several drafts - and I don't mean just going back to edit the spelling or grammar.


On that note, I would like to mention the one thing that pisses me off the most. I have had my stories on several sites and have submitted work to a writer's circle for editing and whatnot. My biggest bitch, however, is when I have asked for critique, and readers automatically whip out the dictionary.

I really don't give a shit whether or not I've spelled something correctly. Whereas I thank you for noting that and bringing it to my attention, and saving me the trouble of having to meticulously read through something I've probably read a hundred times already, passed up and forgotten, that really isn't what critiquing is supposed to be.

Instead, tell me: does the story flow? Is there something missing, or is there too much of something that makes the story stall and grow stale? Is there something in particular that you would like to read about? Is there something in the story that is completely unnecessary? Is there something that isn't quite right?

That is the critique I want to hear. Keep your dictionary; Microsoft comes with a built-in copyeditor and catches most of my typo's that don't spell into a word that actually exists. If you want to be useful, then be useful, dammit, and don't tell me something this idiot box could have told me.