Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Random writing points for a Tuesday


  • If you wake up naturally at 4:30 a.m., consider that the summer's early light is telling you something. You can get a lot done of writing done then. 
  • Writing makes me hungry, and not the faux "let's avoid this paragraph by seeing what is in the refrigerator" kind of hungry. I'm talking light-headed and stomach-growling hungry every few hours. Is it because of the brain using up glucose? I've taken to eating smaller meals more often. In case you were wondering: none of this results in any weight loss.
  • I wish there were a Hallmark card that you could send to say, "I'm sorry I'm not getting it done as fast as you'd like it to be done, but I'm working really hard on it--honest."
  • You can trim down a long chapter by a lot if you read it paragraph by paragraph and ask yourself two things: 
    • What's the subject of this paragraph? 
    • And what's the point of this paragraph? 
    • I figure I should be able to write a 1-word tag for the subject, but if I can't identify how the second contributes to the argument, it gets condensed, moved, or chopped.
  • I have been gleefully ransacking my files for my old manuscripts, things I've reviewed, and so on.  Why? For the paper, not the great thoughts contained therein. Everything that's not already printed double-sided goes into the maw of the printer for printing drafts on the clean side.  And my files get cleaned out, too.  Win-win!

2 comments:

Contingent Cassandra said...

I think those cards need to be produced not in Hallmark quantities/at Hallmark price points, but more on a bulk basis (they'd work for students, too, but an e-card would probably work -- or not work -- in that situation).

undine said...

CC--I think little cards we could hand out would be fine. I'd take them!