Anne Lamott famously gave us the concept of “shitty first drafts” as the key to “good second drafts and terrific third drafts,” and even that seems overly optimistic for many writers—my process for long fiction takes at least four drafts. But if we are being generous with ourselves, as Anne Lamott argues, we embrace theContinue reading “Finishing A Dead Draft”
Tag Archives: novel
NaNoWriMo 2020 Update #2
Today is 20k day. As of writing this, I’m at 20,945 words. I haven’t written for today yet. So it’s safe to say I’m doing all right this year. Today I want to talk about accountability in writing. Accountability is, in fact, part of the magic of NaNoWriMo. Part of the reason that more wordsContinue reading “NaNoWriMo 2020 Update #2”
How To Decide To Cut A Scene: A Heuristic for Writers
Almost every fiction writer has heard “kill your darlings” and “show don’t tell.” These pithy sayings get repeated so much that they lose a lot of meaning and they’re frankly a little annoying, because they don’t really help writers know when to kill darlings, or which darlings to kill, or what to show and notContinue reading “How To Decide To Cut A Scene: A Heuristic for Writers”
My Problem With National Novel Writing Month
I love National Novel Writing Month! It’s fall, so it’s time to start thinking about what I’ll write in November! (so far I’m as far as “no idea,” “probably fantasy but idk,” and “definitely not my main fantasy series”) I’ve done NaNoWriMo every year since 2005. I’ve won NaNoWriMo every year since 2005. That’s atContinue reading “My Problem With National Novel Writing Month”
Dr. Cox's Desk 