Zen and the Art of Writing Maintenance

A writer, new in her quest to take on writing as a career, asked me to give her ten rules/wise things to remember for the next ten years, since I've been around, to her knowledge, for that long.  That gave me a few moments of heart palpitations.  Geez. It's been that long?  Oh yeah.

Actually, I've been around longer, way before one could actually trace one's roots on the Internetal Wayback Big Brother Machine, but why let people know about my antiquity? I'll just pretend to be one of those Immortals I love reading about, morphing from one identity into another, living lives with no real roots ;-).

Okay.  Ahem. Ten rules/pieces of advice, she asked. I'll oblige to share my wisdom, with one caveat. The rules aren't set in stone and they might, depending on the direction of your writing career, even cause you to ponder your sanity for actually thinking you could make it.

Here goes:

1) Action is better than perfection.

2) Break your best writing friend's heart. Don't edit her. Make suggestions, but don't edit.

3) Don't ask for quotes from very famous authors you don't know who have personal assistants.

4) Plot matters. But it must also make characters interesting. Boring plot = characters standing around making noises.

5) Trilogies are for the brave. And the very famous. Unless you wrote all three books first.

6) Make your bed EVERY morning. The temptation to crawl into bed and pull the covers over one's head is always present, especially around deadline time.

7) Remember the paralysis of analysis.  Every page you print out for research, someone has already written another page.  Knowing everything about your topic will drown your story and kill your interest.

8) Remember to read a book for fun. Every roofstory is different and you might learn something cool. Or not. I can stand on the ground and look at a roof and know it's mine, and why I did certain things that way, and that's from walking on other roofers' finished roofs.

9) Know your editor. Know your business. And even then, when you least expect it, you'll get the equivalent of a silent movie's piano falling on top of you. Worse, it's your piano, for which you're still paying.

10) Your readers are not your personal psychiatrist. Share discriminately on the Net. Rant discriminately.

11) I'll throw in a freebie ;-).  Your Muse is not your bitch either.

There. The above has moved my writing journey along.  It's not a terribly exciting or new list of observations, I'm afraid, and there are actually quite a bit of in-between stuff that are missing.  Actually, the more interesting wise sayings have been left unsaid because wise sayings become gossip when names are thrown in, yes? ;-).

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My New T-Shirt

When I saw it on sale, I knew I had to have it. Who can resist this tongue-in-cheek joke?

Almost as good as my version with Jesus wearing Arnohld sunglasses and saying in that classic monotone, "I'll be baack."


Isn't it a cute sly T-shirt comment?

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Aftermath

Ahhhhhh. My brain is functioning again. And how was your week? ;-)

I tuned back into life and tried to catch up with friends' news and blogs and everyone is preparing for RT in Houston! I'm beginning to panic. I mean, there's a ton of things I need to do! By this time next week, I'll be in my uber author dress and shoes and trying to behave ;-).

Do you know, in the next three weeks, I'll be hitting four states (you got add Atlanta in since my planes stop there enough times!)? Can you imagine my probability of getting into one of my airport predicaments? I'm shuddering.... Yes, yes, I'm going to have to pin ten different IDs on me.

So, next week RT in Houston, then California signing at Roseville the week after, followed by speech, workshop and signing in Denver, CO. Needless to say, blogging is going to be spotty again because I'll be out and about!

Talking about blogging, I was invited to guest-blog at another site next month. So that makes two! And a chat with the lovely Australian readers in mid-May. The wonders of the Internet, huh?

So I was telling the roofers all I still have to do besides my tax adventures this week and you know how they spout wise(ass) sayings. "Never," one of them declared, "let hecticaty dictate."

Short silence. Said wise sayer looking around triumphantly.

"Isn't that a song?" Ranger Buddy chimed in. "Hecticaty dictatoty tock?"

"No, no, Hecticaty was a very famous Spartan dictator," another wise(ass) sayer butted in. "He led a very hectic schedule. Hence, never let hecticaty dictate."

Everyone snickered. The first wise sayer did not get the joke.

Now you know where I get my love of words.

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