Extras
Posted by Lisa Marnell
For those of us who work in the schools, the next few weeks are BUSY! As a driven writer, I am determined to prevent end of the year time pressures from interfering with my writing. I am going to be surgical with time management. To do so, I will eliminate EXTRAS, such as the following:
1- No EXTRA Characters: Why spend hours writing a scene about a character when the character is not likely to survive a second draft.
I vow to ask myself if a character, any character, moves the plot forward. If he or she doesn’t, it’s curtains!
2- No EXTRA Words: What takes longer to type: “The situation was nearing the point where they’d have to come out soon.” Or “It was over!”
I vow to become an “It was over!” kind of writer. (Example borrowed from “The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall)
3- No EXTRA Web-Surfing: NO! NO! NO!
I vow to pick one web sight I’ll allow myself to visit, once a day, prior to writing, not because of boredom or ADD, but as a venue for inspiration.
4- No EXTRA e-mails to friends: No poems to Amy and Hannah and Lynne (is that a relief?) No joking e-mails to my friend Kim in Marshfield either.
I vow to be business like and efficient in online communications.
5- No EXTRA subplots. I do this extra subplot thing. An idea comes to me and I go with it, only to nix it later.
I vow to stick to my outlined plot and finish Rose’s story with no added bells and whistles.
5 comments:
I've cut way back on my web surfing since working full-time and squeezing writing in.
I'll always allow time for The Writer's Group.
It's a mandatory luxury.
Kira - Thank you for stopping by! We love to have you.
I work almost full-time currently. For me, the web can be a tool for procrastination. I try to use it wisely.
I like the way you include extras from outside the actual writing. The external extras - web surfing, emails - distract from the writing as much as the internal story extras. I guess alot of effective writing comes down to tight focus.
~Joanne
Rather than eliminating the EXTRAS, how about accentuating the positive and just FOCUS. At least it sounds more enjoyable. So have fun, Lisa!
You're an inspiration, Lisa. I have my own "stuff I have to cut out" post brewing too. I sense you are a very determined writer, so I'm excited for you.
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