A few excerpts from Writers Ask Issue 40:
Ann Patchett on having a plan:
“I love the story E.L. Doctorow tells. He didn’t have an idea for a book, so he started writing about the wall and then about the window and the garden, and the next thing he knew, he had written Ragtime. Never in a million years would that happen to me. If I don’t know where I’m going when I sit down, I don’t get anywhere.”
Liz’s reaction: It’s happened both ways for me. I like to stay open to both–and more–possibilities.
Susuan Orlean on multi-tasking: “I hate working on more than one thing at a time. I find it really tough.”
Liz’s reaction: Not me! It’s how I roll, man. If I get stuck on one thing, I shift to another for a while, then back when I’m ready.
Charles Baxter on first drafts: “Writing a first draft is the experience of not knowing how to do something and persisting at it until it begins to feel right.”
Liz’s reaction: Sounds about right to me. The story is vague until you get to that point. Vauge, but compelling.
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Some past posts to keep you making time:
Adjust your pace accordingly.
It’s about the routine and how you shake up the routine
There are things you will have to give up
See it to achieve it
Washing the dishes
Write slowly
A celebration of the pause
Monday, a run through the driving rain
Zen accident
Get out of your comfort zone