February 01, 2006
--Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
In this issue:
- Audrey the Editor places
- Just Do It!
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1. Audrey the Editor places
Thanks to you, this site placed second in the Preditors and Editors' readers' poll.
You can see the result for yourself at http://www.critters.org/predpoll/tally.html. You'll need to scroll almost to the bottom to see the Writer's Info category.
Number 2 spot out of 28 is not bad and it leaves room for improvement for next year.
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2. Just Do It!
Samuel Johnson, whose quote from the 18th century opens this newsletter, often procrastinated until the very last minute and usually wrote only one draft. That in the day of quill and ink when an error meant having to rewrite a full page.
Now, of course, we have word processors that make corrections much easier to make.
But we still have procrastination problems.
Why is it that we can write like mad under pressure to get a piece finished to meet a deadline but we can't write without the pressure unless every condition is perfect?
Isn't it amazing how thoughts of writing can provoke fits of housework that would out-shine Martha Stewart! Or do you prefer repairs to house or car, or yard work, or...
Maybe, like me, you can't write if the weather is wrong, or the color of your paper is a little off, or you have no popcorn in the house?
I've been guilty of excuses like this myself. I've dillied and dallied for months and have not met my own writing goals. Yesterday, I opened my weekly planner, saw a deadline that I had known for weeks was looming, and hit the panic button.
Tonight I finished the book I've worked on for three years. When I say, "Worked on," I mean started and put aside several times. When I wrestled the last bit into a reading level a nine-year-old can read with ease, I had a huge sense of satisfaction and wondered why I hadn't done this last bit months ago.
I'm writing Samuel Johnsons's words on a sticky note that I'm sticking onto my computer screen. Then I plan to get more dogged.
How about you?
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