Thanks for the comment, Tiff. For some stupid reason, I couldn't get down to the Post button in my reply to your comment below, so this is it.
Reading your work aloud (preferably but not necessarily 'to' someone) is never a bad idea. I always catch any mistakes when I read my work aloud. If I didn't have a great first reader, I would read aloud everything I write and then publish it.
I also do spot research. I go into the internet to check a particular detail. Then it's out of the internet and back to the novel. You just need to call on your discipline.
All the other stuff, yep, you called it, excuses. And all of that's your doubt-ridden critical mind thumping on you. No single story (or novel) matters any more than one I wrote ten years ago or will write ten years from now. And that's true of every writer. Some just don't get it for some reason.
I never write for what a reader might 'like' or not like. But it's easy for me. I just write the story that's unfolding around me. If I think it might suit a particular magazine editor, I might send it to him or her, but I never write the story FOR anyone but the characters.
Myths that my Creative Mind has been trapped by, in the past:
Outlining - (Outining the whole thing, outlining when you get stuck, outlining the ending so you know where you are "headed". All of the above have totally broken the stories they were attached to.
Seeking Advice from critique groups and Alpha readers - Okay, this one, I walk in and out of the cage with.... I do read to my hubby (alpha reader) and if something confuses him he tells me (rarely, rarely happens). And if I am submitting to certain anthologies (Raconteur Press, Three Ravens Press, Cannon Publishing, Jumpmaster Press) I will run it through my writer's group, for one reason - they have connections there, and so are likely to note something that the editors there won't like. (just like any judging contest you have to please the judges) Any other short stories or novels I write, I don't do that. (And yes, I have gotten into an anthology by a different press without any critiques.)
Details... ie "not a subject you know" Rule - I still have a few cobwebs I'm fighting and burning off on this rule. - You know - if you aren't a cop you can't write cop things "right". Yes, I know..."research"...but then I get caught up in research, and the story stops. Because I don't want to get the details wrong (and yes, it can be a problem for the reader - magazines in my revolvers, a horse running at full speed for 2 days and then the rider tying it up at the inn...(I know those, but those are examples of things that can irritate a reader enough to wall the book). So, research is important, but the "how much" is what I fight with.
I do run my stories through ProWriting Aid, because I know I'm iffy at grammar, and I commit typos a lot, and that can catch 99% of them. Anything else it suggests I ignore. And yes, I should finish reading Harvey's book on Punctuation for Writers.
Another rule is "Read in your writing genre", - I don't do much of that - I have in the past and I rely on those old memories, as I 1. don't feel I have time to read and I worry about plagiarizing someone else's work into my own. 2. I have a lot of vision issues and headaches, and adding extra reading just increases that, I'd rather be writing or arting if I'm going to hurt.
So, I'm mostly free of the myths...or at least I regard them as legends for the most part. But like an escapee from the chain gang...I may not have a dead body still dragging, but there are still shackles that I haven't finished sawing off... *grin
Thanks for the comment, Tiff. For some stupid reason, I couldn't get down to the Post button in my reply to your comment below, so this is it.
Reading your work aloud (preferably but not necessarily 'to' someone) is never a bad idea. I always catch any mistakes when I read my work aloud. If I didn't have a great first reader, I would read aloud everything I write and then publish it.
I also do spot research. I go into the internet to check a particular detail. Then it's out of the internet and back to the novel. You just need to call on your discipline.
All the other stuff, yep, you called it, excuses. And all of that's your doubt-ridden critical mind thumping on you. No single story (or novel) matters any more than one I wrote ten years ago or will write ten years from now. And that's true of every writer. Some just don't get it for some reason.
I never write for what a reader might 'like' or not like. But it's easy for me. I just write the story that's unfolding around me. If I think it might suit a particular magazine editor, I might send it to him or her, but I never write the story FOR anyone but the characters.
You woke up at 2am and wrote for 8 hrs? Wow!
Thank you for all you do! I appreciate your posts for the inspiration and insights.
Thanks, but that's my normal schedule. :-) I just take my 6 - 8 hours of sleep at a different time of day. :-)
Re: Be Careful What You Wish For - Sounds about right, and not only for writing, but perhaps for some of us, life in general. Or not. Ya gotta live!
Myths that my Creative Mind has been trapped by, in the past:
Outlining - (Outining the whole thing, outlining when you get stuck, outlining the ending so you know where you are "headed". All of the above have totally broken the stories they were attached to.
Seeking Advice from critique groups and Alpha readers - Okay, this one, I walk in and out of the cage with.... I do read to my hubby (alpha reader) and if something confuses him he tells me (rarely, rarely happens). And if I am submitting to certain anthologies (Raconteur Press, Three Ravens Press, Cannon Publishing, Jumpmaster Press) I will run it through my writer's group, for one reason - they have connections there, and so are likely to note something that the editors there won't like. (just like any judging contest you have to please the judges) Any other short stories or novels I write, I don't do that. (And yes, I have gotten into an anthology by a different press without any critiques.)
Details... ie "not a subject you know" Rule - I still have a few cobwebs I'm fighting and burning off on this rule. - You know - if you aren't a cop you can't write cop things "right". Yes, I know..."research"...but then I get caught up in research, and the story stops. Because I don't want to get the details wrong (and yes, it can be a problem for the reader - magazines in my revolvers, a horse running at full speed for 2 days and then the rider tying it up at the inn...(I know those, but those are examples of things that can irritate a reader enough to wall the book). So, research is important, but the "how much" is what I fight with.
I do run my stories through ProWriting Aid, because I know I'm iffy at grammar, and I commit typos a lot, and that can catch 99% of them. Anything else it suggests I ignore. And yes, I should finish reading Harvey's book on Punctuation for Writers.
Another rule is "Read in your writing genre", - I don't do much of that - I have in the past and I rely on those old memories, as I 1. don't feel I have time to read and I worry about plagiarizing someone else's work into my own. 2. I have a lot of vision issues and headaches, and adding extra reading just increases that, I'd rather be writing or arting if I'm going to hurt.
So, I'm mostly free of the myths...or at least I regard them as legends for the most part. But like an escapee from the chain gang...I may not have a dead body still dragging, but there are still shackles that I haven't finished sawing off... *grin
Tiffanie, see my reply to yours in the "new" comment above yours.