“The most precious possession that ever comes to a man in this world is a woman's heart.”
~ by Josiah G. Holland ~
Easing back into the routine of school…mmm…why does it get harder each time? All I know is, 5:30 comes awfully early in the morning!
These next couple of weeks, I really need to finish up the final chapters of Paradise, USA. The thing with Virtual Tales is, they’ll accept partial manuscripts as long as you have a clear outline of where you’re headed. Nice on one hand, but on the other hand…boy, it lets you squeak by on a ½ or ¾ finished story for a few months.
Now, I know where I’m going with the story, and since it was an old manuscript, I even have old chapters I’m resurrecting. I have a detailed outline I sent them before it was accepted, which I think is pretty tight.
I just have to write the damn thing. I have 6 chapters to go, about 2000 words each, so 12K words isn’t really that bad. Sitting my butt in the chair and forcing myself to do it, when I have other ideas running through my heads about other stories I want to work on, however, is another thing altogether.
I had a friend in college who was a serious wrestler. One time, I was complaining about not wanting to go to the gym to work out. I told him, “I don’t have any motivation today.”
His answer: “You don’t need motivation. You just need discipline.”
Touché.
What about you? Ever have a really hard time buckling down and actually doing the writing? (Oh, come on. I know that’s a rhetorical question. Who hasn’t?)
Okay, but how do you motivate yourself--or rather, how do you discipline yourself into actually sitting and doing?
3 comments:
Discipline is my biggest problem. I'm trying to train myself now. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I have to say that I think the folks at Virtual Tales are just a bit nuts to accept unfinished ms's... do they start publishing them without having them finished?
Good luck with it.
Me? I set goals, I'm very competitive (even with myself), and I sit down and write to meet them cuz I get really annoyed when I don't.
But without a goal - and a specific one (i.e. 500 words a day or something), I drift. So they are imperative for me.
Mmm, I tend to agree with you. I wonder if they will become more picky if more people start querying them? There is a section in the contract, though, that allows them to take over and finish writing a story if the author fails to.
Post a Comment