Remember

Other good things to remember:

1. Eat food when writing unless that’s not helpful.

2. Write after the kids go to sleep unless you don’t want to and you are tired and you want to watch TV or read Keturah and Lord Death and think about how beautiful Martine Leavitt is and how smart she is and how you’ll never be as smart or beautiful so why do you even try.

3. Listen to your kids and if you can, take notes. Especially if they call Doritos Dortos and they call the Loch Ness Monster the Lock Nessy Monster and if one of them tells you that there are a million ice cream stores on the earth and you ask them how they know and they say before they were born they looked down on the planet and they saw all the ice cream stores and that’s how they decided to come. Write all that down.

4. Write weird stuff. Surprise yourself.

5. Be happy.

6. Shave your head if you’re depressed.

7. Make yourself keep going even if you think what you’re writing is stupid and that you are stupid and that it’s never going to turn out and it’s all too hard and the other idea is better and that’s what you should do, start a different book because that book won’t get hairy in the middle at all because the next project is always better and always funnier and alway easier than the one you’re supposed to be working but even if that were true, my friends, even if that were so true, you have to keep going. Keep writing. Don’t stop. FINISH. FINISH FINISH FINISH. And then jump into a cold pool. And then get into a sauna. Or is that Iceland?

7. Eat a peach when you’re writing unless it will get juice on your keyboard.

8. Love your parents.

9. Write hard things.

10. Tell someone you love them. Someone who will be surprised you said it but will also know that you mean it. Say it even if it’s scary and maybe they won’t say it back or they’ll feel weird and you’ll feel weird. Say it anyway. And feel it.

15 Minute Monday

I think I explained a few weeks ago that I only want to spend 15 minutes working on the Monday post. That includes editing myself. I said that, right? Before I even started today I knew what I would write. So this is going to be easier than me looking at blank screen (like last week), sighing, and wondering why I’m a blog writer.

Guess what time of the summer it is? Marathon time!

We haven’t had a writing marathon at all this year, have we? And it was our goal to have one every quarter when we began this blog 100 years ago. So a Summer Writing Marathon. You know how this works. We’ll tell the days. (I don’t know yet.) And the length. (One day? Three days? Five?) You set you goal of words you expect to write. (I always way overshoot. Always.) And then we get together at some point to  eat and read a page from our WIP.

Wanna play?

Great!

We’ll let you know all the ins and outs by Friday.

Woot!

PS– It’s way easier to write when you know what to write. That’s been part of my problem as of late. What can I say here you haven’t already heard? Or how can I say anything in a new way?

So how do you always know what to write when you’re working on a project? I’ve heard a couple of ideas and I’m going to make up a few, too.

1. Stop in the middle of a sentence.

2. Stop in the middle of an exciting scene.

3. Leave yourself so interested you WANT to keep going, but don’t let yourself.

4. Leave yourself a note saying what will happen next (a NOTE. Not the whole scene.)

5. Stop at a cliff hanger.

6. Put your character into a terrible situation.

7. Or a romantic kissy situation.

8. Or put the murder weapon in her hand.

I’m saying the same thing over and over. Keep the book interesting so you want to come back to it!