Ask the Author: Diane Patterson
Answered Questions (4)
Diane Patterson
As always, another Drusilla and Stevie novel. I have an idea for a second, unrelated mystery series (set in the area I live in) that I want to work on. And a couple of standalone novels I need to get cracking on. Basically, I need to write 8 hours a day.
Diane Patterson
FINISH WHAT YOU'RE WORKING ON.
You need to develop not only the writing muscle but the finishing muscle. ANYONE can write thirty pages (and as we've seen...they will). But finishing the thing and putting in the effort to make it a coherent, complete beast is a different skill set and one you need to work on.
Seriously, this was my biggest problem for the longest time. I would work on something and then say, "Well, but there's this problem, and this..." and then I would move on to the new shiny. And do it again.
Learning to finish has been the biggest difference.
You need to develop not only the writing muscle but the finishing muscle. ANYONE can write thirty pages (and as we've seen...they will). But finishing the thing and putting in the effort to make it a coherent, complete beast is a different skill set and one you need to work on.
Seriously, this was my biggest problem for the longest time. I would work on something and then say, "Well, but there's this problem, and this..." and then I would move on to the new shiny. And do it again.
Learning to finish has been the biggest difference.
Diane Patterson
Finding out what happens next.
Diane Patterson
When I worked as a tech writer, I wasn't allowed to have "writer's block" -- I was allowed to "write something else, today."
What I do now is, roughly in this order:
* If I'm just having a bad day because of external events, then I go take a Mental Health Day and take care of errands, visit friends, whatever.
* If I really don't want to write this scene I'm working on (for first drafts, I write in chronological order), I ask myself why.
- Is it boring? When it's boring for you, it's boring for the reader.
- Does it feel wrong? Doesn't even matter what I mean by "wrong" there -- if it feels like the wrong thing to be writing, it's time to rethink the direction the book is going in. I've removed 15,000 word sections from books because it felt "wrong" (and boy, did I turn out to be right).
* If the book still feels good and this isn't a case of powering through the writer-blahs, then I work on another project, something with a totally different voice and genre.
What I do now is, roughly in this order:
* If I'm just having a bad day because of external events, then I go take a Mental Health Day and take care of errands, visit friends, whatever.
* If I really don't want to write this scene I'm working on (for first drafts, I write in chronological order), I ask myself why.
- Is it boring? When it's boring for you, it's boring for the reader.
- Does it feel wrong? Doesn't even matter what I mean by "wrong" there -- if it feels like the wrong thing to be writing, it's time to rethink the direction the book is going in. I've removed 15,000 word sections from books because it felt "wrong" (and boy, did I turn out to be right).
* If the book still feels good and this isn't a case of powering through the writer-blahs, then I work on another project, something with a totally different voice and genre.
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