Quote For Today

"It is better to write a bad first draft than to write no first draft at all." --Will Shetterly

Don't stress too much if you aren't writing the perfect story, or if editing isn't going great. Just remember that you're doing something and that's better than doing nothing. Keep your chin up!

The last impression

Hook the reader early and often. I've noticed that writers and editors teach the importance of the early hook. In my writing group we've discussed how important that hook is, considering books that have no hook and evolve slowly. Indeed, editors who have spoken to our group insist that it is crucial to grab a reader's attention quickly.

In the main story I'm writing at the moment I came to the end of a scene and suddenly found that I couldn't end it. The intensity I try to build fizzles and the running scene lurches to an ugly end. With all the emphasis on setting up the scene my brain has tried to end it with the same energy and failed. Read it here.

This is only one example. Other times I've been writing and found the same problem: I'm on a roll, feeling the words come out just right, and then writing a lame sentence that leaves the whole feeling injured. Currently, what I do is edit it a few times to rescue it. If that fails then I leave it and come back later, but some things get so stuck in my head that I can't seem to think of anything else. Does anyone have any different ideas? What do you do when a word, phrase or sentence is out of sync with the rest of the scene?