Listen here:

Read here:

Just when I was getting to the point where I thought I had it beat—I could jump in and write without a lot of delay and drama and house cleaning—I got a sample critique. Show—don’t tell. I’m summarizing stuff instead of digging inside it. That’s what I’ve really been afraid of. Stage 1 is quieting the inner critic long enough to put words on the page. Stage two is to crawl inside the scene with my characters and tell what I see, smell and experience.

The good news here—I think—is that perhaps I can do this in stages. I finish my sprint and think: Better, but I’m still telling. Sometimes I go in again and try to do better; sometimes I say I’ll fix it in the next pass.

And stage three? I have deadlines now. If I miss them, I’ll be charged more. Then rescheduled. I have what looks like plenty of time until I start re-writing and see how little I finished, and how much more I have to write.

Then possibly stage four is actually looking at the edits, although so far, the editor I’ve hired focuses on the positive, and even makes the negative sound positive. She does this by suggesting the fix in a positive, enthusiastic way. So maybe I can do it.

Well, I have to. Look at all the money I have paid. No, that is not helpful. Somehow the Universe will send me the power. I hope.