being a writer Archives - Page 2 of 4 - MUSE • Leslie Keenan

Part One: Why You Must Read Through the First Draft before Editing

Have your first draft done? Good! Here’s what to do next. First, you must print it out. I know everyone hates to use paper these days but I’m sorry, you just need a hard copy for this. Now, take a pad and a pencil or pen, and sit down to read it through. Since you were writing quickly, in flow, and you probably didn’t even write transitions (That’s good! Flow writing comes first.) you will immediately see a lot of things that need fixing. Resist the temptation to fix them…read more

What Hansel and Gretel Taught Me About Writing

When I am writing in flow, which is what I always aspire to do, it feels like such a relief. At last, the words are coming and I can’t get my thoughts down fast enough. But then, inevitably, my time to write ends. And then the next time I show up, that excited energy is long gone; I don’t remember where I am or what I want to write next. Often, it’s so tempting to go back to the beginning and re-read to enter back into my piece. I’ve learned…read more

Small Frequent Rewards to Keep Going

Studies have proven that small frequent rewards for achievement help us the most to keep us on track in reaching our goals. Most often you will find these studies listed under things like weight-loss, but it turns out they work just fine for keeping you on your writing schedule. I think National Novel Writing Month has done a great job in giving those who sign up a lot of strokes and tangible rewards (even milk and cookies at Night of Writing Dangerously in Oakland) but you don’t have to…read more

Word Count – Could It Be Hurting Your Writing Life?

Posted by Leslie in Publishing, Writing

At the beginning of national novel writing month, it’s worth asking, does setting word count goals help? I’ve always had students who do this, sometimes weekly, sometimes daily counts. And then I’ve had students who are intimidated by this. Here’s what I think. Sometimes having an artificial word count (even a ridiculous one like in NANOWRIMO) can help spur you on, move you past the negative judgmental voices in your head, and get you writing in flow. Even if you ultimately cut half the words you write, at least now…read more

Trust, and Just Show Up

from my most recent newsletter… Are you still writing when you show up and nothing happens? You know, those times when you are all prepared to write and your fingers are on the keyboard and you are staring at the blank screen, and nothing happens? The other day in class, one student was berating herself during check in. “I sat there for a whole hour and didn’t get anything done.” I hear this a lot during check ins. “I showed up but I just struggled.” “I showed up but only…read more

To Self-Publish, Or Not To Self-Publish…Alan Sepinwall’s Inspiring Tale

There is new evidence in the ongoing debate about how to publish a book – whether it’s better to go with a traditional publisher or self-publish. I was excited a few months ago to see that one of my favorite bloggers, Alan Sepinwall, who is a television critic, had written a book (The Revolution Was Televised). I was also intrigued to see that he had self-published. I emailed him to ask why he had decided to go this route and not the traditional one. I assumed someone with his high…read more

Amazon, Publishing, and You

From my current Newsletter, November 2011: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several people have been posting and asking about the recent NY Times article about Amazon working directly with authors and leaving publishers out. What do I think of this, they wonder. I haven’t actually responded yet, because what I think is the result of all my 30-plus years in publishing and a great deal of thought and observation. I couldn’t put it into a quick Facebook note, or a Tweet. I will see if I can unravel some of it for you here….read more

The Energy of Completion

From my Newsletter, Late Spring 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have worked on many books. I should say I have worked on many ideas that became manuscripts that became books. I know from all this experience that the closer you get to the end, it seems, the more there is you realize has to be done. This can be very frustrating! You think you have a finished manuscript that just needs a couple of things added, or a few facts checked, and it will take a week to get it done. Three…read more

E-Books

From my Newsletter, Spring 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We had a lively discussion about this at the end of one of my writing classes a few weeks ago and since the subject is coming up in the press frequently I thought I would address it here. First, let’s talk about what an e-book is. There are a couple of different types. There’s a simple e-book you may already have seen online. It’s just a downloadable file that you can purchase (or it’s sometimes free) usually from someone’s website, and usually it’s in…read more

Going Deep

From my End-of-Year Newsletter, 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I want to revisit a topic I brought up back in July (“The Value of Doing Nothing”). It seems even more important and appropriate as we turn into winter, the fallow time of the year. The topic is this: the importance, no – more than that – the absolute, vital necessity of going deep in order to do our creative work. By going deep, I mean really having enough time to immerse yourself deeply in your work, or to discover what in fact the…read more