| Writing Support Group
5 helpful writing tips From Patricia Alexander of The North County Writing Support Group
By Patricia Alexander
I
love encouraging other writers, whether they write for publication or personal growth. Here are some practical tips from my experience: Pick One Project To Begin Brimming over with ideas, but not getting anything accomplished? Working on more than one idea at a time can be done, but not well. Pick your passion project and get it solidly launched.
Don’t Judge Your Process Writers tend to feel insecure about their process; they think someone else is writing better, faster, smarter. Yet, how many books have you loved even though you don’t know how long they took to write or whether the first drafts were handwritten or typed? Judging your process is a distraction wrapped in self-doubt; give it up and let yourself create however it feels right to you.
Your Best Beginning May Not Be At The Beginning It’s unusual in the flow of writing to get that beginning paragraph launched out of the cannon first thing. Odds are much higher you’ll find it a page or two in — and that’s OK! But do go back and look for it. Understand The Difference Between Writing And Editing
urgent yanks us around, draining time, energy and creativity? Need a Muse? Try a deadline! If you don’t have one, make one and enter it into your schedule. Someone wants to go to lunch when you’ve set that time to write? Tell them you have another commitment. Be vague so they don’t try to talk you out of it. You’ll see your productivity soar if you can create a deadline by finding an online or in-person group of supportive and honest writers with whom you can share your work. And, by the way, if you only write the night before the deadline, it still counts.
Many things you read and love are written by people who can’t spell, don’t know grammar and are puzzled by punctuation. ALL writers need editors. Don’t let your confusion between a colon and semicolon stop you; creating and editing may overlap, but they are supremely Patricia Alexander is a local writer, different functions. Everything editor, columnist and the award-winstarts with the writing. ning co-author of “ The Book of Comforts: Simple, Powerful Ways to
Create A Deadline Comfort Your Spirit, Body & Soul,” How do we get any writing She has spent 45 years in what she done when the tyranny of the calls her “eclectic” career.
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Paso Robles Magazine | April 2020
