The Twelfth Day of Christmas: A Gift for Writers

Okay. So don't come knocking on my door if I don't get all twelve days done. Deal?

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, the knowledge I must Write Every Day.

My writing, my own words, my own mistakes, are how I learn. Usually it takes the eyes of someone I trust (a critique partner; an editor) to see the mistakes I make that I catch easily in someone else's work, but never my own.

But first, I must write.

Write my heart out. Write my guts out. Don't take my normal route and say, "Well, I need to clean this, or I need to cook dinner, or I need to run errands." Just don't.

Just Do It. Just Write.

Let's make this a battle cry for 2009.

WRITE!

Every single day, I will string some words together. (Emails and thank-you notes don't count any more than my grocery list.) Every single day, I will pour some of my poor, sad soul into words I can edit and use as a base for something better.

Every single day, I will write.

It doesn't matter where I am in the learning curve. Writing will make me a better writer. Stringing words together will show me how to apply what I've been shown. (Show vs. Tell works in more than one way.)

I will listen to the guidance from those I trust and I will apply it to my WRITING. If it feels right, it stays. If not, it's outtahere.

But regardless, I will write every day.



CR: Picking something new tonight . . . but I totally enjoyed the Robert Crais, The Two Minute Rule. The plot was tight, the characterization developed, and the writing, next to brilliant.

It's all better with friends.