Editing

I’m sorry. If I’d more time, I would have written a shorter letter. ~ Mark Twain

Have any of you writers taken the challenge some writing gurus have put forth encouraging people to write a book in 30 days? Yes, but if you give that draft a second look you will see that the pages resemble something a two-year-old wrote, the dog carried it into the yard, and the cat mistook it for litter when he was covering you know what.

I didn't write Off We Go in 30 days—more  like 30 years, really I exaggerate, it has been only four, but hey, I had to live the story before I could write it. Yes, I know that all writers ought to have a real life human being besides themselves as editor, but it’s like cleaning the house before the housekeeper comes, the house ought to be presentable.

Remember way back to English 101 and the little book, The Elements of Style? Old E.B. White was right, the best writing is rewriting. I find, however, that I am losing word-count faster than a query can bounce.

Writers might like the  following quote.  I did after I read it a second time. The first time I thought it was advice, the second time I thought it was funny advice.

Do not put statements in the negative form.

And don’t start sentences with a conjunction.

If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a

great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.

Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.

De-accession euphemisms.

If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.

Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.

Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

~William Safire

Motivation

I see your smiling face as you read this, see I know you—you are smiling aren't you? 

Knowing you are here motivates me to do more. Give more. Happy people reading happy thoughts, people amping up their motivation, their craft, and their life—those are the sorts I want to hang out with. That’s you.

When I read #Seth Godin’s blog about how surprised he is to meet people who proudly tell him that they don't read (their term) "self-help" books because they are fully set, it surprised him and mystified me. Fully set? Is anyone?

I know you writers, and any others who happen upon this page know you have to plant your butt in the chair and pound out your thoughts on the keyboard. You are motivated. I see that, but a little encouragement is always welcome. One of the many truisms good ole Zig Zigler said was this: “Some people say that motivation doesn't last. Neither does bathing that’s why we recommend it every day.”

I love those motivational speakers who think positively, promote confidence, and tell us, “You can do it.”

They remind us that others have done what we are setting out to do, and if they can do it, we can. They tell us that perseverance and hard work pays off, and that pursuing one’s goals is important.  They tell us to follow our gut, to dream big, to know that the great source of the universe is alive and well and living inside us. They spark a fire in us.

Regarding the past, Jack Canfield said: “Everybody has had a tough childhood, get over it.”

Walt Disney had his ups and downs, but he never lost his zeal for life. You all probably know Disney went bankrupt once, he lost his mother to a gas leak in a house he bought for his parents, and depression once forced him and his wife to set off on a world cruise to heal. Yet look what he built. He never lost his childhood zeal, he built “The Happiness Place on Earth,” and cut no corners doing it.

"I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us”—Walt Disney