Wow, time passes quickly. I started this blog in October 2004, so let's go back in time to those more innocent days.
A couple of posts you may have missed:
Words of wisdom for writers from the wonderful Terry Pratchett. Next to P.G. Wodehouse, Terry Pratchett is my favorite author.
Another Pratchett gem from this page:
"Yes, Dave Gemmell and Neil Gaiman were both journalists. So was Bob Shaw. So was I. It's good training because:
1) any tendency to writers' block is burned out of you within a few weeks of starting work by unsympathetic news editors;
2) you very quickly learn the direct link between writing and eating;
3) you pick up a style of sorts;
4) you get to hang around in interesting places;
5) you learn to take editing in your stride, and tend to be reliable about deadlines;
6) you end up with an ability to think at the keyboard and reduce the world to yourself and the work in hand -- you have to do this to survive in a world of ringing telephones and shouting sub-editors.
None of this makes you talented or good, but it does help you make the best of what you've got."
-------Terry Pratchett
Really -- please trust me on this one. :-)
If you're not feeling confused as you write, you're not writing, you're typing.
New writers often want to feel sure about something before they start writing. That way lies writer's block, and worse: boredom.
You write to discover what you think and believe, so being confused most of the time is the ideal mind-state for a writer.
