Hello New Members!

I always say, there is no better time to write that story you've been wanting to write, than at the beginning of a new year; don't think of it as a New Year's Resolution, unless you want to...but, think of it as reorganizing your priorities. It can be exhausting keeping all that information in your head waiting to be put to page. Start small. Take babies steps toward completing a first draft of your creation.

I was inspired to write about "1st Draft" from an article I recently read by Elizabeth Sims. There is nothing more important than creating your idea(s) and actually writing about them. The longer I write, the more I agree with some people who say there is no such thing as writer's block, and believe me I have had my time of not writing much. I really think that we can be hard on our selves. All we simply have to do is get the words written and then worry how it sounds later. I am very much a perfectionist and I try to hard to have the words be perfect from the start. So, by setting high standards for myself, I tend to procrastinate and not write what I want to write at all; if it doesn't sound the way I want it to immediately, it is easy to just give up. We must not give up.

Once you have prepared your ideas, written an outline, if that is what you do, the first draft is ready for you to write. And I will stress that even if you haven't prepared an outline, the first draft is still ready to be brought to life. It is a time to flush out bottled up ideas or more of the story and help present a second draft. Try not to have expectations.

I highly recommend reading Elizabeth Sims's article "Rough It Up" in Writer's Digest February Issue; you can get a free preview through Coverleaf.com, just click on the link below and follow instructions. Coverleaf.com not only allows you to preview a magazine or article, you can also purchase a single issue or a whole subscription if you like. You definitely should purchase a single issue of Writer's Digest so you can read the article, plus it's a great magazine, I've been reading it for years. Check out the link:

http://www.coverleaf.com/#library&category_id=68

When you are looking up Writer's Digest in Coverleaf.com, it is in the hobby category, and again, the title of the article is "Rough It Up."

Until next time...
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