Friday, April 9, 2010

Getting to the Fix

I judge several romance writers' contests each year and several years ago, one of the contest coordinators sent all the judges a postcard bearing the following advice:
I can fix a bad page, but I can't fix a blank one.
-Nora Roberts
I keep that postcard on a clip right by my monitor. It reminds me that to fix something, I have to commit to its creation. I can do a lot of rewriting in my head, and that's a pretty safe place to be. But at some point in time, if I want to share my story, I will need to physically create the words. On paper or electronically. No matter how terrible an idea or a phrase or a character seems in my head, if I don't put words on the page, I can't fix them. And what Nora Roberts implies is that the page will NEED to be fixed.

This advice is about courageous commitment--commitment to create pages, commitment to fix those pages, commitment to be the best writer you can be.

See how courageous you can be today.

6 comments:

Zelda Benjamin said...

Short and very inspiring blog. Thanks.

LaVerne St. George said...

You're very welcome, Zelda.

Jane Myers Perrine said...

One of my favortie quotes. Thanks for reminding me.

Sandy Cody said...

So so true - and so important to remember when the words aren't flowing well.

LaVerne St. George said...

Hoping that all of you follwoing this blog are writing courageously today!

LaVerne St. George said...

Even if your spelling is a little off! Keep writing.