Premeditating Writer

I know I should be writing something. Every How To blogs aimed at writers tell you to get out of the comfort of your cozy cocoon and write a blog. Write a blog. Yuck. What if I have nothing to say? Silly, you think. Of course, you have something to say. You can say that it has taken you four years to write a book, another year to edit. And that you are still going strong. You can also say that you are on your second book. Half way through, thank you very much.



As I understand it, all writers grapple with the ins and outs of the dreaded query letter. I keep hearing that hundreds of letters inundate agents daily. Seems that everyone is writing, everyone wants to be a published writer. In fact, a friend from a writing workshop group I belong to is beginning to send out query letters even before his book is finished. He just seems to be impatient about it.


I would love to see myself in print, even envy those who are published already. My redeeming feature is that I love the act itself. I love to write.



How about you? Do you feel as impatient as I do? Are you just writing for the love of it, and the prospect of being published is just the topping on the cake?

I often use a text to speech software to help me listen to mistakes in writing when I'm self-editing. There's that old advice of reading your writing aloud, but this seems to improve upon that. The tendency to gloss over errors when reading our own writing undermines the purpose of the whole process. When listening to the narrative playback, listen carefully for plot development, speech patterns, and believable dialogue. As to the poets, you will hear the elements of imagery, rhythm, rhyme, and tone.



I have tried several such readers. My pick is www.naturalreaders.com. It is a free download (for windows users - I think macs have a built in reader already).


I hope this tip will be of great help to some of you.