Years ago, back when Studly Doright was a competitive racquetball player, his primary nemesis on the courts was a guy named Alan (maybe spelled Allen, I don’t recall). Alan was an experienced racquetball player, and the best in our mid-sized Texas town, long before Studly began playing the game, and for years beating Alan at racquetball was Studly’s primary goal.
Now, Studly has always been a competitive soul, and at one time he was quite the athlete. Before long he and Alan were frequently in contention for the city championship. I forget which man ended up with the most first place trophies, but I do believe it was the love of my life. That would be Studly, not Alan.
Alan was, and likely still is, a hoot. He could psyche Studly out before, during, and after a racquetball match, and that was no easy feat. Of course, Studly could give as good as he got. Even when they weren’t on the court, the two played constant mind games on each other.
One day about a week before the city championship, Alan showed up at our home unexpectedly. Studly answered the door invited Alan back to the den where I was sitting on the sofa folding laundry. I had on my workout clothes, no makeup, and my hair was still wet from the shower. Immediately upon seeing me sitting there, Alan exclaimed, “Leslie, until this moment I never realized what a beauty you are!”
This declaration was definitely aimed at unnerving Studly before the big tournament, but for just a second I blushed like a teenager. Alan went on to praise my burgeoning skills in the racquetball court before leaving me with a few words of advice: “Never be in too big a hurry to win or to lose.”
I recalled Alan’s saying today when I realized that I’d been in such a hurry to finish my novel that I’d written a bunch of crap in the last two thousand words or so. What to do? I’ll chunk those words into my “slush” file and try again. It won’t be the first time I’ve had to take that action, but hopefully the last time. For this novel, anyway.
Peace, people.
Praying for Eyebrowz 
My darling… get them back and put them in a sep folder… Seriously… This is called the seven stages of suck. Where you start thinking.. WOW.. I (BIG AND BOLD) wrote this… and you crawl eventually to ‘I???? wrote (as in call this writing) this… as in how could I write such shit?
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Thanks! I tossed and turned all night wondering how to fix it. I will just cut the bad parts out and save them elsewhere. Maybe they can come back into play at another time in another book.
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Truly . never bin a thing . Creative people are driven by the end to show themselves as much as the need to hide. Very few of us look at something we wrote and think WOW. (Well ok some do and they could do with a bit of doubt when you see what they are wowing over) And yeah we get these days where we think.. buzzing away here, motoring at 90 miles and hour it’s that good. But then the next you look and think ..okayyyyyyy…..
ALSO yeah you can use stuff elsewhere, in that book or another. So bin nowt As a reader you may open a book and think the writer just picked up their pen and wheeched off that book. No.
x
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So right. I’ve always been an avid reader, and now that I’m writing consistently, I pay much more attention to things authors do. How they describe things (I’m awful at descriptions), how they handle conversations (I think I do okay), how they transition from scene to scene (I need some work). The thing is, I’m paying attention in ways I never have before. Even if I don’t get this published, it’s making me a better reader.
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My darling YES!!!!! I had to say to my hubby when I started editing his work and yes there was a stair heidie here where he went on and on about how he read nonstop. So how could all this be wrong? A reader is not a writer. Once you grasp that context well, then you can make yourself a writer. Keep going and if you need any help at any time re anything here… you know where I am.
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Thank you!
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Or the wise Shehanne sayeth
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She is wise.
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The beginning when there is a blank document with a blinking cursor and the end seem to be the hardest. This applies to any kind of creative writing. I’m struggling to end my first chapter. I keep thinking of more crap that can make it better. WTH? 😊 You got this home girl!
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Thank you! I’m sure trying!
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