I’m feeling particularly inspired by Taylor Swift’s line from her song “Blank Space”, “I can make the bad guys good for a weekend,” and my weekend at New England Crime Bake. Packed to the gills with “wicked smaht” crime writers, it’s got me dying to read some good submissions.
But does #NaNoWriMo have you feeling as deranged as Taylor looks here? Don’t despair. Put your butt in your chair and just write something every day. It doesn’t matter if you have to edit it later. Or if you delete it all and rewrite it tomorrow. And if you need help, you can turn to my clever colleague Connor and his Short Fuse Guide to Plotting Your Novel. It’s free at Smashwords until the end of 2014: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/489254.
CrimeBake’s keynote speaker, Craig Johnson, creator of the LONGMIRE series, was inspiring and very funny. He shared his experiences writing his first book. He outlined the whole thing, visited the local sheriff for research, and it took him 10 years to finish it. But he kept plugging. And now he’s writing a couple of books a year. Finishes one book and starts another.
The actor and writer Gene Wilder, who I’ve had the great honor and privilege of working with, writes every single day. He schedules that time no matter where he is, and has a routine. Writing is a priority for him.
Believe me, I know writing is hard. But remember, there’re agents–and editors–out there eager to see what you can do, and to be blown away by it. Just fill up some of the blank space on the page.
