Post It

Note: As of 9pm, I've made my writing goal for the second week, and my draft is now creeping above the 20,000-word mark. This week was tougher than usual to make my daily 2k--I had to overwork on a couple days to meet the average. Next week will be even harder, with 3 days of physical therapy and a re-check with my surgeon...but I'll do it!

I've had one major goal in writing Four (yes, I finally gave it a working title besides Draft 1):

Cut the crap! 

What does that mean?

To illustrate in a far more humorous manner, I refer to this. I am guilty of this and then some. I'm not sure when this habit started. I wrote many successful papers in college, and I actually have quite a little hobby in microfictions, which are by definition SHORT-- yet somehow over time my novel-writing has grown more and more purple and obtuse.

It's a disease, folks, a disease with MRSA-like virulence and staying power. (I only use MRSA as an example because one of my co-workers has been infected since last August with no end in sight, and it's been on my mind lately.)

How can I fight the disease? Well, a good round of editing, for starters, but I'm not to that point yet, geez! I'm still drafting the damn thing.

So, I have two (actually, I have 9 post-its on and around my computer monitor) post-it notes with little messages for me every time I start to stray.

One says this:

JUST DO IT!
MAKE IT GOOD WHEN IT'S FINISHED.
LAY DOWN THE BONES.

And the second says this:

We don't need to know how many teeth he has, what color armpit hair, or how many calories are in his breakfast.


It actually kinda works.

Got any writing mantras/signs/coffee mugs that keep you on the straight-and-narrow?