LJ Idol Week 1: Resolution
1. Don’t bye out. Aside from the first season you participated in, you’ve byed out. This includes Second Chance. Let’s not do that again.
2. Write fearlessly and unapologetically. Don’t offer explanations or excuses. Too often, you worry what people will think about what you write or what they will think of you based on what you write. You cannot change who you are or the things you have done. Every choice you’ve made has brought you to this day. Writing is hard for reasons that have nothing to do with writing. You know that the best way to come to terms with your past is to write about it. And you know your best writing is personal. So do it.
3. Write first, edit later. The worst thing you write is better than the best thing you don’t write. You can’t edit a blank page. It’s better to get it written than to get it right. Whatever other quotes you need to get it though your head. You can’t submit an idea in your head. You can submit a rough draft and hope for the best. Or, you can get off your ass and do an actual first (second, third, whatever) draft and polish that bitch ‘til she shines.
4. Make time to write. Saying you don’t have time is the same thing as saying it’s not important to you. It’s important to you. Make time. Don’t make excuses. If you have to wake up thirty minutes earlier to get it done, then do it. If you have to stay up thirty minutes later to get it done, then do it. You don’t have to have your computer. Use your phone. Use a piece of paper. Use a scrap of napkin or an old envelope. You’re currently writing in the bathroom while your daughter takes a bath. She’s drinking butt soup, but a little bathwater is probably fine. Probably. You’re writing. Keep that shit up.
5. Don’t make every entry a list.*
*Revisit this resolution after voting is done. 😉