“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile.”

Only another couple of weeks to go! How’s everyone doing?

“Most writers in the course of their careers become thick-skinned and learn to accept vituperation, which in any other profession would be unimaginably offensive, as a healthy counterpoise to unintelligent praise.”

Sven’s winding down. Just a few weeks left. Are you happy with the progress you’ve made this round?

All in all, I guess I am. I could have done a little better, but I accomplished my main goal, and that was getting done with the single title that’s due into Berkley on 2/1/08. With the holidays, three kids who kept passing bugs around, not to mention my own, I think I did as well as I could expect.

What about you? Did you accomplish your goals? Surpass them?

Or fall a little short? If you fell a little short, or you’re like me, did okay but wished for better…so what? The main thing is to get in the habit of writing daily. I started writing daily, or close to it, a while ago. It was one of the things I kept reading on a blog I visit regularly, pbackwriter.blogspot.com, even before Sven. That advice was the main reason I started up my own personal blog.

But even then, I didn’t force myself into any set kind of schedule. Sven’s helped me to do that. And trust me… for a disorganized type like me, getting into any sort of routine is quite a task.

Writing daily, or close to it, trains the brain for the job of writing. I keep saying close to it, because unless I’m on deadline or really caught up in the book, I don’t write on weekends, except for a blog post on occasion. Don’t wanna tire out the brain…okay, okay, I’ll be honest. I like my time off.

But, IMO, getting on a regular writing schedule is crucial if you’re really serious about writing. Whether it’s something we cram it in when we can around the day job, the kids, school, or something we do full time, we have to take it seriously. Taking it seriously as a writer means the same as taking your day job seriously. When I was working the day job, I couldn’t go in when I wanted, leave when I wanted. I had set hours. A routine.

This job is no different in that aspect. Granted, if I want to spend the day in workout clothes or jammies, barefoot, my hair a mess, I can. But I can’t just sit down once or twice a week, write a page here, a page there, and still expect to finish a book, sell a book, improve my writing, maintain my career.

More than anything, Sven’s helped me focus on that. A routine. A set amount of words I like done in a day, a set time when I try to do it.

I hope he’s done the same for you. Even if it’s just a half an hour at lunch, or forty five minutes at night after the kids go to sleep, if you can get in a regular routine and stick to it, I bet it’s going to help.

“If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.”

If anyone’s here, did you get any writing done this week?

“Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard.”

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! But you still need to be writing. Are you?

“The novel may stimulate you to think. It may satisfy your aesthetic sense. It may arouse your moral emotions. But if it does not entertain you it is a bad novel.”