Writer's Prescription: Butt in Chair

[Peg Herring]

You have an idea. Maybe you have the first three chapters done. But somehow, the rest isn't coming. Is it writer's block? Is it bad plotting? Will it ever become a novel?

Experts everywhere have one answer: butt in chair. You have to write. You have to sit there. You have to keep at it. Will it be good? Maybe, maybe not. But you can't fix it if it isn't there.

Write a whole story. Once you're written "The End", then you can worry about whether it's good or not and begin the process of making it better. What keeps wanna-be writers from becoming writers is Not Writing. An idea in your head is safe and promising, but you'll never know if you've got what it takes until you write it down.

So put your butt in a chair and write. Now. Every day. Until it's done.

[Peg Herring]

Can't. Got my butt in the chair, and I'm WRITING!!!

[Gaile Hughes]

Hi again Cornelius! Same, same, same. That's what I'm doing on this site. I should be writing or even editing, however here I am blathering, can find plenty to blather about, but nothing to add to my book. Peg, can you please grab that club....

[Peg Herring]

Yup. Ya gotta do it. Would you like me to stand over you with a club?

[Cornelius Butterfield]

I had ten things to do before I sat down to write. So my book stayed stuck at Chapter Five. My remedy, to get my butt in this chair, I started a blog. About three months ago. I like sports so I started a Sports Blog. Problem solved. I'm here, I'm sitting, I'm writing. Good. Not good. I'm now spending too much time on the Blog, while my book waits patiently in a folder in My Documents. So it's time. I know. The blog has performed its duty well. Since my readership was not priority one when I started the blog, I write it as though each post is a book chapter, with quite a bit of dialogue. Now I'm starting to get a readership. My luck. Well, it's time to fish, I've cut the bait. It's time I got back to the book. Time to finish what I started six months ago. But, it will be hard now to slow down with the blog. Damn!